Intelligent Lighting

[Sparticus101]

What are your thoughts on intelligent lighting? Are we ahead of our time, or is there more yet to come? Also, I've seen a lot of boards to run intelligent lights off of, what do you think is a good deal between price and functionality?

P.S. is there a code-name for intelligent lighting so i dont have to keep typing intelligent lighting?

[Footer]

The "future" http://www.highend.com/products/digi...hting/dl_2.asp

Then there is what will happen when ACN takes over....

[beam_1973]

Originally Posted by Sparticus101

P.S. is there a code-name for intelligent lighting so i dont have to keep typing intelligent lighting?

Tend to use "intels" a bit myself. And I reckon moving lights usually get shortened to "MLs"

[soundlight]

Yup - the future is ACN and DL2's.

Deal between price and functionality - that award goes immediately and without hardly any more research than I've already done on the subject (which is alot) to LSC's maXim XL or XXL console w/PaTPad. Amazing functionality for ML's, from what I've seen in demos. I'm looking in to actually getting one demo'd here. Probably just the LP (Large w/PaTPad) model here for demo purposes.

[PhantomD]

Originally Posted by soundlight

Deal between price and functionality - that award goes immediately and without hardly any more research than I've already done on the subject (which is alot) to LSC's maXim XL or XXL console w/PaTPad. Amazing functionality for ML's, from what I've seen in demos. I'm looking in to actually getting one demo'd here. Probably just the LP (Large w/PaTPad) model here for demo purposes.

I agree one hundred percent - we've got the LP here with three of their dimmers and with its functionality and non-existent learning curve (especially ML control in the price range) we couldn't be happier.

[Jezza]

The only thing I am afraid of in the future, if reference to the DL2, is that "lighting" as an art will start to fade--instead it will all be about who can create the coolest images, most intricate collages, or most interesting projection surfaces. Even though the DL2 can kind of serve both purposes, I think the use of it as a lighting instrument will get lost. Don't get me wrong, I love the instrument--I guess I'm not as impressed with it as some.

[soundlight]

Actually, I'm scared s***less about what might happen in regards to that for major events.

Basically, I'm keeping my trust in the fact that people will always have to be lit. Concerts will always have to have their fog and haze and followspots and par washes (or something with a similar effect).

[JSFox]

I don't think the future will be all digital. We'll likely see two types of instruments; 1) LED, and 2) Digital.

A basic LED based leko/fresnel/cyc series of instruments will be popular because of the large number of uses for simple pure color, low cost of instrument purchase, low cost of maintenance, and low cost of power consumption. They will also not have the pixelation that digital instruments do. I'm guessing we'll see fixed focus and pan/tilt versions of these.

Digital will be popular as well and again in fixed focus and pan/tilt configurations. We'll also likely see LED backed versions of these at some point down the road. Purchase and maintenance costs will still be higher than simple LED instruments and they will still have some level of pixelation though optical technologies will eliminate much of it. Their ability to do relatively pure colors, shuttering, gobo's (color or B&W), surfacing, and images will make them popular though.

Just some thoughts...

[SHARYNF]

I think you will find that creative designers will use and push the limits of technology to get the effect they want. I think we will also see more use of light integrated into surfaces and materials, as we are beginning to see with led woven fabric fiberoptic, and probably some totally new concepts that we have not even thought of yet.

Sharyn

[lightbyfire]

I was a little worried about the DL2 as well until I started incorporating them into my designs, and watching how other designers have used them. They really can never replace a good solid wash plot, they are only a new medium to apply atop the classic ideas.

They are flashy, and it is certainly easy to get carried away, but it provides so many new oportunities, including having an animated cast next to a live cast, and all kinds of camera effects. DL2s also provide a pretty nice CMY equivalent color, that can actually be matched down to tungsten source or arc if necessary, granted it is never going to be true "gel" color, different process of generating color, but it works great as a colored special.