Laser/Lighting Console Help

[Zack Gardener]

Hi everyone,

 

Im new to all this so please excuse me if seem naive to the technical terms.

 

I have up to £700 to spend on a new laser to add to our lighting setup, and im looking for some recommendations.

 

Ive been all over the internet and its all very confusing.

 

We host events for 300-800 people and ive been told I need something at least 70mw to be substantial (please correct me if wrong).

 

We ideally want something multicoloured or blue, (anything but the standard red/green affair really) its needs to be DMX controllable and we would like to scan and maybe have a speed contol????

 

We are slowly building a small arsenal of various other lighting and hazers and we would like to be able to control them all with a cost effective, basic console.

 

Can anyone with any experience please help????

 

Thanks in advance

[musht]

We host events for 300-800 people and ive been told I need something at least 70mw to be substantial (please correct me if wrong).

 

We ideally want something multicoloured or blue, (anything but the standard red/green affair really) its needs to be DMX controllable and we would like to scan and maybe have a speed contol????

 

Stepping over the 5mW barrier, takes you from Class 3R to Class 3B which covers from 5mW to 499mW 500mW + is Class 4.

 

Safety considerations become a lot more onerous, 70mW would represent a real hazard to eyes with a stationary beam.

 

Red is the cheapest common colour, Green is the brightest apparent colour for its power, a red may have to be 10 times more powerful to appear as bright.

 

Blue is the least visible colour, particularly 405nm blue from adapted Blu Ray diodes, 473nm blue is very expensive.

 

White light lasers have balanced RGB and sophisticated colour mixing technology priced accordingly.

 

www.photonlexicon.com if you want to get into more detail.

 

Would suggest a video projector as being a more versatile effect for your budget, get quite bright for £700 nowadays and a lot more versatile than a `cheap` laser.

 

Consoles , laptop and MagicQ with Enttec dongle is stock answer.

[Zack Gardener]

thanks for your reply.

 

do you have any suggestions as to where I can get a suitable video projector and what exactly are the capabilities. we were looking for a laser due to the obvious laser beams of light. are video projectors capable of this?

 

thanks again

[Tin]

Finding such a system for your budget will be very difficult, if you need any advice for free, give us a call and we'll point you in the right direction. There are so many aspects you need to look into that it would be easier to get advice over the phone.

 

Tin

[prolightdesigner]

Video projectors can fake a laser with varying results. There are also some LED effects on the market designed specifically to imitate a laser. Using a powerful video or LED projector in a small room can produce reasonable results, however, the effect looks progressively worse as your room gets larger. The reason is that even though projectors can produce fine beams of light, they still do not have the total lack of divergence that a laser beam has. Musht is absolutely right about using Class IIIB and Class IV lasers. Once you get into these types of lasers, you have to deal with safety and regulation factors, which, though totally worth the effort, can be a pain. Just make sure you know what you're getting into when you buy a bigger laser. Don't even think about buying those cheap Chinese lasers on ebay. Tempting, yes, but very dangerous. Photonlexicon will steer you in the right direction. Also getting in contact with a professional in your area that can come out to your site and help you choose something can be very beneficial.

 

Hope this helps,

-Jeff

[musht]

Mebbe ask in video and projection section for some advice on projectors in budget.

 

Jeff has covered why video isn`t same as a laser for beam effects, beam is also against a grey mist video black is never totally black.

 

Video projector can do tricks that only an expensive laser can do though, text, the Happy Birthdays etc scrolling across , bright laser with text ability is way over 700 quid.

 

Beams, people forget about the good old moonflower, one or two looks cheesy.

 

6 or more from different angles can look very good indeed for a low cost, very bright effect, half a dozen of these from corners of the room will comfortably fill a space for 800 with nice moving intermeshing beams

 

http://www.discostudio.co.uk/soundlab-g017...obe-effect.html

 

Just a n example, generic name is Moonflower.

 

70mW laser will give you a wobbling washing line in same space...