Cheap laser for concerts

[Amuse]

Hello. I am in a band and want to spice up our live shows a bit. I don't have a lot of money, but would like to get a laser for our shows.

What are the cheapest lasers out there? (multi-channeled, but no need for several colors.) I don't need the best one. Just one that doesn't break too easily and delivers a cool live effect. A cheap laser show is ten times more awesome than no laser show!

Manual or computer based controls are both interesting to me.

I can borrow a smoke machine from my school, so that's all fine.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[buffo]

Too many variables...

Where are you located? How large of a venue do you normally play? How many people in the crowd? How much money were you looking to spend? Who will be operating the laser?

You need to know that there are regulations in place that govern commercial laser shows, and depending on which country you live in, they can be quite restrictive. The US is the worst, but some other countries have requirements that are almost as strict. Thus, you can't just buy something off e-bay and start doing shows. (At least not legally.)

Also, it's very rare to have the words "laser" and "cheap" in the same sentence. Nothing about this hobby is ever cheap.

We can help you if you're serious about getting into this, but it's not a trivial exercise.

Adam

[norty303]

I don't have a lot of money

I think it best you quantify this really. As you also mention that you can borow a fogger from the school I suspect you may be young. This may also imply that what you consider not much money might be different to what some of the older people here consider to be not much money.

As far as lasers are concerned, if I was to say £1500 for laser and controller, how would that make you feel?

[colouredmirrorball]

I don't think he has that much money.
Do you want to make one yourself or do you want to buy a completely built unit?
You can find some on ebay or your local light store but those are mostly crap and unsafe. And yes I'm speaking of experience. I'm still going to school myself so I know $1500 is probably way too much over your budget.
I was caught in the trap of a cheap € 150 unit, very cheap Chinese. It was very unsafe and as it was only 40 mW, the effect got lost sometimes when I put all my other lighting on.
I assume you don't need that much power? Maybe 100 - 150 mW of green is more than enough. Those can easily handle a 500 person venue, with the other lights dimmed. Of course the more power the merrier (and the unsafer), but I saw a gig with 1000/1500 people in the audience and two very small 40 mW lasers on both sides of the stage. I thought "no way those will have any effect" but they had. They were operated by the lighting guy who knew he should dim the other lights when he turned on the lasers.
You can buy a 150 mW green laser for something like €200 (only the laser module) but if you have a bit of luck you can find a second hand unit cheaper.
And I assume you only need a beam show and no graphics? Then 20 kpps (kpps = kilo pps and pps = points per second, the unit of scanner speed) scanners will be sufficient. 10 kpps will also cut it but I won't do that as it is unsafer. (Mine had 5 kpps scanners but don't say that too loud or I will get a lot of replies concerning safety ;-) ) 20 kpps scanners can be bought for under €100 if you know where to look.
For the control of your laser, I think most scanner drivers have DMX input, or come with a separate control board. You can't make your own patterns then. If you want to make your custom shows, you have to buy a dac. Most members here will shout you have to buy a Pangolin FB3 for €400, which is considered "very cheap" here. ;D You can get other dacs cheaper but with less quality.

It's up to you. Ebay premade laser projector: € 300 - 500 and sucking quality.
Make one yourself for € 500 with excellent quality and probably a lot safer.

[mccarrot]

Make one yourself for € 500 with excellent quality and probably a lot safer.

LOL, you make me a QUALITY and SAFE laser usable for a band for 500 euro, this will save me a lot of time.

Let me sum up some components and I have chosen some cheap components
Housing 100,-
500mW laser 500,-
Scanfail 150,-
Emergency stop 50,-
laser controller + software 500,-
cabling 100,-
scanset 200,-

hmmm I think i'm already way above your 500 euro.


I think the best thing you can do is RENT a laser from a company who knows what he is doing. then you are safe and cheap.

[ondahonda]

these guy's aren't telling you the whole deal. i have a lot of experience wome timeithke swhat your trying to do. all you need is a basic 50mw dmx laser and a basic dmx192 or better lighting controller. put the laser at the back of the stage to one side. aim it so that it covers the stage but doesnt hit the crowed.

you still have to check the laws where you live. but trust me, i've put those units on international stages and nobody realized they where the cheap jobs. it helps if you take a bit of time thinking about all the dangers but i've been doing it for ages and the crowed loves it. so do the bands.

dmx is the key. get to know how it works.

[mccarrot]

As Buffo said too many variables.

If you have less than 30 people crowd and you can dim the ambient lights your solution with a 50mW dmx will work.

[ondahonda]

no. he's going to get some fog happening. it will do 300 indoors. i have a realy old video where we just dumped one behind the stage without even connecting dmx. i'll try and post a link to it.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/v...id=44304471841

[ondahonda]

you gotta remember if this guy is playin in a young band he'll be lucky if there's 8 par56's on a four pack. orange gells sound familiar to anybody who actualy does lighting? trust me, one of these and a pair of 75 watt strobes is planty. 1 of these either side is exellent. make's the band look like superstars.. still check legality where you live. there's also a llaw for strobes to. i think 20 seconds at a time max. im not sure though.

[mccarrot]

no. he's going to get some fog happening. it will do 300 indoors. i have a realy old video where we just dumped one behind the stage without even connecting dmx. i'll try and post a link to it.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/v...id=44304471841

Excacly, I have watched the video and you laser only looked nice at the podium where the band was playing, but at the time it reached the audience (after 10 meters) the beams were faded out.

Als there was a minimum light in this area

Personally I would find this effect unacceptable for my customers, but thats just my opinion.

This is one of the best picture I could grab from the video: