Lighting Help

[EdKaz]

Just finished a boxing event at a Hilton. It was in a banquet room on the second floor. The room had a drop ceiling with a lower drywall section to separate the room into smaller sections. So using airwall hangers we installed 18 ETC source four pars. Only had a few hours setup time (Hillary Clinton was there before us and we were not allowed in any earlier). Everything looked fine until the first fight....Because of the low ceiling height and the angle of the fixtures the lighting was in the fighters eyes and judges could not see....lowered dimmer to 20% and used house lighting...We got through the event. The question I have is .... what is available (if anything) that would provide a lot of lumens at a short distance to the subject? Or is there some type of diffuser I can use? It looks like we are going to be at this venue for the next few shows.....

Thanks
Ed

 

[sk8rsdad]

Things to Google:

• heavy frost diffusion filter
• tough spun diffusion filter
• egg crate louvre

Tack on the words source four to narrow down the search to things that fit the fixture.
If the ceiling is white you could try bouncing the light off the ceiling instead of pointing it directly at the ring.

 

[EdKaz]

Thank You so much....We always (for the last 10years) were in large venues and NEVER had too much light...

 

[Skervald]

You might also check which of the four standard lenses are already in the S4 PARS. If they aren't already in, the wide flood lens might help a bit. (I believe you can buy an extra wide as well.) A wider lens should allow you to hang them in a slightly different position and hopefully change the angle enough to keep it out of eyes.

 

[seanandkate]

If the ceiling is white you could try bouncing the light off the ceiling instead of pointing it directly at the ring

This is what I would try. I imagine lighting boxing would be like lighting orchestras: lots of toplight, and enough fronts to fill shadow but not enough to blind the talent. If you can't actually hang lights from above, the reflected light of the ceiling would be a great compromise.

 

[cbrandt]

You also might look into the possibility of going a bit higher. See if the venue has any rigging specifications for going above the drop ceiling. There may be fixed points or roof trusses that you can rig a fixed batten from, and supplement the bad angle lighting from the airwall track.

 

[EdKaz]

Thanks for all your suggestions...I ordered the rosco #115 gels. BTW are the lenses marked as to what they are (narrow, wide...). I don't have one in front of me.

 

[Skervald]

Unfortunately they're not marked but these photos might help you figure out what you have:

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/170999226115-0-1/s-l1000.jpg

https://static.bhphoto.com/images/images500x500/1232997556000_435369.jpg (EXTRA WIDE)

As far as I know each instrument ships with four lenses (very narrow spot, narrow spot, medium flood, and wide flood). I think the extra wide is an option one has to purchase on its own.

EDIT: I should not try to post photos with my phone. The second photo I originally posted was not in fact of source 4 PAR lenses though they were similar. I've replaced the second photo with one that shows what the Extra Wide lenses look like.

 

[EdKaz]

Thanks for the info...checked what I have and they all look like the super wide. I ordered the #115 (light tough rolux) gel and will try that.