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Back Issues of The Laserist:
Winter 1999

Show News:

Tech Focus

New Products

Lasers All Night Long at Sydney's Mardi Gras

The music and the lasers never stop
at one of the world’s largest all-night dance parties

By Paul Mazlin, Director,
Oracle Laser Productions, http://www.oraclelaser.com.au

It’s perhaps one of the largest dance parties in the world: 26,000 people spread over three venues, the crowning event of a month-long series of musical, theatrical and sporting events that draw people in droves to Sydney, Australia. Over 500,000 people from around the world viewed the city’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade held this February, which wove its way through downtown Sydney and finished near the doorstep of Royal Hall of Industries, the largest of three adjacent dance venues.

Lighting and laser crews began setting up the hall seven days in advance, preparing an extravagant display of lasers and conventional lights that would accompany live stage acts and DJs. Lighting designer Allan Parkinson, who has produced similar events in New York and San Francisco, created the overall look for the event. As Oracle’s director, I worked closely with Parkinson to incorporate lasers as a major show element in the design.

The setup for the event in the Royal Hall, the main dance venue that would host 11,000 people, was complicated by an unusual overhead lighting grid. A main cable truss on the ceiling ran down the center of the 30-meter x 60-meter hall. On each side of the cable truss, six box trusses were suspended at right angles. Each of the 12 box trusses, aside from containing five Vari*lites (360-degree automated luminaries) and other lighting fixtures, was rigged to raise and lower over the course of the night using computer-controlled chain hoist motors. One of our major challenges was to adapt the laser effects to the moving truss positions.

Gala Stage Shows
The grand scale of the stage shows, which sometimes involved 40 performers, ruled out putting the lasers on the stage itself. We decided to place one full-color laser on each side of the main stage, where twin 5-meter tall video walls were already in place. We used a forklift to place the lasers on top of the video units, although the video crew was none too impressed by the laser power supply’s excessive magnetic field or the water pipes we ran on top of their screens. But hey, we assured them, it was only water! We placed a single 20-watt argon blue/green laser at the opposite end of the hall on scaffolding facing the stage. Each laser was equipped with two scan heads, giving us good coverage of the huge space.

The control consoles for both the Vari*lites and the lasers were placed side-by-side in the crowded control tower, which allowed everyone to communicate when it came time to coordinate the two light sources. Some extraordinary looks, for example, were created by programming the full-color lasers to project red light and by setting the Vari*lites to a near ultraviolet color. Other effects that worked well involved relatively simple color combinations between the laser and the overhead lights. Each of the lasers could be individually programmed, or we could use a serial link to take control of all the lasers simultaneously from one computer. We found it advantageous to have one control operator for the blue/green argon laser and a second operator for the two full-color lasers. The multiple control setup allowed the two operators to create effects together—they got very creative during the evening with changing colors and shapes, especially when the 360- degree moving Vari*lites were added.

Simple Effects Often the Best
Rather than everything going crazy at full speed, we have found that beauty often lies in simplicity. Despite being able to do everything at once, simple effects— like a large laser tunnel in full color with an argon laser sweeping a slow, rotating line through it—can look like magic.
A lot of our work involved coordinating laser effects with the lowering and raising of the 12 box trusses. Several effects included lowering the trusses to just above the heads of the audiences and then firing the lasers above the trusses at a cluster of rotating mirrors. The lasers ricocheted off the mirrors, traveled through the lighting rig, and came down on the audience in showers of small beams.

One of the highlights of the show for the laser crew was the “blackout” section of the evening. This is when the trusses were raised to their full height, the lights were turned out, and it was nothing but lasers for a half-hour. Most lighting designers have a problem with doing nothing for such a long time, and one Oracle trick is to send the LD down to the dance floor to watch the laser show—this usually loses them for a half hour or so! Professionals like Allan Parkinson, fortunately, do not have a problem with such long blackouts.
We went to some pains to plan how the laser would be introduced for this section, working out our musical cues with the DJ well in advance. We left the room black for a full 30 seconds while the music built in intensity and people wondered what was happening. Then when the beat kicked in, we blasted the room’s central mirror effects cluster with 30 watts of laser power and the crowd went ballistic—an enormous collective roar was heard when the lasers took control. It is quite a feeling to incite 11,000 people into frenzy with a single mouse click!

