Cost of laser shows?

[mixedgas]

Quote"I'm not sure I've been here long enough to speak for many, but if I did I think I know what I'd say "
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15 years ago my mentor gave me the same advice, I just gave you. He then wrote it in his book on how to perform laser shows..
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Chapter two of Laser FX, The Light Show Handbook by L. Michael Roberts, consists in its entirety of the following:
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At the top of the page quote "Can you make money doing laser shows"
At the Middle of the Page, I quote "NO!"
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YMMV... I've been at this a while and know the score.. It is not personal regret, not many people can say they have launched lasers from the tops of tall buildings in NYC, and then turn that into a career of launching lasers in moist, dark, underground labs. I, However, have seen far too many people try to start that were under-funded.
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The industry has tight margins, high fixed costs, lots of hidden costs, many, many, participants, and entertainment clients are cheap by definition.
Steve

[Laser Wizardry]

" 15 characters"

[Pitts]

Hey Karl,
Just went to have a look at your website... Your pictures arent coming uo ..getting an error message.
Just FYI in case you didnt know
Cheers
Ray
Nz

[Photonbeam]

When I first started out, there were only a few people doing laser shows professionally. Just the word "laser" had a lot of mystique and would guarantee publicity in the press and on TV. Audiences were easier to impress. Equipment acquisition costs were enormous. At that time, all lasers were delicate laboratory instruments that we adapted to travel. We were very secretive then, protecting the techniques we invented and software we developed. The ion lasers were big and heavy, requiring a crew to set up, trucks to haul, and generators to operate. A broken plasma tube could wipe out your profit (and more). Flash forward 40 years. Now there are laser show companies in every major city and the competition is fierce. By the time I retired, competitors were bidding $500-$1000 on the shows we used to charge $10K+ for. With cheap Chinese lasers, hardware and software available off the shelf, almost anyone can get in the business. I would not like to be starting out in the laser show business today and I admire anyone with the tenacity to make a go of it. How much should you charge? Find out your client's budget, try to get all of it, and always give them more than they pay for. I didn't exactly get rich, but it kept me from having to get a real job and I was doing something I would gladly do for fun and for free. Good luck!

[frostypaw]

Is it fair to say this kind of supplementary service is an artist's game now - correct me if I'm wrong but from exposure to other (less coherent) sound and light there can be a gulf of difference between the end result you get from two similarly specced shows and the right guy isn't the one with 100 lights he can make look ok but the guy who can do stunning with 20?

The range of shows available and the difference in skill between them seems vast and I'm just starting to watch. Some of the very best most beautiful shows I've watched have been some of the simplest, but put together with the care of a craftsman and the ensuing applause says plenty of people appreciate it. I guess where I'm heading is back to 'practise, practise, practise'?