Chauvet Scorpion Scan LG-60

In the movie Toy Story, a forgotten toy cowboy by the name of “Woody” is replaced by a “laser-toting” action figure with the dashing name of “Buzz Lightyear.” Surrounded by other talking toys, including Mr. Potato Head and a piggy bank named “Hamm,” the following conversation ensues…

Mr. Potato Head: “How come you don’t have a laser, Woody?”

Woody (angrily): “It’s not a laser. It’s a little light bulb that blinks.”

Hamm: “What’s wrong with him?”

Mr. Potato Head: “Laser envy.”

Of course you might also hear something like this at your local rodeo, basketball game, concert, nightclub, high school dance…or in my living room. Whew! I guess there is a lot of laser envy out there.

Cheap or Good. Why Not Both?

Laser lighting effects have typically been available in two flavors: small and cheap, or big and pricey. While the small and cheap variety worked pretty well for a dorm room, they couldn’t punch through much more than a little bit of cigarette smoke at 20 feet.

Larger systems, on the other hand, require special permits, experienced operators, cooling water and a very large budget. Of course, you can often see the effect for miles…and from airplane cockpits.

Enter Chauvet’s Fatbeam™ technology. By making the beam of the laser wider (10- 14mm), this family of laser projectors meets a special classification (ClassIIIR) that allows the use of higher powered lasers, up to 20mW, without the need for a variance (permit).

The Scorpion Scan LG-60 houses a 10mW fan-cooled green laser. Control of the fixture is via seven channels of DMX, with automatic and sound sensitive modes available for operator- free effects. It has 51 dynamic (adjustable) patterns and 52 static (non-adjustable) patterns, and with scan and speed adjustments it yields 500 laser effects. The laser source is a 532nm DPSS YVO4 green solidstate laser module. The luminaire draws only 25 watts at 120V and it’s switchable between 110V or 240V. It weighs 9.5 pounds (4.31kgs) and it’s 10.08” x 10.63” x 5.12” (256mm x 270mm x 130mm).

Because, that’s not how this works.

To put the unit through its paces, I added it in to an annual light show that I assist with. Placed at the upstage wall of a thousand-seat theatre, the laser was used for overhead aerial effects.

Setup of the device was very straightforward, with typical dipswitch addressing, 3-pin XLR connections for DMX, and an IEC power connection. (The fixture includes a yoke assembly for hanging situations.) The body of the fixture is unremarkable, with the only mar being the presence of several status LEDs on the front side of the fixture.

Control of the device is a little less straightforward. While the manual gives a basic outline of the control channels, the interaction of these channels seems to be a bit erratic. An index of effects would be a very useful addendum to the manual.

Once the fixture was up and running, I went through all of its static and dynamic patterns. Chauvet has definitely done a good job of including a wide variety of very useful patterns in this fixture. Patterns can be scaled and re-positioned, though adjustment of the horizontal and vertical positioning is choppy, and would not generally be suitable for changing during a cue.

Output of the device was fairly impressive. While the Scorpion will never compete with a lighting rig in a large room, it fared very well in the dark. Used in a smaller space, the laser would probably read much brighter than most similar effects seen in clubs today.

So, Cheap or Good. Which is it?

At the end of the day, I would definitely recommend this product to any club looking for a programmable laser effect with a lot of punch. The fact that it is bright while being crowd safe is a very large factor. I also like the fact that every effect appears the exact same way each time you call it up. The array of patterns was very well thought-out for both aerial and projection effects. Add to that the impressive vertical and horizontal shifting, and this box can do double duty on walls and on the dance floor.

For avant-garde dance groups and creative bands, look to this fixture if you’re really willing to turn out all the other lights when you use it. I could see a lot of innovative uses of a product like this, but you would have to have complete control of the environment.

Overall, Chauvet has come up with a safe and versatile new laser effect that attempts to fill a gap in the market. It’s definitely a step up from its competitors. Just don’t expect to see it on the next Pink Floyd tour.

[Just before we went to press, Chauvet informed us that they have a new user manual that addresses the reviewer’s concern about the lack of documentation for specific patterns. The new user manual is posted on their web site. -ed.]

Phil Gilbert is a freelance lighting designer and programmer. He can be reached at pgilbert@plsn.com. Special thanks to Dylan Randall and David Poole at the WHS Fine Arts Facility for their help with this review.