Due to time constraints, this will be a concise version of the “Laser Vortex Performance Tips”. A revised video and text version will be created in the future. 

Dirty Optics, BAD MEVER!

Keep your optics clean. A clean mirror will reflect the beam much better and you will get a brighter vortex.

Fresh batteries can make for a brighter laser. This varies from manufacturer to manufacturer but good quality batteries cannot hurt. .

Lower light makes the vortex appear brighter. For the best affect in a Halloween display, operate at the lowest amount of lighting you can safely get by with around your vortex.

A green laser will be more apparent than a red laser. Green laser light is more visible to the human eye so you can produce a more visible and larger vortex. The green vortex produced with a green laser just under 5mW can be seen under normal artificial lighting.

Using a red and green laser at the same time can give you an amazing double vortex.

Wispy slow moving fog passing in front of the cone will create the most affect for your vortex. The best I looking vortex I have made was created with a small fog machine (under 2000 cubic feet per minute) because larger ones will blow out too much fog too fast.

A room filled with dense hazy fog makes the cone visible but not much of a vortex. The best fog for a vortex is whips of slow rolling fog. This is another problem when using a large fog machine producing too much fog.

Try to keep the laser beam going from the laser source to the reflector (mirror) free of any smoke. If you can see the beam before it strikes the mirror your loosing laser intensity before it even creates the cone, looks cool but the vortex itself suffers. I recommend building a small housing for the reflector to help keep fog from interrupting the beam too soon and placing your laser close to the reflector or in the protective housing. Under ideal conditions, the laser or cone should only be visible as a vortex. You will rarely have ideal conditions but knowing what they are can help you create the best possible condition for the vortex.

Wind is not your friend. Anyone that works with fog machines knows it will dissipate your fog and/or take it away. My vortex is used in a mostly enclosed porch because out in the open, wind can kill the affect.

Too much of an angle on your reflector can dissipate the laser too much. Not only will this make for a weak vortex but you will not get much of a 3D affect the laser generates from passing fog. Smaller reflector angle = smaller cone.

Use a timer on your fog machine if you will be using the vortex for long periods of time. Otherwise you will be babysitting it all night.

Unless your using a fog chiller, the warm fog created by the fog machine will tend to rise. You can take advantage of this by positioning the fog machine below the vortex causing the vortex to form as it rises. If you use a fog chiller I would expect just the opposite to be true but I have not tried.

Don’t place your fog machine too close or point it directly at the reflector. You will loose laser intensity when the fog gets too close to the center of the cone. This will cause a weaker vortex.

Reflecting the laser off the rotating mirror at an angel will cause more of an egg shaped cone rather than a round circle produced by reflecting the cone directly back at the laser source. You can get a great 3D oval vortex by having your laser source outside the cone on the left or right of the reflector, reflecting it away from the laser source. 

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Related Links:

• American Science & Surplus
• Hauntworld.com
• Hauntzone.net

• Halloween Project Video's
• Home/Professional Video's