DIY Laser Light Show [Instructables How-To]

If you can’t hire Moritz Waldemeyer or United Visual Artists to do the set and lighting design for your next gig (face it, we’re not all Radiohead), then get inspired by their fancy laser techniques and bootstrap your own version. You can impress all your friends and fans at your next show/DJ night/dance performance with laser effects that are quite simple to implement and don’t use any actual lasers…meaning you can stare into the lights all you want. Here are three easy steps to get the party started, and remember to reference the Instructables guide for any additional help you might need.

Materials:
-laptop
-smoke/fog machine
-projector
-power strip
-two-tiered step ladder
-small table
-dark, open room

Step One: Download Software
Download Winamp media player (if you don’t have it already) along with a visualizations package and extract into your “\winamp\plugins\avs\” directory. Restart the program and import your songs (or whichever media you want the “lasers” to flow to). Click the “View” tab on the navigation bar and scroll down to “Visualizations.” Disable the “Randomly Change Visualizations” option in the lower left hand corner to assume control of which patterns appear.

Step Two: Prepare
Set up the two-tiered step ladder in the back of the room, facing opposite of where you want the “lasers” to appear. Place the projector on the top step and the fog machine on the bottom step, making sure their paths intersect (the fog will help catch and enhance the projected light). Set up your computer on a small table behind the ladder to protect your computer from getting stepped on. Utilizing the power strip, power on your laptop, the fog machine, and the projector. Connect the projector to your laptop and configure “Multiple Displays.”

Step Three: Showtime!
Fill the enclosed, dark space with fog and start up the projector (for the best effects, have the fog going before people arrive). Start up the projector, select the visualization of your choice and go into “Full Screen” mode. Experiment with different visualization options or even take things up a notch with this strobe light plug-in.

Check out more creative DIY projects on Instructables.com.