Lighting Equipment Purchasing Considerations
Since a dimming system is often the most expensive item in a school stage lighting budget, it is worth taking some time to investigate and plan carefully. The steps suggested below will help to organize information which is important in choosing the right equipment for your needs.
Step 1
Think about your current staging events and those you plan in the future. How many lighting fixtures do you think it will take to do the job? What types? What is the total number of fixtures and watts required? How many fixtures should be dimmed individually and how many can be grouped together?
Step 2
Are you planning to combine old and new equipment? What are the makes and model numbers of the old equipment that is still usable?
Step 3
Find out if it is necessary for you to buy equipment that is UL listed. Generally, it is not required for small portable equipment, which gets its power from wall outlets. Electrical codes usually require UL listing on permanently installed dimming equipment. Check with your local electrical inspector.
Step 4
Investigate the power available. Is it single phase (240/120V 1-phase 3-wire) or three phase (208/120V 3-phase 4-wire)? How much power is available—20 amps, 50 amps, 200 amps or more? What else besides the performance lighting is run from this source—houselights, sound equipment? (You may need to consult with an electrician for the answers to these questions.)
Step 5
What is your general budget for the equipment and installation? Pick a “ballpark” range that is realistic for you.
Types of Stage Lighting
It is helpful to think of lighting instruments in four main categories: focused, wash, intelligent and specialty/task.
1. Focused Lighting
Ellipsoidal, reflector-based instruments allow a focused or purposely unfocused light to illuminate a specific area. Shutters allow you to “frame” the beam down to a defined area. This is the main tool of the stage lighting designer. “Mini” or “baby” ellipsoidals serve the same task on a smaller scale. A tight beam can be used for a special and a broad beam can wash an entire area. Zoom ellipsoidals offer even more flexibility.
Fresnel instruments are most useful for short throw, small area lighting and have a soft-edged beam.
PARs are little more than housing for a lamp and clips for a color frame; the housing reduces light spill. Their job is to add color and light to specific areas of the stage.
Followspots, while perhaps deserving of their own category, are essentially an ellipsoidal on a stand with handles added to control everything.
2. Wash Lighting Scoops, Borders and Cyc Lights
These are all intended to cover large areas with light. Scoops provide a wide-spread, soft-edged beam of flat, even light. Border and cyc lights are good for down-lighting and for drops; they can also be used on the floor. Often they are multiple-lamp units, available in various lengths and circuit configurations. They provide soft, even light and very wide coverage.
3. Intelligent Lighting
These instruments perform a wide variety of tasks, including pan and tilt, color change, focus and iris, all controllable from a lighting console to preclude the need for multiple instruments to perform a set of different tasks.
4. Specialty and Task Lighting
This category includes music stand lights, Littlites and a wide variety of work lights for lighting everything from a sound console in the back of a dark theatre to placing a gobo or other image in the exact place you need it.
Creating a Complete System
To make a complete system, several parts are required. Dimmers, each with a rated load capacity, are combined into a dimmer pack or rack. The dimmers control the brightness of the lighting fixtures by varying the amount of electricity supplied to them.
The control console sends a signal to the dimmers, giving the dimmers instructions about timing, levels, etc. A manual control console houses both the slide faders that adjust dimmer levels and the circuitry to send levels to the dimmer packs via a control cable.
The simplest control console has one slider for each dimmer. Other boards include one or more scenes or pre-sets that provide duplicate sliders for each dimmer. This allows an operator to pre-set the next look while the first is live on stage, then fade from the first to the next by moving a separate slider called a crossfader. Manual control consoles may have other special features such as timers, independent masters and bump buttons.
Computer control consoles have memory capability and can record each lighting look or cue into memory storage, in addition to offering many other expanded features.
Various cables are needed to complete the system. Load (extension) cables carry electricity from the dimmers to the lighting fixtures. A low-voltage (small wire) control cable transmits the control signals from the control console to the dimmer packs. Power cables bring electricity from the power source to the dimmer packs.
These expandable systems are used in multi-function facilities. They are rack-mounted, wall-mounted or stacked with the power input hard-wired for permanent installations.
The dimmers in these systems, generally 6 or 12 per pack, are rated at a specific capacity. The rated capacity is given in kilowatts: 1000W = 1kW. For example, a dimmer with 2400 watts capacity may be called a 2.4kW dimmer. These dimmer packs require more power than is available from normal wall outlets.
Most buildings have such power at the main service, in either single-phase or three-phase form. The amount of power needed (expressed in amps) varies with the dimmer capacity and intended load. Your electrician can help to determine how much power is needed and how to get it to the dimmers (power hook-up).
The control consoles in these systems range from two-scene consoles to full computer consoles. Compatibility of control consoles with dimmers depends on the type of control signal. Some consoles use low-voltage DC (analog) control. Most memory consoles use a multiplex signal, which allows many dimmers to be controlled by a single cable with only four or five wires.
The dimmer electronics must match the control signal being used. Several manufacturers make dimmers that can receive either multiplex or analog signals. This allows a facility to begin with analog two-scene control and later expand to hands-on or full memory without any alteration or replacement of the dimmers. The analog board may still be used as backup to the memory system.
When buying a system, select a control board with the total number of channels you plan to have in the system when it is complete. Dimmer packs may be added as funds permit. Note control cable requirements. Be sure the control signal is compatible with the dimmer pack.
Source: PNTA
Product Roundup
Smartfade from TLS
Smartfade from TLS is way more than a two-scene preset board. It is a compact console with serious power under the hood. Smartfade gives you big ETC lighting control quality at a compact price. It is easy to use and powerful to play with, and it includes a rich special-feature set when you need it. You don't have to be a lighting professional to use SmartFade. It is the most powerful little lighting desk you already know how to use.
www.tlsinc.com
COLORbank LED by Chauvet
COLORbank LED is the first LED wash light to join Chauvet’s line of multi-lamp, compartmented striplighting luminaires. This wash light features 304 long-life diodes housed in four pods, full RGB mixing capability, and DMX-512 programmability. The unit is portable and effectively washes walls and backdrops. All functions, including full RGB mixing, can be also performed on stand-alone, making it easy to use even by the novice.
www.chauvetlighting.com
VL 1000 ERS by VARI-LITE
The VARI-LITE VL1000 ERS luminaire combines the functionality of one of the most popular conventional lighting tools--the ellipsoidal reflector spotlight--with the versatility of an automated luminaire. Acting as a spot or wash fixture, the automated functions include CYM color mixing, rotating gobos and variable diffusion. All VL1000 ERS models include an automated four-blade shutter mechanism that provides control of the shutter functions popular in conventional ellipsoidal reflector spotlights.
www.vari-lite.com
NEXERA from Wybron
The lightweight and easy-to-use NEXERA from Wybron is a compact fixture with integral CMY subtractive dichroic color mixing. NEXERA offers an unlimited color palette, smooth color integration, and the availability of both wash and profile models, with either a tungsten or CDM light source. And, because the color module is convection cooled, there are no fans, no noise, and no problems.
www.wybron.com
