Hazer Placement

jerekb

Member
we just bought a new Delta Hazer.... I'm wondering where the best place to put it would be since I don't feel like spending hours playing around. So do I put it up high down low out front in back???
 
we just bought a new car.... I'm wondering how to drive it since I don't feel like spending hours playing around. So do I put it in drive then press the gas pedal??
 
hahaha. Jerekb the only real way to tell is to try and see. Each room will have different air flow and that will determine what is the best placement for you. my main space for instance has different air flow depending on how many are in the room and if we are seating the balcony or not. But sadly I can't figure out the best placement because mid show the maintenance people may change the air to keep the room cool so every show is always different. i just have to deal. My other 3 venues were pretty easy to figure out by filling the room thick and watching the airflow and I picked an area where the air would push my haze to the center of the stage.
 
Haha sorry I get the point. I just don't really have that option cause I'm a student and if I were just using it and said I was testing I'd get in trouble and told not to screw around and sorry I wasn't sure if there was any predetermined thing like will it rise or fall. That kinds thing. Sorry I didn't mean to sound like such a lazy arrogant a**hole.
 
Up high is usually better, if you can do it. Added to that, play with fan placement and such. You also want to look at how air flows on your stage, in my blackbox I can place the hazer anywhere and it works great, in my theatre hardly anything works because there are huge vents that blow strait down onstage.
 
We put our foggers directly upstage of the edges of the proscenium (we've got a pair of Martin Magnum 1500s). On a good day, the smoke just blows right out and covers the stage. On a bad day, the fog goes about 2 feet onstage, blows back into the wings, goes up to the top of the grid (we don't have a fly system, so its about 30 feet), blows out over the stage, and then descends just below the grid. Looks cool, but takes forever to do.

We also built some fog cooler boxes. Basically, we just put the foggers right up against the boxes, which are about 18" x 8" x 12". There is old vacuum pipe coiled up inside the box that the fog flows through, and out the other side. Before each show, we just load up each fogger box with dry ice to cool it off. Styrofoam insulation ensures it lasts for the whole show. It makes a really cool effect.


Anecdote: Whilst we were testing this system, one of the dancers came up to the TD and I and asked how we made this cool effect, saying: "Is this liquid hydrogen?". I told her "Yes, light a match and watch." She didn't believe me, so then I told her it was just plain cold fog.

Dancers. Almost as bad as actors. Their only saving grace is that they don't have the ability to wreck a set.
 
we just bought a new Delta Hazer.... I'm wondering where the best place to put it would be since I don't feel like spending hours playing around. So do I put it up high down low out front in back???

Gonna depend on the theatre and your set.
 
The big variable is the HVAC system. You want to make a test with the system off, and another test when you have manually set the system to "fan on." The results are often very different and require a compromise position based on both results.
 
As has been mentioned, it all depends on the air flow in your theatre. I would suggest the first show you use it on, have one crew person devoted to the haze. Each night of tech rehearsal, try it in a different location. Then tear your hair out the first time you have an audience and the air patterns are completely different.

That said, my best results for haze have generally been placing the hazer on the midrail catwalks by the proscenium wall.

Remember, there's no such thing as instant haze. Either you will see the haze building up, or you'll need the hazer running before the curtain goes up to give it time to spread throughout the stage house.
 
hBut sadly I can't figure out the best placement because mid show the maintenance people may change the air to keep the room cool so every show is always different.
Just so you'll feel better, we have the same problem, and I think they do it just to mess with me. My HVAC also blows straight across the stage, so the best place I've found for the hazer is shoved into one wing...until the air turns off.
 

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