Last week I reported on YouTube user chjade84’s video of a laser etching the Aperture Science logo into stainless steel while also playing “Still Alive” from the Portal soundtrack. This week, YouTube user PhotoMachining has created a sequel, this time playing Jonathan Coulton’s Portal 2 theme song ‘Want You Gone.”
It starts out a bit static-y, but a few quick adjustments bring the song out in fairly good quality. The sound created by this laser is different from the one last week. This one is a 250 Watt CO2 laser and is carving its pattern into ceramic. The YouTube description states that the laser is not actually making noise, as the laser in the other video did, but that the plume of ceramic debris thrown up by the laser is being recorded. “Same principle as a regular speaker, except I’m using tiny explosions instead of a vibrating cone,” PhotoMatching wrote
The video can get a bit blurry, but the image, of the two multiplayer-mode robots ATLAS and P-body, is beautifully detailed.
Meanwhile, chjade84 has followed up on his own video by recording the Portal 2 song as well. He uses two separate videos this time, one for both bass and melody. Here’s the combined result:
So, it appears we have a laser etching competition on our hands. Choose a side and take a seat; I hope we’ll be in for a fierce and creative competition. Place your bets now for who will carve the better Portal turret into their chosen surface while playing the turret opera ‘Cara Mia Addio’.