Followspot inquiry

[suntydt]

First let me say hello... very interesting site you have here. Second let me say when it comes to lighting I am a newb.... greener than green. And your site is quite overwhelming.

That said I found this link Followspot Survey which talked about followspots. And I found it very informing but it doesn't address my issue exactly so I figured I would just ask.

My church just had a Christmas production and we had to borrow a followspot. The spot showed up 3 days before the performance. All things considered we had one spot "foo pah" and the performance wnt off pretty good.

Now, I want to buy a followspot light for the church so we don't have issues like this again. So I would like to delve into the acumulated knowledge of this forums members and get some input. It is a small church, probably 50' to the stage from the spot room above the sound booth. The stage itself may be 20' deep. Probably not... people were almost falling off the stage. Anyway, it will probably be used AT MOST three times a year. We will probably loan it out to other places if asked. But no one asks us for anything and this town is so small I don't think anyone else even has a stage except maybe the HS. And they probably have a followspot.

So, nuts and bolts of the question is - what do you recommend for a followspot for a small church that I can buy and give away?

And where can I buy one?

And for those who are curious... I'm the sound man :j

Suntydt

Oh yeah, thanks for reading my long winded post and for any suggestons you may have

[mstaylor]

First let me say hello... very interesting site you have here. Second let me say when it comes to lighting I am a newb.... greener than green. And your site is quite overwhelming.

That said I found this link Followspot Survey which talked about followspots. And I found it very informing but it doesn't address my issue exactly so I figured I would just ask.

My church just had a Christmas production and we had to borrow a followspot. The spot showed up 3 days before the performance. All things considered we had one spot "foo pah" and the performance wnt off pretty good.

Now, I want to buy a followspot light for the church so we don't have issues like this again. So I would like to delve into the acumulated knowledge of this forums members and get some input. It is a small church, probably 50' to the stage from the spot room above the sound booth. The stage itself may be 20' deep. Probably not... people were almost falling off the stage. Anyway, it will probably be used AT MOST three times a year. We will probably loan it out to other places if asked. But no one asks us for anything and this town is so small I don't think anyone else even has a stage except maybe the HS. And they probably have a followspot.

So, nuts and bolts of the question is - what do you recommend for a followspot for a small church that I can buy and give away?

And where can I buy one?

And for those who are curious... I'm the sound man :j

Suntydt

Oh yeah, thanks for reading my long winded post and for any suggestons you may have

The leading answers will be Lycian, Robert Julian and Strong. I do not have used a RJ spot but I have heard good things about them. The downside is they aren't common in the US so they may be hard to find. Lycian has some very good small spots. Call Light Action in Virginia Beach or Wilmington and they can help you with which will fit your venue. I believe they handle Strong also. I know 4 Wall in Baltimore and Bandit in Tenn both carry Strong. Any of them can drop ship to you.

[derekleffew]

It looks like there are a few stage lighting suppliers in Knoxville, your closest city. I'd find out which ones carry the Altman Comet, which is probably the least expensive, most bang-for-your-buck spotlight for a throw of 50'. Search here for comments on Comet. It's a Geo, not a Cadillac, but may suit your needs. MSRP is $1550, street price around $1000. See also Dealers for Supplies and Equipment - ControlBooth . Others to consider are the Lycian Midget, Strong Trouperette IV, and Robert Juliat Cricket, but they are all more expensive.

Whatever you choose, the most important is to get a demo of the product IN YOUR VENUE and compare with your other lighting fixtures, even if you have to pay to rent a fixture from Nashville.

EDIT: Consider also a Source-Four-on-a-stick (probably a 19° or 14°), basically a homemade followspot out of a standard ERS, with some special accessories to make it more "operator-friendly."

[waynehoskins]

A Comet would be a good inexpensive choice for a quartz spot. The local high school where I frequently design has one.

Other quartz spots to check out are the Lycian Midget and Clubspot.

In the world of arc spots, check out the Lycian Super Arc.

Not very familiar with the Strong offerings other than the freaking-huge Super Trouper line and the cute mini Trouperettes.

BTW, in college, we used two Colortran 10degs with irises as followspots, from our second AP position, on a few shows. Worked out nicely. Didn't have that extra extra punch, but pretty nice. Most importantly, they came on and turned off at the right time since they were on dimmers and programmed into cues.

[BillESC]

With only a 50' throw he could get away with an Altman Luminator. Less expensive than the Comet and smaller as well.

[JD]

With only a 50' throw he could get away with an Altman Luminator. Less expensive than the Comet and smaller as well.

