Firstlight-laser

Hey guys, just thought I would write a bit of a review about a product that I bought from Firstlight. They sell premade lasershows as either modules (song) or complete shows. Considering what it would take to sit down and write a complete show, I think thier prices are very reasonable. My purchase from them was flawless and the product is great. Thier website is www.firstlight-laser.com and they have quite a library of shows available in both LD2K and ADAT format. I purchased the best of Pink Floyd Echoes and people seemed to enjoy it at SELEM. A demo video of thier Pink Floyd Echoes show can be found at http://www.firstlight-laser.com/echoes.wmv

Enjoy!
David

You have "Echoes" thats so cool !!!

Look forward to the review

This is what we were watching at SELEM correct? In mecheng's video it looked like it was a little out of synch to me. Do you notice that or is it just me?

I think that is an artifact of either the camcorder or the compression used by google video. When I watched the show at SELEM it was dead-on.

I especially liked the abstract effects in the first song, ("One of These Days") where the bass guitar is pounding and the abstracts were zooming in and out in time with each note on the bass. Very cool stuff!

I can't imagine how long it must have taken to get that synched up perfectly like that. (I spend nearly 25 hours making that "Pop Music" beamshow, and I didn't have anywhere near as many cues as that show did... Probably 1/20th as many cues!) Then you figure he (Michael Dunn) had to create the abstracts in the first place before he synced them up. Wow - talk about a mind-boggling task!

That was one hell of a show though. Thanks so much, David, for laying out the cash to buy it so we could all watch it. It was awesome!

Adam

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Originally Posted by allthatwhichis

This is what we were watching at SELEM correct? In mecheng's video it looked like it was a little out of synch to me. Do you notice that or is it just me?

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I think it was because of what Buffo said, the digitizing, compressing, google, etc.

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That was one hell of a show though. Thanks so much, David, for laying out the cash to buy it so we could all watch it. It was awesome!

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No problem, glad you enjoyed it. Having the show for SELEM was more of a side note as my intention is to have actual quality show material to go along with my projector to run in a theater. Though thats if I ever get time to finish my variance...

Hello All

I think this is my first time actually posting to this board..
I will try to do this more often.

I have to share my experience with Firstlight..

First, a gentleman by the name of Mike Dunn is the main man behind FirstLight laser productions. Firstlight works under the banner "Excitement Technologies Group Inc".. They do fireworks and all sorts of other show productions. If I am correct Mike Dunn does all of the creative work for their laser show productions.

When I found Firstlight I was so excited to find that they sold ADAT shows. At the time the only source I could find was Laser Fantasy who charges $300 per module. I cannot afford to buy a Pangolin board of my own just yet so I need to rely on others for show content.

When I inquired about show module pricing from FirstLight, Mike Dunn immediately got back to me and offered to send me a demo show tape. This tape contained small portions of several modules.. It was awesome!!! Plus it helped me get my ADAT system working properly.

When I requested a price list of some specific modules I was amazed at how reasonable his prices were. It seems for graphic intensive shows he charges a little more than abstract modules. This is fair as the graphic show take a great deal of work.

Mike Dunn has helped me several times with selling me maybe 4 or 5 modules at a time instead of having to dish out money for a whole show at once. This has helped me build a decent collection.

On top of all of this, Mike Dunn actually wrote a custom module that he shipped to a planetarium in Florida for me. When I arrived for vacation with my girlfriend and her family, I arranged to have her whole family see a Laser show.. At this show the Laserist played three show modules from Dave Mathews Band. Towards the end of the third module he turned the system off and pretended that the Laser cut out.. He popped in my module then started the system up. It was a show module that Mike created for me that at the end proposed to my now wife.. The module was created with our favorite song, all kind of animations of wedding bells and such... At the very end he animated a feather pen that drew out my big questions! =)

It was very special and I am so thankful Mike helped me with this.

Bottom line... Mike Dunn is a good guy, talented and very professional!!

Hi Laserguy; welcome to PhotonLexicon!

I've heard a lot about Mikel Dunn, and all of it good. I thought that was especially nice of him to help you out with your wedding proposal! That's very cool.

So you're doing shows in the New Jersey area then? What sort of projector are you running?

Adam

Hello Adam

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

Yes, I am doing Laser shows in NJ. Actually my "Laser Show Season" as I call it has past. I am usually busy starting in April through June.

