I just joined this forum. I am interested in building out a laser show system at my house. I have a 3K square foot patio with outdoor kitchen and fire pit and just added a Sonance Sound system - we entertain frequently. I also have some Color Kinetics lighting system outside with color changing effects through my home automation system. The patio overlooks our pond but have neighbors across (8 acres), so I need to tightly control the laser system.
When I was in Grad School, I played with lasers and now I find myself being drawn back. My expertise is LEDs and could easily see myself getting sucked into a DIY project. However, for my first system, I may want to recognize my ignorance here and buy a turn key solution. My goal is to buy system and software that would allow me to fiddle and build the software programs with Pangolin (seems to be the standard) to then wow my guests after a dinner party.
I have been looking at the X-Laser Skywriter 750mW and 1.5W RGB systems. I am open to custom. I am guessing I will need to build a custom screen in the trees (was thinking of an automated black tarp 20x40 - like dump trucks use or automated curtains high up 60ft ish in the tree so would be 20 ft off the ground) unless the laser technology can do arial 3D effects (not sure how this is possible without particulates in the air or background? The throw would be 100 feet from the projector if I build what I am thinking.
My total budget is probably around $5-10K for everything - open to used or new and willing to rent to try out various systems.
I am located in the Boston area.
Thanks for the help,
Jed