Pangolin
Staff member
While attending last year's Prolight & Sound conference 2008 in Shanghai, we observed an emerging trend of low cost laser projectors that were coming on the market. As laser diodes have continued to come down in price, including BLU-RAY laser diodes replacing DPSS, and as scanners are continuing to come down in price, including those made by Chinese companies such as Sonima, laser projectors are getting less and less expensive. This is making the laser projectors available to an ever-increasing market in clubs, discos, airports, shopping malls and the like.
Of course as laser projectors are becoming less and less expensive, and as they are made available to a less and less sophisticated user base, there is a need for low-cost and easy to use software to control these projectors.
During this 2008 conference in Shanghai, we asked people what they wanted to see in laser software to control these projectors, and also, what kind of price-point we should target. As a result of the realization that this market exists, and also as a result of discussions with people about what they wanted, we have spent the last year working on software to serve this market segment.
Our initial idea was to make very simple software that anyone can use, but with limitations dictated by the customer base and price-point. However, as is typical for Pangolin, we couldn't resist adding advanced features to the package. The result is the new Lasershow Designer QuickShow.
At first glance, it appears as though QuickShow has a Live Control user interface which is very much like Pangolin's past live products. However, as you look deeper you will see some brand new features that make creating new content very easy and very "quick".
* QuickSetup -- lets you configure QuickShow for your projector, and also tailor it to the sophistication of the user
* QuickText -- lets you create non-moving text, as well as scrolling and animated text
* QuickShape -- lets you create simple shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, as well as more complex shapes such as waves and loops (all perfect for beam shows)
* QuickTrace -- lets you trace graphic images such as BMP, JPEG, and GIF and do so practically instantly
* QuickTargets -- lets you create a sequence of beams which targets mirrors or diffraction gratings using your scanners.
* QuickTimeline -- lets you create simple sequences of cues, or a complete laser show timed to music
* QuickFX -- lets you apply an array of effects to existing imagery (similar to how LivePRO lets you apply an Effect or Key Effect to cues)
In addition to the QuickTools, QuickShow also offers a complete frame/animation editor to create new frames and edit existing frames, advanced text editor, advanced abstract generator, and other advanced features.
QuickShow is software that runs on our Flashback 3, which is already a low-cost hardware platform. The Flashback 3 XE simply plugs directly into the USB port of any computer, and doesn't require any other power sources. And being a Pangolin product, the Flashback 3 is built with high quality, industrial components so the projected image quality is quite good.
We have prepared a 12-page brochure for QuickShow which you can read here:
http://www.pangolin.com/_Files/QuickShow.pdf
QuickShow can be downloaded here:
http://pangolin.com/QS/downloadmenu/downloads/downloads.html
We remain very excited about this software as we believe it is really a very complete software package, but still something that is very easy to use. Pangolin dealers and FB3 users should become familiar with QuickShow and let us know what you think. If you don't have a FB3 let me know as there is a way we can put the software into a kind of "demo mode".
As for pricing, the US Suggested List (end-user) price for the FB3 (regardless of what software is used with it) is $595. The dealer price is based on quantity purchased. Please contact us for more details.
Best regards,
William Benner
President & CTO
Pangolin Laser Systems, Inc.
9501 Satellite Boulevard, Suite 109
Orlando, FL - USA
Phone: +1-407-299-2088
Fax: +1-407-299-6066
Web: www.pangolin.com
Of course as laser projectors are becoming less and less expensive, and as they are made available to a less and less sophisticated user base, there is a need for low-cost and easy to use software to control these projectors.
During this 2008 conference in Shanghai, we asked people what they wanted to see in laser software to control these projectors, and also, what kind of price-point we should target. As a result of the realization that this market exists, and also as a result of discussions with people about what they wanted, we have spent the last year working on software to serve this market segment.
Our initial idea was to make very simple software that anyone can use, but with limitations dictated by the customer base and price-point. However, as is typical for Pangolin, we couldn't resist adding advanced features to the package. The result is the new Lasershow Designer QuickShow.
At first glance, it appears as though QuickShow has a Live Control user interface which is very much like Pangolin's past live products. However, as you look deeper you will see some brand new features that make creating new content very easy and very "quick".
* QuickSetup -- lets you configure QuickShow for your projector, and also tailor it to the sophistication of the user
* QuickText -- lets you create non-moving text, as well as scrolling and animated text
* QuickShape -- lets you create simple shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, as well as more complex shapes such as waves and loops (all perfect for beam shows)
* QuickTrace -- lets you trace graphic images such as BMP, JPEG, and GIF and do so practically instantly
* QuickTargets -- lets you create a sequence of beams which targets mirrors or diffraction gratings using your scanners.
* QuickTimeline -- lets you create simple sequences of cues, or a complete laser show timed to music
* QuickFX -- lets you apply an array of effects to existing imagery (similar to how LivePRO lets you apply an Effect or Key Effect to cues)
In addition to the QuickTools, QuickShow also offers a complete frame/animation editor to create new frames and edit existing frames, advanced text editor, advanced abstract generator, and other advanced features.
QuickShow is software that runs on our Flashback 3, which is already a low-cost hardware platform. The Flashback 3 XE simply plugs directly into the USB port of any computer, and doesn't require any other power sources. And being a Pangolin product, the Flashback 3 is built with high quality, industrial components so the projected image quality is quite good.
We have prepared a 12-page brochure for QuickShow which you can read here:
http://www.pangolin.com/_Files/QuickShow.pdf
QuickShow can be downloaded here:
http://pangolin.com/QS/downloadmenu/downloads/downloads.html
We remain very excited about this software as we believe it is really a very complete software package, but still something that is very easy to use. Pangolin dealers and FB3 users should become familiar with QuickShow and let us know what you think. If you don't have a FB3 let me know as there is a way we can put the software into a kind of "demo mode".
As for pricing, the US Suggested List (end-user) price for the FB3 (regardless of what software is used with it) is $595. The dealer price is based on quantity purchased. Please contact us for more details.
Best regards,
William Benner
President & CTO
Pangolin Laser Systems, Inc.
9501 Satellite Boulevard, Suite 109
Orlando, FL - USA
Phone: +1-407-299-2088
Fax: +1-407-299-6066
Web: www.pangolin.com