Scanner endurance.

[Jem]

PM now sent ....

[planters]

Jem,

Doc... You can buy CT6215's through Pangolin and Bill will optimise them for you. He's incredibly knowledgeable about scanners, I bought my set through Pangolin and never regretted it. His price is keen, drop him an email and ask for a quote.

I didn't know that Pangolin sold any scanners other than their open loop actuators. I was holding out hope for a year now that they would finally get a working COMPLETE system to market. This still looks distant, but if they will optimize a set of CT6215's is this beneficial compared to purchasing directly from Cambridge or from some other supplier such as OSLS?

[swamidog]

i imagine OSLS would sell galvos tuned and tweaked if you asked them.

Jem,



I didn't know that Pangolin sold any scanners other than their open loop actuators. I was holding out hope for a year now that they would finally get a working COMPLETE system to market. This still looks distant, but if they will optimize a set of CT6215's is this beneficial compared to purchasing directly from Cambridge or from some other supplier such as OSLS?

[planters]

Sure they will. They list CT's on their website, but I was wondering if you knew if Pangolin is a good alternative or even if the manufacturer themselves sell a system that functions without the need for an expert distributor to tune them up for operation or for less cost?

[swamidog]

my assumption is galvo vendors like CT and EMS do a better factory tuning job than their chinese counterparts. post factory tuning might not be an issue.

Sure they will. They list CT's on their website, but I was wondering if you knew if Pangolin is a good alternative or even if the manufacturer themselves sell a system that functions without the need for an expert distributor to tune them up for operation or for less cost?

[Jem]

Jem,
I didn't know that Pangolin sold any scanners other than their open loop actuators. I was holding out hope for a year now that they would finally get a working COMPLETE system to market. This still looks distant, but if they will optimize a set of CT6215's is this beneficial compared to purchasing directly from Cambridge or from some other supplier such as OSLS?

I'd recommend dropping Bill an email and ask him about the tuning. To be completely honest i'm not very knowledgeable about scanner tuning and therefore i'm not really the best person to give advice. All I know is that they were by far the best scanners I have ever owned, I should never have parted with them.

[planters]

I will do that. Thanks.

Now, about the abstracts vs. graphics debate...

Seriously, which is preferable, a mind blowing display of Tangerine Dream-like synaesthesia, or 16 grand's worth of kit making Donald Duck waddle erratically and repeatedly across a screen of wall or water? I rest my case.

I have complained with out much response to the general lack of graphical content available. My "poster boy" is "Mr. Magoo". This is one reason I have become less enthralled with the laser medium and am more interested in high res/ high power video. There is so much content available to work with in the video realm and the graphic libraries for lasers are so heavily geared toward the goofy looking and cartoon-ish. Literally, you can invest 10's of thousands of dollars in equipment to project a very bright duck. I'm not talking about some toy from Spencers and an image on a wall in a basement. For this the duck is OK, but from there unless you are a graphic artist with time to burn that is about it.

I know the point count, even with fast scanners is always limiting, but how about 50 different stylized trees, hands, chairs or horizons rather than Squidward?

[swamidog]

You are totally speaking my language here. I have no interest in cartoon laser shows. That's what video projectors are for.

I've put tons of hours into learning lsx and making (hopefully) interesting and unique abstracts. This is the strength of the medium. Eye catching lines and colors and flickering oscillations from transient fragments of light. Tricks and patterns that get stuck in your brain and play over and over again when you try to sleep.


On the other hand, I did just complete a graphic show... At least it's not mr. Magoo.


http://youtu.be/VvbFwroR4XU

I will do that. Thanks.

Now, about the abstracts vs. graphics debate...



I have complained with out much response to the general lack of graphical content available. My "poster boy" is "Mr. Magoo". This is one reason I have become less enthralled with the laser medium and am more interested in high res/ high power video. There is so much content available to work with in the video realm and the graphic libraries for lasers are so heavily geared toward the goofy looking and cartoon-ish. Literally, you can invest 10's of thousands of dollars in equipment to project a very bright duck. I'm not talking about some toy from Spencers and an image on a wall in a basement. For this the duck is OK, but from there unless you are a graphic artist with time to burn that is about it.

I know the point count, even with fast scanners is always limiting, but how about 50 different stylized trees, hands chairs or horizons rather than Squidward?

