Bubble Party

[Incognito]

OK, it started out a few years ago as a fun back yard party for my kids birthday in that I purchased a pair of bubble machines for them when they & their friends played on the fun castle. Then two years ago I used these bubble machines for a beach party that was well received. These machines have been used number of times in various events since from parties, weddings, family functions etc. This year I plan to use them with UV bubble formula (something I did last summer) for an outdoor night time beach party. I used black lights last year to highlight the bubbles & it worked out great, however this year I want to make the bubbles stand out a bit more, what other lighting effects do you feel will enhance the bubble effect (such as lasers, coloured uplighting, fog, etc.)?

[DYM]

Well the "black light effect" works best when it's stand alone. But if your looking for something extra, I would say mount your two bubble machines in the air, run your UV lights, have a HAZE machine on the floor next to your rig, and mount a laser over your head. This way the bubbles can travel over the haze and you can still have both effects. Maybe if you get two 5 or 6 foot podiums/totem truss pieces to put the bubble machines on... A truss or some t-bars for the UV lights along with the laser.

[Coronaoperator]

Strobes and bubbles look awesome! Just don't overdo the strobe effect, only use it sparingly during cresendo's and stuff. They are also very power hungry (900w for a decent one), might be a consideration if circuits are sparse.

[Incognito]

Thanks for the input guys, I like the laser with HAZE machine idea since I think the strobe option will cancel out the black lights.

[DYM]

Yea make sure its HAZE.. not fog, thats why its in caps :tup:

[Coronaoperator]

http://youtu.be/14UX9vFbRLs

Best of both worlds

[DYM]

@Coronaoperator - that just looks like purple LEDs :shrug:

[Incognito]

I think I am going to try the American DJ H2O DMX Pro LED Water effect, drop the UV reactive bubbles & use standard bubbles thus my not needing the UV lighting. The good thing is this light uses DMX so I can use one of my old netbooks as a DMX controller, has anyone have any experience with wireless DMX transmitter & receivers?

[Capt. Kirk]

That's often the color of the UV LED's just like in a UV light bar, its purple to the eye but also emits an invisible to the eye frequency that makes certain objects reactive.

[DJ Nada]

Are bubbles any good indoors, perhaps as a substitute to fog in venues with sensitive smoke detectors? Would they make the floor wet?

[BillESC]

I can help you with discounted wireless DMX transmitters and receivers. Blizzard's Wicicles work great.

A fun thing to do with bubble machines is put a small fog machine at the machines air intake, it fills the bubbles with fog.

[DJzrule]

I can help you with discounted wireless DMX transmitters and receivers. Blizzard's Wicicles work great.

A fun thing to do with bubble machines is put a small fog machine at the machines air intake, it fills the bubbles with fog.

I've done this before tons of times with success! Sad that my old bubble machine died though. ):

[BillESC]

I've done this before tons of times with success! Sad that my old bubble machine died though. ):

I've got a Visual Effects V-9902 Pro Bubble Machine that's brand new that I'm offering on FB for $ 135.00 with free shipping if you're interested.

[Mystic]

Are bubbles any good indoors, perhaps as a substitute to fog in venues with sensitive smoke detectors? Would they make the floor wet?

Depends on the floor... if you're dealing with a floor that could possibly get slippy, then I wouldn't use it. If it's carpeting, then you will have to fight management on the issue because it will leave a residue. Plus, there is the liability issue which is why I no longer use bubbles for anything indoors.

As for a substitute, no, not really. Haze and fog are atmospheric effects. Bubbles are... bubbles. Haze is used with the sole purpose of enhancing lighting and fog is an effect that produces fog. Neither one will really be well replaced for those applications with bubbles.

[Coronaoperator]

Would they make the floor wet?

Yes and VERY VERY slipery! At our venue the bubble machine only gets turned on once the dance floor is packed so that the bubbles land on people and not on the floor. Even then its only a 5 second max effect. Very effective but short lasting effect. Generally only turned on during the cresendo of a hit song.

[DJ Nada]

A slippery floor is not something I want to deal with, or try to work around. For an outdoor event it'd probably be a killer effect. Now how can I book some more outdoor events?