Shooting star effect-

[Kelite]

Hey everyone-

How would one project a shooting star up the side of a seven story building while:
a) keeping it inexpensive
b) knowing it would be outdoor viewable (IP65)
c) being a permanent installation
d) keeping it inexpensive

Pixel mapping projectors, outdoor moving lights and color chasing LED tape are obvious answers, but limited when the budget is considered. No hard $ has been authorized for the effect as it has just been mentioned as an idea.

Ideas?

 

[Amiers]

There are a lot of types of “shooting stars” from your steel gobo stars to “the more you know” shooting star. Is there a baseline of what is wanted? Does it need to move? If the fancy stuff is out of the budget what is the ceiling of said budget?

From the hip low budget idea: A monolith, donated or sponsored by a company to keep costs lower, outside to house several outdoor rated LED fixtures capable of shooting 7 stories high. Rigged inside with whatever shooting star gobos steel/glass whatever they feel they can afford. Powered by a GPS DMX driver to clock the time and programming. If that is out of the budget scope then a hardline or wireless ARTNET/SCAN ran to a computer with whatever flavor of controller you like.

 

[rsmentele]

How far does the star have to move? What if a gobo was created with a 'star' near it's outer diameter. Gobo placed into a rotator into an IP65 rated Leko.
Gobo is given a 'start' index point, when the star is wanted the light is turned on, gobo is rotated to an 'end' index point, as the image nears that point, it is faded out.
Path will be in somewhat of an arc movement, but depending on lens of fixture and desired travel distance, maybe that arc path wont be too noticeable?

Not sure if this would work well with the situation, but that's my initial though without getting movers or multiple fixtures involved.

 

[RonHebbard]

How far does the star have to move? What if a gobo was created with a 'star' near it's outer diameter. Gobo placed into a rotator into an IP65 rated Leko.
Gobo is given a 'start' index point, when the star is wanted the light is turned on, gobo is rotated to an 'end' index point, as the image nears that point, it is faded out.
Path will be in somewhat of an arc movement, but depending on lens of fixture and desired travel distance, maybe that arc path wont be too noticeable?

Not sure if this would work well with the situation, but that's my initial thought without getting movers or multiple fixtures involved.

I suspect you can’t push enough light through the tiny slit.

Toodleoo!

Ron Hebbard

 

[Kelite]

Thanks for the replies, gang.

The requested effect would begin at floor one and rise seven stories on the exterior of the complete glass stairway, replicating a star which shoots from bottom to top.
I'd love to pixel map several (four or more) pixel-mappable strands of IP67 LED tape outside the building, yet remain within the budget- whatever that is.

I appreciate the creative idea, rsmentele, of arcing a gobo upward using an IP65 profile with a rotator. If this application were a little less than seven stories (in a well lit downtown area to boot), I'd definitely run that up the flagpole. I'd consider employing our Apollo Right Arm for the tilt motion of said Leko, but unfortunately all were lost in the fire. :/

Much thanks for you guys sharing your ideas!

 

[cbrandt]

An outdoor rated moving light might be your best bet. Starting at the bottom, it could move up, zoom out, and possible do a color fade or other effect up the building. There are a lot of very good options out there. Cost is of course always a factor, but it might be more accessible than you think.

 

[Van]

Laser.
or go real old school with a static gobo that has a long <assume curved> slot matching the trajectory of the shooting star with a "burst" on the end. Behng the disk, on a rotating wheel Spin a disk with a radial slot in it. as the slot spins it will let light through where the two lines intersect. .

I did a similar effect with a couple "Great American" scene machines in College for Terra Nova. One did the aurora the other did shooting star.

 

[cbrandt]

Laser.

That's a fantastic idea!

 

[Van]

That's a fantastic idea!

Every once in a great while, it happens.

 

[DrewE]

That's a fantastic idea!

You are limited to a monochromatic shooting star with a single laser, though. Maybe that's perfectly acceptable. There may well also be some safety concerns to think about assuming one would need a higher-power laser than an ordinary laser pointer--concerns that can, of course, be overcome.

(I was musing on how much roman candles might cost in case-lot quantities....)

 

[RickR]

Cheap 'cheater' motion would be a series of fixtures doing a quick series. Vastly easier to maintain in an outdoor setting. And make no mistake, maintenance budgets kill more of these cool projects than anything else.

You might consider that idea with non-pixel tape and a small relay set. It wouldn't take much of a controller either. I just hope the window washer platform can get to the area.

 

[cbrandt]

Twinkly Pro has some cool options with curtains or sets of strings doing low res video mapping.

 

[Kelite]

Twinkly Pro has some cool options with curtains or sets of strings doing low res video mapping.

Have you had the chance to use Twinkly Pro in an application, cbrandt?

 

[cbrandt]

I've pitched a few, but haven't been able to yet. The biggest design limitation is that they don't take commands from external control. That can make integration difficult. I've been promised that capability is coming, but I haven't seen it yet.