Laser show Niagara Falls

I wonder is someone know if someone ever tried to make a laser show on the Niagara falls?... Actually i know they are illuminating them with multicolored light.. but it seem that lasers would be so cool!!!





Doc

With all that water in the air, and with lights to complement it, a laser show there would be incredible.

Sad to say I never visited there Going to correct the problem this spring

Im about an hour away, been there many times... The lights are nice but IIRC its only in
the winter.. You freeze your @$$ of to enjoy them and the mist doesn't help when its
-20

Very cool photo of the falls, now I really want to go see them in person.

wannaburn said:

Im about an hour away, been there many times... The lights are nice but IIRC its only in
the winter.. You freeze your @$$ of to enjoy them and the mist doesn't help when its
-20

Click to expand...

Minus 20... OUCH. I guess it's a good thing I'm going shopping for ski gear this week

I was there once, their fun.

No lasers tho

Guyfromhe said:

I was there once, their fun.

No lasers tho

Click to expand...

Not yet:eg:

With all that fine mist the beamshow effect could be fantastic.

But you need an FM transmitter so that people can tune in to some music to go with the show. (I hear that all that water falling makes a bit of noise so no sound system would work...) But slip some headphones/earphones in to help with the loudness of it all and find music to accompany a laser show...that would be something to see.
How about a "flashmob" sort of thing ?
A couple of people bring projectors, (cause the falls are rather wide so at least 2 projectors would be needed) you can get a small battery powered FM transmitter for about 20$, a laptop source of course with the show and music, and the toughest part would be power. Maybe some local outlets are along the edges or in the landscaping or even an inverter with a car battery in a baby buggy(to hide it) sort of thing.
5 people meeting, connecting, then blasting a show out for 5 minutes only to break apart and disappear back into the crowds. -Use a graphic to show what frequency to tune into at the start and maybe have a couple more people with potable radios that just happen to be in the crowd to tune into the signal and play it out loud for the few people near them...
Bet the video would be online within minutes of it happening...
And you could do it more than once too.

That would be something to see alright.

ShortyInCanada said:

With all that fine mist the beamshow effect could be fantastic.

But you need an FM transmitter so that people can tune in to some music to go with the show. (I hear that all that water falling makes a bit of noise so no sound system would work...) But slip some headphones/earphones in to help with the loudness of it all and find music to accompany a laser show...that would be something to see.
How about a "flashmob" sort of thing ?
A couple of people bring projectors, (cause the falls are rather wide so at least 2 projectors would be needed) you can get a small battery powered FM transmitter for about 20$, a laptop source of course with the show and music, and the toughest part would be power. Maybe some local outlets are along the edges or in the landscaping or even an inverter with a car battery in a baby buggy(to hide it) sort of thing.
5 people meeting, connecting, then blasting a show out for 5 minutes only to break apart and disappear back into the crowds. -Use a graphic to show what frequency to tune into at the start and maybe have a couple more people with potable radios that just happen to be in the crowd to tune into the signal and play it out loud for the few people near them...
Bet the video would be online within minutes of it happening...
And you could do it more than once too.

That would be something to see alright.

Click to expand...

Prolly be pretty tough to pull off safely and there's a good chance you could end up in jail or at least get yelled at.

