Q: What are the main kinds of laser effects used in light shows?

A: There are two main classes of laser effects, beam effects and screen effects. In a beam effect, the laser beam traveling through the air creates the effect. A screen effect is any image or optical effect that requires a screen or other projection surface to be visible. Q: What kind of beam effects can I see at laser shows? A: There are two main types of beam effects, static and dynamic. Static beams are usually turned on an off and may be bounced from mirrors to create a beam matrix or sculpture in the air. Dynamic beam effects are moving beams that may include sheets, fans, cones or blades of light moving above and through the audience. Q: Why don't I see a lot of beam effects at some shows? A: Some shows are designed to be graphics and animation intensive and some shows are designed to have lots of beam effects. Beam effects take more laser power to project so some venues do not use them since their lasers are not powerful enough. I n other cases the venue does not have the clearances or permits needed for safe projection of beam effects. Q: When you see laser animations at shows do they just scan the pictures in ? A: In traditional character animation each picture has to be individually hand drawn (digitised) usually from artwork prepared by an animator. The images (frames) are then played back in rapid succession creating the illusion of movement just like a classic Disney movie or Saturday morning cartoon. Here are some laser frames of a dancing man - you can see the differences from frame to frame (also see Laser Graphics Systems).

Example of laser animations frames

Q: Are there other kinds of laser animations? A: There are sequential frame animations [sometimes called character animation which is discussed above] and object animation. In sequential frame animation, a sequence of slightly different frames is projected giving the illusion of a character moving just like in a cartoon. In object animation, the images on the screen are created by the computer moving or rotating an object. An example would be a company logo spinning around. The computer can add perspective or perform line removal to give the illusion that the 2D image projected onto the screen is a 3D object. Q: What is the most powerful laser used in laser shows? A: For lightshow applications, the MB-50 laser from the now defunct Laser Ionics, routinely generated 65 watts into a power meter. Some manufacturers have built 60+ Watt YAG laser who's lime-green beam appears as bright to the eye as a 200 watt Argon laser. 200 W Copper Vapour Lasers are commercially available from Oxford Lasers although we have not heard of them being used in light show applications. Q: Can you get rich doing laser light shows? A: NO! The laser and computer equipment, the personnel needed and the costs of producing the shows are all very high. You can pursue lasers as a fun and interesting hobby since low power HeNe and diode lasers are available from many sources. You can also design and build your own simple effects generation equipment and low cost scanners such as the Catweazle and Eye Magic scanners are available. Professional Laser show companies spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours creating the

shows and displays that you enjoy. While you cannot get rich, you can make a reasonable living doing laser light shows. Q: Can I put my hand into a laser beam at a show? A: Generally, NO! You can safely put your hands into any beams that are scanned onto the audience as they are dynamic and the power levels are safe. Static beams (unmoving beams) can be dangerous and can cause burns or ignition of clothing never put you hand into a static laser beam. You should never attempt to reflect a laser beam with a mirror or watch crystal as this may direct it into someone else's eyes causing vision damage. Q: Where can I found out more about how laser light shows work? A: The How Laser Shows Work section of this web site has a diagram of a laser display system you can click on. Each part of the system is more fully explained on the accompanying pages. There are not many books available on the subject but you can find a short bibliography in the Laser Science Project sections as well a glossary of terminology, which gives more information about laser displays. Q: Do you have to be licensed to do laser shows? A: The rules and regulations on public laser shows and displays differ from country to country although most countries follow the IEC-825 regulations. In the USA laser projection equipment needs a 'variance' and each show must be reported and have a 'site variance' issued by the CDRH. In Canada public shows and displays must be reported to the Radiation Protection Bureau in Ottawa. If you plan to perform a public laser show, check with the authorities having jurisdiction over radiation protection and health in your area. Q: How do they control the colours of the laser in shows? A: Lasers are not like regular lights than can have their colour changed by placing gels (filters) in front of them. Lasers produce only certain colours (frequencies; also called lines) of light. For example, HeNe lasers produce only red light (at 629 nm approx.) while argon lasers produce blue and green light on several frequencies. To produce a colour laser display, you need to have all colours present in the beam first either by mixing a red Krypton or HeNe laser with an Argon laser, or using a White Light laser (which produces red, yellow, green and blue light on a number of lines). The simplest form of colour control is called a colour box. This uses dichroic filters mounted on actuator arms to select one of 7 possible colour combinations (red, green, blue, yellow, cyan, magenta and white) by subtractive colour. In full colour displays, an acousto-optic device called a PCAOM is used to control the brightness of each line allowing for a full spectrum of projected colours by additive colour (see the Projector

