Currently, there are several widely used methods for creating laser shows. Sequences can be made by manipulating primitive shapes by size, color, rotation, scale, and by manipulating and layering hand-drawn frames. Complex and beautiful patterns can be generated mathematically. Frames can also be created from raster source material with some effort and degradation. Finally, as we have recently seen shows can be created from 3D environments.
One of the limitations of the latter show creation method is in the color space. Limitations in the way the scene is rendered result in objects of solid color, even with multi-thousand dollar software. (images from pango).
While solid outline color conveys the dimensions of the scene adequately, an unfortunate side effect is that the basis of the beauty of projected laser graphics is removed: color transitions and color gradients!
I have been coding a new 3D rendering solution for 3D Studio Max that seeks to overcome this limitation in a dramatic way. By adding for the first time the capability to completely colorize and shade 3D scenes, the versatility of 3D rendering is expanded beyond recognizable shapes and motion which would typically be needed to capture interest. Full scene color gradients and shading capabilities allow the designer to create abstract and morphing scenes from 3D software that hold interest due in part to these color manipulations.
This is still a work in progress but I have made a few quick demonstrations (all in the new 24 bit ILDA 5, if your software has trouble with them, try laserboy or spaghetti, both free) to show a tiny fraction of what is achievable. There are two ilda files linked from each thumbnail, the 'unopt' version is plain 'vector oriented' ilda and the 'opt' version is the result of running it through LaserBoy blanking and scanning optimization.
Torus Demo:
This demo is the most basic abstract, demonstrating color morphing through animation.
Color Demo:
This demo animates the movement of 3 colored lights above a surface, creating color mixing and shading below.
Shadow Demo:
This demo animates the movement of a light along a path that throws shadows on 'buildings' from a pyramid.
To my knowledge this is the first demonstration of lighting effects calculated from a 3D scene for laser display.
Hopefully this gives you some idea of what this new solution is capable of and sparks some creative ideas of what you can do with it!