I started after graduating high school when I was asked to give a demonstration on lasers for an elementary school science fair expo. I brought some small Hene lasers I had at the time and the response was overwhelming. When I returned home that afternoon I had at least three e-mails form other school PTA’s booking me for the following year. I took that opportunity to find an excuse to start investing in some higher end equipment. I now do all 5 local school science fair expos. I have been doing them for 9 years now and have added to my equipment every year.

As of now I am only running a 60mW Argon paired with a 200mW DPSS and 200mW red diode. Those blue lines are pretty weak =(

I am also still using my first scan set from Laser Works (450PD’s) They have been very reliable but since I have been purchasing these high end shows on ADAT from Firstlight… I need more speed! I think these Laser Works scanners may do 18 to 20kpps
For now I am getting by but man I am itching to invest in a new pair. I have been keeping my eyes on the DT’s. Seems reasonable but I wonder if I should save up for the classic Cambridge sets.

I have done some work with a local DJ and that was really cool!

I recently launched my company website:
www.laserguyproductions.com

However I don’t want to do any work until all of my equipment is up to speed.
I don’t feel right charging any money until I know I am giving them a solid product.

Plus I think I want to concentrate in the educational realm…. That’s where I have the most fun!

Anyway, feel free to check out my website. It is still a major work in progress. Lots of bits and pieces still.

Hope all is well!

Best Regards,
Sean

Hi all,:D

I contacted Firstlight and asked about their shows. The reply was quick and helpful.
In addition to the video demo clips they do have a short demo of the Floydd show in LD2K format which is way better than the video clip for clarity.

I am still sucking in my breath over the price of the shows at $1500.00 US$ each..(thats nearly $3000.00 nz $) but hey these shows are big like 45 minutes long so the price is probably very fair overall.
I dont have a price on the song/modules..

If you have Pangolin and you buy the music CD (echoes or DSM) you can make up a good show from the free samples provided with Pangolin, like "Money" with "Us and Them" for example.. (about 15minutes long).. Dont forget to look in the "other" directory (Pangolin disc 3 from memory.)

Cheers:)

Ray
NZ

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I am still sucking in my breath over the price of the shows at $1500.00 US$ each..(thats nearly $3000.00 nz $) but hey these shows are big like 45 minutes long so the price is probably very fair overall.
I dont have a price on the song/modules..

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55 minutes for the Echoes show. And yeah, it may sound expensive, but to sit down and program a 55 minute show takes ALOT of time and artistic skill. Plus, nearly the entire Echoes show was done with 3D Studio Max. The entire show is around 41,000 frames and takes 6.5 minutes to load into the QM2K. I think the price varies on the modules, probably depends on song length, popularity and time spent creating it. No doubt, Mike Dunn, is a very talented guy. For those that have the QM2K or the QM32, the Money and Us&Them show were both done by Mike Dunn.

Hey Laserguy,

I checked out your website and found that your only about 30 minutes ride from my house. It would be great if I could come see your laser stuff
sometime.

Mark

Hey Mark,

That sounds really cool..
Actually that town is where I am orgionally from.

I actually am renting an apartment still with my wife in north jersey and unfortunately have my equipment in storage for the time being at my parents.

However, I am putting an offer on a house back in my hometown. Better yet, this house has a large detached garage with a workshop that I plan on turing in to my studio. Keep you fingers crossed for me. =)

I would be haapy to share when I settle in... just don' don't know how soon that will be =/

Very Cool :) I hope everything works out for you and your family. Let me know when your set-up and I'll make the trip over to see your laser stuff.
I'm going over to Rowan University in October to watch their Laser Fantasy shows in the planetarium there. Here's the info.
Admission fees:
$5 Adults
$3 Children
$3 Rowan students with ID
$3 Seniors over 65
Show times (starting Oct. 13): star show, 7:00 p.m., every Saturday night. Laser shows start at 8:30 the same nights beginning Oct. 20.
Tickets go on sale at 6:45 PM the night of the show. We do not sell advance tickets before that time, nor do we take reservations. We will sell up to four tickets to one person if others in her party are not present (this is mainly for the laser show). Laser show tickets are generally on sale from 6:45 to 8:30. A new laser show will begin October 20 (can you say "Zeppelin"?) www.rowan.edu/planetarium

Their projector is a little on the low power side but, it does ok. I believe
the system uses a small argon for Blue and Green mixed with two HeNe's for Red.

See ya,

Mark