Hi From New Member

[apdevelopments]

Hi everybody.

I am new to this forum.

A little bit about me.
I am 72 years old and enjoy spending my retirement playing with lasers.
Back in the 1990's I used to own a Entertainment company supplying Lighting and sound to various events.
Back then I owned 2 laser systems along with 4 world war 7kw searchlights, 2x 4kw skytrackers and other equipment for filming etc.
The Lasers back then I owned were a 2 watt air cooled Argon and a 6 Watt watercooled Argon.
Computer control back then was limited using a simple software running windows 3.11.
As I have now retired I sold the company and all the equipment went off to Germany.
Back then there was no internet and computers were limited which meant lasers cost a fortune. Now you can buy a laser for £50

I decided to buy a low cost laser system recently to play with and after some research I found one on ebay which was nice and cheep and could be operated by a pc.
i came across a Laser Know How System which had low powered red and green lasers running 10k Galvanometers. I paid £100 for it.
When I received it I am amazed how things have changed and become so much smaller to what I have been used to.
As always when you buy a cheap laser the red is not lined up with he green so that was the first task.

After playing with it I decided to buy some cheep software from the same company.
I brought the ishow software and ilda adapter for £90.
The Software is amazing for £100.
I paid £10'000 for Laser Graphics software in 1992. and this is so much more user frendly.

As always there is no manuals with the software so it has taken me a couple of months to get through it.

I have read that none of you like ishow on this forum.
Cant understand why. Its so much more advanced to what I used in the 90's

Is that because you dont want to write your own shows frame by frame?

Writing your own show is like writing a book.
Lots of swearing and piles of paper in a bucket.

My method is drawing up on paper first. (Every Frame) then use a graphics tablet to transfer to the pc.

No cheating and tonnes of patients.

FACT! (Stephen King still uses a old metal manual typewriter today. No computers or word processors)

I have written up a few nice shows with it but as you probally know drawing up every frame takes time.

By drawing up every frame you can make great shows. but allow about 1 month for a good 10 min show.

This is how it used to be done in the 90's and you need alot of patience


I have enjoyed playing with it and I am now addicted again and i am thinking about a upgrade.
only problem is that I am retired and have a limited budget so I wont have £40'000 to spend which i did back in the 90's.

as you probally know buying Laser systems is like ice skating uphill. It does not matter how much you spend there is always something better somewhere.

I have seen the laserworld gear on ebay but is skeptical if there any good for the prices that the sell for.
Especially the power outputs. Until I buy one and use my Laser Power Meter I wont Know
Can you use Laserworld Equipment with my Ishow software and ilda adapter usb box.?

I would like a good green system around 500mw and a bigger coloured system.
I dont think I can stretch to 7 colours with a good power but maybe 3.
I have a budget of £1000.

Any Ideas.

[stanwax]

Hello no named 72 year old
Welcome to our forum - I am guessing that from your refrence to £ that you are here in the UK. Please feel free to join us at one of our UK meets (Dec in Spalding and Feb in Leicester next) if you can make it - you will be very welcome.
As for ishow I think the reason people complain about it is compared to the powerful software tools available these days ishow is a bit on the long winded and limted side. As you point out it will achieve results but only with the patience that this instant modern society clearly lacks! I use Medialas Mamba black software and can create a beam show timed to music with all my own frames in 5-10 hours depending on length of show. That I think is the main difference. It also seems that many people are happy to just play shows that come with an application or make shows based on the frame content supplied. Therefore they are not interested in the harder job that ishow presents. That said there are lots of Mamba users making their own great shows and to me this is as much a part of the enjoyment as building or using the hardware. I guess for you ishow is such a step forward compared to what you have done in the past so you can see it from a much different perspective to us.
As for where to spend your money as pointed out in another recent post I think if you have the skills time and inclination to build a projector yourself then this is almost certainly the best way to spend your money. You will end up with better and more powerful laser sources than if you buy off the shelf products. Yes the laserworld projector will work with ishow though I think the ishow output is a 9pin d connector rather than an ilda std connector which will be on the laserworld projector so you would need to make up an adaptor. If you cant work this out - though i susspect you can - there are plenty of folks here - myslef included who will be able to help you out.
Im sure you will get all the help you need on here though I reckon from your past experience I bet you could teach us a thing or two!
Rob

[h2so4]

Welcome to the boards!!!

