Saw DigiSynth first-hand last night... |8~O

[drlava]

DigiSynth creator, Matt Polak, lives in the northern Ohio area and invited me to come down for a few hours to shoot the breeze, talk tech, and check out the new DigiSynth 3 software he and his group had been working on. For those of you not familiar with DigiSynth, it IS truly a new way to control lasers and generate laser imagery from your computer. DigiSynth is based on concepts derived from analog audio synthesizer equipment, with pattern building blocks you can 'patch' together by drawing wires between their input and output ports. There are many categories of building blocks to choose from: oscillators, sequencers, filters, colorizers, modifiers, and control surface I/O, each with unique uses and capabilities.

If you're like I am, inexperienced with traditional analog synthesizers where black boxes are literally patched together with audio patch cables, then it can be a little hard to imagine how one would go about creating laser artwork from such a system virtualized into a computer. I was skeptical that a beginner, someone lacking an intuitive knowledge of the math of oscillatory patterns would be able to create anything good with such a system, but this visit has changed my perspective. Not only is it relatively easy to create interesting and beautiful patterns with this software, the time it takes to get the hang of it is likely less than that taken by someone learning a timeline-based software for the first time. By starting with the most common building blocks and patching them together, it's almost impossible to not get something beautiful out, and each time you sit down to make something, you wind up with something new and different that would be nearly impossible to create with other software available on the market. As it turns out, what I thought was a weakness of not having a structured environment is actually one of its great strengths.

Forget what you know about frames, boring X-Y-Zoom-Spin animation, and traditional 3-oscillator abstracts. Although you can use these as blocks, the heart of this software begins with a continuous analog output stream, always flowing to the projector, that you 'bend' in time, X,Y,Z, and color with the building blocks available in the patch builder. Using the software and trying out different blocks in different interconnecting ways to generate patterns is actually a joy, partially because your laser (as well as the sophisticated preview screen) is projecting the entire time, giving you feedback with every change and tweak you make. You literally build shows and artwork on the fly with continuous output to show you every change in real-time. Generating patterns with synchronicity is straightforward due to the built-in synch ports among blocks and intelligent octave stepping and de-tuning features in the oscillator building blocks. Tweaking these patterns in real-time is simple through the use of commonly available MIDI control surfaces, as well as mouse input. Once you have interesting patches built, you can sequence them and layer them in the timeline editor to create a show.

One of my favorite things about this software is that while using it, one will be creating things literally no one has ever seen or imagined before. Not faint shadows of common things, or outlines of virtual 3D objects, but a full-on optical assault of color, pattern, and beat that is worthy of a paid ticket. This is why it won so many awards at the ILDA conference, and I expect it will continue doing so.

Unfortunately, one of the big drawbacks, at least for us as non-professionals, right now is the cost. Unless you're a pro or planetarium operator, it'll likely be out of you're budget, but if you get the change to see a DigiSynth show, don't let it pass by. Matt, I'm going on record asking for a demo at SELEM 2011. From what I saw, we'd be really missing out without it.



http://www.youtube.com/user/DigiSynt.../1/pjNuhgjwYYQ

http://www.youtube.com/user/DigiSynt.../3/rNAh30bLlx8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA6eL3xOAOg&feature=fvsr

[LaNeK779]

Unfortunately, one of the big drawbacks, at least for us as non-professionals, right now is the cost

too bad... can we at least get some pics to drool over (when available)?

[jooopy]

I so want to also see this live. Thanks for the update. Just WOW!!! And this is someone else just describing it. Can't wait... technology rocks. In time this will be a very available technology. Even for non-professionals.

[flecom]

Unfortunately, one of the big drawbacks, at least for us as non-professionals, right now is the cost. Unless you're a pro or planetarium operator, it'll likely be out of you're budget...

thats the other thing, the only people that are really going to want something like this are the old school planetarium guys which there are very few of left... most planetariums don't run laser shows anymore, and if they do its just "hit play on the ADAT and walk away"... or, in the case of the planetarium down here, they have too much money tied up in pangolin stuff to consider spending money on new software and interfaces... additionally most science museums/planetariums don't have much money laying around...

besides planetariums most live laser stuff is beam shows so having an amazing abstract generator isn't very useful...

it looks like an amazing product, and if it were a bit more affordable I would probably buy it just to have it but I am afraid they have priced it out of the realm of possibility for most people...