[The_Doctor]

I will do that. Thanks.

Now, about the abstracts vs. graphics debate...



I have complained with out much response to the general lack of graphical content available. My "poster boy" is "Mr. Magoo". This is one reason I have become less enthralled with the laser medium and am more interested in high res/ high power video. There is so much content available to work with in the video realm and the graphic libraries for lasers are so heavily geared toward the goofy looking and cartoon-ish. Literally, you can invest 10's of thousands of dollars in equipment to project a very bright duck. I'm not talking about some toy from Spencers and an image on a wall in a basement. For this the duck is OK, but from there unless you are a graphic artist with time to burn that is about it.

I know the point count, even with fast scanners is always limiting, but how about 50 different stylized trees, hands, chairs or horizons rather than Squidward?

Nice. Someone gets it. I'm not the best, I have no glory to boast, but what little I offered is so un-noticed I have to wonder if most people in the laser 'biz' actually have a clue what they want!

Ramble ensueth, I shall at least try to be entertaining here...

I saw laser drivers with 100 Hz, maybe 200 Hz capability, decided that the right op-amp and an LM317 could make great power, speed, cheapness, easily available to all. Instead, people seemed to demand more of what I considered to be lesser drivers, given waveforms shown. granted, at least two of those got good since from what I read, but I was getting MHz, never mind a couple of KHz! I even posted it here, AND in Sam's LaserFAQ, with a PCB layout, never mind just a schematic, and no-one seemed to care except Sam Goldwasser. As a man with fine musical taste I'm glad to say he recognises when someone is trying to make something with which art can be done. I don't want worship, way too embarrassing, but I did at least think people here would have the vision to recognise when they were given a good thing.

What all that boils down to is that while laser scanners have mass, there IS scope for gradients in curves, subtle geometrical forms, etc. Instead of DMX, which in my view is fairly limited born of lighting equipment, better use MIDI, born of fast responsive realtime audio performance fit to draw crowds of thousands. Good enough for THAT, should be good enough for any of you. You don't have to own the rare Zyklus MIDI Performing Instrument' but there is plenty of cheap leeway to go better than hitting a button and zap-zap-zap all done for you. That's CRAP. Seriously! It's the equivalent of hitting the bossanova button on a cheap keyboard beat box! You wouldn't even impress a kid in a music store with that these days!

To end my rant, I make one point to bind it all: It's about vision! One day many people here will wake up to learn someone did some amazing performance with limited gear, live, throwing strange fleeting shapes that draw minds in like music does, and they will wonder why that person got the glory instead of them. Even if you aren't after that glory, aren't you at least a bit curious as to what CAN be done? You won't get there agonising over angles, small differences in wavelength, and ignoring a diode driver five times faster than the current standard when it's thrown right in front of you. Even if you have to build that board yourself, isn't it worth it?

I got mighty curious, but given the cost of lasers, and the cheapness of coding my own synthesiser, I went with the coding. But I'm still hanging around here, at least for a while, hoping to see if anything really INTERESTING happens, because it should, and lasers are cool. (I'm also wondering if anyone wants to buy my Widemove scanner platform too, which will keep me waiting here a while till I lose patience and interest. I only raise that issue here because if I do not sell, I can't buy the 6215's I want. I have some ideas about live performance with a laser equivalent of an analog monosynth that would need their speed and power. If someone helps me by actually buying them, it improves (though cannot guarantee) the chances that I may create something else to offer, beyond the driver and power meter design already offered (and strangely ignored) here before I left last time. I can't afford to get new scanners if no-one is willing to place any value on my current ones. I keep them in good untouched order specifically for whatever future anyone is willing to give them, now.

Anyway, again, good to see at least two or three people recognise the lack of vision, and try to spark a bit of new fire into life. All I'm trying to do is the same.

[laserist]

snip
To end my rant, I make one point to bind it all: It's about vision! One day many people here will wake up to learn someone did some amazing performance with limited gear, live, throwing strange fleeting shapes that draw minds in like music does, and they will wonder why that person got the glory instead of them.
snip

Actually his name is Ivan Dryer - and if not the only to sell 20 million tickets - certainly the first...

Oh, I enjoyed the, "...Donald Duck waddle erratically and repeatedly..." line.

Brian