What light is this?

[Destrox]

So the guy who did all the tech stuff last year at my school has left. So when we were changing some of the lights on the catwalk we found some extra spots and stuff in the prop lofts. We found about five of this one type of light, and we aren't sure what it is, used for, and the type of bulb it takes. No boxes, instructions or anything. We aren't sure if these are new, or we have had them and just haven't used them. Sorry for the blurry picture, it was taken with my Blackjack. It looks like one skinny halogen bulb goes in each side. They aren't any places for it to screw into so I think you just pop it in. There are two cables coming from it (one for each side) so we can plug it into our system. Anyone know the name of this and what type of bulb it uses? Thanks!

[mbandgeek]

Originally Posted by Destrox

So the guy who did all the tech stuff last year at my school has left. So when we were changing some of the lights on the catwalk we found some extra spots and stuff in the prop lofts. We found about five of this one type of light, and we aren't sure what it is, used for, and the type of bulb it takes. No boxes, instructions or anything. We aren't sure if these are new, or we have had them and just haven't used them. Sorry for the blurry picture, it was taken with my Blackjack. It looks like one skinny halogen bulb goes in each side. They aren't any places for it to screw into so I think you just pop it in. There are two cables coming from it (one for each side) so we can plug it into our system. Anyone know the name of this and what type of bulb it uses? Thanks!

That is a 2 cell Cyc light, that can be used as a wash fixture or more commonly used to light a sky drop or the big white screen in the back of the stage. As far as the bulb goes, it varies with each unit. Im sure that other members on this board can help you.

[waynehoskins]

Sometimes called "T3"s from the type of lamp they use.

From the size of it, it kinda looks like a two-cell Strand Coda .. seems kinda small for an Altman Sky-Cyc.

[McCready00]

Had the chance to work with Yves Aucoin (Céline Dion) during the past summer for a single event. I remember he put some of these on the downstage edge with a blue gel inside (R60?L201...?!). So he used it to light some of the artists on stage.

But yea, as Mbandgeek said above, it is usually used to wash the cyclo or stuff like that.

[icewolf08]

What you have there is a 2 cell L&E Broad Cyc. They can take an FFT or FHM lamp (and are rated for some 2kW lamps as well. L&E units are also modular and if you pick up the right parts you can make a three cell bar or a 4 cell quad. They can be used both as sky cycs (hung at the top of a drop) or as ground cycs (placed on the floor).

As has been mentioned, it is a type of cyc light, used for lighting cyclorama (see wiki entry) or backdrop. They are designed with "J" type reflectors to spread light evenly on the vertical axis, so you can hag the lights at the top of a drop and evenly light all the way to the bottom. When using a fixture with a "J" type reflector the long "arm" of the J should point down (if a sky cyc) or point up (if a ground cyc), in other words, the log end of the J should point towards the longest part of the throw. The general rule of thumb with cyc lights is that you need to space your units the same distance from eachother as the distance they are from the drop. So, if your drop is 6' from the position where the cyc lights are hung then you should hang your cyc lights on 6' centers.

[Destrox]

Thanks everyone! That makes sense why we haven't been using them, we haven't actually used a backdrop in several years (only 2 plays a year). Lately we've just been building the set without an actual backdrop most of the time.