[Stoney3K]

Sounds like the concept can also be done in any software synthesizer with a sound card DAC. Pure Data is an open source implementation of Max/MSP and would be quite suited for something like this.

In fact, I've already driven galvos with a PD patch and was pretty happy with it.

[dsli_jon]

Well-spoke, Sire... I, personally, am, uh, 'chomping at the bit' (pun? to work with this magik-box... The only thing I would, well.... not even really 'differ' with, is:

...it IS truly a new way to control lasers and generate laser imagery...

..I guess I see it as more of a 'resurrection' of the some of the greatest tools, inspired by the werks of *several* of the 'Founding Fathers' / Co's, etc, (not just one..) re-enabling the Grand Lost Art of being a Live Laserist (...but with the added-benefit of a 'Record button ... yeah, sure, we have 'LivePro', blah, blah, blah, (which has its 'place'...) but, as you say, this approaches things from a whole 'new angle'... And allows you to take things to whole new heights of complexity / amazingness, yet with flexibility... I, for one, can't wait to play! Thanks a lot for causing me to me drool...

...most planetariums don't run laser shows anymore...

Hopefully, this will help 'resurrect' interest: seeing some of the lost-FX that made people fall in love with laser shows to begin with - IMO, sure - there *was* a 'novelty-period', years-back, but how, then, do you explain the ongoing-success of places that still use / play some of the 'old-skool / classic' fx? (ie: LFI-magik up in Seattle, etc..) Clearly, there is still a 'thirst' for this kind of stuff, among the 'next generations', and the 'push-play / walk-away / cookie-cutter/lasershowinabox'-approach, just ain't satiating that thirst...

...ie: Was blown-away to hear of One 'notable' planetarium in the Eastern US, basically say 'umm, this isn't working, bye-bye, now', to one of the "industry leaders", because all they insisted on doing was pushing more XY-boxes down the Clients' throat...didn't / couldn't offer anything like this, and the contract-renewal went to someone that offered just some 'basic' layered-fx (like lumia, etc) and some live-control / flexibility... Kudos to that 'winner'...it's just too-bad that place didn't hear of DigiSynth...

Sounds like the concept can also be done in any software synthesizer with a sound card DAC....

Well, we're all-eyes, Mr Stone...

cheers....
j

[Insanity]

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[Laserchuck]

besides planetariums most live laser stuff is beam shows so having an amazing abstract generator isn't very useful...

You're not the first to say this, and It is rather ironic that some people feel this way. If you look at the majority of beams that people do, they are technically "abstract." Unfortunately, because the industry has spent the past 15 years being shown very simple abstracts, the concept of what an abstract really is is lost on most people. We even have components for creating or wrapping around 3D geometric shapes, but by abstract, we simply mean "not a point-point image/animation." We can run those too, but we've not released a frame editor yet, so we've not made a big deal about it. Most people have another product that can make frames, so we're fine to just import those as needed.

I was visiting a well known professional lasershow company after the cruise last year, one of my pals there was working on colorizing an animated moving grid pattern for a beam show. He had been working on it for a while, going through the lengthy process of creating something new (rather than just recycling imagery) in a popular piece of software, so I thought I'd take a stab at it in DS. I was able to create the effect very fast by connecting a few simple components together. It is very fun to say "What is that, a 12-dot moving grid?" and 30 seconds later have it scrolling neatly with colormod. I have created more content, faster than ever using DigiSynth.

it looks like an amazing product, and if it were a bit more affordable I would probably buy it just to have it but I am afraid they have priced it out of the realm of possibility for most people...

Yeah, it's not for the light of wallet, but it is intended as a professional programming platform, and the price is in line or less than other professional products out there. Years of dedicated work have gone into creating the cleanest possible output with the highest flexibility, and we have to give it the chance to return that investment. People are in fact buying it, and making great use of it, so we must be doing something right!

