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Thread: who do I have fo F%#k to get a award winning lasershow ?

  1. #11
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    Jan 2006
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    Charleston, SC
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    Default High cost of laser show frames

    Laserlover;

    I appreciate what you're trying to say, but it doesn't HAVE to be that way. Just because someone likes to do lasershows doesn't automatically mean that there is a market big enough for them to make a living doing that sort of work, nor should they automatically expect one to exist. Furthermore, just because they NEED to charge $1500 in order to make a living selling their shows doesn't mean that I'm willing to pay it just so they can have a job that they love and still pay the bills.

    Example: Back when I was the president of the local Amiga Users Group here in Charleston, I spent *hundreds* of hours cranking out all sorts of cool stuff that showcased the Amiga's abilities. 3D animations, digital sound sequences, Dpaint animations, even full-running demos. I used Amigavision to pull together most of the demo stuff, Imagine for the raytracing, and Audiomaster for the looping samples. Some of the stuff I produced is still available on Aminet. And believe me, there were *lots* of other Amiga users out there that had *wayyy* more talent and creativity than I did, and most of them were quite prolific...

    Sure, it would have been great to get paid for that work, but I was willing to do it for free because I liked doing it. There were several other members of our group that were equally interested in playing with the Amiga - showing off what she was capable of. Jack Dekemper was a long-time member. He spent WEEKS putting together some incredible raytraced animations of rocket launches, balls rolling down roller-coaster-like tracks, and other neat animations. He never got a dime for his efforts.

    Remember Eric Schwartz? Though he wasn't part of our group, he put together over 60 hilarious cartoon animations for the Amiga - most of which ran for several minutes. Everything drawn by hand. And this was back in the day when editing tools were nowhere near as advanced as they are today, and graphics tablets were only used by drafting firms running Spark workstations. All of his work is available on Aminet for free.

    Given that the Amiga is closely related to the development of laser entertainment (Pangolin hardware used to be Amiga-only, remember) I am surprised that there isn't more public domain stuff out there for the laser enthusiast. Spec has a good point; a lot of laser show folks are tight-lipped about what they've learned, and there isn't a lot of sharing within the community.

    I'm glad that PhotonLexicon exists, and that at least in here people are willing to share knowledge and ideas. And for the record, I don't mind sharing my work either. Case in point: Astroguy was having problems getting a corporate logo converted to an ilda frame using his Alphalite software, so I gave it a try and was able to get a fairly decent looking frame for him to use. Granted, this only represented a few hours of tinkering on my part, but if more people adopted that sort of attitude we would have lots of cool frames to play with.

    I don't begrudge people that try to make a living doing this sort of work. But I do reserve the right to complain about the high prices they charge for their work. The argument that "I need to charge this much because I can only hope to sell 5 copies a year" may be valid from an economics standpoint, but it's also a sign that you probably picked the wrong business to support yourself in the first place.

    Yes, laser frames are tedious to create. But lots of things are tedious, and free to boot... I'm honestly surprised that there aren't more public domain files out there.

    As for an "in-house" laser show created by the members of PhotonLexicon - now *THERES* a good idea! And I'd be quite willing to contribute to such a project... We'd need to select the music, and pick a theme... Then we could slap together a brief scrip/storyboard and parcel out the various pieces/scenes to different memebers. I'm up for that...

    Adam

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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    494

    Default Laser Show creation and collaboration

    Do we have enough P.L. members interested in collaborating to create a laser show of our own ?

    Let 's hear from you.

    1. Since there are many different formats I suggest we establish a standard that's acceptable and playable on all participants equipment such as ILDA frames.

    2. Since many of us have families to care for , there should not be deadlines but don't volunteer to do something and sit on it for a month, rather pass it on to someone with more time on their hands.

    3. I recall the ILDA Laserjam vaguely. I think they chose a comic theme for their collaboration, around a caveman song from the 70's

    4. I prefer a comic theme myself . Anyone ever see the animated movie called
    " Chicken Run " ?
    How about we do a laser show along those lines, create characters caught up in a conspiracy to escape the trip from the farm yard to the slaughter the only survivor, born from a double yoked egg.
    The perfect music would be by a band called Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
    A funny little tune called " Chicken Train " Kinda fusion between Country and Rock music.
    There's even a line in that tune that says " Laser beams in my dreams " So we already know the weapon of choice to use as a means of escape in our story line.

    What do you folks think ?

    Rick
    Profile Redacted by Admin @ 04.24.2010

  3. #13
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    Mar 2006
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    Default

    Sounds like a Plan, Lets try one song and see how it goes?.See what issues we run up against!... First lets get a group of guys to say yes.. I Say YEs...
    Then we have to talk about the format? Image Format? Song?
    Storyboard, then the Production!...Im game...