Oracle’s custom mirror clusters gave a new twist to traditional mirror ball effects used at many dance parties. In addition to conventional mirror balls, we added custom-made rotating mirror “wheels” to the Mardi Gras effects mix. Up to four feet in diameter, each disk-shaped mirror wheel was hung on its own moving truss with its flat surface parallel to the ground. From the floor below, the wheels looked like giant UFOs, as laser beams could be seen reflecting off the mirrored rim of the wheels like giant spokes.
All in all, we used three clusters of mirror effects, with the center cluster comprised of two four-foot mirror wheels, two one-foot mirror wheels, and one six-foot mirror ball. The two large wheels rotated in opposite directions such that the laser beams reflected inwards. The smaller wheels, positioned higher up, were used to reflect the beams outward. Since the mirrors were hung in pairs and contra-rotating, the spokes meshed together like giant horizontal windmills.

Using a mirror ball motor developed by Oracle, we were able to rotate the mirror effects very slowly (2 rpm), and set their rotational direction. This is a giant step forward for creating mirror shows, as normal motors are too fast and have no directional control. This level of control allowed some spectacular effects to be created using simple chase sequences—especially when all three lasers were hitting the wheels from different directions.

Moving Mirrors
To add more excitement, the center mirror cluster was adjustable in height using chain hoist motors. Three trim heights were programmed for the cluster. Using a Stromberg motor control system, the elevation could be programmed to within an inch. When the cluster moved (which it did several times each hour) all the mirror target laser programs for the cluster were shifted along with it, thanks to a programming feature that allowed us to define up to 30 different laser projection zones within the venue and lock each image to a preprogrammed zone.

The show started at 10:00 p.m. and continued until 10:00 a.m. without a hitch except for the amplifiers overheating as the room temperature exceeded 40° C (100° F). We installed extra cooling fans in the laser projectors to keep the PCAOM drivers cool. By the end of this show, the cold water cooling hose was dripping with condensation, which indicated a dangerous situation. There was a possibility that condensation could be forming on the laser power supply’s pass-bank transistor plate, which was cooled by the same water source. There is not a lot that can be done about this during the show, except to pray.

As the show came to a close, the lighting designer and management were extremely happy with the event and you can see why from the photographs. Even bigger plans are in the air for the next big party: Mardi Gras 2000 ... see you there!
http://www.oraclelaser.com.au

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Shooting for the Stars
Laser companies all over the world are striving to reach new heights for their millennium shows, but one company is planning to literally reach the stars when it fires up two YAG lasers from an abandoned nuclear missile silo outside Roswell, New Mexico.

The 60 watts of combined YAG power will be directed straight up toward outer space. The laser system is called The Starlite and organizers plan to digitally encode messages from the public and transmit them to the universe in sequences of ultra-bright laser pulses. Steve Jander, director of Starlite’s laser operations and president of Texas-based Showlasers, called the encoded messages “greeting cards to the universe.”

The public, for $19.95, can reserve a time slot on New Year’s day for the broadcast of a short message of their choosing. Starlite plans to transform the Atlas missile silo site into an event to celebrate the millennium, complete with live music and a white-light laser that will display the broadcast messages for party-goers to read. Jander says he plans to use the open silo doors (weight: 75 tons each) as a projection surface for the white-light laser.

The Starlite Laser Messaging System is modeled after technology pioneered by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for deep space communication. Lasers appear to be more suitable for ultra-long distance communication than microwave or radio waves. Starlite’s science advisor, John Simck of Texas State Technical College, estimates the messages will travel about ten light years. “Theoretically, the beams could travel forever if they miss stellar dust clouds and heavenly bodies,” added Don Pierson, another project advisor from Texas State. “I’m not so concerned where it goes indefinitely. My concern is that it travels far enough that it could potentially reach some civilization,” said Pierson. One week after the messages are launched into space, the authors will receive holographic launch certificates inscribed with the exact message and launch time. The messages will be notarized and certified by the City of Roswell.
http://www.thestarlite.com

