Triggers

[avgjoefriday]

So I am new to the efx/haunt world and still trying to get my feet good and wet to try and set up a home haunt for 2008. One of the first things that seems pretty important in creating props is in deciding on the trigger that you are going to use. So I have been reading these forums and poking around the internet and it looks like a good short list would include:

* A manual trigger.  The haunt operator sees the TOT (Trick or Treater) at the proper position and presses a button to trigger the prop. I found that www.evilusions.com, a friend of efx-tek will supply them already wired to plug into the Prop 1 and 2.

* A floor mat trigger. The TOT steps onto a obscured floor mat and triggers the prop. www.evilusions.com also has these wired up for the prop1/2.

* A Passive Infra-Red (PIR) sensor. The TOT comes into range and the PIR "senses" someone in its range and triggers. www.efx-tek.com stocks these all wired up and ready to go for the props. (Just got mine yesterday!)

* A Beam Break Sensor aka RetroReflective Sensor. The TOT walks through the haunt and steps into a beam of light causing it to not bounce back to its source and thereby triggers the prop.  evilusions has these available for the props.

So these are the ones I have found that appear to be generally used in haunts. Are there any others I have missed (and possible sources for the parts)?

Thanks
Scott

[Caretaker.CCI]

Scott:

Parallax has some RF modules that I have used. I also went to the LINX website (the parts those are made out of) and bought some hardware that allowed me to extend the number of channels I could control with RF. A KEYFOB can then be used to control individual PROP1's (or 2's). There's a variation on this theme (that I haven't tried) that uses an antenna to create a capacitive field. When your guest walks through the "plates" the capacitance is changed and you have detected your victim. Some day maybe I'll try this method but I don't think it will be any easier than the other methods you have indicated. It also strikes me as being imprecise, kind of like the PIR.

Timing is an interesting topic. I have spent many hours observing guests going through the haunted area I have created. You should know that you're not going to"get" everyone. People have different ways of approaching the "unknown". When faced with a situation that is potentially frightening (what we're hoping for here) they react in different ways. It is very difficult to anticipate what they will do. Having said that, the best method is one where you have control of the trigger mechanism but then that means you have to stand there and watch the scene all night long; not something I want to do.

It sounds like you have done your research. The methods you indicated (or some variation thereof) are what I think most people use. I wouldn't overly-think the trigger mechanism. It's amazing what gets people sometime! Perhaps that all part of the fun of it!

Greg

[avgjoefriday]

Greg,
Thanks so much for your informative reply! 
I have popped over to the Parallax sight and the RF triggers do look quite interesting.  I am going to start out with the "basics" for now, but definitely have put in my future want list some of Parallax's gear
Scott

[Caretaker.CCI]

Scott:

Just for future reference... I used double-sided sticky tape and put 2, 5-button KEYFOB's back to back. One transmitting at 413 Mhz and the other at 433 Mhz. That gives you 10-buttons at your fingertip all concealed in the palm of your hand. We put these in the hands of our tour guides and connected them to props that we thought might be too intense for the younger audience. That gave us an element of control over who we ran certain props for. It's nice to have that kind of control but again, it involves someone having to oversee the scene. For us, it worked out. Besides, it's not too hard to switch over the trigger mechanism once everything else is working. You're just not going to do that in the middle of a show.

Greg