It's definitely not a $500 thrash & flail "Fischer-Price: My First Lasershow" What it is, is my favorite piece of software, and it is far more than what anyone, even myself has been able to describe with words. I'll try to get more photos and screen shots too.

I do hope you all get a chance to experience it in person, it will change the way you think about lasershows, and remove several limitations often thought inherent in the medium.


Have an awesome day!

Chuck Rau
DigiSynth Development Team

[flecom]

You're not the first to say this, and It is rather ironic that some people feel this way. If you look at the majority of beams that people do, they are technically "abstract." Unfortunately, because the industry has spent the past 15 years being shown very simple abstracts, the concept of what an abstract really is is lost on most people. We even have components for creating or wrapping around 3D geometric shapes, but by abstract, we simply mean "not a point-point image/animation." We can run those too, but we've not released a frame editor yet, so we've not made a big deal about it. Most people have another product that can make frames, so we're fine to just import those as needed.

I was visiting a well known professional lasershow company after the cruise last year, one of my pals there was working on colorizing an animated moving grid pattern for a beam show. He had been working on it for a while, going through the lengthy process of creating something new (rather than just recycling imagery) in a popular piece of software, so I thought I'd take a stab at it in DS. I was able to create the effect very fast by connecting a few simple components together. It is very fun to say "What is that, a 12-dot moving grid?" and 30 seconds later have it scrolling neatly with colormod. I have created more content, faster than ever using DigiSynth.

in reality you are not making frames during a live show, most people use some sort of "live grid" a-la QS2, LivePro, full auto (has a live controller etc)... do you have "presets" or some kind of grid that can be used for quick live stuff? or is it all knob/fader based like a proper analog console?

so while your software CAN be used live (just like an analog console could be) and would be great for a really nice planetarium style show (in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing obviously) I just don't see it as idea... but who knows, maybe seeing it in person would change my mind, but I really doubt it

Yeah, it's not for the light of wallet, but it is intended as a professional programming platform, and the price is in line or less than other professional products out there. Years of dedicated work have gone into creating the cleanest possible output with the highest flexibility, and we have to give it the chance to return that investment. People are in fact buying it, and making great use of it, so we must be doing something right!

It's definitely not a $500 thrash & flail "Fischer-Price: My First Lasershow" What it is, is my favorite piece of software, and it is far more than what anyone, even myself has been able to describe with words. I'll try to get more photos and screen shots too.

I do hope you all get a chance to experience it in person, it will change the way you think about lasershows, and remove several limitations often thought inherent in the medium.


Have an awesome day!

Chuck Rau
DigiSynth Development Team

and thats fine, but really, you mention $500 for a "my first laser show" software package... for $500 you can get a QS2 interface, which has a pretty powerful (non-live, non-modular) abstract generator, that I have used to make some pretty neat abstracts... plus your getting a full live controller and USB interface for that price, so while its easy to dismiss it, at the same time I think you are going to underestimate how many of those things they are going to sell to both average people and night clubs etc...

now, that can be both good and bad... because QS2 is limited, you can say "look what we can do!" but its bad because people will say "well that one was $500, why is yours so expensive?"

like i said, maybe my opinion will change, and I hope you don't think I am attacking you or your product, I think what you guys have made is great, and like I said, if I had the money I would buy one, but I am just trying to be realistic

also why would I want this software over say, a real analog console with physical knobs and faders?

[Laserchuck]

in reality you are not making frames during a live show, most people use some sort of "live grid" a-la QS2, LivePro, full auto (has a live controller etc)... do you have "presets" or some kind of grid that can be used for quick live stuff? or is it all knob/fader based like a proper analog console?

Ahh this is part of the awesomesauce... the DigiLive surface allows images to be selected, and once they are, then the controller such as the BCF2000 becomes active for performing THAT image. This adds a new depth of control to the live performance. click on the image for a bigger version, you can see a few of the images I had whipped up at the point this was grabbed.


ds3liveexample_107.png

like i said, maybe my opinion will change, and I hope you don't think I am attacking you or your product, I think what you guys have made is great, and like I said, if I had the money I would buy one, but I am just trying to be realistic

Nah, I don't feel attacked, and I'm sorry if I'm coming off like a prick, I certainly don't mean to. I do enjoy a lively discussion. I've got a big job of educating people about what DigiSynth really is. It isn't a replacement for anything out there on the market currently, it is a whole new product that approaches things in a completely different manner. We weren't out to copy anyone else, but we did want to recreate some of the lost classic laser imagery.

