Fog and haze: making the beams visible
You only see light when it hits something. Without fine particles in the air, beams stay invisible and all you see from your moving heads is spots on the floor. That's what hazers and fog machines are for.
Haze or fog?
- Hazer: makes a fine mist that stays in the air for a long time. Once warmed up, it runs continuously on a low setting. This is the right machine for visible beams all evening.
- Fog machine: makes thick, short bursts. It suits single moments like a grand entrance or a drop.
Without haze, lasers and narrow beams look much weaker, and a strobe just dazzles.
As much as you need
The goal: you see the beams, not the fog. Start 15 to 30 minutes before the party and then maintain the level with small bursts at intervals. Nobody wants thick clouds in front of faces and cameras. Keep the air clear during dinner and speeches.
Use fog bursts sparingly. Like strobe, they work because they're rare.
Sort it out with the venue first
Haze and fog can set off smoke detectors, optical ones in particular. A false alarm can be expensive and it stops the party. So settle these points before the date:
- Is haze or fog allowed at this venue, and what applies to the detectors? Ideally, get it in writing.
- Whether and how detectors are switched off is entirely up to the venue. Never touch them yourself.
- Escape routes and emergency exits must not be filled with fog.
Rules differ from venue to venue. Better to ask once too often.
In Droplit
For safety reasons, Droplit never controls fog machines, hazers or sparks. When saving, it explicitly writes these fixtures as dark. You trigger them yourself in SoundSwitch or run them directly on the machine. More in Sparks and fog.
Step by step
- Try out what haze does in the preview: open Live mode and move the “Haze” slider at the stage. The beams become easier to see. See Showing off the stage.
- Plan your moving head positions so the beams pass above people's heads: in the visualizer under “Set mover positions” → “Into the air” → “Over the heads”.
- Check under “What's missing” whether your fog machine is listed under “Sparks and haze stay off”. Then you know the designer won't trigger it.
- Agree on haze and fog with the venue before you plan a show that relies on them.
Questions
The preview shows haze even when there's none in the room. In the real venue, the hazer is missing or the level isn't there yet.
No. “Smoke” only shows more haze in the preview.
No. It throws its points of light onto walls and floor in clear air too.
More from “Lighting know-how”
- Colors that work togetherGood shows get by with few colors. Two main colors plus white as an accent cover most of a song. What matters is which two you pick and where they land.free to read
- Why variety mattersA show works through contrast. If every light runs all the time, everything ends up looking the same and the big moment gets lost. Dark, calm stretches are what make a peak feel big.free to read
- Building a song show: from intro to dropA good song show retells the song: it starts small, opens up in the chorus, takes a breath in the middle and saves the brightest moment for the end. Droplit builds this arc by itself. Once you know how it works, you can fix things with more purpose.free to read
- Lead your moving heads, don't just wave themMoving heads get noticed right away. If they circle all the time, the show looks restless. Well-led heads often stand still, change position with purpose and move when the music calls for it.free to read
- Using gobos, rotation and prism wellA gobo is a small stencil inside a moving head that shapes the beam into a pattern. Add rotation and a prism and one head can give you many different pictures, as long as you use the three tools on purpose.free to read