Originally Posted by
Bradfo69
Hi Rich,
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First, congratulations on being able to have experience with the Madrix system. I've seen a number of Youtube vids and have thought that would be something awesome to get for the banquet hall I manage. Cool stuff!
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Either of the Clubmax projectors are a great choice for getting into things entry level and would be fine for home use. For a club, particularly one where you're fighting other ambient lighting... including the Madrix pixels, both are likely underpowered to be any sort of wow factor. Depending on the size of the club, for beams overhead, I think you want to think about 3-12 watts. Now, that being said, it sounds like you're also looking to do an effect called audience scanning and, that is not something to undertake as a beginner. While the UK is not as restrictive as here in the US, there is a certain level of safety required as a matter of practice that you must adhere to. As you said, LED's aren't going to hurt anybody but, with lasers you have first a risk to eyesight and, to a lesser degree, skin issues and fire issues in the club. There are levels of exposure generally regarded as "safe" to eyesight and it is of the utmost importance that you stay within those exposure levels. The projector itself should be set up for audience scanning which will include things such as Pangolin's PASS and divergent lenses on the front of the projector. You'll need special meters to insure during set up that the beams are actually safe. It's really not something to get into as a new person just starting out.
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As far as the software, while Quickshow is quite a capable piece of software, to do a few of the things you're looking to do such as the live spectrum analyzer, you need to look at Pangolin's Beyond software which is a three fold jump in cost but, will give you all the necessary tools to work with.
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The Clubmax 800 and 1800 are fine for home use and both would be excellent for your graphics work, even in the club but, basically keep the beams above the audience or, when at home, above yourself. Ensure no stray beams are going out a window which could affect a neighbor.
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Keep reading, keep asking questions and, for a really amazing time and a tremendously educational experience, try to get to a UKLEM held twice a year in Spaulding. There are threads about the event in the "Meet and Greet" section of the forum.
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~Brad
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Oh, and as an answer to your question about the distance required to be "safe" you're going to not believe this answer but, doing a quick calculation using James Stewarts NOHD software (someone in the UK you really want to talk to) the distance away from a Clubmax 800 running full tilt that you need to be to view the beams safely in the eyes is 182 meters! That's a BIG club!