Having never been to the falls and not having GoogleEarth here at work to move through the locations to scope it out I am only guessing here but...
If the people with projectors were at the front of the crowds at certain viewpoints they could easily control the risk and output of the projectors. From the limited video of the site from TV shows and movies there are many metal picket type fences around the area. If you push a projector up to the fence with the aperature projecting between two pickets there can be nobody in front of it.
Of course each could be brought in a regular tourist type bag with a tripod to be set up quickly and easily too as the place should have many photographers and tourists with similar equipment bags and the likes around. No one would look twice at someone setting up a tripod or other mounts overlooking the scene. It would be a normal occurrence.
I'm guessing a wireless link for data signals could be used as they are available but that adds a level of complication and increases the chances of errors.
But some cheap cat5 cables could be dropped along the fenceline from a central position for the laptop to run the show. The "extra" people with radios could be positioned to also monitor the wire runs. As they are cheap you wouldn't need to recover them if you didn't need to.
The hardest part would be powering the projectors.
As most public spaces do have standard electrical outlets around them for maintenance or decorative/holiday lighting there is a good chance that you could tap into them. They just aren't usually obviously visible so you need to look for them and you might need an extension cord to plug in. It would need to be long enough to follow the curb or wall or in some way skirt around the regular traffic walkways.
If you keep it smart, simple, and SAFE then you might get the regular sort of talking to from the local authorities if you get caught but no likely charges. It might even turn into a follow up call from the ones in charge to contract you to repeat the performances. (If it goes viral it could be very good for their business !)
As long as you prove your intention was only for entertainment and that you were being "safe" they might threaten with a mischief charge but it wouldn't be worthwhile to press charges. Take the lecture, give the "I'm sorry" and then post the footage here !
:eg: :na: :eg:

wannaburn said:

Im about an hour away, been there many times... The lights are nice but IIRC its only in
the winter.. You freeze your @$$ of to enjoy them and the mist doesn't help when its
-20

Click to expand...

The lights are there year round. The hours vary throughout the time of year though. I was there for the July 4th fireworks show this year. Here's something to take into consideration though. You can't see much of the falls from the US side. That means you'll need a passport if you want a good view of the falls.

Here's a couple pics I got. The nighttime one is close to what it really looks like although it may be a little brighter in person.

Hmm... Passport.... Yup, got one and it's up to date

I'm always stunned that so many americans don't have a passport.

InfinitusEquitas said:

Hmm... Passport.... Yup, got one and it's up to date

I'm always stunned that so many americans don't have a passport.

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I think that's because so many Americans never leave America. Have you seen the world map used in American schools?
http://steelturman.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/31/redneck_map803x573.png

All joking aside, funny story. I dated a girl for a few months once, who had a friend that worked for the parks department (or whatever branch of gov't it was) that controlled the lights on the falls. One evening we were in Niagara Falls, and her friend took us into the building where they shoot the lights from, and let us press the buttons to change the colours.

You'd think it would be some fancy computer controlled system. It wasn't! The lights are ancient, and seem to basically use filters on pulleys that you control from the most antique looking "button boards" you could imagine.

Strange.. Over the years I have been to the falls many times. The only time
I remember seeing the falls lit was during the festival of lights in the winter..
They must have changed that in the past decade or so..

Im on the Canadian side which the view is great for both the US and Can. falls.

Like most Canadians, I prefer our falls..

In the summer its nice to visit there, much better than winter unless you go
for the Casino's etc.

That large whirlpool is another site to see.

Last summer, some poor girl went over on the CAN side. Im sure some ridiculous barrier
will eventually be put in place. Like many others, I have stood at the very spot,
would hate to see them change the layout of the observation area.

Dr_Evil said:

The lights are there year round. The hours vary throughout the time of year though. I was there for the July 4th fireworks show this year. Here's something to take into consideration though. You can't see much of the falls from the US side. That means you'll need a passport if you want a good view of the falls.

Here's a couple pics I got. The nighttime one is close to what it really looks like although it may be a little brighter in person.

Click to expand...

rhd said:

All joking aside, funny story. I dated a girl for a few months once, who had a friend that worked for the parks department (or whatever branch of gov't it was) that controlled the lights on the falls. One evening we were in Niagara Falls, and her friend took us into the building where they shoot the lights from, and let us press the buttons to change the colours.

You'd think it would be some fancy computer controlled system. It wasn't! The lights are ancient, and seem to basically use filters on pulleys that you control from the most antique looking "button boards" you could imagine.

Click to expand...

I'm always surprised when things like that are low tech, but one thing I've learned from my job is that if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

I guess I could've posted this before. There's been too much other stuff on my mind lately though. Here's a link to the hours the falls are lit up.

Niagara Falls Illumination