Hazers Outdoors

[david.elsbury]

Hi there

This christmas I'm doing an outdoor concert, on a stage roughly 25x 15m. Night-time. I'm using an LX rig of 48-odd parcans (64's) and was wondering, if I added movers to the equation, which hazer should I be using to see the beams?

I'd rather not use smoke, because I want the haze effect, not huge clouds of the stuff. For our indoor stuff I use an oil cracker, lovely effect, but I'm guessing it won't translate well to the big stage?

Rental is good, except remembering it may be a bit hard for me to get hold of some of the 'huge' machines (DF-50's etc) as I'm in NZ.

Thanks in advance

Regards

David

[GridGirl]

I would think you'd have to have more than one hazer going outdoors, particularly if it's a windy night...and from memory, Oceania Lighting (www.oceania-audio.co.nz) have at least one DF-50 - are you in Auckland?

[Doug kelly]

Hi

 

Oil crackers can and do work well on outdoor stages.

 

2 is always better than on use some fans to blow it around a bit and experiment with the positioning of the crackers on the stage with the direction of the wind etc.

 

You will probably use quite a bit of fluid though

 

 

Doug

[Pete McCrea]

I used a pair of hazers on a gig I was asst LD on last year. 20m orbit stage in day light. A pair of mid range hazers coped ok with it. Fans helped a lot too. Was quite amusing smoking Tim West(County)wood out.

[david.elsbury]

I would think you'd have to have more than one hazer going outdoors, particularly if it's a windy night...and from memory, Oceania Lighting (www.oceania-audio.co.nz) have at least one DF-50 - are you in Auckland?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I am in Auckland. Would you say that the DF-50 could be one of the better choices then?

Hopefully because the stage has a back and sides it will help contain the haze.

 

Edit: PS, are you in NZ too?

Thanks so far

David

[GridGirl]

It's been a while since I used a DF-50 but from memory they're fairly grunty! And I've just had a look at Oceania's webpage and they do indeed have 2 DF-50s :) Currently I'm not in NZ, although I am a Kiwi, I'm working in the UK at the moment!

[Guest lightnix]

Hmmm... Outdoors + smoke / haze machines = don't generally mix :P

 

For a stage of that size, especially outdoors, I really don't think that a hazer of any description will cut the mustard. I may be wrong, but I don't think that there are any out there that will produce or maintain the sheer volume of haze that you will need to produce a consistent effect throughout the evening.

 

Have a look at the Jem Roadie X-Stream. According to Martin, it can produce 5000m³ per minute. If your rig height (for argument's sake) is 8m, then 25m wide x 15m deep x 8m high = 3000m³. One or two of those beasts on a "light haze" setting, should be able to give you what you want, barring heavy wind, IMHO. Although as you say, being in New Zealand might make them a bit difficult to get hold of and they probably won't be the cheapest thing to hire anyway :)

 

Even so, I'd still go for smoke over haze in that situation. Even with a smaller machine, you may be able get a reasonable effect by blowing it around with some powerful fans, which will quickly disperse it over a large volume.

[peter]

Take a look at the Le Maitre Stadium Hazer - an impressive output, and it looks cool too :)

[Guest lightnix]

Not wishing to argue, but I'm not sure how "impressive" a paltry 600m³ / hour is, compared to a stonking 5000m³ / minute (he said, arguing) :)

 

But yes, it does look very cool :P I remember greatly admiring the prototype (or something very much like it) at PLASA a few years ago.

[johnhuson]

I spend most of my summer working on outdoor stages and have successfully used haze on a large number of occasions. My experience has proved that Oil Crackers (we use Cirro Strata's) are the only way to go and fans are essential, preferably DMX controlled ones. Make sure the stage manager keeps any back/side doors or flaps closed as much as possible as this will help a lot.

 

Only time it really doesn't work is if it's a reasonably windy day, particularly if your unlucky enough to have it blowing straight into the front of the stage. If it's blowing from behind and all doors/flaps are closed, you can get away with it. Using DMX controllable fans also helps as you can steer the haze to a certain degree by altering the level of the fans (only works if you have multiple hazers/fans!) For a stage of that size I would suggest using three crackers, one either side and one in the middle at the back. You have to experiment with placement and direction, and you won't get a nice even haze like you do indoors unless it's a very still day!

 

Picture below shows the sort of haze I've managed to get using two hazers (one either side), with DMX fans on a 15mtr Orbit stage on a breezy evening.

 

http://www.pearcehire.co.uk/portfolio/images/forest4.jpg

 

Sorry about image quality, I've compressed it quite hard to reduce download time.

[david.elsbury]

Fair enough. I think that it's unlikely I'll go with haze at this point, as the movers we have wouldn't be powerful enough to cut thru a 1k parcan rig anyway, and the show isn't really the sort of show for 'atmosphere' anyway.

If I do go with anything, it'll probably just be a couple of DMX smokers, one either side of the stage, with many fans.

Unless the organisers want lasers, in which case I think we'll need smoke/haze. But that's not something I know anything about, so rest assured, I will leave it to the professionals if the need arises.

Thank you all, and feel free to leave any other comments.

David