Hong Kong! (Bet you haven't heard that before)

[steviobee]

How long does it typically take to receive items from Goldenstar, using their least expensive shipping method?

As Norty said, about four days, was very impressed!

Also, one more question. Searching the forum lead to way more questions than answers.

Inexpensive USB DAC + Software.... Doesn't need to be a crazy robust show designer suite... the easier to use the better. Go.

I guess Pangolin's Quickshow seems the easiest, with lots of features to use as you get more used to it and an option to upgrade to Beyond later on but you can only use Pangolin software with the FB3 DAC...

[sugeek]

Pangolin (plug-in and dancing puppies on the wall), LSX + a riya or etherdream (the cheapest route, still comes with canned shows but the interface can be a learning curve), even cheaper would be a riya dac + LFIPlayer (you can make abstracts but no frame editor). ishow is not even an option unless you need a door stop.

-Adam

[steviobee]

Pangolin (plug-in and dancing puppies on the wall), LSX + a riya or etherdream (the cheapest route, still comes with canned shows but the interface can be a learning curve), even cheaper would be a riya dac + LFIPlayer (you can make abstracts but no frame editor). ishow is not even an option unless you need a door stop.

-Adam

Hehe...

But you don't need to use the cues provided with Pangolin, they are good to start with; silentgloves asked for ' the easier to use the better' - hence Quickshow.

I have made loads of great cues and the ones pre-installed gave me a good start by being able to edit the existing ones to see how they work... I've only used LSX as a demo for a short while and I'm not disputing it's amazing potential but I think the general consensus here is the steeper learning curve with LSX.

Maybe silentgloves should get a few demo's where available to see what he/she is more comfortable with?

And I agree ishow looks crap!

[silentgloves]

Hey guys,

So I got the demo of QuickShow... really easy to use. I like the VirtualLJ feature, and how you can layer (handy for house parties where I actually want to socialize). One question. If you have an analog modulated projector, can you attenuate the beam intensity globally? So... Say I have a 600mw RGB, and I want to turn it down to say 100mw total... is this possible? Is it generally done?

[absolom7691]

Yes, very easy to do in-software. You can even do it on the fly with the live controls.

[silentgloves]

So I'm thinking about getting either the Goldenstar S-RGB2000 with the DT30K scanners ( http://www.goldenstarlaser.com/srgb2000-p-270.html ) or the S-W600A ( http://www.goldenstarlaser.com/sw600a-p-462.html ). Then also getting QuickShow and the FB3.

The S-RGB2000 gives me analog modulation of beam intensity (10k, whatever that means) and the ability to purchase with DT30k scanners (how important is this for atmospherics?). The S-W600A is TTL, has 20K scanners and is significantly less money. Being inexperienced, I'm not sure if I need graphics projection or will focus on atmospherics. This will be trial-and-error. Thoughts?

[absolom7691]

TTL, if you don't know, means the lasers are on or off. That means 7 colors only. If you are doing arial beams, eh.... I suppose TTL isn't horrible but you will not be able to attenuate the brightness at all. Most people here, myself included, will tell you to spend a little extra on analog and don't look back. If you decide to do graphics or just projections, in general, you will HATE TTL. TTL = 7 colors. Analog = 16.7 million (provided the DAC is 24bit). For beams, you could get by with 20K galvos but for graphics, you will want 30K. All in all, it is best to spend more first. It may seem better to start out cheap but I can tell you, from experience, I have spent a great deal more by buying cheap than if I had just bought premium equipment from the beginning. The good thing with lasers is, most of the stuff will retain a decent resale value if you find it isn't for you.

[absolom7691]

As a side note for you, red can be tricky. Don't let big power fool you with red. 1000mW of 650nm red may sound impressive but several things diminish that power. 650nm is longer in the spectrum and further away from the peak of what your eye can detect. Also, 650nm diodes throw off some fat beams (not to be confused with phat!). The tighter a beam is of a given power, the brighter it is perceived and the more "pop" is has. So, that 1000mW starts getting watered down. I am not telling you to stay away from 650, but if you can get yourself a projector with a 638nm~642nm red with even 1/3 the power, you will only see a difference in quality (for the better) and not a difference in brightness, eh maybe a slight difference in color. I know it is a lot to take in but it is just something to think about if you are basing your purchase off of the numbers alone.

[White-Light]

Hey guys,

So I got the demo of QuickShow... really easy to use. I like the VirtualLJ feature, and how you can layer (handy for house parties where I actually want to socialize). One question. If you have an analog modulated projector, can you attenuate the beam intensity globally? So... Say I have a 600mw RGB, and I want to turn it down to say 100mw total... is this possible? Is it generally done?

Yes. Look for Beam Attenuation Mapping (BAM) in the software under settings. This effectively adjusts the power but the percentages refer to brightness. So 50% = 50% brightness not 50% power.

As for VLJ, have you tried the VLJ feature for the Quick Effects as this can be combined with the main VLJ for even more effects. There is one for each line of effects (button far right hand side of each Effects Line) and if you right click over the button, you can adjust the settings for each just the same as you can for the main VLJ.

There's a lot more to QS thans obvious from the interface as most of it is only found by exploring menus and digging.

[silentgloves]

Yes. Look for Beam Attenuation Mapping (BAM) in the software under settings. This effectively adjusts the power but the percentages refer to brightness. So 50% = 50% brightness not 50% power.

As for VLJ, have you tried the VLJ feature for the Quick Effects as this can be combined with the main VLJ for even more effects. There is one for each line of effects (button far right hand side of each Effects Line) and if you right click over the button, you can adjust the settings for each just the same as you can for the main VLJ.

There's a lot more to QS thans obvious from the interface as most of it is only found by exploring menus and digging.

Yes, I went into Advanced user mode and was layering VLJ sequenced QuickFX on VLJ running cues. Very cool.