Noob needs 3 things...

[Fish323]

Cheers, I loved your Virtual LJ tutorial it was really good. What about the three Pangolins? Are they the same and current?

You could stick with a smoke machine until you can afford a decent hazer, you'll lose less money that way as smoke machines are far cheaper.

[Bradfo69]

I realise there are different versions but are these the most recent and the same product?
http://shop.stanwaxlaser.co.uk/flash...fb3qs-39-p.asp
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pangolin-Q...item19cca21024
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pangolin-Q...item5899a57143
Once again many thanks for all the advice.

Yes, they are the same. The key here is the FB3 (little black box you see in the photos). The software is also downloadable from Pangolin so, you can always get the most recent version. The FB3 basically came in three flavours - QS, XE and SE. I may get this wrong but, the QS is the one you most commonly see in the black box. The SE is a raw board that can be mounted into a projector. It generally needs a power source and also has an xD memory card reader in case you had a series of cues you wanted to store on the card. The XE I don't recall specifically but, it's an older version.

Keep asking questions!

So... when you talk about decor. are you referring to the flourescent artwork type of thing you showed me in the pictures you took of Norty's party? I ask because that's more of a UK thing and to my knowledge we don't have much of that sort of thing or those types of clubs here in the states. At least in this area.

The one thing I find interesting is Rob's mentions LA Studio.... old ad copy?

[Fish323]

Cheers Brad
I'll order one now as I really need to get properly stuck into this. I was watching Whitelight's tutorial again. Are there any more like this on the internet?
Yes that's the sort of decor I am going for. I'm doing it in themed rooms. It's very popular here but very badly done usually. The decor you saw in that photo was done by Flowers of Life who were brought over from Finland to do decor for the Hakuna Matada NYE party and stuck around for Tribal Village, the one Norty did the laser show for. There's no-one in the UK producing that quality of decor so I've decided to give it a go. As you can tell it is not cheap and very labour intensive. I am very lucky to be very good friends with an artist based in Thailand who can get it done at a fraction of European prices but delivery is expensive.
Regards my other question, how does the laser react to the sound? Does it hear it through the mike on the laser or is it done through the computer?
Thanks for all the help

Yes, they are the same. The key here is the FB3 (little black box you see in the photos). The software is also downloadable from Pangolin so, you can always get the most recent version. The FB3 basically came in three flavours - QS, XE and SE. I may get this wrong but, the QS is the one you most commonly see in the black box. The SE is a raw board that can be mounted into a projector. It generally needs a power source and also has an xD memory card reader in case you had a series of cues you wanted to store on the card. The XE I don't recall specifically but, it's an older version.

Keep asking questions!

So... when you talk about decor. are you referring to the flourescent artwork type of thing you showed me in the pictures you took of Norty's party? I ask because that's more of a UK thing and to my knowledge we don't have much of that sort of thing or those types of clubs here in the states. At least in this area.

The one thing I find interesting is Rob's mentions LA Studio.... old ad copy?

[Bradfo69]

There are certainly more tutorial videos around for not only Quickshow but, several of the other software packages that are out there.

As far as sound, if you mean using Virtual Laser Jockey in Quickshow, from what I can tell, it's through a microphone connected to the mic jack on your computer. I haven't had a lot of success with that yet. I tried once in a hurry one day but, really haven't worked with the Virtual Laser Jockey part of Quickshow enough. I *think* in Whitelights video, it showed another way and I would have thought it could pick up the beats of the music playing on the computer itself but, according to Bill, (and again, if I recall correctly) it's not set up that way.

If you mean a projector with a DMX card and pre-programmed frames or frames on an xD card, then yes, the projector will have a mic and change frames to the beat of the music.

[dkumpula]

I have already spent nearly £4000 on decor which is being designed and made in Thailand at the moment. I'll get the first room in 6 weeks and then the second room 6 weeks after that. I'll need to immediately order a 3rd room when they arrive, it's just a case of throwing money at the problem till I build up enough stock.

Hey Fish323!

I would love to see pictures of the decor if you are able to take some pics after it arrives.

Cheers!

-David

[White-Light]

There are certainly more tutorial videos around for not only Quickshow but, several of the other software packages that are out there.

As far as sound, if you mean using Virtual Laser Jockey in Quickshow, from what I can tell, it's through a microphone connected to the mic jack on your computer. I haven't had a lot of success with that yet. I tried once in a hurry one day but, really haven't worked with the Virtual Laser Jockey part of Quickshow enough. I *think* in Whitelights video, it showed another way and I would have thought it could pick up the beats of the music playing on the computer itself but, according to Bill, (and again, if I recall correctly) it's not set up that way.

In my video I had a separate sound card in my PC and Quickshow / Beyond could detect that and obtain a sound input directly from the card.

Bradford is correct in that usually the software usually uses a microphone to detect an audio input. In the case of a laptop, that usually the laptop's built in microphone. It all happens in the background automatically so most people never realise that is in fact how the audio is detected.

Now with a desktop pc with no separate sound card and no microphone, currently it won't pick up any audio. However, Pangolin are working on a fix that will hopefully tap into the internal sound system of Windows to obtain an input.

[Fish323]

Hi
I will be doing a full shoot with the decor, lighting and laser running once the decor arrives. I will be sure to post a link to the flickr page when I get it.
This is the kind of thing I am hoping to achieve. I don't expect to be as good as Norty.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fish323...7632519815650/

Hey Fish323!

I would love to see pictures of the decor if you are able to take some pics after it arrives.

Cheers!

-David

[Fish323]

I have just bought a microphone for my laptop and I'll give it a try out this Saturday. I suspect the phrase 'steep learning curve' as quoted by several members is going to bite me very hard this weekend

In my video I had a separate sound card in my PC and Quickshow / Beyond could detect that and obtain a sound input directly from the card.

Bradford is correct in that usually the software usually uses a microphone to detect an audio input. In the case of a laptop, that usually the laptop's built in microphone. It all happens in the background automatically so most people never realise that is in fact how the audio is detected.

Now with a desktop pc with no separate sound card and no microphone, currently it won't pick up any audio. However, Pangolin are working on a fix that will hopefully tap into the internal sound system of Windows to obtain an input.

[Bradfo69]

Humm... wait a minute. In order to give it a try by this Saturday, you need to have Quickshow. Have you managed to get that in the last 20 hours? If I understand correctly, right now you just have a projector and an ILDA cable.

The microphone is needed for the feature in Quickshow called Virtual Laser Jockey.

[Fish323]

I bought Pangolin off ebay today. It will be delivered tomorrow when I am at work hopefully my tenant will be in or they will leave it with a neighbour. I've got 6 weeks to get my head round this before the decor shows up. As much as it pains me the ball is rolling and the money has to be spent.

Humm... wait a minute. In order to give it a try by this Saturday, you need to have Quickshow. Have you managed to get that in the last 20 hours? If I understand correctly, right now you just have a projector and an ILDA cable.

The microphone is needed for the feature in Quickshow called Virtual Laser Jockey.