Honestly, we're not in it for the money. We slave away at it for the love of the art and the desire to put out a quality product. It isn't for everyone, but those that jump in get to experience a wild ride. Kinda like an amusement park, eventually kids grow out of kiddyland and want to ride the big rides. I'll always look back at those little cars and planes that go 'round and 'round, but the ones that let you drive are much more fun.

also why would I want this software over say, a real analog console with physical knobs and faders?

Oh man, well that is easy, real analog has horrible noise issues, very bad blanking techniques, and low repeatability. DigiSynth allows sample-accurate repeatability, unprecedented cleanliness and all new blanking techniques. Oh, no one said you have to give up the knobs and sliders, I use the BCF2000, as stated above. it gives me 8 motorized faders, 8 rotary knobs and like 20 buttons, so there is plenty of control to go around, all of which can be assigned individually within a patch to serve your needs for that image, and re-purposed as needed.

Gone are the days of crappy analog signals and lost patches that could never be recreated. It's like taking the best parts of analog abstracts and bringing them into the 21st century. And then put those images onto a timeline, capture the performance of them, and bake em out or distribute / play back as needed. It is a slick way of making shows, and I'm not going back to the alternatives.


Makes me want to go play with it right now!

Chuck Rau
DigiSynth Evangelist

[drlava]

The only thing I would, well.... not even really 'differ' with, is:

Yep, that's why I said 'with a computer' I agree, it hearkens back to those days, and what I see in this discussion basically boils down to those that see laser projection as an art form in and of itself, and those that just want to use it to add interest to other art. Both positions are valid, but here I get more excited about the former.

[Stoney3K]

Still, for all that I'm reading, the story sounds most like a big sales pitch than anything else.

Sure, DigiSynth may be a very good tool for creating live abstracts. But, under the hood, it still is nothing different from any other multi-channel signal processing solution (like Native Instruments Reaktor, Max/MSP or Pure Data). All of these have some sort of 'live' interface towards the sound engine which can be used to manipulate signals and control your laser output.

Most people already have a sound card DAC on a shelf somewhere. Get yourself a copy of Pure Data (it's free, so nothing to lose) and start experimenting with a few signals. Even something simple as two sawtooth waves and a decimator can give you a perfect beam grid -- in fact, that's the exact setup I use for my laser harp at this time.

Sure, the idea is great, but I don't see a lot of added value over existing show packages or software synthesizers on the market.

[Laserchuck]

Still, for all that I'm reading, the story sounds most like a big sales pitch than anything else.

Just to be clear, Dr. Lava isn't selling or distributing this, he gets no kickback or remuneration whatsoever. I appreciate that he was able to see it and experience some excitement for the product, I wish I could have been up there with him, and as for me, sure you may read into it that I'd like to sell more copies, as a partner in the project, that would go well for me

Sure, DigiSynth may be a very good tool for creating live abstracts. But, under the hood, it still is nothing different from any other multi-channel signal processing solution (like Native Instruments Reaktor, Max/MSP or Pure Data). All of these have some sort of 'live' interface towards the sound engine which can be used to manipulate signals and control your laser output.

Actually, that's a rather bold statement for someone who hasn't gotten to look at it, let alone look under the hood. Not only is this absolutely not like or built upon anything else out there, audio or otherwise, it was written specifically with controls and components intended exclusively for this industry, rather than "some sort of 'live' interface."

And not only is the DigiSynth engine unique, but when we got tired of hitting the glass ceiling that the Windows environment likes to offer, we wrote our own framework for the interface.

Hey, I'm all for you guys hacking your sound cards and running some cheap software to mess around with, I wish PL was around when I was just a hobiest, but some people will graduate to wanting something better, and we'll be there.

Honestly, when I found out about it, I was impressed that anyone would bother to put this much effort into a tool for this (dying) industry. Matt did some fabulous work, so I'm going to stand up for it. I've also put an incredible amount of time into using it, and having done so, I'm very glad he put the effort into it.


