Recent content by Chris Brooks

Thanks for the information, especially about what the MOC 3022 does (which is still slightly confusing since there is another opto-isolator chip with each side). However, now the fan isn't working (though I'm not sure if that is from accidentally jostling things while removing/replacing the...

MOC 3022 chips are surface mounted SSRs and the part in question.

They're surface mount chips. Never have felt comfortable messing with those.

I ended up being able to try it in one system, and the polarizer cut out almost all of the specular bounce, but the diffuse remained (as expected). If it had been a dance show or something else where the specular bounce provided the brunt of the issue, it would have been more noticeable.

I'm working this summer at a small theater (so little budget for parts) and they have some NSI 9800 dimmer packs. One of them has six of the eight dimmers acting a bit strange. 1-5 will only come up to 50% (5 being a more recent issue), and 7 being burned on. I've found that the issue with 7 is...

Physics class; non-metallic surfaces polarize light parallel to the surface when reflecting specularly. In practice, photography uses that property to cut down on glare.

The floor treatment will be the color of raw muslin with black grid lines and not glazed. My thought process was that the strongest contributer to bounce from the lights that will inevitably have to be hung with lower angles would be specular (and so polarized just like a glare) with diffuse...

Has anybody has any experience using polarizing gels to cut down on bounce? I know that for non-metallic surfaces, the specularly reflected light gets polarized; does polarizing it beforehand stop the specular reflection (bounce). I have a set with a very light floor treatment, and before I get...

My search terms must have been just a bit off. Thanks.

The problem is that the source has to be plumbed to the heads, so lights on the machine won't help unless the machine is incredibly light and can be run consistently while being sloshed around. Also, if the solution is just blacklighting it, that's something I already know how to do. I'm asking...

I'm working on a production of She Kills Monsters and for the final scene we need to have five dragon heads, most likely four of which will each have some sort of smoke/haze/fog coming from their mouth. To differentiate the different aspects of the dragon heads, the effects with all have a color...