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Raster Laser Piece Debuts
A new style of laser display that uses more detailed images will be showcased by Pangolin Laser Systems at ILDA’s Orlando Conference. A 2.5-minute piece created by Doug McCullough of Laser Show Design demonstrates the raster imaging capabilities of Pangolin’s new QM2000 hardware card for PCs. The show was optimized for 60K pps scanners and consists entirely of TV-like raster frames. “It’s not a replacement for standard video,” said McCullough, “but it can produce incredible results if you know how to program it.”
Pangolin Laser Systems, http://www.pangolin.com

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Lasertainment to Light
Gulf World Theme Park
Lasertainment is about to begin installing it’s largest laser display project yet, a state-of-the-art multimedia show for Gulf World, a marine theme park in Panama City Beach, Florida. The new effects will premier March 1, 2000 as part of the park’s $5 million expansion program, which also features a new 2,000 seat stadium.

Lasertainment, based in Minneapolis, will install one 10-watt white-light laser for graphic projection and a second 10-watt white-light laser for aerial beams and atmospheric effects. Additional equipment includes remote fiber heads with scan sets, external bounce mirrors, fog generators, bubble machines, a fully computerized control system, special laser-enhanced water effects, and a state-of-the-art sound system. All show programming will be completed in-house using Pangolin software.
Lasertainment Productions, Inc. http://www.lasertainment.com

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Light Sabers Come to Life
The Star Wars light saber has come to life. Long the favored weapon of the Knights of the Jedi but rumored only to exist in the imagination of Star Wars creator George Lucas, the shimmering sword was conjured up for real this summer by Baltimore-based Advanced Entertainment Technology (AET).
Using a 40-watt YAG laser, experienced actors, and a professional fight choreographer (in other words, don’t try this at home), AET treated a summer festival audience to a live-action duel between two actors using specially constructed light sabers. The two actors wielded transparent acrylic tubes pumped with fog and glowing in vibrant laser light thanks to a fiber optic feed from the offstage YAG.

For an added treat, a visible beam of laser light was allowed to escape from the end of each saber—making audience members believe that the two combatants were indeed battling with a weapon from out-of-this world. The light sabre duel was the finale to a longer show that celebrated Rockville Hometown Days in Rockville, Maryland. A video clip of the live-action stunt can be seen at the AET web site.
Advanced Entertainment Technology, http://www.aetlasers.com

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PrestiDigitize Opens New World of Tools
By David Lytle, Editor

What many laser artists have dreamed of for years—the ability to generate laser images with the same ease and speed associated with traditional computer graphics—may finally be a reality. Lightspeed Design Group has just unveiled its new PrestiDigitize software that, according to the Bellevue, Washington company, will free its laser artists from the tedious process of hand digitizing laser images.

Lightspeed's PrestiDigitize process makes it possible to closely integrate video and
laser projections, using video for background fill and to add texture to laser graphics. In
this image, video adds re-
flective surfacing and a back-
ground to the laser-drawn
robot figure.



Using PrestiDigitize, Lightspeed’s artists have taken images created with off-the-shelf computer graphics software and converted them into line-art animations ready for display by laser projectors. The proprietary software, currently only available for in-house use by Lightspeed’s own artists, can digitize a frame of laser artwork in about 48 seconds, compared to the 20 minutes it now takes an artist to digitize the same frame by hand. Lightspeed President Chris Ward calls the program a “laser rendering engine.” He says its advanced digitizing algorithms allow scanners to create far more detailed images with higher frame rates than ever before possible.

Realistic Renderings
“We believe we can faithfully reproduce line-art drawings of today’s most popular computer graphic characters. We no longer have to ‘dumb down’ these images,” said Ward. Although many laser companies have developed methods to import raster-based computer graphic images into laser show programs, none has yet succeeded at the level of PrestiDigitize, said Patrick Murphy, president of Pangolin Laser Systems. Some programs, for example, allow users to import raster-based line art for conversion into a vector-based image, but that falls far short of the full-fledged animation package that Lightspeed claims to have in PrestiDigitize, he said.

"The industry has crossed a threshold,” with the new program, said Casey Stack, head of Stack Technical Services and former chair of ILDA’s Technical Committee. Because laserists can now create their images using standard computer graphic tools, they have access “to incredibly powerful tools that are not incredibly expensive.”