Have a nice ray!


-chuck

[Lased]

My own impressions of this insanely expensive "wonder abstract software" is that it's a cross between several technologies that are VERY common in the world of DAWs.

Any analog virtual synth with a few oscillators is easily capable of the same.. the main requirement is that there are enough oscillators to handle color channels, X,Y channels, and any of a myriad other items that you might want to control with some sort of waveform. Anyone who uses music software is already more than familiar with the concept.. When it comes to controlling lasers, it's all just audio frequency waveforms.. That's it. With almost any modern virtual synth it's possible to create any analog waveform at any audio frequency, layered several times depending on the number of oscillators.

I can guarantee that a copy of Ableton Live and a few VSTs (or even Operator or Analog) along with an 8 channel sound card is quite capable of creating any abstract effect possible given a little time to program it, and for much less than the price I've seen quoted for this software..

Of course, this is my feedback without "seeing under the hood".. but occum's razor would suggest that a developer has decided to take these common audio building blocks and apply them to lasers...

Oh and for about the same price as my whole music studio cost me..

More power to 'em I say.. but I must wonder who in the world they hope to sell this stuff to. There might be about 15 customers worldwide that would be interested.. and I think far less than that once they realize what the price is.

Just my very humble $.02 of course..

[dsli_jon]

Lol, Oh, it's sooo easy to play the 'armchair QB', isn't it?

...I can guarantee that a copy of Ableton Live and a few VSTs (or even Operator or Analog) along with an 8 channel sound card is quite capable of creating any abstract effect possible given a little time to program it, and for much less than the price I've seen quoted for this software...

Well then we're all officially waiting with baited-eyes, the release of this powerhouse of a solution at the cost of a nickel-bag from you and Mr Stone...

Oh, and we've already 'been there / done-that' somewhat, with the Ableton-route... used it to convert/preserve, and then mod old ADAT show-content... interesting fx possible on the color-mod side, but as-to using it to generate galvo-output, that's a longer road than you think - how it looks on the 'scopes' and how output is translated in the real-world, are two different animals - for one thing, it's incredibly easy to turn your galvos into M-80s if you're not extremely-careful, and then, as-mentioned, there's the whole 'windows-factor' - we had more than one time where Ableton just locked-up - and it wasn't pretty... then again, we were running a 36-track show...

But I certainly don't see Live being an 'easy' - or better - replacement for this kind of dedicated hardware / software...
So, will be keen to see you and or Mr Stoney blow the doors off this for $150..... Isn't hyperbole great?

cheers...
j

[Stoney3K]

But I certainly don't see Live being an 'easy' - or better - replacement for this kind of dedicated hardware / software...
So, will be keen to see you and or Mr Stoney blow the doors off this for $150..... Isn't hyperbole great?

cheers...
j

As far as the 'sales pitch' comment goes, I wasn't referring to dr. Lava as much as Laserchuck, who puts just as much 'bold statements' in here as me without backing them up with hard facts. I'd love to see what kind of magic unicorns this thing runs on, if I hear words like 'dedicated IEEE1394-based DSP-platform' I'd be more convinced than words like 'patent pending ground breaking proprietary unicorn magic'. (Yes, we've heard those before)

I'm not saying the same results can be achieved out of the box with Ableton and a few VST patches. Yes, it probably requires some programming, but nothing that's real rocket science here and any DSP platform would be able to perfectly handle it. Mac or Linux would probably be a more stable platform than Windows, and judging by the screen shots the whole lot is running on the X Window System rather than a Microsoft solution.

I'll get a thread up with some examples and experiments in PureData for anyone to toy around with. It's a powerful graphical programming language designed for DSP work, so it should be well suited for ILDA laser show use.

[Lased]

Lol, Oh, it's sooo easy to play the 'armchair QB', isn't it?



Well then we're all officially waiting with baited-eyes, the release of this powerhouse of a solution at the cost of a nickel-bag from you and Mr Stone...

