Conventional Fixtures Purchase help for cyc lighting?

Dreadpoet

Active Member
I am going to be purchasing new instruments to light our back wall with soon and I need your assistance. I am wanting to RGBA color mix on a 15'X34' cyc wall. It will be lit from 3rd electric, which is about 9' out taken to a 14' or 15' trim...obviously it can go higher or lower if needed. Money is somewhat of an issue as I will only have about 4-$5,000 to spend on lighting it. I am looking for a nice mix of thump while not burning out gels every show. currently I am looking at the altman 4 cell skycyc...not yet sure if I need 3 or 4 of them. what do you think?
 
The Altman 4 Sky Cyc works perfectley. We have Six of them for maybe a 20'x40' Cyc and it mixes beautifully. And also with the four cells you can do a RGBA or CMYB and still have the nice mixing potential.
 
The general rule of thumb is that you should have enough units so that they can be spaced with the distance from unit to unit is equal to the distance from the cyc. Since you said that your batten is 9' from the cyc, you would need to put your units on a maximum of 9' centers to get an even wash. Since your cyc is 34' wide that means you need a minimum of four units. I would suggest that you get five or six units as it will help you get an even better wash and allows for you to move the units closer to the cyc if needed.
 
cool....so am I hearing that skycycs from altman are a good way to go?

Icewolf-in a previous thread you stated " I use Colortran far-cycs and L&E Broad Cyc (4 cell top/bottom config.)." any particular reasons/plusses to these over altmans?
 
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The Berkey-Colortran FarCyc was the first of the high wattage cyc floods.
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Far Cyc > Fixtures > Theatrical Equipment > Lighting Management Systems > All Leviton Products from Leviton Electrical and Electronic Products

The Altman SkyCyc is a decent copy.
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http://mail.altmanltg.com/publicsynergy/docs/BLItemDossier.asp?Item=SKY-CYC-04&PLID=&Country=US.

The best, and probably out of your budget, is the QuartzColor Iris, previously sold by Strand/Ianiro and now available in the US through Star Lighting.
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StarLighting.com ::

Also look into fixtures from L&E and Selecon.
 
cool....so am I hearing that skycycs from altman are a good way to go?

Icewolf-in a previous thread you stated " I use Colortran far-cycs and L&E Broad Cyc (4 cell top/bottom config.)." any particular reasons/plusses to these over altmans?

I don't have a point onf comparison with the Altman units as I have never used them. I can tell you that that L&E units are much smaller in size than the BCs, however they are also heavier. The L&E units allow you to use two different length lamps in them, which is nice because it gives you a wider choice in lamps so that you can pick one that suits your needs. Other than that, the photometrics are very similar.
 
You could also look at Altman's FC-1 focusing cyc or EC-1 EconoCyc fixtures. The FC-1s are also usable as groundrow units. Both are capable of handling three different lamp lengths, if memory serves.

I've always preferred having multiple single cells, rather than two, three, or four cell units. You can be a little more accurate on focus, and a lot more flexible on placement, and they wire up the same.
 
I would suggest you consider used gear, as 20 year old Quartzcolour Irises are as good as any new gear.
 
The Altman units are pretty good...but, if you really want to save money on color by extending the life of your color and getting more out of a sheet check out the HUI range by Selecon! Great price point too, just right for your budget. If you need a little more punch, check out the Aurora also by Selecon. These fixtures have much better color life and economy than any other cyc fixture I've used. Furthermore, the HUI can be used as a sky or ground cyc! As an added bonus, it isnt heavy and beefy like some other units...easy to manage and handle!

Good Luck!
 
Yeah, I can't personally tell you my views on there cyc's but every fixture I have used from Selecon has been fantastic. I'm a fan.
Nick
 
I second the use of Selcon cyc lights. We have several different models at my school and I love them!
 

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