page in the How Laser Shows Work topic). Q: How are the images produced in laser shows? A: The images can be either abstract or graphics. Mixing of signals from a number of analogue oscillators is usually used to produces abstract images although they can also be produced with a computer graphics system. Laser graphics computers store images as a series of points (like a connect-the-dots picture). The individual frames of the animation are played back in sequence to create the illusion of motion as in a cartoon. The points that make up the image are converted by the computer into voltages that drive the scanners. The scanners use small mirrors mounted on galvanometers at right angles to each other to control the vertical and horizontal deflection of the beam (see the Scanners page in the How Laser Shows Work topic). The points in the image are refreshed (re-drawn) many times a second by the scanners so that your eye is tricked into seeing an image. The rapid projection of a sequence of slightly different images gives the illusion of movement. Q: How much laser power do I need to make a visible beam? A: Small lasers such as a 5mW HeNe can make a visible beam provided they are operated in total darkness with particulate matter [smoke or dust] in the air. To make a more visible beam you would need an Argon, Copper Vapor or YAG laser as the eye is more sensitive to green light. A 100 mW argon laser would make a visible beam in a dimly lit room with smoke or dust in the air. To make high visibility laser beams such as the kind you see in clubs/bars, you would need at least a 1 watt Argon laser as these locations have plenty of ambient light. Typically the lasers used in clubs/bars are in the 3 to 5 watt power range. The lasers used in outdoor shows can vary from 5 watt Copper Vapor lasers to 20 watt argon lasers, to 60+ watt YAG lasers.

How Laser Shows Work - Graphics System

Graphics systems are usually computer based and allow for the storage of words, pictures and animations for projection by the laser scanning system.

Laser graphics from the "Chronology" show - Photo courtesy of LOBO

Types of displays The type of image display we are most familiar with in everyday life is the the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) which is found in TV sets and computer monitors. This is a raster type of display as the information is displayed by drawing a series of closely spaced horizontal lines very rapidly and varying the brightness and colour of the pixels in the lines. This type of display requires very high bandwidth as there is lots of information in the image. The other most common type of display is a vector display. This requires lower bandwidth as only the end points and changes in the line direction are stored. You may have seen this kind of display in some older video games like Asteroids and Tempest. In a vector image, the picture is stored as a series of points and lines are drawn between the points - like a "connect the dots" picture. If you run through the points in the image fast enough, the eye is tricked by it's persistence of vision into seeing a picture rather then the points that make up the image. As we saw on the Scanning Systems page, laser images are crated by the mechanical movement of tiny mirrors. The scanning system can not move fast enough to give a TV quality raster image so laser systems use vector images. Even laser systems that are projecting raster like images are using vector technology to simulate a raster image. Laser systems draw mostly outline images with no filled or shaded parts.

