Hey guys! Simple lighting/smoke setup. Advice appreciated!

[Banderas]

Hey guys! Thinking of investing in the following products:

1x 2 Lens 500mW Blue Laser

2x Single Lens 100mW Violet Laser

1x 128 LED Strobe

1x Tripod Lighting Stand

I'm not too sure where to start on a smoke machine, but I've a feeling I want around a 1500w one. Not too sure what's a good price to pay for something like that though?

Also, I'd like one of those laser point projection lights (normally aimed at the ground), but in something other than green/red if possible?

Anyway guys, do you think this would make for an okay setup? Mostly just playing in houses/sheds and occasionally down the bush at this point.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[AlexJ]

OK so this is an area i have a fair bit of experience in so ill get going

the big thing with lights at parties is whether you want to provide a show or simply have them on show

naturally the more you spend the better quality things get but in reality a lot of dj's who do party work have a stack ok lights that look ok but ultimately dont work or arnt set up correctly. As such i will make the following observations and recommendations.

1) Invest in a couple of nice lights. whether you simply want to light the room or take people on an acid trip, quality lights are a must. instead of a double barrelled blue laser like u have there from ebay i would recommend a more broad range animator blue laser such as this

http://www.lightsounds.com.au/img_src_h ... 0_prd1.htm

only a single gun but the effects that it has are far superior. Cost you a little more but price match a similar product and you can knock a 100 off. thats what i did for two of mine. Ive had lasers off of ebay before which were great but honestly, i layed down the cash and have never looked back. The same advice goes for any other coloured lasers you might buy. Generally avoid lasers with two colours in one (unless your moving high end and plan to work dmx) because most of the time lights will operate under a 'set and forget' basis and having colours that you can simply turn on and off at will is a huge plus.

as a subnote with lasers. the more powerful it is the further it will go but dont skimp on a quality laser over a more powerful one. power does not always guarentee a better effect

2) on the subject of lasers, you definatly need smoke machines. this is what gives you the effect that your after. no smoke=dissappointment guarenteed. If you have a bit of extra cash definatly invest in a hazer, it is an oil based machine that doesnt produce a smoke but still gives the same effect. for parties it a much easier and generally more preferable machine to use. it also doesnt have the smell that comes with alot of cheep smoke machines

3) up until about 200-300 bucks your cheep smoke machines will work just as good as your more expensive ones. the big difference is knowing the quality of your smoke liquid. if you cant buy quality mix. LEARN HOW TO MIX IT CORRECTLY. i mean it sounds obvious but ffs the number of places ive been where some wanker has mixed it too weak or too strong (even in simply glycerine distil. water mixes) is just rediculous and its really annoying when the smoke machine doesnt do its job or is chockingly thick. get it right and you will save yourself time, effort and money (ultimately mixing it too thick ruins the machine). If its the choice between a cheap machine and no machine get a cheap one but ensure you have quality liquid (purchased or DIY)

On the subject of the strobes

be careful here. strobes are always touchy as they are very hard to get right when worked with other lights. typically the best operation is to simultaniously kill all the lights at once (have a couple seconds of black) and then use the strobes. for this reason, havijng a number of strobes seperated apart is a must. if your buying panels, buy a baasic dmx setup and run 3-4 panels together. trust me it will make the show 1000x better. and everybody loves a good strobe. as for the specific strobe you have chosen, i have no real beefs for a beginner setup but long run i dont think it will last as long as you will think and if it breaks, dont bother getting it fixed.

A series of 3-4 parcan panels can be used the exact same way as strobes but with a wider colour varies. saves the purchase of extra lights and extra weight to your truss setup. they may not be as powerful, but they are far more versitile.

4) ahh the age old question of stage trusses. These trusses are great and when rigged up look fantastic. HOWEVER they have a number of crucial flaws that need to be considered.

-if your not well practiced as setting it up and taking it down you can easily spend half your night doing so and keeping things organised. its great to have all your lights attached to the unit but where do you run all the cords? do you have enough power? where are you sticking the powerboards needed to run so many lights close together?

-that being said these trusses typically dont have a very heavy load. attach a couple of lasers, a few strobe panels, maybe a couple of small parcans (which i would definately recommend) and suddenly your truss has 20kg of lights on it. add a smoke machine (if you can, mount it too the truss as it allows a much greater smoke dispersal) and suddenly the truss is no longer stable and safe.

-ensure that the truss is of STEEL construction not plastic, or a streel plastic varient. all steel. especially the joints. plastic will break. I know for a fact that that truss you have there has plastic joints. it says 60kg capactiy but if you load it that high you will not only break your truss and your lights but hurt someone (including yourself) in the process.

A couple of t bars is generally a safer and more practical option (ie buy the truss but dont use cross bar).

It seriously doesnt take much to look awesome at parties, especially if there is alcohol involved. 5-600 gets you a decent way there but really your looking at about $1000 for something gusta. I personally have about 3k work of bits and pieces and when i want to can pretty much blind the first 5 rows of punters at a gig if i wanted too.

Most gigs wont require the entirety of your lights setup a few key bits and pieces setup and packed away (organised) correctly can be all thats required.

/Wall of text

Hope this helps

-AlexJ

[Banderas]

Amazing post my friend! Thank you so much for all of that information. You've helped a hell of a lot!

I'd actually researched the hazers and although they sound fantastic, they're well out of my budget for what I'm trying to achieve. That single lens blue laser is definitely something I'll look into and perhaps I'll aim for a T-Bar or two over the cross bar. Thanks again bud.

[SourceRaver]

Be carefully with some lasers that have colours other than green and red (the human eye is most sensitive to these colours) as they look good in videos but are disappointing in real life as they look really weak and are easily washed out by other lights. Always best to see them in operation first before you buy.

[AlexJ]

Be carefully with some lasers that have colours other than green and red (the human eye is most sensitive to these colours) as they look good in videos but are disappointing in real life as they look really weak and are easily washed out by other lights. Always best to see them in operation first before you buy.

this again is very true

only reason i recommened the lightsounds one is i have one and think its fantastic