Noob Question about Quickshow

[Greefever]

Hi I'n new around here.
I'm a mobile dj. Because of this i got interested in doing laser shows. I recently bought a little projector with a Ilda port. It runs at 20kpps i have tested it and it seems to be okay for my purposes.
I have been investigating buying software and DAC to connect to the laser when I do gigs. I would like to do some beam shows to music and maybe a animation at weddings where I can change the names every time.

I sort of had my heart set on buying Moncha.net as I really like their demo software, and I like how they create and give away free shows of new music to their users. Its also has a autopilot button that auto runs the software with whatever beams and effects are loaded. I know QS can do it too. I have nothing against QS except the price

I loaded up the QS demo too and like it equally. I think its probably more powerful then Moncha. But I don't think I would ever become an expert user. The other day I decided to take a chance and phone Laser X in Johannesburg and spoke to a sales guy. Low and behold, they actually carry Pangolin and Phoenix. The guy said he could give me a QS with oem FB3 for $580-00. All they have in stock at the moment. Now that price changes things as the Moncha would come to the same after shipping from Europe to South Africa. And our currency just went for a ball of shit. So I don't want to import anything right now if I can help it.

So my question is this. Is there any sources of free shows for QS like there is for Moncha? I will buy the software, and try and do my own shows. But what if I'm crap at it? And I run a DJ business, I can't spend too much time preparing laser shows. And what if I get bored of making shows. I'd like something that is simple for me to use.

Is there such a place? Usergroups or somewhere?

Thanks,


Steve

[smokeAndMirrors]

There is http://http://www.pangolinshows.com/ which has a growing QS database. But seriously: much of the pleasure in lasering is in show creation, and QS is not only easy to get the hang of, but also delivers better results and can prolong the life of your projector. Moncha is a bit cr@p, to be honest. Better than iShow, for sure, but still oozing naffness :-D

[Greefever]

Thanks for the reply. I've seen some nice shows done on Moncha. Thanks for the link. I'm glad to hear such a place does exist. I wish I could get in to see what there is.

[allthatwhichis]

There are currently 20 beam shows and 15 graphic show on the Pangolin Show Space site for QuickShow. I think we are going to choose 10 to put on the QS install DVD here soon.

I have a feeling that you will get into making shows because as a DJ you "should" be very familiar with you music which I think is the most difficult part of starting a show.

I am not too familiar with other laser controller equipment but I can thoroughly vouch for Pangolin's support of their customers.

[Greefever]

Thanks for the info, thats is great know. It gives me some more confidence in the product. Not that I've doubted the product. Was just worried that I may get stuck if I flunk out of the creative side.

[michelrietveld]

if you need a platform and usergroup that supports quickshow users this is the place, there are lot of pangolin users on this forum who are experimenting with all the features and there is also the possibility to contact pangolin directly, so far they have always been very responsive to my questions

[White-Light]

If that's US dollars, I'm not sure that price is particularly cheap. Also, the OEM FB3 sounds like the older version to me the (SE) as the new FB is the FB-QS which only comes cased;

http://www.pangolin.com/flashback/flashback3.htm

If you buy the SE, then obviously apart from being a lower spec (probably not going to make much difference with QS), you're other problem is going to be how you mount it. You may or may not have room inside your projector. If you don't then you need to factor in the time and expense of getting an external housing and mounting it in there yourself. There's also some mod needed on the OEM, from memory, to allow it to use USB as a power source in an external housing as its designed to use a power source from in the projector. I'm sure others can tell you what but I think it requires a solder bridge over two contacts on the board.

Personally I'd want the FB3-QS version but that's just me.

You can buy direct from Pangolin or I'm told there are some good deals on Ebay. It's all going to depend on import taxes for your country.

[Greefever]

Thanks for the valuable advice WL and Mike. You mention some very valid points. I think the boxed version is a better idea. Specially since I think I'll outgrow my current projector quickly, and I don't want to struggle every time a try a different projector either.

Well, I suppose that puts Moncha back in the race, if I'm going to have to import anyway. The tax doesn't bother me too much. We pay 14%, no other duties. Its normally the shipping that costs a lot. You know, living in Africa, DHL use bushmen on ostrich for deliveries. And those bastards don't come cheap

I will have to decide what I'm going to do. I think it will probably be QS though.

[Greefever]

Okay, so I decided not to go for the FB3 SE, but rather the boxed version. Seems like Laser X here don't have any as he wants to charge me $60 to box it. So I decided to tank that idea and to look elsewhere. I'll rather wait for a courier and pay taxes then have a DIY FB3. Anyway, so I found that Spacelas has a special for $499 and $50 shipping. The price with the shipping makes this very attractive. And you know what they say about when something looks too good to be true

http://shop.spacelas.com/index.php?m...1&reviews_id=6

This would be a genuine product, and I gather they a safe company to order from? Would I be able to get support and into the Pangolin user site if I buy this?

Thanks for your input.

[smokeAndMirrors]

Spacelas are good! I just bought an fb3 from them. Their projectors are above average for China, too.