Senior Member
sOriginally Posted by absolom7691
No software was involved - A 35 year old Laserium control panel was the image source. Last night I rediscovered the joy of a joystick wire breaking during a show - Simon liked the new stuff I did in Echos - i explained that lots of great content starts as a cover for something. I was just trying to reduce the contortions involved for me to use the left hand joystick.
"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso
Senior Member
I thought that looked very Laserium-esque. Very nice work! How I would LOVE to own one of those beauties.
Has anyone heard of Reason, a software by Propellerhead? It is basically a synth emulator. It emulates everything, even mixers, reverbs and whatnot. It is like having a full "rack" on your PC. Seen here: http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/.
Using Reason as an example, I am wondering how hard it would be to emulate a Laserium console; banks of oscillators, offset modulators, amplitude fades/sustains, tweaks, and even joysticking via mouse. Also giving it the ability to pre-record a show and play back later through the emulated console where it can be tweaked "live". I don't know all that is in one of those legendary Laserium consoles but I imagine it is like a Moog for lasers. I wish I knew programming to be able to do it. I have never used Digisynth and based on its price, I probably never will, I imagine that is kind of how it works. I am just talking about the idea, obviously licensing and copyrights would need to be taken into account for sales. If anyone was willing, I would buy! Just a thought.
If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room.
el gringo loco
..Oh, I don't think any apologies are needed.. minds sufficiently-blown.....Always Loved the CSL's 'liquid-color' mods that almost look like 'moirés'... iirc, there were some really-spectaculucious rings in 'Back in the Saddle' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-5xXf3vGng, ~1:01 - 1:14.. can't wait to play..
..IOU a phone call, actually... ttys..
j
....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...
Jr. Woodchuckington Janitor III, Esq.
i love those 3d dot line/infinity mirror effects. i'm going to have to give that a try in LSX.
..Oh, I don't think any apologies are needed.. minds sufficiently-blown..
..IOU a phone call, actually... ttys..
j
suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.
el gringo loco
..yeah, meeee2... ie: ~2:03-14, luscious... there's a scan-glass involved, tho.. I'll have to find out from the elders, which one, exactly (..I *think* I know, but gotta re-check..) if / when I find it...trade ya one for a latte?
j
Jr. Woodchuckington Janitor III, Esq.
it's a deal!
"the myth of the killer ape is true"
..yeah, meeee2... ie: ~2:03-14, luscious... there's a scan-glass involved, tho.. I'll have to find out from the elders, which one, exactly (..I *think* I know, but gotta re-check..) if / when I find it...trade ya one for a latte?
j
suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.
Senior Member
I enjoyed the previous abstract images! Karl... you should make a post detailing your console. Steve... It would be very awesome of you to share your modulation scheme please. I am sure it would help out quite a few of us Laserists.
Here are some images of some abstracts from a program I have written. The program will be posted along with the source code in the near future.
Please excuse the poor picture quality. I am not able to take good pictures... and my projector's modulation is crappy... ugh.
ILDA files here:
http://fab-favreau.com/download/cool_spiro1_wdamp.ild
http://fab-favreau.com/download/cross1.ild
http://fab-favreau.com/download/neato1.ild
http://fab-favreau.com/download/radiation.ild
http://fab-favreau.com/download/spinning_saw.ild
They are linked from my web site. If anyone has instructions as to where the Attach file button is that would be great!
Senior Member
Maybe I should click on the "Advanced" button to get to the attachment option... gee whiz.
Senior Member
Way Cool! Thanks! Can't wait for the proggy to be shared!
Creaky Old Award Winning Bastard Technologist
If you have LSX, switching to Reason does not gain you much. The joystick interface is in there, already. And using a mouse to control a abstract show is close to apostasy, IMHO.Mouse just does not have the resolution or reponse a true analog stick has.
Have Swami take you under his wing and show you some math!
-----------------------------------
Chris,
As for sharing the Thesis One console (not quite its real name) its creation was a senior project thesis of a very gifted engineer ,that remains to be seen. The Elders of the Tribe of the Abstract Kokopelli have to decide. We sorta share the design rights to it. We bought them for a horrendous price along with the hardware at a estate sale. It is the predecessor of a certain professional console that won worldwide acclaim.
There is no software, its all done with a form of wavetable synthesis and some unique ratiometric scaling circuits. The VCOS actually run at several Megahertz and are mixed down. Little changes in the parasitic inductance of the potentiometer as it is changed by the operator influence the patterns in real time.
LSX can come close to reproducing its output from a digitization, but Intro and Basic need you to buy the upgraded "PRO" analog color output from Pangolin. 32 and 64 color systems just don't cut it with the output from this device. Just giving out the frames takes away the synesthesia, you have to see the live, living, motion synced to the music by the operator.
The discussion is in progress about taking a captionless, explanationless photo of the blanking widget and just posting it.
I CAN share some output from the blanking only Console that is rumored to have toured with Floyd. The analog modules in it are so Old that TI had to dig the schematics out of the Burr Brown archives for me. That took about two weeks.
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Modern software abtracts are too perfect. They cannot replicate the thermal noise, chaotic processes, and electronic band-limiting effects in the true 80s and 90's hardware techniques. They scan exactly the same thing every time the frame is played, at exactly the same point in the music. A analog console is asynchronous. Its output is never quite the same. Noises and subtle distortions multiply in them. The Laserium consoles, from my limited understanding, have a little coherence in the spiral track if its on the master tape. But not much.
Which is why you'll never see the "eye melt" you see in Laserists 1.JPG with software.
Steve
Last edited by mixedgas; 04-28-2013 at 10:06.
Qui habet Christos, habet Vitam!
I should have rented the space under my name for advertising.
When I still could have...
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