Unicorn laser animation

(This is a .gif representation made from laser frame data, not actual photos of the laser image)

Laser Graphics Most graphics systems use point plot sequential frame animation for graphics storage. This means that the images are stored as a series of points (like a connect-the-dots picture), and that

animation frames are played back in sequence to create the illusion of motion as in a cartoon. The points that make up the image are converted by Digital to Analogue Converters (DACs) or a display processor in the computer into analogue voltages that drive the scanning system. The scanners use small mirrors mounted on galvanometers at right angles to each other to control the vertical and horizontal deflection of the beam. The points in the image are refreshed (re-drawn) many times a second by the scanners so that your eye is tricked into seeing an image typical refresh rates are between 18 and 22 Hz. The rapid projection of a sequence of slightly different images gives the illusion of movement just as in traditional cell animation (cartoons).

Ten of the Key frames from the Unicorn animation shown above. These key frames were combined with "tween" frames to create the unicorn running (this
is a .gif representation made from laser frame data and not actual photos of the laser image)

There are many and varied graphics systems from the older technology types that store image data on PROM's, to the newer multitasking real-time 3D systems with dedicated display processors that store laser images and animations on disk drives. The latest generation of graphics software uses vector storage where only the corners or angle changes in lines are stored (rather then every point in the image), in between points are calculated by the computer in real time as the frames is displayed. Computer storage and playback of laser graphics and animations gives the highest image quality. The graphics and animations are always first generation as they have been produced from the digital data on site. Modern ADAT based tape storage systems allow for complex colour laser shows to be digitally recorded onto tape with minimal image distortion. In some planetarium based laser shows the majority of the show is recorded onto tape to insure a high quality, consistent display each time. Laser Raster Graphics Laser projection systems can project low resolution rater type images. This is accomplished by scanning the laser beam back and forth in a series of closely spaced lines. The colour information is changed as the beam moves along each line so as to display a TV like raster image. The scanning system is not fast enough to project more than 60 to 80 lines so the images are low resolution and have to be kept small to achieve close spacing of the lines.

Photo courtesy of Pangolin

Artwork
The process of making laser animations usually begins with the preparation of artwork. Each individual frame is usually drawn on paper or sometimes on a computer system. Each frame must then be hand digitised into the laser graphics system either by means of a digitising pad/tablet or with a mouse. To create one second of quality animation, the artist must draw 15 to 20 frames and the digitiser must convert them to to laser data. Since it can take up to half an hour to hand create one frame of animation, one second of animation on the screen represents about 7 to 9 hours of work.

Laser animation of a couple dancing

Courtesy of LaserAnimation Sollinger GmbH, Germany

Some computer animation tricks can be used such as generating 'tween' frames. In this process, two frames of a character in slightly different positions are provided to the computer which generates a third frame that is the average of the two. Other techniques include cycling a short animation as it is panned across the screen [for example a man running or the Unicorn shown above]. This gives the illusion that the animation is more complex as it occupies more screen area. Laserists can also combining simple short background animations with a more detailed foreground animation to create a more complex image.

Laser 3D
There are two main types of laser 3D image projection; Database 3D, and Stereoscopic 3D

Database 3D In Database 3D, an image with three dimensions is created in the computer system either by hand drawing or importing data from other computer 3D programs. The image can then be rotated, scaled and displayed with perspective and 'Back clipping'. With more advanced

systems, "image masking" is used to remove parts of objects that fall behind other objects to enhance the 3D illusion. It is still a flat 2D image projected onto a surface but the image follows the rules of 3D and fools the eye into believing it is seeing a 3D image - this is a similar process to that used to make 3D logos and objects on TV. No glasses or special viewing equipment is required to see database 3D images.

Stereoscopic 3D In Stereoscopic 3D, two slightly different images of the object, called views, must be projected, one for the left eye and one for the right eye version of the object. Often only one object is created and the computer system then calculates the two different views to be projected in real time. When the show is projected, generally two scanning systems (and sometimes two laser projectors) must be used; one to project the left eye view and one to project the right eye view. These images are separated by glasses worn by the spectators to deliver the correct image to each eye. The eye sees the two slightly different flat images and the brain integrates them into a full 3D image. The two most common techniques in use are Anaglyph and orthagonally polarized 3D. Anaglyph 3D uses glasses with a red filter and a blue filter. The images are projected in red and blue so full colour images are not possible. Orthogonal 3D uses polarized lenses that are set at right angles to each other. The left eye image is polarized at right angles to the right eye image so that the glasses pass only the appropriate image to each eye. The polarized lenses appear light gray and do not interfere with colour perception allowing full colour 3D images to be projected.