Teams with New Scanners
The automated digitizing feature of the program, said Stack, will also help laserists take full advantage of faster Cambridge Technology scanners that recently came on the market. If the new scanners allow artists to double the number of vector points on screen, he said, it means that artists will need twice the amount of time to hand-digitize each frame. With an auto-digitizing product such as PrestiDigitize, the increased time needed for the more detailed frames is minimal.

Lightspeed spent more than two years developing the program, with the express goal of “cloning” its highly regarded hand-digitizing artists, said Ward. PrestiDigitize evaluates a broad range of factors and makes a series of artistic and mechanical judgments that optimize artwork for display on laser scanners. It does this more accurately and rapidly, said Ward, than a human artist ever could.

The PrestiDigitize process is already in use in Lightspeed’s Quest for Flight 3D theater show and will be demonstrated at LDI in Orlando. The process starts with polygon-based 3D animation tools such as Lightwave 3D, 3D Studio MAX, or Maya. These programs can render line-art drawings from the polygon models and store the data in a vector file format. The vector files are then cleaned up and reviewed using Macromedia’s vector animation program, Flash. The Flash vector files are rendered and optimized for laser display by PrestiDigitize. Finally, the laser frames are assembled into a finished show using traditional laser display tools such as Pangolin’s Showtime. PrestiDigitize takes advantage of Pangolin’s new QM2000 hardware board, which supports the higher output rates —up to 6,000 points per frame and up to 130,000 points per second—needed to maximize performance.

Import Polygon Models
PrestiDigitize’s foundation in computer graphics technology also means that Lightspeed can import many off-the-shelf computer graphic models and translate them into laser artwork. The company, for example, recently created a detailed 3D animation of a Ford prototype vehicle for the new Spirit of Ford Museum in Detroit. Lightspeed took the original polygon-mesh model of the car created by automotive engineers and used PrestiDigitize to create a 250-frame animation sequence for a laser projector. Without PrestiDigitize, Ward estimated the animation sequence would have taken about three weeks to complete. With the new software, the job was finished in one week. Additional animations of the vehicle can now be generated in a matter of minutes, he said, as the car’s exact dimensions are stored in a laser animation file.

Robert Mueller, Lightspeed’s art director, predicts that laser animations will become more fluid and “cinematic” thanks to PrestiDigitize, because artists can concentrate on the big picture instead of worrying about how long it would take to create a detailed animation effect. The program also opens the door to a host of animation effects that are common in computer graphics, but have not been implemented for laser graphics.
Those effects include complex three-dimensional animations, moving camera angles combined with moving characters, particle systems dynamics, and the use of motion-capture technology.

Lightspeed also hopes PrestiDigitize will add a new level of precision to its efforts to combine laser images with film and video. At November’s LDI meeting in Orlando, the company plans to demonstrate how video projections can be used to add fill and texture to animated laser line art. PrestiDigitize will be used to help develop a seamless blend of video and laser animation on the same screen, according to Lightspeed.
As for PrestiDigitize being licensed for outside use, Ward has yet to give a definitive answer. For the present, he says, the new software will remain strictly in-house, although he says the company will “consider” options for commercialization as the technology matures.
http://www.lightspeed.wa.com

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Tips and Tricks on Making Fiber Optics
Work Magic for Your Laser Show
By Tim Walsh, Laser Spectacles, http://www.laserspectacles.com

Because I use fiberoptics in just about all my laser shows, viewers typically think that they are seeing multiple lasers instead of just one. Using optical fibers for remote beam delivery can be just like getting lasers for free! It allows me to position scanners almost anywhere I want them, as long as I can feed them light from a hair-thin cable made of optical fiber.

My philosophy of lasers is a little bit of laser light is 100% better than no laser light at all! Thus, even if sending laser light through a fiber loses some optical power over a distance, enough light will still be there to recreate the magic of a laser beam. You should not let a slight loss of power dissuade you from the advantages of using a fiber optics beam delivery system (see Peter Mayer’s article for exact figures on light loss).
I have heard laserists and lighting designers say, “But the focused beam of the fiber optic is not as good as the real laser beam.” This may be technically true, but in my experience, as long as nobody knows that they are looking at a fiber beam, they cannot tell the difference.

