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Thread: Pangolin Abstract Generator *ROCKS*

  1. #11
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    Smile Video of Pangolin Abstracts is on line...

    Ok - I finally got a chance to digitize the video of the abstracts that I took earlier. I've uploaded the video to google video. Here is the direct link to the video. (You can also find it by searching for "Pangolin Abstract Generator".)

    Now, I should warn you that the video quality isn't the greatest. The problem is that under the low light conditions, my camera just can't capture the intense colors of the laser. (Low light is *really* a problem when shooting laser show graphics, at least for my old Hi-8 camera.) I was projecting onto the angled part of a vaulted ceiling, so the popcorn stuff (blown ceiling) also added a little fuzzyness to the lines. Then too, the video compression doesn't help things. (But without it you'd have to download a 60 meg file!)

    Finally, remember that a video camera doesn't have persistence of vision, so some of the effects look funny. But rest assured that in real life they look a whole lot better!

    I had the music playing in the background ("Again", by Peter Heyt), and just selected various abstracts from a large list of them by clicking on the files in the frame window. It's very crude, but I wasn't trying to do a syncronized show. I just wanted to get some video of some abstracts, so I slapped it together as quick as I could. I could have loaded them into the Showtime Live! player I guess, but this was a quick and dirty way to get the video done.

    The first pattern is one that I made. The rest are stock abstracts that come with Pangolin. The one that starts at about 1 minute and 15 seconds in is one of my favorites. The one that immediately follows is also very cool in real life, but on video you can't see the colors or the after-images so it doesn't look nearly as good. The one at 2 minutes and 15 seconds is also very cool, as is the one at 4 minutes.

    Like I said, all the images look much better in real life. If I can get my hands on a better video camera I might try this again. But trust me, if you think any of the patterns in the video look cool, you have *GOT* to see them in real life.

    Adam

  2. #12
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    Way cool Adam!

    Quote Originally Posted by Buffo View Post
    Ok - I finally got a chance to digitize the video of the abstracts that I took earlier. I've uploaded the video to google video. Here is the direct link to the video. (You can also find it by searching for "Pangolin Abstract Generator".)

    Now, I should warn you that the video quality isn't the greatest. The problem is that under the low light conditions, my camera just can't capture the intense colors of the laser. (Low light is *really* a problem when shooting laser show graphics, at least for my old Hi-8 camera.) I was projecting onto the angled part of a vaulted ceiling, so the popcorn stuff (blown ceiling) also added a little fuzzyness to the lines. Then too, the video compression doesn't help things. (But without it you'd have to download a 60 meg file!)

    Finally, remember that a video camera doesn't have persistence of vision, so some of the effects look funny. But rest assured that in real life they look a whole lot better!

    I had the music playing in the background ("Again", by Peter Heyt), and just selected various abstracts from a large list of them by clicking on the files in the frame window. It's very crude, but I wasn't trying to do a syncronized show. I just wanted to get some video of some abstracts, so I slapped it together as quick as I could. I could have loaded them into the Showtime Live! player I guess, but this was a quick and dirty way to get the video done.

    The first pattern is one that I made. The rest are stock abstracts that come with Pangolin. The one that starts at about 1 minute and 15 seconds in is one of my favorites. The one that immediately follows is also very cool in real life, but on video you can't see the colors or the after-images so it doesn't look nearly as good. The one at 2 minutes and 15 seconds is also very cool, as is the one at 4 minutes.

    Like I said, all the images look much better in real life. If I can get my hands on a better video camera I might try this again. But trust me, if you think any of the patterns in the video look cool, you have *GOT* to see them in real life.

    Adam
    "Gravity its not just a good idea its the law"

  3. #13
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    Did you use the DT40 galvos?

    Pangolin FB3 QS/LivePro/SMS2Laser
    Riya MultiBus
    Pangolin LD2000 Pro

  4. #14
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    Wonderfull !! Is it a way to do the same with Mamba?

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pangolin View Post
    PS: One abstract show I particularly enjoy, and will never forget, is one that David Zurcher showed me. This is a show that he shows to friends when describing the equipment he has spent thousands of dollars on. Hopefully David will one day reveal the secrets of this amazing show...

    LOL! I could never give away my secrets to such a great abstract show! Actually, for those who haven't seen it, I made an all abstract show to the song Time is Tight by Booker T. & the MG's. The show was actually created to be just about as worthless as could be. The idea behind it is to show to someone who hasn't seen a laser show before or hasn't seen what I do with lasers and tell them about how I spent thousands just to do this! I can't really take credit for the original idea, the original idea actually comes from a guy named Joe Hopkins who gave me the idea of creating a cheap abstract show with the song Time is Tight. Anyway, I have a video of it posted on google: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...52849710706718 As usual, my camera is not the greatest at capturing abstracts, but you get the idea...

    For those of us who don't own Pangolin, how about some pics/videos?
    Ok, so here is a short video of what pangolin abstracts can really do! http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...88403120420293 Nearly everything in the video is abstract, there are a few frames like the starfield effect and what not. I don't know if I'm crossing any legal boundaries by posting this, certainly if I am I will remove it as soon as I'm notified. It is a small portion of one of my favorite abstract shows that comes with pangolin, BUY PANGOLIN!

