Newbe laser show/equipment quesitons

[Maximus]

I have been looking around and searching on the web and have fully confused myself.
I am hoping somebody here can help with some of my questions. Please don't beat me up to badly on my first posting here!

First off I am looking for information on being able to do a laser light show on the side of a building for advertising (unattended). Can this be done legally in the USA?
I don't want to break any laws doing this.

I have been looking at some low cost RGB laser scanners to be able to do this (under $500). Where my confusion come in. What is actually needed to be able to display animated graphics generated from a computer? I have read about a DMX and ILDA. But I can't seem to figure out what is needed to connect it to a computer.

Also if you wanted to display an image that is about 50' wide on a building what would the recommended laser strength be?

As a side note, Is there anybody here in the So Cal area area that could give me guidance/demonstration of equipment?

Thanks in advance!

[soforene]

... I am looking for information on being able to do a laser light show on the side of a building ....
I have been looking at some low cost RGB laser scanners to be able to do this (under $500)...

Any chance of a link to these sub $500 RGB lasers?
Seems awfully cheap and I think you'd need way more power than anything in this price range.

[gottaluvlasers]

hey maximus-

welcome to the forum. and dont worry, we dont beat up on new posters here! we encourage all the questions you can think of!! ESPECIALLY in the circumstances you are interested in.

its good to see that youre asking the legalities BEFORE you start projecting!

a few things...

1. for advertising on the side of abuilding, you need some pretty good power. Green (532nm) is your best bet for an average beginners budget. green is best becasue it appears MUCH brighter to our eyes than other colors. look at my pic HERE (and no this isnt a plug for my site. just a good idea of what you are looking to do) if you scroll down a little bit, you will see a couple projections on the side of a building.
those are about 1.5 Watts of green. about 1W is prob the lowest power i would go to make a good impression on a building. thats just my opinion though. you may be able to get away with less.

2. ANY projector, i dont care who it is, where its from, what specs it has, or who blessed it, is capabable of doing a "decent" outdoor projection LEGALLY in the U.S.A. for ~$500. and i stress the word "LEGALLY."

3. if ANY projector manufacturer says otherwise they are simply lying. i PROMISE you!!

4. there is ALOT of regulations that you should familiar yourself with concerning lasers and variance process for lasers in the USA. Download some FORMS here.

5. you will need a certified laser projector, a laser light show report and a laser light show variance. this process isnt as bad as it sounds. its kinda like......a paperwork dentinst cleaning. you HATE having to do it, but afterwards you feel good. (ok, terrible analogy, but you get the point).

6. if the laser is outdoors you will also need to notify the FAA. becasue the beams are being terminated on the building DOES NOT make a difference any more. pilots are required by law to report ANY laser beams they see. and avg powered laser beams shoot for a mile or more. 1+ watts will shoot many miles. therefore chances of pilots seeing unterminated laser beams ESPECIALLY during your aiming period is pretty good. the FAA notification will cover your you know what in case of reports.

i would try to convince you to NOT go with a pre-fab projector. save up some extra money and build this yourself. or at least purchase the components needed from a quality manufacturer that can help you do this PROPERLY! (ok, that *may* be a shameless plug. hehehe...) and do it the RIGHT way from the begining! TOO MANY people are starting out in this industry ass backwards and getting in some serious trouble (both financially AND legally) unneccesarily.

a few extra weeks or even months of getting a better budget and/or education will help you 100 fold in the future of your business!!!!

please ask as many questions as you need to or want to.

-Marc

[mixedgas]

[QUOTE=Maximus;97740]I have been looking around and searching on the web and have fully confused myself.
I am hoping somebody here can help with some of my questions. Please don't beat me up to badly on my first posting here!

First off I am looking for information on being able to do a laser light show on the side of a building for advertising (unattended). Can this be done legally in the USA?
I don't want to break any laws doing this.

You need a federal permit from the CDRH,

I have been looking at some low cost RGB laser scanners to be able to do this (under $500). Where my confusion come in. What is actually needed to be able to display animated graphics generated from a computer? I have read about a DMX and ILDA. But I can't seem to figure out what is needed to connect it to a computer.

ILDA is the analog signal protocol that transfers the images from the controller to the projector. 500$ is a joke of a system.

Also if you wanted to display an image that is about 50' wide on a building what would the recommended laser strength be?

5 to 20 watts depending on ambient lighting brightness

As a side note, Is there anybody here in the So Cal area area that could give me guidance/demonstration of equipment?

yes

[soforene]

....
2. ANY projector, i dont care who it is, where its from, what specs it has, or who blessed it, is (?) capabable of doing a "decent" outdoor projection LEGALLY in the U.S.A. for ~$500. and i stress the word "LEGALLY."

3. if ANY projector manufacturer says otherwise they are simply lying. i PROMISE you!!

Sorry.
Is the word "Not" missing from point 2?
Otherwise I take issue with your statement.
Sorry.

[Maximus]

Any chance of a link to these sub $500 RGB lasers?
Seems awfully cheap and I think you'd need way more power than anything in this price range.

I saw them doing some EBay searches. If they need to be certified, then maybe they will not work. A lot of them are from China and fairly low power.

This is one of the reasons I am asking questions here. I would not want to buy one and find out it is junk and then find out it needs to be certified to be used.

[gottaluvlasers]

Sorry.
Is the word "Not" missing from point 2?
Otherwise I take issue with your statement.
Sorry.

OOPS!!!!

YESSS!!! of course there is supposed to be a "not" in there!!

a $500 projector IS NOT capable of doing a GOOD, LEGAL outdoor show!

Sorry bout that!

-Marc

[Maximus]

5 to 20 watts depending on ambient lighting brightness

The main ambient light competition would be the Moon light. In general it is pretty dark in the area.
I would want something that would stand out well... but I really need to keep the cost down.
Do you really think it would take that powerful of a system?

Thanks,
Maximus

[QUAZAR]

I've done buildings with 500mW of green. On a good (dark) night you may get away with this. Ideally, 1watt would be better.

[Maximus]

I still have the major confusion on how the laser is connected to the computer. Is there an add-in card that would go into the computer? Is there a USB device? Who makes them? What do I look for?

This leads to the next question. What software do you use to generate the animations?

Maximus - still lost and confused