Good little spot. Just picked up one last month and reviewed it here:

Altman Luminator

Cut sheet data here:
http://www.altmanltg.com/altman-ligh.../luminator.pdf

[Sony]

Honestly I'm with Derek's "Source 4 on a stick" recommendation, especially for a small church like yourself, it's the most versatile and least expensive option. For dimming you could buy a little single stand alone dimmer with a knob from someone like Leviton. For an iris just get a drop in iris from city theatrical for $40. They are also easily acquired from any ETC dealer and can be used as a regular fixture when not being used as a followspot.

[JD]

Honestly I'm with Derek's "Source 4 on a stick" recommendation, especially for a small church like yourself, it's the most versatile and least expensive option. For dimming you could buy a little single stand alone dimmer with a knob from someone like Leviton. For an iris just get a drop in iris from city theatrical for $40. They are also easily acquired from any ETC dealer and can be used as a regular fixture when not being used as a followspot.

There are some things that precluded me from going this route that are worth bringing up:

1) No color boom unless you buy an external one to mount in the frame holder.

2) When you dim the lamp, the light shifts from white to red as the color temperature takes a nosedive.

3) No fast way to do a blackout cue, as the lamp must cool down.

4) Putting together a solid stand can be a project.

5) Short of using a zoom, all light outside the iris is lost so you will need to change lens tubes to get the right min/max iris range.

6) Balancing things out can be tricky. (There are companies that sell kits that help out.)

[len]

For 2 - 3 times a year, I'd continue renting. Whatever that faux pas was, it probably won't happen again. Or just ask the rental place what you did wrong. A good rental place will be able to help you get the most out of their equipment. But for 3 events a year, I just don't see buying one as a financially sound decision.

[TheGuruat12]

With only a 50' throw he could get away with an Altman Luminator. Less expensive than the Comet and smaller as well.

We have about an 80' throw, and two Midget HPs. The bulb on one of them went bad three days before tech started last year, and we had to borrow a Luminator. Obviously, it looked odd while on at the same time as the other Midget, but I have to say, it did very well for its size. If I remember correctly then the bulbs for it are cheap as well....

[ship]

Totally a fan of the local supplier concept but in you also doing your homework in requesting what you want to see for sample. Lycian if not all have a certain amount of photometrics programming to their website that will let you refine what you need for your throw distance and foot candles. Might not need as much punch, or need more than for your throw distance dependant on ambiant lighting of what you are using on stage.

If you cannot get thru the local supplier what you want to see, than perhaps expand outward in what sources you can view in shop a sample of, or who will show it to you. Hard to arrange a direct shoot out for lights but perhaps modern cameras in photos taken against people would be enough to compare in competing against minds eye.

The Euro parts can be a problem in some parts are not domestically available and needed to buy thru the supplier at an up-charge at times as a problem. On the other hand, Euro parts can be mostly standard or easily replaced by other similar parts domestically.

Would discount reports of lamp problems as those problems could be end user, voltage to manufacturer problems of the lamp. Could be fixture problem in watching a fixture with problems but last on the list I normally think until other things crossed out. The fixture has normally been well tested for it's specification - though not always sufficiently.

Sorry, cannot do a best I recommend. Just general guidelines for what I might look for. Have many Lycian, Robert Juiart, Strong even the ETC/CITC spot on a stick follow spots in stock. Even photos of a 3Kw Kliegl #1179 follow spot as posted on this website in photos that once brought back to factory spec, was incredably bright. As if modern lighting bright. But not part of what I do in seeing the light.

[church]

There are some things that precluded me from going this route that are worth bringing up:

1) No color boom unless you buy an external one to mount in the frame holder.

2) When you dim the lamp, the light shifts from white to red as the color temperature takes a nosedive.

3) No fast way to do a blackout cue, as the lamp must cool down.

4) Putting together a solid stand can be a project.

5) Short of using a zoom, all light outside the iris is lost so you will need to change lens tubes to get the right min/max iris range.

6) Balancing things out can be tricky. (There are companies that sell kits that help out.)

I have two of the 15/30 S4 zooms I use as follow spots and they rent out on regular basis. ETC makes a very good balance yoke and it is easy to attach a handle using the safty wire ring cast into the housing. Times Square make a boomerang that fits the 7.5*7.5 colour frame runners. ADJ also make a boomerang that will fit. To solve the blackout issue you can fit a piece of aluminium into the boomerang agreed you sacrifice colour. Most times I just have the colour in cardboard frames with gaf tape along the edges which woks fine.

the trick with the stand is to get it to pan smoothly - this is easily done by fitting a cheap bearing. I made stands using the base from an office chair and some black pipe from the local Home Depot.