Oh, and we've already 'been there / done-that' somewhat, with the Ableton-route... used it to convert/preserve, and then mod old ADAT show-content... interesting fx possible on the color-mod side, but as-to using it to generate galvo-output, that's a longer road than you think - how it looks on the 'scopes' and how output is translated in the real-world, are two different animals - for one thing, it's incredibly easy to turn your galvos into M-80s if you're not extremely-careful, and then, as-mentioned, there's the whole 'windows-factor' - we had more than one time where Ableton just locked-up - and it wasn't pretty... then again, we were running a 36-track show...

But I certainly don't see Live being an 'easy' - or better - replacement for this kind of dedicated hardware / software...
So, will be keen to see you and or Mr Stoney blow the doors off this for $150..... Isn't hyperbole great?

cheers...
j

You are quite right on many counts of course..

I will say that if 36 tracks in Ableton killed your machine, it might be time for an upgrade. I'm using a 5 year old machine (albeit top of the line at that time) and my track count routinely exceeds that number..

I just have a real hard time swallowing such a large price tag for something that would appear to be fairly mundane, ie a waveform generator. Hell, you could buy a couple world-class interfaces for that price.

Given that galvo optimization in software code is a well-understood animal (Pangolin has been doing it for years) I still can't justify the price, and honestly I couldn't justify that price for any single-purpose effect software in my opinion. Full control interfaces with full show functionality? Perhaps.. but even the best interfaces in the world currently do not cost $4000/unit that I've seen anyway.

To each their own, however. If someone buys this item and feels like they got an exceptional product for a reasonable price, that's what really matters at the end of the day. I will say this however: It would take something absolutely earth-shattering, mindblowing, and just incredible beyond words for me to feel that way if I purchased it for $4000. So far nothing I've seen or read is quite on that level. So while I see your point about hyperbole, this seems like you're paying based on someone's over-inflated idea of how spectacular this stuff is rather than paying a price based on real-world overhead and profit figures..

[Laserchuck]

LOL Jon!

Just putting a few oscillators together? It truly boggles the mind! There are components in DigiSynth that have never been conceived of previously, that do things that have absolutely no purpose in audio software, so they would not exist. There are also components that specifically bring back lost abilities that were only possible on the old programming systems of AVI, now completely dismantled and destroyed.

But hey, yeah it's easy to say they can get the same thing with free or cheep software elsewhere. I'd really like to see that. I mean, seriously, if someone can pull that off, by all means, produce a decent song with it, the world could use some better content.

I know I must really be coming off as an elitist snob, and my 17 years in the industry mean nothing anymore because now I'm just some evil guy willing to sell a product, but oh man, I just have to laugh, thank you for your response.

Jon, like I said on the phone the other day, tough to take this stuff too seriously when I'll be standing at a trade show in a couple weeks at a booth that cost $200k

Stoney, X-windows, no, that is 2 years of hard coding a totally new framework from scratch. And I'd say the 6 ILDA awards I won last year, the same year we announced DS is bold enough. I've produced many more songs over the past 4 years with DigiSynth, but there are limits and rules about how many I can enter.

-chuck

[Lased]

^hey, good for you man! That's what Capitalism is all about. No one's saying you don't have a good product, and no one's looking for you to take these posts seriously. This is just a forum.. I'm just voicing an opinion myself.

I will say that personally I don't really find the snob route very attractive from people trying to push a product, and many people who seem to be "criticising" might be looking for some reason to buy the product but are put off by the price. I work for a stage lighting company, so I can tell you that if we did laser shows and found that there was some product that would take our shows and propel them into the next generation then we would want it.. but your price is very high. Will the outcome justify the cost? That's often what posts like mine are trying to glean.. or some idea thereof. I understand having a good product and being proud of that product though, so I hope that you continue to do well!

[dsli_jon]

...who puts just as much 'bold statements' in here as me without backing them up with hard facts. I'd love to see what kind of magic unicorns this thing runs on...

I think the 'hard facts' are Dr Lava's unbiased / unsolicited review, here - certainly are not comments from an armchair QB, never having actually used DS... Really, what does 'which DSP-chip got used', etc, matter, if the end-result is what Sir Andrew has to say, here?...And I might add, Dr Lava is certainly no 'slouch' when it comes-to understanding what constitutes software and hardware innovations...even proving that, in the real-world, with actual innovative products to his credit...)