Better Beam Control
Actually, putting the laser beam through a good quality fiber system can give a laserist control over the final shaping of the beam. And through your choice of the type and diameter of fiber you use, and the focal length of the lenses used for coupling and collimating, you, as the laserist, have control over the beam profile and the divergence of your laser beam.When the beam exits the fiber, the colors are perfectly collinear, more so than a raw laser beam exiting a PCAOM. In my experience, a step index fiber gives a very flat beam profile, with the optical power evenly spread over the laser “dot.” A properly coupled graded index fiber can give a beam profile very similar to a TEM00 laser beam—with most of the beam’s optical power concentrated in the center of the laser “dot,” and gradually tapering off at the edges. However, the step index fiber is more forgiving of slight inaccuracies in coupling. I recommend that first time users begin with step index fiber.

This brings me to a word of warning: there is an art to using lasers in fiberoptics. It is possible to mis-focus a beam into the fiber, and then the amount of power coming out of the end of the fiber will be greatly reduced. If you use fibers, don’t be satisfied with your coupling technique unless the fiber exit beam has the same quality as the beam going in. It is possible!

And, if you notice a significant drop in brightness from a fiber head during or before a show, you should investigate immediately. The lost power has got to go somewhere (if not out the end of the fiber), and quite possibly something is going to burn.

To avoid problems from the beginning, make the coupling beam path from the laser into the fiber as short and direct as possible. If you use a PCAOM for color modulation, place the fiber coupler immediately after the PCAOM for best results. Try to avoid using an actuator to switch the beam into the fiber—it can drift slightly over time, leading to unreliable results, no matter what the quality of your fiber coupler. Try to use a direct beam path into the fiber, and use the actuator to shutter the beam instead.

A trick to use to get the input coupler focused onto a dot on the end of the fiber is to turn the optics around, and use the input coupler as the output coupler temporarily for focusing purposes. By focusing the beam out the input coupler at infinity, and then replacing the input coupler where it is intended to be, your focal point will be close if not perfect.

But not all fiber systems are manufactured in such a way that will allow you to easily do this. Whichever approach you take, be sure to practice it far in advance of your show—this is not something you can experiment with the night before your show opens. You also will want to stock at least one spare fiber with a connector mounted on it, just in case your system becomes misaligned and the fiber input face is damaged by a poorly focused beam.

Try fiber optic beam delivery and your shows–like mine–may never be the same again!

Tim Walsh, Laser Spectacles, http://www.laserspectacles.com

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The Nitty Gritty of Fiber Optics:
A Technology Primer
By Peter Mayer, Creative Laser Productions, CreativeLaser@compuserve.com

During the last few years, fiberoptic components have become available from the fiber industry that match the special requirements of the laser light show industry. A Fiberoptic Remotely Operable Projector, or FROP, is frequently found in many laser installations, with a single laser source providing light to one or more FROPs via fiber optic cable.

Generally, the laser source beam is split into different paths determined by the number of FROP projectors. A major advantage of this system is that the final projectors can be placed in locations that are independent of the laser system itself. Mounting FROPs is easy due to their compact and lightweight construction. Such a fiberoptic delivery system makes it easier and more economical to produce complex laser light shows.

In this article, we will consider some of the technical aspects of using fiberoptic beam delivery systems in laser light shows. Let’s look at how a fiber delivery system would be used in a typical laser show installation. First, the light from the laser source must be focused onto the tip of the fiber itself, with the tip of the fiber measuring from 50 microns to 200 microns in diameter. To focus the beam accurately, a collimating lens and a micropositioner are required.

The micropositioner holds the fiber input face, together with the collimating lens, straight in line to the laser source with micrometer accuracy. Several different configurations are available on the market. Some models feature interchangeable collimator modules, others have their collimating lens already integrated with the micropositioner. The system that has individual micro adjustments for position X/Y and angle X/Y, together with interchangeable collimators, offers the greatest ease of coupling.