How Laser Shows Work - Scanning System

The most important part of laser projection system are the galvos, more commonly called scanners. Graphics, animations, abstracts and dynamic beam effects are generated by X-Y scanning of the laser beam using galvanometer scanners.

High speed galvanometers with various mirror sizes

Photo courtesy of Cambridge Technology Inc.

The galvanometer (often abbreviated to galvo) is a current-sensitive device that operates in a similar manner to an analogue meter. In an analogue meter, a small coil of wire is wound around a lightweight aluminium bobbin that is suspended in the gap of a permanent magnetic field by means of pivots and bearings. The coil has a thin needle attached which extends over an indicating face which is is the part of the analogue meter which you see. When electrical energy is applied to the coil, it develops a magnetic field that will act against the field in the gap causing the coil to move the indicating needle proportionally to the current applied. Some meters are designed to be at rest at one end of the scale (such as analogue VU meters), while others are at rest in the centre of the scale (an analogue FM tuning indicator for example). The first type of meter is a unipolar device as it reacts only to an increase in the current applied; while the second type of meter is a bipolar device as it reacts not only to the current applied, but also the polarity of the current. When the signal is negative, the indicating needle moves in one direction away from its central position: when the signal is positive, it moves in the opposite direction away from its central position. Unfortunately meter movements are too small, to slow, and to delicate to allow us to attach a mirror and control laser beam deflection. We must use a more rugged type of device, a scanning type galvanometer. Galvos can be thought of as very high speed, current sensitive, limited rotation electrical motors. The amount of rotation (within the rotational limits of the galvo) is determined by the amount of current applied; with the direction of the limited rotation controlled by the polarity of the current applied. Galvos (scanners) are a current-sensitive bipolar device that are at rest in the centre of their limited rotation.
Usage Note: The words galvo or galvanometer refers to the basic galvanometer itself, without an attached mirror. Scanner refers to a galvanometer that has a mirror attached to it such that it can deflect a laser beam by applying appropriate control signals.

The type of galvos used in laser scanning systems typically use a moving magnet or soft iron rotor. Since the shaft has to reciprocate (move back and forth) many thousands of times per second, it would be very difficult to build a rugged device that used a moving coil due to the flexing of the wires that would be needed to supply the current to the coil. Laser scanners are build "inside out" from the typical meter movement described above; the coils are wound on the outside pole pieces (armature), and a magnetic or soft iron rotor, mounted in small precision bearings and suspended in the gaps of the pole pieces, moves the shaft with the mirror. The shaft has a spring or torsion bar to return the rotor to the central at-rest position when no current is applied.

Cross section of a typical galvo The two permanent magnets crate a strong flux in the gaps of the central pole pieces of the armature. The rotor moves - moving the shaft with attached mirror - in response to variations in this magnetic flux caused by current applied to the drive coils.

Types of scanners There are two major types of scanners used in laser light shows - open loop and closed loop. A scanner is open loop if no position detection device is used, and closed loop if a position detection device is used.
Open loop

Open loop scanners are typically built as shown in the diagram above. The rotor has a shaft running through it with top and bottom bearings. The shaft protrudes outside the housing of the scanner so that a mirror can be attached to the shaft.