    Song Suggestions-- Anything Alan Parsons , Floyd of Course, funny songs are great too... Especially for family shows... Im NOT interested in doing BEAM only shows myself, but more screen shows....
    CREATIVITY AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!
    www.laser-ad.com

  4. #14
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    Mar 2006
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    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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    Default

    So far so good, but we need more participants to make this work so join in and let us know what you can bring to the table.

    I think it should all be homemade and customised by all of us so we don't borrow laser frames and have to worry about any copyright Issues.

    I'm still busy working on my RGB laser projector and have some major home improvements (chimney to replace and metal roof to install over shingles) to do but I'll contribute whatever I can when time allows.

    * I also like a theme around " The Pink Panther " which was always a favourite cartoon at the movies , prior to the main feature.

    All opinions and positive Input welcomed.

    Rick
    Profile Redacted by Admin @ 04.24.2010

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    39

    Default Photonlexicon Jam

    I have some limited talent as an artist, have a digitizing station with 12" x 12" pad, and have Cinema 4D convertor to turn 3d models into laser frames.
    I also have arnachy for frame conversion (if needed)
    I too also believe this should be a graphic show.
    IMO Beam show doesnt seem to lend itself to well a group effort.
    I guess we need to see whos interested and then select a song by perhaps putting it to a vote by members signing on to the project.
    Laserlover is right, should be no supertight schedule to get things done, but
    we should have some projected realistic completion dates of certain aspects of the show.
    ILDA format would seem to be the most universal.
    I would think the best way is to program for ILDA specifications 30k PPS frames, with full analog color, but try to design the show so it would also be enjoyable in single color, or TTL color mod, and possibly if keep the frame point count down, to be able to show it in 12k and still look good. That way members still "developing" their projectors could benefit.

  6. #16
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    Charleston, SC
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    Default Music choices

    I'd like to be a part of it. Not so sure if I'm up for the "chicken train" though. (Just checked Amazon for a preview of the song, and honestly it's not my type of music!)

    Perhaps your Pink Panther idea would be better? (Hey - everyone loves Henry Mancini, right?) Guess it also helps that I used to play that song on the piano when I was a kid... (I tried, but I never could master the Baby Elephant Walk, so I gave up on that one. Managed to learn Scott Joplin's Maple-Leaf Rag though, which seemed just as difficult!)

    On the other hand, the world of rock (and more to the point, Pop music in general) also has plenty of good songs to choose from. Granted, you need to be careful with the lyrics sometimes, and that might limit your choices a bit... Still, there's lots of great songs to choose from.

    While I'm not a big fan of country music (OK, I admit it, I'm not *ANY* size fan of country music), there are several cross-over hits that would probably work well, too. We could have some fun with the Waylon Jennings song "Good o'l Boys", which was used for the theme song on the TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard", for instance. (And before you ask, yes, I had to Google it to find out who wrote it.)

    Personally, I've always liked the Rednex' version of "Cotton Eye Joe"... Though I admit that it's probably because I found the video for the skycutter to be so damn funny. (It's a model airplane that looks like a lawnmower! The promotional video is set to the Cotton Eye Joe, and it makes me laugh everytime I watch it.) Ok - Here's the link to the video for those of you that haven't seen it yet...

    But I think you'll get a lot more choices in the world of Pop/Rock. (Especially if you look back a few decades!) But I'm up for just about anything...

    Adam

  7. #17
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    Jul 2005
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    Flying over a town near you
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    Default

    Count me in ... not the sharpest tool in the lathe but I would like to do something more than morphing from image to image. The spinning cubes are getting a little common here. I was working on Marvin the Martian but I am almost scared to show it in public. Always thought a laser cartoon would be cool.
    You are the only one that can make your dreams come true....and the only one that can stop them...A.M. Dietrich

  8. #18
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    Mar 2006
    Location
    East Coast , Canada
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    Default

    cool, wow sounds like we can make this happen!
    I use Pangolin and can convert 3d max images and FLAsH Images to ild..
    I do some of my stuff right in 3d max... Nice camera moves and the likes..BUT it does take time..Also if anyone does flash stuff i can convert it...from a SFW file.. Also i LOVE abstracts..!
    CREATIVITY AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!
    www.laser-ad.com

  9. #19
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    Nov 2005
    Location
    Sweden
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    Default

    I guess this would be framebased? maybe 20fps?
    You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!

  10. #20
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    Mar 2006
    Location
    East Coast , Canada
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    Default

    I suggest we pick a song, story board it, and them break it apart into maybe Intor, Verse 1 Chorus 1 verse 2 ect.. and each grab a section.... Keep the parts small will help to make it work out for more people!
    CREATIVITY AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!
    www.laser-ad.com

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