Collimating Optics
A variety of collimating elements are available to focus the laser light into the fiber core, including singlet lenses, GRIN lenses, and achromats. For multiline operation over a wide spectrum (such as a white-light laser), an achromat of the highest quality is recommended. This will help ensure consistent coupling over various wavelengths and beam diameters. A configuration in which the focusing lenses are sealed in interchangeable collimator housings gives the advantage of being able to easily reconfigure the fiber system to use the optimum collimator module required for different show needs. Also, using this idea, the collimator can be kept connected to the fiber, thus preventing contamination of the fiber tip during handling. It is very important that the fiber tip be kept clean and scratch-free for efficient fiber coupling!

When it comes to coupling the fiber to the collimator, a special fiber cable connector is required. Most fibers are sold with connectors already attached. The multimode SMA905 connector is in common use worldwide, either with a stainless steel or a ceramic ferrule. Special assembly techniques allow ceramic connectors to be fitted without epoxy. This avoids outgassing effects on the fiber assembly and results in a more rugged fiber that can handle higher power. Creative Laser Productions offers an epoxy-free fiber enclosed in an SMA905 connector for repeatable coupling. When the light exits the fiber at the scanners, a far more simple positioning and focusing device is required compared to the one used at the fiber input face. After all, you are now aiming the beam at scanner mirrors that are several millimeters in size, compared to a fiber core measured in microns.

Step Index vs. Gradient Index
One of the primary technical considerations in using a fiber optic delivery system is the quality of the cable itself. There are generally two types of fibers available, each with its own advantages:

1) Gradient index fibers with a 50 micron core are often used for laser beam delivery up to 10 watts. This type of fiber offers very good output beam quality, good coupling efficiency, and a moderate price.

2) Step index fibers with 15, 30, 50, and up to 200 micron cores are mainly intended for high power applications up to 40 watts. Their advantage is extremely low loss in coupling and delivery. Beam output quality is moderate. Step index fibers are more highly priced than gradient index fibers.

When estimating power losses because of fiber optic transmission, the primary loss is from the coupling connector. This loss occurs at the input of the fiber and depends on input beam quality, collimation optics and the diameter of the fiber. In practice, coupling loss is 10% to 15%.
The second area of loss is the fiber itself, with the loss remaining constant from about 0.1% to 0.5% per meter of cable. A 30-meter cable length of 50 micron gradient index fiber, for example will experience 20-30% light loss with today’s commonly used white-light lasers.

Next time you plan a laser light show or system installation, remember to put the advantages of a fiberoptic beam delivery to work in your application.
Peter Mayer, Creative Laser Productions, CreativeLaser@compuserve.com

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Low-cost German
Scanners Perform Well
By Greg Makhov,
Lighting Systems Design, Inc. lsdi@lsdi.com

I recently had a chance to evaluate the Catweazle LC II scanners manufactured by MediaLas of Hechingen, Germany. MediaLas promotes the Catweazle (named after a European cartoon character) as a high-speed, low-cost scanning system capable of reproducing the ILDA test pattern at speeds as fast as 30,000 points per second (30K pps). Bill Arkin of Holo-Spectra, a MediaLas dealer in the U.S., provided an X-Y pair with mount, scanner amp, and diode laser.

I was impressed with the compact package this presented. The Catweazle scanners are nearly cubical enclosures, with the mirror surface located at one edge of the cube. They come with a special mount to hold the two scanners in the correct orthogonal orientation. Each scanner “cube” measures about 1.25 x 1 inch and has a short cable with a DB-9 connector that plugs into the amplifier.
When using the supplied laser diode, I noticed that the elliptical shape of the beam was larger than the rather small mirrors on these scanners, resulting in some light loss. This should not be a concern with narrower beams from ion lasers. MediaLas recommends that laser power not exceed 2 watts when using the Catweazles.

Single Circuit Board
The amplifier and built-in power supply are packaged on one compact circuit card measuring about 8.75 x 3 x 2 inches. Input power is switchable from 110 to 220 vac. The power components have a large heatsink, but fan cooling may be desirable as the heatsink becomes hot during sustained operation. A 12 vdc output on the card is provided for fan operation. Input and output signals come from a 10-pin header style connector, with differential inputs and a position output. Polarity inversion is accomplished with computer-type jumpers.
When evaluating scanner performance, I use a variety of test patterns at different scan angles. Use of a single pattern may overlook some performance features of the scanning system.