Open loop scanner block diagram

When a current is applied to the drive coils, the shaft moves in the direction determined by the polarity of the signal, and in an amount proportional to the current applied (within the limitations of it's travel). The movement is relatively predictable but there is no way to know exactly where the shaft with the attached mirror is. Open loop scanners are thus useful as actuators and for beam steering or simple scanning applications, but lack the precision needed for accurate applications such as laser graphics.
Closed Loop

The closed loop scanner adds an additional element. The shaft is fitted with a position detector that can determine where the scanner is within it's range of motion. In modern high-speed scanners, the position detector uses an optical system with a vane that occludes the light from an LED falling onto a photo sensor. As the shaft moves through it's range of motion, more or less light falls on the photo sensor generating a signal that is proportional to the position of the shaft and it's attached mirror.

Closed loop scanner block diagram

In the diagram above, the LED is shown in green and the photo detector in light blue with an occluding vane attached to the shaft between then. The closed loop scanner amplifier is also more complex than the typical open loop scanner amp. The input signal is sent to the scanner drive stage circuit after passing through the input conditioning circuit. The position of the shaft (and it's attached mirror) is derived from the photo detector in the position detection circuit, which sends that signal to a position correction circuit. The position correction circuit compares the actual position of the mirror, with the position the mirror should be in according to the signal from the input conditioning circuit. It then generate an error correction signal and sends that to the scanner drive stage where it is combined with the input signal. The drive stage provides the current to the coils in the scanner to move the mirror. The position of the mirror is thus compared in real time with the input signal and corrected for any inaccuracy. This allows the very precise and accurate control of the mirror that is necessary for projecting laser graphics. Naturally, since this is a mechanical system, there are limits to how fast the mirror can be moved.

Scan Head So far, we have covered only one axis of scanning - one scanner can only take a laser beam and deflect it in a single plane drawing a line. In order to create images, we need to control the position of the laser beam, both horizontally (X axis) and vertically (Y axis). Laser projectors use a pair of scanners mounted orthogonally (at right angles to one another) to control X and Y axis deflection.

Photo of the Cambridge Technology CT6800 scanners in an orthogonal mount which is attached to a heatsink. A line has been drawn in to show the path the laser beam takes through the X-Y scanners.

The laser beam first encounters the X (horizontal) scanner. This deflects the beam at right angles to it's line of travel and upwards onto the Y mirror. If the X scanner were fed a sine wave, the movement of the mirror would draw a line on the Y (vertical) mirror placed above the X mirror. The Y mirror takes the line drawn by the X mirror and moves it vertically. If the Y scanner were fed with the same sine wave as the X scanner, the projected image would be a line at a 45 degree angle. If the two sine waves were out of phase, a circle would be drawn. Using an X-Y scanning system fed from analogue oscillator circuits, the position of the beam can be controlled so as to allow for the projection of complex abstracts. By digitizing and storing images in a computer, complex graphics and animations can be projected - see the Graphics Systems page.

Blanking
In addition to the scanners, a separate device is used for blanking -- rapid on/off control of the laser beam. In an un-blanked system, all letters in a word (or all parts of an image) drawn by the laser are joined together like cursive script. In a blanked system, the letters are individual (not connected) like printing. In actual fact the letters are still joined by a line however the laser is turned off as it jumps between segments by the blanking device so that the join line is not visible.

The word "laser": without blanking at the top - note the join lines between and within the letters. The bottom image is blanked to eliminate the join lines.

The most common form of blanking for many years, was to send the beam through a third scanner which deflected it to a pair of small mirrors set at right angles to one another (a corner reflector). The corner reflector sent the beam back to the scanner and from there it was deflected into the X-Y scan pair. This arrangement formed an optical switch as any movement of the scanner caused misalignment of the beam through the corner reflector, turning the beam off. This method is still used in some high power laser projectors as there is a limitation to the amount of power a PCAOM cell can handle, and the corner reflector blanking system has little optical loss. Most newer laser projectors, especially full colour systems, use the PCAOM for blanking as well as colour control. Since the PCAOM can control the brightness of all the laser lines at MHz speeds, it is trivial for it to extinguish the beam for the short periods of time required to blank unwanted sections of the image.

More technical information about scanners can be found on the Scanning Systems page in the Laser Show Systems section Backstage.