    If it only had "sample and hold" it could compete with my console.
    Ok Steve, you've sparked by curiosity, what would the benefits be of a sample and hold circuit for an abstract generator?

    David
    Last edited by DZ; 05-31-2007 at 08:51.

  6. #16
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    I knew I had another video of an abstract from pangolin. Seems to be a bit slow loading up, I may have to just put this on google video...

    https://home.comcast.net/~djzurcher/abs.MPG

    David

  7. #17
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    Thanks Fred! Glad you liked it. I need to figure out a way to improve the color response of the camera... I think next time I'll try projecting on a scrim and have the camera behind it. That might increase the color saturation some.

    Cruch: Yes, all the abstracts in that show were displayed with the DT-40 galvos. In fact, I had the scan speed turned down quite low (around 12K!), and the scan angle (gain) was also turned way down (31%). I could have easily trippled both the size and the scan speed, but then the pattern would have been too large for my ceiling. (Plus my scanners sometimes make funny noises when running at high scan rates on certain abstracts, which can't be good for them. Bill Benner warned me to always scan abstracts slowly at first, to prevent over-driving your scanners.)

    sbk: The only way Mamba would be able to display the abstracts would be if someone that had a Pangolin board were to first create an abstract, and then save it out as a series of ILDA frames. I know this is possible, because Bill explained that this is how you can display abstracts on the FlashBack 3 hardware. But it's a tedious process, and you'd still need the Pangolin board to construct the abstracts first.

    DJDevNull wrote a program (SPIRO) that will create some cool geometric patterns, and it will work with Mamba (or any other ILDA file editor). While not a true abstract generator, the results are similar - at least for a limited subset of shapes. Have a look at this thread for details about how it works. (And here's the direct link to download the software.)

    David; I remember that Pink Floyd abstract show. We watched it at FLEM, and I think you and I watched it again at your place... I always felt that it was a bit heavy on the blue, green, and teal though. Still, you're right - it's an awesome show.

    About Steve's comment about sample and hold... Hmmm. Couldn't you accomplish this by saving the abstract as a series of ILDA frames, then select the frame you want (your sample and hold), and use that frame as the input to the primary oscillator for a new abstract? Granted, it's not instantaneous like a true analog waveform synth would be, but it would work...

    Adam

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    Thanks for the tips Adam! So if someone would once a day save a little full color Pangolin abstract show into ILDA frames and upload it, I'll be happy to test it on my newly built projector

    I missed the DJDevNull's post with its great software... I just tested it, it's working like magic lol (despite I'm programming too), great and simple idea!

  9. #19
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    Hi Guys,

    Just a few quick notes (again).

    About Sample & Hold, yes, it would be good if our abstract generator had it. Actually, we have a few abstract generator offerings -- one of them in the LD2000 series, and another in LivePRO. These are completely different ways of coming about "abstracts". Doug McCullough accomplishes sample & hold looks by using oscillator bank 2 "as a waveform" and digitizing a bunch of random points in a frame. William Moore also does this. It gives what William Moore calls a "popping shapes" effect.

    As for further abstract developments, I am sure we will resume one day. In the mean time, we have more pressing matters which (believe it or not) are more important to many laserists, including laser safety (i.e. audience scanning in the US) and fuller support for multi-media. That's what we are spending most of our time on these days. But once we have completed these tasks we will revisit abstracts. I have some ideas which have not been realized in this business yet -- and areas which apparently other people are not looking...

    Also, for recording laser shows in video, we use an old "tube" camera. Actually, we have two such cameras. One is an old Sony M3, and another is an old Ampex. Both of these are 3-tube cameras. The tubes have a sort of "burn in" effect, that is stronly similar to persistence of vision.

    Best regards,

    William Benner

  10. #20
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    About Steve's comment about sample and hold... Hmmm. Couldn't you accomplish this by saving the abstract as a series of ILDA frames, then select the frame you want (your sample and hold), and use that frame as the input to the primary oscillator for a new abstract? Granted, it's not instantaneous like a true analog waveform synth would be, but it would work...

    Adam[/QUOTE]


    yeah but true sample and hold grabs a bit of the 2nd oscillator , but the hold width and hold rate are variable. On the console, there is a "bleed through" level as well that allows a percentage of the base abstract to go through without sampling, so on ye olde console back in arizona, there is a knob for sample FM, sample Am, and sample bleedthrough. bleed gives you a rowsette in the middle.
    Also the am has dual polarity, so you have "innie" or "outie" images that you can continiously tune through. The FM and AM knobs can also be tied into a VFO. I'd post the schematic, but my artistic , full time professional , sometimes business partner in AZ would come to Ohio with his AK47
    locked and loaded if I disclosed it. it also has a intensity channel tied to itthat the sh pulse width gates, the console has  seperate RGB/ and intensit y channels, so you can fade and sparkle.

    steve 
    Last edited by mixedgas; 06-04-2007 at 10:38. Reason: ㄎdurn chinese fonts on bo

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