You will find very friendly people here and you will get information and help about everything you are interested in knowing!
I began with iShow and if you use it like you do, it works well. It had to change it as I don't have the skills and the time to draw every frame by hand. I don't know if it works with Laserworld projectors, but I had one projector which worked both with iShow DAC and Pangolin FB3 DAC, which follows ILDA standard, so I think you will have no problems. As Rob suggested, building your own projector is the best way to get a well-working system. An analogue RGB system would give the best results and can be "relatively" affordable these days. (I'm a student so I know what having a limited budget means...). iShow supports only TTL mode though...
Anyway, welcome to PL!!!

All the best!
Giovanni

[buffo]

Welcome to PhotonLexicon, Apdevelopments!

Wow... An old-school animator that still draws each and every frame by hand. You're a rare breed, my friend. Most people don't have the patience to do that. But you're right - that's the way it was done back in the 90's. (And indeed, that's the way it's been done for decades in the cartoon animation business.) I'm sure many of us would love to see your creations.

These days there are more modern software tools that can help speed the animation process along. (Much more advanced than Ishow, for example.) This allows the artist more time to be creative, without spending so much time on the very tedious process of hand-drawing each and every frame.

As Rob mentioned, the main reason people are not all that pleased with the Ishow software is the lack of these modern tools to help the user create frames and animations. The other primary drawback to Ishow is the fact that it does not support analog modulation. The difference is *incredibly* striking between a TTL color RGB rig (with just 7 colors) and a full-analog RGB system (with potentially millions of colors).

I'd also like to second Rob's suggestion that you attend one of the upcoming Laser Enthusiast's Meetings in the UK (UKLEM)... Those meets will introduce you to a good cross-section of the modern software that is available. (Evertyhing from Pangolin, to Mamba, to some freeware solutions.) You'll get a chance to see it all in operation (up close), and you can ask questions from the people that are using it. You'll also see *numerous* projectors all set up and operating at the same time. Everything from monochrome green to full color RGB - maybe even a mixed-gas whitelight ion laser! (If Rob shows up, that is...)

Finally, you'll meet some truly incredible people. The folks here on this forum will bend over backwards to help new members. I promise that by the end of the day you'll have a bunch of new friends, and a whole list of new ideas to try when you get home.

As for your more immediate goal concerning a projector (or possibly 2 projectors), I think once you attend a UKLEM, you'll have a much better idea about exactly what sort of projector you want. And if you do decide to build it yourself, you can count on a lot of support - both from people here in the forums and from the kind folks you'll meet at UKLEM.

So, again - Welcome to the forums... Looking forward to hearing more about your laser history.

Adam

[Jem]

Hi APDevelopments.

Is there any chance you could let us know roughly whereabouts in the UK you are? (you don't have to be too specific if you don't want to be).

It is quite possible that there is a PL member in your location that may be able to help you out and maybe even give you a lift to the laser meeting. I for one would be happy to spend some time with you in the car on the journey listening to your experiences with lasers

Regards

Jem

[soforene]

Jem's just happy there's now one member slightly older than him.

[thesk8nmidget]

welcome and as said above im sure you will find answers to all the questions you have and you can also teach us some stuff!

and i second the fact that we would love to see some of your shows

[Jem]

Jem's just happy there's now one member slightly older than him.

I'll get you at playtime

[White-Light]

I'll get you at playtime

Ooo the schools got a bully.

Anyway back to all seriousness, welcome to the forums.

Buffo's suggestion is a great one and as it isn't that far away (1 month) it might help prevent you wasting any money on equipment that perhaps isn't as good as it should be. £1,000 isn't a lot unfortuantely for a full colour system and I you're not going to get a full colour analogue modulated and a 500mw green for that money. You might get an RGY though and a green, although if you can afford RGB, personally I'd always go that route. After all, you can always make it lase just green but you can't get a green to lase colour!! Unless you need a min 500mw green specifically, I'd chase an RGB system.

Also, as others have said, on the software front its worth taking a look at what else is out there. Pangolin is the defacto God and has to be seen to be believed, but that said there are many different solutions that may meet your needs and budget. Even Pangolin do a hobbyist system thats still very powerful but comparable in price to many other hobby systems.

I take it from your experience and the fact it hasn't been mentioned that you already own a smoke machine or hazer. If not, thats to be factored in as well if its beams your after.

[stanwax]

I think now many of these ideas have fallen by the wayside as hes already bought a projector - see separate thread.
Dont stop him coming along to the meet though.

Rob