Lagoon/ Grotto/ laser help!

[Allen H]

Hey Guys,
Im adding a lagoon room (with the waist high "liquid sky" laser effect) The laser only shoots a beam about 60 degrees wide.
I have the Halloweenlasers laser and the babette controller. I was told mirrors were used to make the laser cover the room, but the strength just isint there. so I have this great looking triangle and then its just dark in all the other areas.
Could the fog be stopping the laser from getting through?
Some help from someone who has one of these rooms in their show would be great.
The room I saw at Necropolis on the columbia haunt tour was awesome, I remember the whole room being covered.
Thanks,
Allen H

[soultrkr]

Fog could be stopping the beam as it is not clear so the laser will lose strength and being a slight opaque white color will cause distortion when passing through it. I could not say for sure with out knowing the amount of fog you are creating in the room. Where in the room is the laser mounted? is it casting the laser image from roof to floor or casting upwards? I am trying to picture the effect your going for in my head but it is failing at the moment.

[Allen H]

I appreciate the help, Id love to hear from folks who have the room in their haunt or have installed one.
The effect is that the group feels like they are walking through waist deep water because the laser "sky" cuts them off at the waist, they cant see their feet.. Really neat effect Im just beating my head against the wall trying to recreate it.
Allen H

[soultrkr]

from what I can see you would need the laser to be held at an aproximate postion around their waists. make sure the angle is traveling horizontal and try moving the laser light back to see if the coverage will get the room. you will probally need to run the fog through a cooler to keep it low lying and have the laser just above the fog bank area. Of course you probally already tried this but I figure maybe not so might not hurt. basically as long as the intial beam is angled like < as you draw it back the more coverage you should get in the room baring any obstructions the effect will only be made whole in dim or low light so the fog can highlight the laser.
Or at least my understanding of it.

[gadget-evilusions]

Allen,

We were setting up this effect at one of my customers haunts using that same laser system. We ran into the same problem and have yet to find a good solution. Using additional mirrors does cut down on the intensity of the beam greatly. I found this, http://www.mi-lasers.com/optics-ligh...n-scanner-p-22 which works to create the effect as well. We actually coupled the two, and once again, just not enough intensity. The only options I have come up with to cover a much larger area, is multiple systems. Either a few of the halloween laser units, or several of the polygon scanners with powerful laser modules.

[Allen H]

Thanks Brian,
I will keep you posted if I find something that works

[scrymnstr]

What if you used 2 lasers directly across from on another? The 2 triangles would overlap fill the room more effectively . It would probably take a lot of adjustment to get the alignment perfect.

[creep house]

Use a Haze Machine ..... not a fog machine .

[bhays]

Don't think it will ever work with a 4.9mw laser.. just not enough power there. Need at least 10 times that... really a bit more.

This may be an option.
http://www.x-laser.com/displaylaser....aser=v06X22304
Good dealer I have used:
http://www.djsproaudioandlighting.co...laze+%2F+X250G

Now, they are going to give you a variance that you can show the fire mashal, FDA, etc.

If you want to fly by the seat of the pants, I have bought several lasers from these folks and can vouch that they are good quality and a reliable vendor.

http://www.chinesedepartmentstore.co.../cPath/254_259

You can get way more power for the same money. Vash is a great guy and will take care of you. Of course there will not be a variance, nor can you get one with these lasers, but I have never seen the laser police (FDA) show up at a haunt.

YMMV

[Octoberalles]

I've seen people build a frame with water bed mattresses inside and then as you walk on it, it increases the illusion of being in water. mattresses are pretty durable, especially when covered with carpet and can easily withstand a season or threes' worth of customers.

just a thought to help add to the illusion.

[spookhaven]

It was my understanding they used multiple lazers in the cave as well.

[HalloweenLasers]

HalloweenLasers Response

Hey Guys,
Im adding a lagoon room (with the waist high "liquid sky" laser effect) The laser only shoots a beam about 60 degrees wide.
I have the Halloweenlasers laser and the babette controller. I was told mirrors were used to make the laser cover the room, but the strength just isint there. so I have this great looking triangle and then its just dark in all the other areas.
Could the fog be stopping the laser from getting through?
Some help from someone who has one of these rooms in their show would be great.
The room I saw at Necropolis on the columbia haunt tour was awesome, I remember the whole room being covered.
Thanks,
Allen H

Hello Allen,

Thanks for your purchase!

The best solution I could offer you is to purchase haze. Thick fog can cause blockage of the laser. Haze works best because it adds thin particles to the air that interacts with the laser well without taking away from the brightness of the effect.

Another solution would be to put another Babette Laser Effects System on the other side of the Lagoon. This will cover all of the gaps from when people walk through the effect.

Mirrors work well if the space is indoors, so the fog/haze is contained. They also work well in a completely pitch dark room. Like you said the laser loses some strength with the more mirror bounces that you add.

Thanks,
Andrew

[HalloweenLasers]

Caution

Don't think it will ever work with a 4.9mw laser.. just not enough power there. Need at least 10 times that... really a bit more.

This may be an option.
http://www.x-laser.com/displaylaser....aser=v06X22304
Good dealer I have used:
http://www.djsproaudioandlighting.co...laze+%2F+X250G

Now, they are going to give you a variance that you can show the fire mashal, FDA, etc.

If you want to fly by the seat of the pants, I have bought several lasers from these folks and can vouch that they are good quality and a reliable vendor.

http://www.chinesedepartmentstore.co.../cPath/254_259

You can get way more power for the same money. Vash is a great guy and will take care of you. Of course there will not be a variance, nor can you get one with these lasers, but I have never seen the laser police (FDA) show up at a haunt.

YMMV

The reason why HalloweenLasers uses 4.9mW laser beams in our Babette Laser Effects System is because they are safe, at a distance, to the human eye. If you were to use higher powered laser products for the same purpose, you are taking on the responsibility of hurting your customers.

A lot of circuit design and engineering went into making the controller of the system. We are not simply offering you a laser projector.

Thanks for your interest. We are developing new products for the HAA show in March.

Thanks,
Andrew
HalloweenLasers

[HalloweenLasers]

Amazing Idea

I've seen people build a frame with water bed mattresses inside and then as you walk on it, it increases the illusion of being in water. mattresses are pretty durable, especially when covered with carpet and can easily withstand a season or threes' worth of customers.

just a thought to help add to the illusion.

This is a great idea. The uneven walking surface will definitely enhance to any sort of swamp/cemetery scene within a Haunt.

Keep the ideas coming. Other product ideas welcome. We are here to service the haunt industry, and we find it challenging and rewarding to construct the laser effect products that you guys think of.

Thanks,
Andrew
HalloweenLasers

[HauntedMemphis]

The room I saw at Necropolis on the columbia haunt tour was awesome, I remember the whole room being covered.

I talked to the guys at Necropolis before making my decision to do a laser. That effect was really well done. One thing had to their advantage is that they had a laser with a much wider spread than 60 degrees to start with. (120 if I recall correctly.) Then they used mirrors to help complete their effect. Depending on how much you are trying to cover, 60 degrees could be tough. The Babette isn't a real high powered laser either, which is very good for a lot of reasons, but not so good if you are trying to get coverage via reflections through fog.

One thing to check though is that your mirrors are set level to the laser so everything is coming off at the proper angles. Try shooting with little to no fog to see where you are hitting so everything is on the same plane.