buffo
Um - Not really sure where you are going with this...Originally Posted by keeperx
OK - How about a show of hands... How many people here have Pangolin and a pre-built RGB system? (crickets)
Yeah, thought so. First, nearly everyone here has built their own projector. Some people have built several. It's one of the defining characteristics of the laser hobbyist crowd in general. So what is your point again? We have *always* advocated hands-on over buying pre-built stuff, assuming that your goal is to learn about the inner workings of the projector (or to save money!).
Second, lots of people here started out with something *else* before they got Pangolin. (Including me. I went through 4 different packages before I got my LD-2000.) And all we really learned from that was that you can't make a Ferrari out of a Volkswagen.(But I grant you that the Volkswagen *will* get you from point A to point B without walking, at least most of the time.)
And finally, while it may not have occurred to you yet, there *are* people out there that couldn't care less about the inner workings of a laser projector *or* the technical details of a particular controller. These people are primarily concerned with creating laser art. As such, they may choose to focus on being creative and forgo all the geeky technical stuff.
Sure, that's not the way you and I approach this hobby, but there are people like this out there, and some of them are *far* more talented that any of us. (At least when it comes to artistic talent.) So for them, a pre-built system with a solid set of software tools to create shows is exactly what they need. They will learn nothing about the technical side, but they aren't interested in that - they just want to be creative.
Also, there are folks here that love to build things from scratch, yet have never even tried to create their own ILDA artwork, to say nothing of a complete laser show. If that's their choice, so be it. We can't all be artistic masters, now can we?
The race car driver vs mechanic analogy is apt. There are world-class drivers that know very little about the science behind the forumla-1 cars. Does that make them a poorer driver? No. There are also world-class pit crews that know very little about the driving skills needed to win a race. Does that mean they are bad mechanics? No. And then there are drivers that are also gear-heads, and pit crew chiefs that also practice their driving skills, even if they'll never compete. Does that mean they are better than everyone else? No. But *all* of these people will benefit from having good tools to work with.
As for the pro-Pangolin comments that you appear to be railing against - well, that's simply an effort to save people money in the long run. If your goal is to be able to have really great laser shows (whether you make them yourself or you watch other people's shows), then Pangolin offers what many believe to be the best performance in the industry.
If it weren't for the comments of others urging people to take a hard look at Pangolin right at the beginning, many people might end up following a path similar to mine, where you end up buying several different packages over the years, always trying to upgrade to the next level and spending lots of extra money in the process. Did I learn a lot during that process? Not really. Did I waste a lot of time and money, and go through a lot of frustration? Absolutely.
If I had known how good Pangolin really was at the start, I never would have messed around with the Alphalite *or* Mamba *or* Mamba Black *or* X-29. But when I got started, I didn't have a chance to go to SELEM (it didn't exist back then) and see a Pangolin system with my own eyes. I didn't have a chance to talk to other Pangolin owners (who had been through the same progression) and ask them about the path they had chosen. So I had a hard time justifying the high price. Look through my early posting history and you'll find that I wasn't always pro-Pangolin. I was once ignorant of the benefits Pangolin had to offer.
Don't get me wrong. I understand that for some people, budget constraints are so tight that they rule out all but the most basic equipment. And I can sympathize with these people, because I was one of them for ~2 decades. My fascination with lasers started when I was 12 years old. I actually got a chance to experiment with my first laser just a few years later, and I was hooked for life. Yet it was another 10 years before I could afford to buy even a simple 1.2 mw HeNe laser. And another 10 years after that before I could afford my first Argon laser.
So yeah, for people just getting started that are stretching things to the max just to get a source of coherent light, freeware projects like Laserboy, Spaghetti, and Zooferoids are wonderful. Coupled with a sound card DAC, these projects allow people to get into laser shows that would otherwise never be able to afford it.
But if you are ready to buy some commercial laser show software, then arguably you're beyond this stage. And it's at this point that you can waste a lot of money trying to chase that "optimal" software. Especially when you haven't seen the software in person, it's easy to convince yourself that Pangolin is more than you need - that maybe this other (cheaper) software will be "good enough". I managed to make that mistake 3 times myself.
That's why these Laser Enthusiast's Meetings are so great. You can see the stuff with your own eyes. Take it for a test drive. Talk to people that use it all the time. Ask questions. Experiment event. Watch demos. And make up your own mind as to what you really need or want.
Adam
Reply With Quote