I'll get a thread up with some examples and experiments in PureData...

I will say that if 36 tracks in Ableton killed your machine, it might be time for an upgrade. I'm using a 5 year old machine (albeit top of the line at that time) and my track count routinely exceeds that number..

A: Didn't kill the machine, (pretty souped-up 2009 XP box, quad-processor, ~4GB RAM, IIRC..) Ableton just blew a gasket... and B: Cool that you exceed 36 tracks - but what was in them? I'm just saying, we found that Ableton was not the most stable-platform, (in our limited experimentation), for generating / running content to the complexity-level that the 'old-school' dedicated performance-console (Laserium 6B) handled in its sleep, that's all...

...but even the best interfaces in the world currently do not cost $4000/unit that I've seen anyway.

Check out Lasergraph DSP sometime... Which still cannot touch the depth of abstract-generation DS can...

...rather than paying a price based on real-world overhead and profit figures..

I think with DS, that's *exactly* what you are doing - I don't see that they have just piggy-backed onto some 'off the shelf' DSP-box and / or reskinned Ableton + a sound-card, etc, and slapped a $4K sticker on it - Perhaps the 'reviews' / value-statements might be best left to those that have actually used it / peered 'under the hood'?

I mean, I'd certainly take more stock in your / Stoney's challenges and counterpoints / alternative tech-path suggestions, IF you were speaking from a position of educated-experience, with the system, like Dr Lava, here... And what did he have to say?

Just some food for thought...

..tough to take this stuff too seriously when I'll be standing at a trade show in a couple weeks at a booth that cost $200k

Indeed.

Here's hoping You / Matt / DS can somehow make it to SELEM to blow minds... and me, too!


cheers...
j

[Laserchuck]

Hey Lased... Thanks. I generally try not to be a snob, but yeah it's easy to come off like an ass around here, so I'm sorry if I did. It's just really frustrating to have something that your proud of and the first thing people do is equate it to commonly found over-the counter oscillators and some hacked sound cards.

I've not spent all that much time on PL, I guess there is really a mix of people that are in it for the hobby, and some professionals as well. I'm not a sales guy, I'm a laser guy, and hey, human (mostly) too, so I don't always come out on top of the rosie heap smelling fresh as a daisy.

Hey Jon, Absolutely right about Lasergraph DSP!!! how about the whole order of magnitude higher! Or even the price of pro version of the Pangolin platform.

And as for no one buying at this price, we just delivered 4 more to one customer. Those who use it, love it. DigiSynth isn't a new, untried system, and it isn't for everyone. I'll look to get more useful content out about what it is and what features it employs.

But really, for those that wish to insist that it can be replaced or duplicated by something else, no, sadly it cannot. This is why we had to make DigiSynth in the first place!

Peace and hair grease...

-chuck

[mixedgas]

Too many people around here have never seen a real 4 head abstract projector driven in real time. Too many people see lasers as just beams, projectors as just a single scan head driven by diode/dpss. Chuck, drag that puppy to Selem, and wake up folks to what they have been missing. The commercial aspects of low cost projectors and the drive by lighting designers to force lasers to DMX has taken too much of the art out of the medium.

With all due respect to the defacto medium cost standard, there are things out there other then Pangolin and beam shows.

The Depth Qing glasses give me headaches, but if you bring that to Selem, I'll spring for paper pairs for everyone there.

Steve

[catalanjo]

This thing sounds a lot like something I have been dreaming about for the last 35years.

Could we please have some hard info about what it has in the way of spec ?

I have a Lab full of old gas lasers which I would exchange for something like this !

Now where is there a bank I can rob around here.

Can this monster be seen in UK anywhere ?

Cheers

[JohnYayas]

It seems pretty interesting and cool to me.

[Laserchuck]

For those of you who have not yet found it, the website is www.digisynth.com There is some info there, but we have also been putting together a detailed description of all the components and features. It is a lengthy process to get the full details documented, along with screen shots and tutorials, so please be patient. It will likely get released in stages so we can get some of this info out to you in a better way, faster.

Thanks for the interest!

-chuck