For this evaluation I used an Amiga computer with Pangolin’s LD 400 as a signal source. The scanners were placed on an optical breadboard with a calibrated target, allowing quick and accurate determination of scan angle (in degrees). The basic test approach involved displaying a test pattern at a particular point output rate, and then increasing the scan angle until distortion was observed.
I used four different patterns to evaluate the scanners, the results of which are shown in the accompanying table. I did not test any pattern at speeds greater than 30K pps, as the scanners could not accurately reproduce the ILDA test pattern at speeds beyond this level. The table shows both the scanning speeds and the scan angle at which the image was reproduced (scanners typically perform better at smaller scan angles, sacrificing image size for speed and detail).

The first pattern I used was a quadrature square wave. This consists of two square waves positioned at 90 degrees to each other. The pattern is useful for determining large step response and critical damping. Some manufacturers sacrifice damping to gain increased speed, but this was not the case with the Catweazles. They reproduced the pattern with good results at a 20 degree scan angle at 30K pps. I next used the ILDA test pattern, which is primarily a test of small-step response (when the scanners make relatively short “jumps” between adjacent points). At the high end of the speed scale, scanning 30k pps, the Catweazles were able to reproduce this pattern at a respectable 6 degree scan angle. At the other end of the speed scale, the size of the pattern grew to 38 degrees when the scanners were slowed down to 12K pps.

A 9 x 9 grid pattern is a very useful test for approximating images used in an actual show. I frequently use it to fine tune scanners after the ILDA Test Pattern is already dialed in. The Catweazles accurately reproduced this pattern at 30K pps with a 7 degree scan angle. At a slower 18K pps speed, the pattern size could be increased to as large as 20 degrees. My final test involved the Laser Media test pattern. This pattern was originally designed for relatively slow scanner speeds of 12K pps, but is still widely in use. One of the interesting aspects of the Laser Media pattern is that it has two diagonal lines that are retraced in each direction. This is a useful feature in evaluating the relative speed of the two scanners. If one scanner is running faster than the other, the retrace lines will not be superimposed, but will follow two opposing curves.

I took the Laser Media pattern with a scan angle of around 40 degrees and started a slow Z-axis rotation. This creates a condition where the diagonal retrace line approaches the scanner axis (vertical or horizontal) and one scanner makes a small step, while the other makes a large step. Essentially, this shows us the relation of small step response relative to the large step response.

Large vs. Small Steps
With the Catweazle scanners, this test found a substantial discrepancy in the small and large step response at 40 degrees, creating a large separation of the diagonal retraces. By reducing the scan angle to 20 degrees, this effect is minimized (large step response is decreased in size). At about 10 degrees, the discrepancy virtually disappears.

The Catweazle II scanner system offers a very economical scanning engine with reasonable capabilities. When I played back a show animation module I found the image quality to be quite good. To my eye, the quality was not as good as the imagery produced by GSI G120D or CTI 6800 scanners. However, users with little experience in laser graphics may not notice much of a difference.
I found the Catweazles to be capable of 30K speed, although perhaps at a sacrifice of better overall performance, especially when it comes to balancing small-step and large-step response. The system seems stable, and the electronics are professionally designed.

The compactness of the overall package suggests point-of-sale systems or portable systems. It may not be truly equivalent to CTI 6800 or GSI G120D scanners, but the price/performance ratio makes it a real bargain.

Greg Makhov,lsdi@lsdi.com
MediaLas, http://www.showlaser.com

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Compact Lasergraph
LaserAnimation’s new Lasergraph DSP Compact is a stand-alone projector that can provide playback and live control of laser displays without the need for additional devices. The new projector features a full Lasergraph DSP projection engine packaged in a 19” rack-mount enclosure equipped with a full range of interfaces including DMX, MIDI, SMPTE and more.

If more than one scanner output is needed, an unlimited number of Lasergraph DSP Compact units may be linked together in a network that will also support almost any input or output device used in a performance setting. For programming or additional control purposes, the new platform can be networked with desktop PCs, notebook computers or a Lasergraph DSP workstation. Just one PC is needed to control the network, regardless of the number of projectors.

