Conventional Fixtures Altman FC Cycs

[DCATTechie]

I have 3 four-cell Altman Ground Row and Sky Cyc Luminaires from the FC series. (http://mail.altmanltg.com/publicsynergy/docs/BLItemDossier.asp?Item=FC-1&PLID=&Country=US)

It came to that time of the year when they needed to come down off the electric and have gels/lamps replaced. I had some other students take them down as I was not able to at the time. Unfortunately, the students didn't remember how they were focused when they were up there(they played around with them a little once they were on the ground). I also don't remember how they were focused because they were already hung when I arrived this year and never took the time to take note of it (HUGE MISTAKE!). So once I replaced the lamps and the gels it was time to hang them back up on the electric, I took some guesses but every scenario I tried gave me a miserable cyc wash.

So my question is, how do I orient and focus(these are the ones with the pivoting reflector) the cycs to give me the best possible wash? The cycs are abour 5 feet from the cyc itself.

Any suggestions welcome!!!

 

[waynehoskins]

Hmm, too close to the cyc. Needs to be more on the order of 6 to 8 feet downstage.

Typical T3s (like the Sky Cyc) have an asymmetrical reflector, where it throws more light towards the "far" side of the target than the "near" side.

Check that you don't have it upside-down. That'll put all the light at the top and none at the bottom. Beyond that, it's pretty simple.

 

[Gretsch]

while the baton with the instruments is in to the deck bring up one color wash at a time and focus them so you have one even wash the width of your cyc (no dark spots between instruments) and one even line at the top. After you have done all 4 washes take the line to trim and again go through all 4 washes making sure you have an even wash the width of your cyc and that the bleed down the cyc makes it all the way to the deck. I prefer to fine tune our cyc cells with a lift or ladder once they are at trim so I can make sure I don't waste too much wash above the masking and that I'm not washing too wide and lighting up my upstage legs.

 

[DCATTechie]

Hmm, too close to the cyc. Needs to be more on the order of 6 to 8 feet downstage.

Typical T3s (like the Sky Cyc) have an asymmetrical reflector, where it throws more light towards the "far" side of the target than the "near" side.

Check that you don't have it upside-down. That'll put all the light at the top and none at the bottom. Beyond that, it's pretty simple.

I have no idea which way is upside down or right side up. Can we pretend like I have no idea what I'm doing with these cycs (not far off from the truth). The light is mostly at the top, but when I flip it, it stays at the top:shock:. Some pictures of a of a well focused cyc cell would help greatly!

 

[SteveB]

I have no idea which way is upside down or right side up. Can we pretend like I have no idea what I'm doing with these cycs (not far off from the truth). The light is mostly at the top, but when I flip it, it stays at the top:shock:. Some pictures of a of a well focused cyc cell would help greatly!

The reflector is in the shape of a "J", with the lamp in the bottom of the J. For an overhead fixture, the bottom of the J, and the lamp, is on top. With floor units, the J and lamp is down.

This is one of the reasons the Altman Ground Cyc units, which are designed to be either floor or pipe mounted, have spring loaded gel frame holder doors on top and bottom.

Steve B.