The Star Shower laser display is getting all kinds of attention as an alternative to Christmas lights. They don't look all that effective for use on a home but could be useful for studio applications such as the latest video project. If you want to skip to the punchline, I would not buy the unit. Reasons are below along with a less-expensive and more powerful alternative. Note: the alternative is not suitable for outdoor use except for brief, temporary situations.
The following is a commercial. We aren't selling anything here nor do we promote anything for money. The video is only so you get an idea of the device. You probably won't last through the whole pitch because the speakers in it are so annoying but it should be sufficient to show what it does.
The following is a commercial. We aren't selling anything here nor do we promote anything for money. The video is only so you get an idea of the device. You probably won't last through the whole pitch because the speakers in it are so annoying but it should be sufficient to show what it does.
Frankly, we weren't too impressed with it. The cost ranges from about $60 to well over $100 and you can find many of them on eBay. As to it being a better choice than hanging Christmas lights, well, of course it is. Hitting your head with a hammer is a better way to get Christmas lights than stringing them around your house.
Here's an alternative device from Guitar Center. Note it is not waterproof whereas the Star Shower can withstand rain, snow, etc. One buyer of the Star Shower observed it can handle the snow ... right up until the snow covers it.
Guitar Center: Gem Sound Mini Laser Lighting Effect ($49)
Example of the Mini Laser:
The lasers in the Star Shower are extremely low-power and I'm guessing five milliwatts. Presumably there is some kind of diffraction grate which turns the laser beam into hundreds of dots. As to cost, you can get raw 5mw lasers on eBay for maybe five dollars and you only need an AA battery to power them. You only need minimal knowledge of any electronics to wire up some lasers to do just about anything and, at 5mw, their power is so low you won't wind up busted by Feds for interfering with aircraft.
I saw no evidence of the Star Shower laser beams moving and it's not likely they will because that requires mirrors in the beam path and that gets more technical than you want to know but it's important so you know what to expect.
While I'm not so much drawn to the Star Shower, that Gem Sound laser could be cool for the application in which it won't be attached to the light rack as one of the dominator lasers but rather it's like photographic 'fill light' from the foreground. That could work for shooting video inside the Rockhouse and also for something like the waving monk in the scene I've been trying to capture lately. Smoke is always cool for lasers ... always.
I've got to stop looking at these lasers, tho. Payday was yesterday and the lasers can easily start saying, 'you spend too much on soup!' (larfs)
No comments:
Post a Comment