Lightning

[TupeloTechie]

I tried a search, but could not find much.

How does everyone go about creating lightning on stage?

I've tried a strobe, but it just looks like, well, a strobe!

Maybe some type of photographic strobe that only has one flash?

Any Help?

 

[Charc]

HES AF1000?

 

[derekleffew]

charcoaldabs, refer TupeloTechieKid to the thread where we discussd your options for lightning. In the meantime, investigate Lightning Strikes!

Was it this one?

 

[TupeloTechie]

hmm... anything in the sub $100 or even less if possible range?

in the meantime I will look over that thread Derek, must have just skipped over it in the search.

*edit* I didn't really find much that useful in that thread as I don't have any extra pars or dimmers.

How about some sort of florescent fixture, with some type of control that would only give it a short flash??

 

[mbroughton02]

The best lightning I have ever seen was done simply by using a bump button on the board to flash a wash of 1k Par 64s with R68 on one side and R65 on the other. No need to get complicated with it- you are right a strobe looks like a strobe.
If you are erratic with the bump button so that there is no pattern to it you can make it look very realistic. It also helps if the units are already up at like 30% in the scene and you bump them to 70% or so- the lamps and dimmers react more quickly when they are already on.

edit: I just read your edit- you don't have any extra pars or dimmers. Maybe there is already a system hung that would work for this purpose? They could be lekos, fresnels, whatever has a nice cool color in it already.

 

[derekleffew]

...anything in the sub $100 or even less if possible range?...

Rent a SourceFour, or 360Q, Strobe Cap from your favorite local Lighting Supplier, or even from Denver? And rent the fixture also if you have to. The effect looks great with this gobo. But if you're budget-challenged, any lighting fixture which one can assign to a "bump button" and gel very pale blue will work.

Tell us more about your application. Do you want/need to see the forks or just light the entire stage for a brief moment? Does the set have windows? If for a play, again, make sure the flash comes slightly before the sound.

 

[TupeloTechie]

I am just wanting to wash the stage with lightning, for a scene in Little Shop, I've got about a month before the show, but I was just wondering what to do.

My current draft of the plot has two high-sides in a pale blue that I'm not using for this scene, so I believe I will bump these to create the effect.

As I said I have no extra dimmers, in fact, I will be having the lighting crew manually controlling a few specials and scenic washes with household dimmers and switches.

 

[mbroughton02]

yeah i would stick with that- you might be surprised how well it turns out.

 

[icewolf08]

I have 5 AF1000s that we use for lightning all the time. Strobes are very effective at creating a lightning effect if you use them correctly. Cue the random FX. The key is to create an FX cue that runs on random. The step times should be fairly short (less than 1 second or short enough for only 1 or 2 flashes) and you want to have steps that include different combinations of the strobes, from singles to all of them.

Once you get an FX you like, you can assign it to a submaster. Also, since it is a random FX you theoretically get an organic look every time you trigger it. Then you can plug it into cues, or fire it manually using the bump button for the sub.

I use this all the time and get very believable results.

 

[DarSax]

Wait wait wait....source 4 strobe cap?!

 

[icewolf08]

Wait wait wait....source 4 strobe cap?!

Indeed, they exist and are much useful. Made by Diversitronics.

 

[Charc]

Indeed, they exist and are much useful. Made by Diversitronics.

With a first-generation cap?...

 

[icewolf08]

With a first-generation cap?...

Not sure what you mean, Source 4 Lamp caps are interchangeable. Plus, given that this is a third party device, they don't have to put on the plastic handles. Also, if you remove the plastic handles from the "new" lamp caps they are exactly the same as the "old." Besides, aside from the one issue that I discovered with the really old source 4 lamp caps they are all interchangeable.

 

[derekleffew]

Indeed, they exist and are much useful. Made by Diversitronics.

Also available is the Strobe Cannon, for PAR fixtures.

 

[TimMiller]

Those are sweet. I'll have to keep those in mind in case.

 

[David Ashton]

You don't need fancy lights for lightning, a couple of halogen floods, 1000 or 1500 will do a good job, just on switches.

 

[Grog12]

Photo flash bulbs in clip lights work decently.

 

[JD]

The nature of lightning is the inconsistent and and random nature of the flashes. Some better strobes allow you to do this, however, if you are looking to do this on the cheap, you may want to pick up some old photo-flood bulbs. Not sure if it's still around, but the old BEP (300 watts, R30, 4 hour life, med Edison base) had a REAL fast filament response time and a very high output (thus the short life span, but that should not be a problem.) Maybe 3 or 4 of these on one of the channels, then practice with the bump button until you get a good effect. Last time I saw them, they were under $10. If you can't get the BEPs, browse some of the other available self-contained photo flood bulbs.

EDIT:
Just caught Grog's post! I think he was saying the same thing! Looks like we posted almost at the same time.

 

[len]

Martin Atomic if you're looking for the light but you don't see the actual source. I like them way better than the HES. And they're dmx.

 

[TupeloTechie]

Photo flash bulbs in clip lights work decently.

I'm not exactly sure how these work, but they seem like a good alternative. However I cannot seem to find them anywhere. Are they all one-time use? are they really made in "A" style for clip lights? 110v?