swami makes some lumia

[Stoney3K]

That's what 'one trick minds' think... ...the magic word is "v a r i e t y", which, a lumia-projector adds so much-of, to a show... ie: http://www.youtube.com/user/dslasers.../5/N_vbI_uq2rU j

OK, now you got me on a bug.

If there's anything I want to see in lasers right now after seeing lumia-coolness, it would be this:



Or any variety on it. The BBC used a lot of slit-scan for the effects back then, how much of it would be possible with lasers?

[swamidog]

had a little rare free time so i broke out the good camera and shot some hi-def footage of my laser lumia eggbeater.

enjoy!

[norty303]

Ok, question....

I've got a lot of Optikinetics rotators and distortion wheels and wondered how effective they might be with my lasers. I was thinking about making up a 'gate' like on the Solar projectors that I could bolt on the front of my laser projector. I could then drop in rotators with wheels as I desired, or just remove the gate when using them as normal projectors.

First of all, does this seem reasonable, and would the distortion wheels work for lumia? I was thinking of having a pair of gate slots so I could run up to 2 rotators per projector, off a simple 12v supply (perhaps variable voltage for speed)


http://www.optifanatics.com/ImagePop...ion_wheels.jpg

When you're scanning through glass, what sort of patterns do you use?

[swamidog]

you bet.. that should work very well.

how many of those wheels do you have? the look excellent and i might be interested in taking some off your hands.... i discovered the damage threshold of mine at socalem after putting two watts through one.

Ok, question....

I've got a lot of Optikinetics rotators and distortion wheels and wondered how effective they might be with my lasers. I was thinking about making up a 'gate' like on the Solar projectors that I could bolt on the front of my laser projector. I could then drop in rotators with wheels as I desired, or just remove the gate when using them as normal projectors.

First of all, does this seem reasonable, and would the distortion wheels work for lumia? I was thinking of having a pair of gate slots so I could run up to 2 rotators per projector, off a simple 12v supply (perhaps variable voltage for speed)


http://www.optifanatics.com/ImagePop...ion_wheels.jpg

When you're scanning through glass, what sort of patterns do you use?

[norty303]

I've got enough wheels for my use, but not any spare I'm afraid.

However, Optifanatics are a great place for Opti stuff, and I expect you could get them to ship to you. About £40 a set of 3, or £13 each at 3 different grades.

http://www.optifanatics.com/Browse.a...Special_Wheels

They also do the blank wheels which are perspex I believe, so could be melted to suit your needs.

Also set up a search on ebay, Opti stuff comes up all the time. I got my last set of distortion wheels for £10 I think.

I thought that as they are 6" diamter, they'll also support quite a wide scan angle.

does the distance from scanner to effect wheel influence the sort of effect you get out, or doesn't it make too much difference because the beam is very tight regardless?

[daguin]

I'm finally sitting down to think about this. I wish I had spent more time on stage at SoCaLEM.

One question: Are you making white light and relying on the diffraction to break up the colors or are the different colors hitting the wheel "independently"?

Peace,
dave

[swamidog]

i have the optics to make white light, but i align each beam independently for the best effects.

you get the best color mixing effects if you use a single white beam, but i like the greater variety of effects that are achieved by each laser passing through different sections of the wheels.

i build my wheels with different effects in different places to add to that effect.

if you're going to use one of your nice multiline argons, put a little prism right before the wheel to split the colors out then experiment with distance and angle tuning.

here's a bunch of photos from my build process: http://www.flickr.com/photos/swamido...th/5225066988/

I'm finally sitting down to think about this. I wish I had spent more time on stage at SoCaLEM.

One question: Are you making white light and relying on the diffraction to break up the colors or are the different colors hitting the wheel "independently"?

Peace,
dave

[daguin]

i have the optics to make white light, but i align each beam independently for the best effects.
you get the best color mixing effects if you use a single white beam, but i like the greater variety of effects that are achieved by each laser passing through different sections of the wheels.
i build my wheels with different effects in different places to add to that effect.
if you're going to use one of your nice multiline argons, put a little prism right before the wheel to split the colors out then experiment with distance and angle tuning.

What I am thinking of right now is a diode and DPSS system. My question sprang from considering if I wanted both blue AND violet in the mix. How to combine the blue and violet was causing some dissonance for me.

If I was to use an argon, I would probably just build an independent prism and wheel assembly that would just be set in front of the argon (or any other free standing laser). This actually sounds like another interesting project all by itself

Peace,
dave

[swamidog]

use blue and violet and don't combine the beams. you'll be very happy.

sugeek and i hacked together the third of the three lumia boxes onstage during the 12am-2am shift.

we didn't go beyond making sure the beams were vaguely parallel to each other when they passed through the wheel. mostly just knife edging and chewing gum. then, for giggles, we tossed my little argon in the mix.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swamido...0129/lightbox/

it looked great.


there was a small issue of the lumia wheel smoking so i had to turn my dual 445 down a bit.

What I am thinking of right now is a diode and DPSS system. My question sprang from considering if I wanted both blue AND violet in the mix. How to combine the blue and violet was causing some dissonance for me.

If I was to use an argon, I would probably just build an independent prism and wheel assembly that would just be set in front of the argon (or any other free standing laser). This actually sounds like another interesting project all by itself

Peace,
dave

[daguin]

use blue and violet and don't combine the beams. you'll be very happy.
sugeek and i hacked together the third of the three lumia boxes onstage during the 12am-2am shift.
we didn't go beyond making sure the beams were vaguely parallel to each other when they passed through the wheel. mostly just knife edging and chewing gum. then, for giggles, we tossed my little argon in the mix.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swamido...0129/lightbox/
it looked great.
there was a small issue of the lumia wheel smoking so i had to turn my dual 445 down a bit.

Yeah. That was one of the reasons for my confusion. From memory, I thought that the red and green were combined. However, I also remembered the blue seeming to come in from "left field." Now I see the layout better.

I was looking at the shelf and trying to utilize the lasers I already have, on hand, or can build easily. I have an order in with Greg for a couple of wheels. If I use what I have, I will probably end up with >3W when all is done. Not having the beams all hit the same spot will help protect the distortion materials. It also frees up some of the restrictions on "balance."

Peace,
dave