dmxlights Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Hi, Has anyone used one of these Antari M1 Mobile Fogger (it battery powered). If you did how did you find it and did it out put well and for how long. I am thinking of getting one for a special effect in a play that I will be doing the lighting for. it will be used to make a house look like it is on fire as well as battery powered led lights this all has to be wire free as no cable running across the stage. the hole scene is about 7 mins or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 It is an "effects" unit rather than any viable replacement for a "normal" smoke machine. They're very cute and impressive bits of kit but really not comparable with a normal machine - if you want a quick plume of smoke (like a dragon's breath) or to open a box and it be a bit smokey inside they are great. If you actually need to produce clouds of "smoke" then you have to look at one of the aerosol based smoke machines (where they are heated up on mains but then retain enough heat to be able to operate without power for 20mins) as none of the battery powered units anyone offers is a realistic alternative to even the cheapest DJ's mains powered machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Some of the unique battery powered units produce impressive quantities of dense fog, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Impressive for their size but by no means comparable with a "normal" smoke machine. Their biggest battery powered unit would still be out performed by a £35 maplin smoke machine - if you need "smoke machine" quantities of smoke off mains then the little battery powered units just aren't the answer. Aerosol based smoke machines do produce decent quantities or (as we've done a couple of times) a cheap mains powered smoke machine powered via an inverter and 12v battery (again with all the pre-heat done on mains supply to preserve battery life) produces decent quantities of smoke and has the advantage of being created entirely from off-the-shelf products being used in exactly they way they were designed to be used thus making it very dependable and easy for others to fault check or fix on the fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Impressive for their size but by no means comparable with a "normal" smoke machine. Indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmxlights Posted July 6, 2014 Author Share Posted July 6, 2014 Its just for a effect more than any thing. I was thinking of wooded box with ether holes or a slot cut out of it and some red and amber leds in side flicking on and off between colours and the smoke would rise up and it would look it fire and there will very fine silk in the widows of this stage prop and this setup will behind it all. Well thats the plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I'm not sure your effect will work in quite the way you think it will but certainly the M1 would produce sufficient smoke to fill a box and leak out as you describe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmxlights Posted July 6, 2014 Author Share Posted July 6, 2014 I mite set up a test with my own mains power smoke machine and see how well it works or not. I do have some some 2" pvc wast pipe that I can bore 5mm holes on it over the length of it and then stick the led strips along each side of the holes and see how that works. I know I may have to add a small pc fan to it but make it run at a low speed. I only need it for about 4 min of smoke going up. I will try and set up a test this week sometime and see how it work. I will also try and get time to video it and post the results here if they work to my liking. I am also open to other ideas as well so please keep them coming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 if you're going down the pipe route then a battery powered machine is really a definite no-no; they use a lighter grade of smoke fluid (keeps stress off the heater thus prolonging battery life) which means that the smoke that's produced is much finer/lighter than normal smoke machine smoke. Combine that with the effects of plastic pipe ducting (less smoke produced initially, rapid condensation & decay, lack of pressure) and you're going to struggle to get any meaningful smoke out of it at all; you're really going to need to use a mains machine as the effect relies on a dense enough smoke to reflect the light and sufficient pressure to make enough of the smoke escape out of the pipe before it condenses completely. You can get a realistic "flame" effect using light on a smoke screen but it's more complicated than it seems and unless you absolutely nail it perfectly it ends up looking poor and distracting attention rather than heightening the dramatic effect; there's a reason why these fake fire units cost so much. This might be one of those situations where more traditional theatrical "magic" is better at conveying a more convincing effect than technology - some orange/yellow flickering lights just out of sight whose light reflects off another prop on the stage, wisps of smoke creeping under a door, a subtle soundtrack of burning, that sort of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmxlights Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 I know what you mean about the smoke been a lighter grade that why I would use a wooden box with the battery powered machine with the led strips on each side of the opening so it lights the smoke better. I wish I could say that the local drama group had the money to doing it right but they don't as it mainly a summer thing for kids as in giving them something to do and a chance to do acting on stage. I am trying to do it without having to use a mains power smoke machine via inverter or off the mains as there is kids about is the reason for trying to do it with a 12v smoke machine and the leds I will be using already run off a 12v battery pack. I will keep working on the ideas and trying out different ways of doing it. I will also trying the silk in red and orange with a fan blowing up with the leds under it to light it Keep the ideas coming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmxlights Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Just an update to what I am trying to do. I have got my hands on Antari M1 Mobile fogger to try out for a day or 2. I getting very close to what I am trying to get and I will have to build a box help get he haze/smoke to evenly across the window and also mount some led strips and 2 of bigclive's led panels one to each end. all is left to is wire all the LEDs to a LED controler and power them of a 12v battery, then mount it on the stage prop all this will be controlled via wireless DMX. When I get it set up and running I will post some photos of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmxlights Posted August 9, 2014 Author Share Posted August 9, 2014 Just an up date Antari M1 mobile fogger that I got a loan off for a test is very much what I am after and I have gone and bought one as it will do what I want. That output of this little fogger is very impressive for the size and the fact it battery powered. I have tested it see how long it would take to fill my garage which is 22' x 22' and 16' high with in less than 5 minutes the garage was full for smoke/ haze and it stayed around for a good 10 minutes as well. I have also tested it with a 1 1/4" pipe in front of it with 2 right angle bends on it and then a 2' straight with holes every 10mm and the hole size is 10mm as well. It had no problem at all. I paid about £300 for it new and well worth it. The fogger also uses about 2ml for fluid a minute. My big fogger / hazer uses about 6 ml a minute and it also takes about the same time to fill my garage. I hope to get some picks of the the setup with the mobile fogger for the fire fx this week and I will also try and video it as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.