LaserAnimation, based in Berlin, is offering its new platform in three software levels: Easy, which offers playback, live control and limited programming; Progressive, for users who want to program their own shows; and Superior, which offers a library of 10,000 frames that can be used free of charge.
The unit features two Motorola processors, on-board memory and a 4.3 gigabyte hard drive. Prices start at under DM14,850 (US$8,000). http://www.laseranimation.com

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Coherent Introduces YAG Viper
Laserists searching for a compact, easy-to-use YAG laser will get a first look at Coherent Laser Group’s new Viper laser during ILDA’s Orlando Conference. The solid-state Viper measures only 18 x 4 x 5 inches (excluding power supply) yet produces up to 10 watts of green laser light from a standard 110v or 220v wall outlet.

Designed to meet the needs of entertainment applications, the unit is hermetically sealed and features Coherent’s “Permalign” technology that locks the laser into permanent alignment. The Viper is available in 5-, 8- and 10-watt power levels, with the first two levels requiring only air cooling. The 10-watt model is shipped with a closed-loop chiller. For more information and pricing, contact Terry Hannon, product manager, (+1) 408-764-4654. http://www.cohr.com

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Pangolin’s New QM2000 Board
Pangolin Laser Systems has introduced a new computer processing board that will drive its Lasershow Designer 2000 system. New capabilities enabled by the QM2000 include real-time geometric correction, audience scanning protection masks and faster point output speeds.

“Our clients have requested many of these features, but we had to wait. Now the QM2000 gives us 10 times the processing power, so this is definitely our platform for the future,” stated Pangolin’s William Benner. A special upgrade offer allows current QM32 users to turn in their board and get a QM2000-based system for about half of the list price.

The QM2000 board has ILDA and DMX outputs, and fits into a PCI bus slot on any Windows-compatible PC. LD2000 will be available in three levels, Professional, Basic and Intro. Pricing remains unchanged from Pangolin’s older QM32-based system, starting at $1,995. http://www.pangolin.com

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Plug and Play Projector
Hoping to make life easier for laserists on the road, Cambridge Laser Laboratories has introduced the Illusion line of projectors. The new product line features a laser head and projector components mounted on a single, lightweight aluminum chassis. The unified mounting approach greatly reduces the chance of misalignment during transport and show setups.

An added bonus for Illusion users is an interlocked projector cover that fully encloses the components to ensure a clean operating environment. The cover, which boasts an antireflection glass output window, is reversible for right- or left-side output and supports magnetic beam masking. The Illusion projector is CDRH certified and is offered with Coherent Innova systems, Spectra-Physics 168 or 171’s, and Cambridge Pythan systems. A laser/projector system in the small frame series is priced at $8,000 (excluding power supply).
http://www.cambridgelasers.com

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From Video Screen to Laser Screen
Imagine pointing a television camera at a subject and seeing the outline projected in laser light. That’s just what the VST-1 system from MediaLas GmbH does. It was originally developed for discos and trade shows, but could be used in any application where real-time movement display is important.The VST-1 uses a common, inexpensive TV-tuner card for input. Pangolin Laser Systems is the exclusive distributor for VST-1. Technical details will be released at the ILDA Conference in Orlando. http://www.showlaser.com

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T2 Bazooka Projector
Australia’s Oracle Laser Productions wants to shine a bright light on the retail marketplace. Its new T2 Bazooka laser projector, designed for retail display advertising and discotheque markets, is loaded with 200 animations and special effects. The T2 system is housed in a dust-sealed enclosure available in a range of stylish colors.

Based around a YAG laser (with power ranging from 60 mW to 3 watts), the T2 is a low-maintenance, compact unit that features fast blanking, beam effects, and high-speed scanning of 3D graphics, logos and animations. The air-cooled unit runs off a standard single-phase 240-volt wall outlet.The T2 is available in two configurations, DMX and PC-controlled. Retail prices start at AUS$10,956 (about US$7,120) for a 60 mW unit.
http://www.oraclelaser.com.au

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New Show Control
System By Laservision
Laservision Macro-Media is marketing its proprietary show control technology to laser display companies and multimedia show producers. Macro-Media Marketing, a new division of the Australian company, will be giving the the world its first look at the firm’s Sinodial Series show controllers during the ILDA and LDI conferences in Orlando.The Sinodial Series is ideally suited to major multimedia productions that use laser displays as a show element. http://www.laservision.com.au

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