Dry Ice Fog vs. Antari Ice 101 Low Fog Machine

[Stan Longhofer]

We want to create a low lying fog effect for a lake scene. The actors will be in a small boat and the fog should help create the effect of water (along with lighting). We’re trying to decide whether to rent a true dry ice fogger, or rent an Antari ice 101 low fog machine (traditional fogged with a built in chiller).

I’d value any feedback on how the two options play out over the course of a 5 minute scene. Will the chilled fog fluid begin to rise when it heats up? How will the two be affected by movement on stage? Will the two look different under special lighting? The total area to be covered is about 250 square feet. Any suggestions or ideas are welcomed.

 

[Amiers]

5 mins is a long time I would say go with a dry ice fogger. The antari I think will rise and mixed with the lighting it will just fill the space.

The other thing to look at is you HVAC system. As you don’t want the fire dept rolling through.

 

[Stan Longhofer]

The other thing to look at is you HVAC system. As you don’t want the fire dept rolling through.

Thanks. I’m working on that as well. Unfortunately the return air system all runs through the orchestra pit, and there’s a sensor up the ductwork. Found that one out the hard way.

 

[techieman33]

The antari units are ok. My first preference would be for an aqua fogger 3300. It would run for those 5 minutes no problem. 2nd choice would be a pair of the Antari 101s. Starting one a little after the other to insure that one is constantly putting out fog. I would use pea soupers only as a last resort. Any time I've seen someone try to use them it just ends in disappointment.

The chilled fog might rise a little but not much if you use the light or extra light fluid. It will dissipate before it has a chance to rise much. You'll have some haze in the air, but it won't be more than you would have from using a hazer.

Movement wise, they'll all be affected. Any kind of air movement will lessen the effect. You'll need to be constantly putting out fog to try and keep the area covered. The aqua fogger will handle that best with it's more powerful fan pushing the fog out. The Antari units just don't push it out as hard. You may have to play with it a bit and figure out the best place for the fog to come from to best handle the air movement in the room.

 

[RonHebbard]

Thanks. I’m working on that as well. Unfortunately the return air system all runs through the orchestra pit, and there’s a sensor up the ductwork. Found that one out the hard way.

Will you have musicians, or anyone, in your pit? If so, do you like them?? They and their instruments MAY tolerate fog but they likely won't survive the lack of oxygen if / when breathing the accumulating CO2 resulting from respectable amounts of dry ice. Be kind to your musicians, believe it or not they're people too.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[Stan Longhofer]

Be kind to your musicians, believe it or not they're people too.

Isn’t this a line in 42nd Street: “The musicians are bunch of animals! Why do you think we kept them in a pit!!!”

 

[rsmentele]

My first choice by far is always true dry ice. It's the best effect Ive ever gotten and I've used numerous brands' alternatives to it. But in some cases dry ice is not an option. The 101 is good, much quieter than other options that use a chiller, just be prepared to see the fog rise as it dissipates. more so around warm objects that speed the dissipation, like actors.

 

[sk8rsdad]

Dry ice fog is not an option on the budgets we run. A pair of Antari 101's running at 50% with quick-dissipate fog fluid is a suitable alternative. We use shipping ice packs instead of water ice to avoid the need to run the water drain pumps. This scene from a few years ago was about 3 minutes long but the Antaris were used for several other scenes later in the show.

 

[jdenora]

It may seem impractical, but I love the look and reaction of dry ice. It stays on the ground where you want it. Dry ice is cheap enough (at least by me), and new pea-soupers cost about a grand, but you can find used ones cheap, or build your own. It's not hard to do. The liquid fog stuff does not stay down, and it does not dissipate quickly enough. You move on to the next scene, and there's still fog floating around.

 

[StradivariusBone]

We use shipping ice packs instead of water ice to avoid the need to run the water drain pumps.

We've used dry ice to cool hot fog before to reduce the water build up. More expensive than ice packs, but works pretty well. I used a converted cooler with a fan and baffles to create a chiller box.

 

[joe2you]

I've built fog chillers out of a smaller plastic garbage and lined the inside with 4" aluminum dryer vent hose (may need multiples depending on size of the can and length of hose) by either gluing or drilling holes and zip tying the hose to hold in place and finally cut/drill holes (1 top, 1 bottom) for the hose to enter / exit from and would fill the trash can with a single 20# bag of ice. Shooting the fog in the top would send it around via the hose and being aluminum would transfer plenty of heat to/from the ice to the fog. An 4" in-line duct fan at the outlet would both pull the fog thru the chiller and out to a second hose for delivery. Just have to put the can on a couple blocks in a tub to collect the melted water (a mason mixing tub works great.) Chiller comes in about $75 with fan & tub plus the daily cost of a 20# bag of ice. The foger & the fluid used will dictate the qty & quality but the effect is pretty close to a CO2 box and certainly is a lot less expensive to use as the foger is usable for multiple roles vs multiple machines. Don't forget to put the fan on a GFCI circuit.

 

[Stan Longhofer]

Thought I'd follow up here with our final decision. We used a single Antari Ice fogger using Dry Ice to chill the fog. Worked very well. You can see the scene here:

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(this is an "unlisted" video on YouTube for our archival purposes). The fogger is located up center and ran at about 50% for the full scene. I will post photos when I receive them.

 

[dvsDave]

Thought I'd follow up here with our final decision. We used a single Antari Ice fogger using Dry Ice to chill the fog. Worked very well. You can see the scene here:

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(this is an "unlisted" video on YouTube for our archival purposes). The fogger is located up center and ran at about 50% for the full scene. I will post photos when I receive them.

Very nicely done! How did you end up handling the HVAC issue?

 

[Stan Longhofer]

How did you end up handling the HVAC issue?

Turns out we WERE able to disable the sensors in the return air ducts. It took being persistent with the question multiple times for someone in building maintenance to follow through with the security company. So we disabled the sensors during the entire show (with a designated monitor while they were off) and we turned off the air handler during the scene in question.