Euro Laser Zeitschrift June 2003

There's no Business like Show Business
From disco lasers to a manufacturer of multimedia show laser systems with event service
Without a doubt, laser technology has become firmly established in almost all industries. However, some fields – including the entertainment sector – have rarely been featured in our magazine. After all, the market structures here are no different than in the industrial segment. Here, there are system manufacturers and service providers in all sizes. And as in the industrial laser sector, there are also a few global suppliers that lead the way for the rest. In the laser entertainment sector, LOBO electronic GmbH from Aalen is a member of the global elites, often ranking among the top positions.
To get it out of the way: What I saw in the company-owned multimedia theater of LOBO electronics GmbH in Aalen was the best laser show I have ever witnessed. Obviously, this is my subjective opinion, but it is certainly not an exclusive one: For years, LOBO has received the most ILDA Awards. For the industry, an ILDA Award is comparable to an Oscar in the film business.
While LOBO is a laser system manufacturer at its core, its logo can often be found when a laser show is called for at large international events. Be it in Berlin, Dubai or Oslo: All around the globe, people are not only working with projection systems and software from Aalen – for the largest installations, LOBO’s team is also the service provider responsible for the execution and show content. In Aalen, they know best how to optimally use their own products. Small wonder that LOBO is always called upon when something special is required. Company founder and CEO Lothar Bopp does not see this as competition for his own clients in the system business: “In general, we start were others have to stop.”
Everything started about 21 years ago, when Lothar Bopp became fascinated with the topic at a fair. Soon after, he was active as a “one man show” as distributor of English products in a sector that today falls under the category disco laser. But not for long: His demands for reliability and quality of the products were so high that in-house developments soon replaced the distribution program. On top of that, the previous supplier from England now became a distributor of LOBO products – still in the very early days of the company’s history. Since then, the company has grown steadily and reached a certain core size of around 30 employees years ago. Lothar Bopp: “A show laser company with 200 employees would not work. The global market is simply too restricted for unlimited growth. We have clients in more than 50 countries, meaning that our export quota is above 90% in some years."
First and foremost, LOBO manufactures laser systems. About 70% of all turnover is generated in this core business. The products include everything necessary for a laser show, with LOBO’s engineers ascribing the core competence to electronics. Laser and multimedia controllers, workstations, real-time 3D laser animation systems, laser controls, color mixing units, mirror and scanning systems and laser graphic projectors – up to a complete laser workspace for the production of laser and multimedia shows – are available in various equipment variants. In Aalen, anyone looking to enter the laser show business will find what they need. A considerable share of the system business is made up by project business. The range covers everything up to turnkey solutions for multimedia theaters, including show content. Major amusement parks, discotheques, planetariums or cruise ships make up the typical customer base. LOBO is also a pioneer when it comes to integration of laser technology on classical stages. Many a theater performance, including in the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, received a special touch thanks to laser technology made in Aalen.
The role as laser system supplier is underscored by the fact that all of these things can be accomplished with proprietary laser products. With the exception of the actual laser beam sources and the galvanometer scanners, everything is developed in house. It is surprising how far-reaching everything is: The workstations for programming and controlling the peripheral systems and the animation computers are working with a proprietary, self-developed operating system. Furthermore, all components and products are perfectly adapted to each other, meaning that clients can expand their systems without any issues. Hence, the complete systems offered by LOBO may be considered as entry-level models, but provide a basis for endless expansion possibilities.
In addition to system business, event service was established as a second foothold in recent years. Lothar Bopp: “We have noticed that there is a certain demand for rentals, for example for product presentations, congresses or city anniversaries.” This sector, nowadays responsible for 30% of LOBO’s turnover, can fully avail of the range of LOBO products and thus realize unique shows of any desired scale. The range was expanded with the variant of „Trucks“: Containers filled to the brim with laser technology can work safely and reliably from any location on the globe.
Both system as well as event clients value the reliability of LOBO systems and shows. An example to underscore this fact is located in the BMW Museum in Munich. There, a system composed of a laser, three color mixing units, four projectors as well as an animation computer is in operation. Since 1990, this system has been in continuous operation for 364 days a year, ten hours a day. During that time, only the laser itself had to be replaced three times – that’s it!
According to Lothar Bopp, future technological developments ultimately depend on the developments of the laser manufacturers themselves. In general, a long lifetime is high up on the wish list for laser suppliers – still a critical issue with gas lasers. He continues: “We expect a lot from RGB solid state lasers; we have one here – a fine thing. However, we believe that there is still some need for additional developments with respect to price, handling and easy servicing.” The “standard lasers” of LOBO systems are manufactured by Coherent, Melles and Jenoptik. Regarding the other bought-in component, the scanner, the legendary G120 by GSI has been in use for almost 20 years now. Lothar Bopp: “Our own driver electronics are so elaborate that a newer scanner would not offer any advantages. In our opinion, the G120 is still the most reliable scanner there is.”
One aspect of the company LOBO electronics should not go unmentioned here – namely, the creative one. As already described, the company also offers show content, sometimes in cooperation with creative agencies, sometimes wholly on its own. The most impressive laser shows there are have their origins in Aalen – bringing us back to the ILDA Awards. Based on their numbers (57, 24 thereof within the last three years) and on the impression of the displayed show, there is only one thing left to say: We have certainly visited the world number one.
By the way: LOBO will not be present with its own booth at LASER 2003. Still, the company from Aalen will be represented: A small display presentation by LOBO can be seen at the booths of Melles and Jenoptik (two of LOBO’s laser suppliers).