Design Brigadoon Cyc

[jmac]

Returning after quite an absence here to pick as many brains as I can.. and also say hello again..!.. I have perused previous threads and so have some general thoughts and ideas, but would like some feedback on my specific situation for a HS production. Need to take as full advantage as we can of the cyc to create the foresty "Scottish Glen" look, etc. Cyc will be trimmed to maybe 35' wide, and maybe 18' high.

For starters we have six traditional 3-cell sky cycs from above about 7' DS of cyc, likely RGB (other suggestions?). They easily cover top to bottom and L to R. But I was also trying to get a ground row, to provide more flexibility in mixing different colors, etc. First tried, since we have them, putting our upstage border lights down on floor, but can't mount far enough back and the scalloping is painful, in contrast to the sky cycs. We mocked up an Altman ground cyc, but can't really get it far enough back either, the coverage is narrow at bottom, and they might be too big too hide anyway.

Finally, our rental company dropped off an SGM P2 and Q2 LED. These (Q2) seem to work best in terms of performance and size and have pretty good coverage. I haven't worked with any LED's much yet, but these seem decent, and its what's available. Hopefully we can swing it (to rent). I want to get my feet wet with LED's. Not sure what else they carry, but open to suggestions.. (?)

Next question, will it be an issue with standard RGB gels from above and LED from below, in terms of different optics and coming up with nice color combinations..? We have an ETC Element for control. Sky cycs will be controlled R,C,L.

Then I would also like to get some trees and hopefully a moon on the cyc as well, but not sure how best to do, and will they get washed out by cyc lights..? (And I may have an issue with our front area lights as they are coming in rather low angle and may throw light on cyc as well.... We will have some side and top lights and a pattern wash.

We have 4-6 S4's we can use with gobos, but I am wondering where to hang them (from side best..?) and do the steel gobos work ok (and positive and/or negative inage..?) or are the glass ones like Apollo "Super Resolution" the ticket..? Esp. for the moon..? We can hang the gobo fixtures about 15-20' DS from the cyc and/or also at ends of pipe the sky cycs are on, and/or also on another pipe about a foot DS from cyc. We can also use two portable boom stands that are about 7' tall that could be used at either end of the cyc.

Bottom line is to try to get at least some texture slash abstract "cloud-age" and some tree stuff, so the cyc is not just a flat color or two.

Thanks so much!.... JMac

PS- I have one Rosco Image Pro thingy that could be employed..

 

[jmac]

Returning after quite an absence here to pick as many brains as I can.. and also say hello again..!.. I have perused previous threads and so have some general thoughts and ideas, but would like some feedback on my specific situation for a HS production. Need to take as full advantage as we can of the cyc to create the foresty "Scottish Glen" look, etc. Cyc will be trimmed to maybe 35' wide, and maybe 18' high.

For starters we have six traditional 3-cell sky cycs from above about 7' DS of cyc, likely RGB (other suggestions?). They easily cover top to bottom and L to R. But I was also trying to get a ground row, to provide more flexibility in mixing different colors, etc. First tried, since we have them, putting our upstage border lights down on floor, but can't mount far enough back and the scalloping is painful, in contrast to the sky cycs. We mocked up an Altman ground cyc, but can't really get it far enough back either, the coverage is narrow at bottom, and they might be too big to hide anyway.

Finally, our rental company dropped off an SGM P2 and Q2 LED. These (Q2) seem to work best in terms of performance and size and have pretty good coverage. I haven't worked with any LED's much yet, but these seem decent, and its what's available. Hopefully we can swing it (to rent). I want to get my feet wet with LED's. Not sure what else they carry, but open to suggestions.. (?)

Next question, will it be an issue with standard RGB gels from above and LED from below, in terms of different optics and coming up with nice color combinations..? We have an ETC Element for control. Sky cycs will be controlled R,C,L.

Then I would also like to get some trees and hopefully a moon on the cyc as well, but not sure how best to do, and will they get washed out by cyc lights..? (And I may have an issue with our front area lights as they are coming in rather low angle and may throw light on cyc as well.... We will have some side and top lights and a pattern wash.

We have 4-6 S4's we can use with gobos, but I am wondering where to hang them (from side best..?) and do the steel gobos work ok (and positive and/or negative inage..?) or are the glass ones like Apollo "Super Resolution" the ticket..? Esp. for the moon..? We can hang the gobo fixtures about 15-20' DS from the cyc and/or also at ends of pipe the sky cycs are on, and/or also on another pipe about a foot DS from cyc. We can also use two portable boom stands that are about 7' tall that could be used at either end of the cyc.

Bottom line is to try to get at least some texture slash abstract "cloud-age" and some tree stuff, so the cyc is not just a flat color or two.

Thanks so much!.... JMac

PS- I have one Rosco Image Pro

 

[seanandkate]

First tried, since we have them, putting our upstage border lights down on floor, but can't mount far enough back and the scalloping is painful

You could try throwing some R104 or diffusion media to smooth it out and make it spread faster.

Finally, our rental company dropped off an SGM P2 and Q2 LED. These (Q2) seem to work best in terms of performance and size and have pretty good coverage. I haven't worked with any LED's much yet, but these seem decent, and its what's available. Hopefully we can swing it (to rent). I want to get my feet wet with LED's.

If your LED fixtures are smooth, punchy, you like them, and they're in your budget, they can be awfully nice. If tops and bottoms are smooth and even, I don't imagine you would notice a difference when they are on. It's when they dim that you might notice a difference in the ground row--LED fixtures tend to have a less than smooth dimming curve in the 1-10% range. You may have already discovered this in your tests.

I would also like to get some trees and hopefully a moon on the cyc as well, but not sure how best to do, and will they get washed out by cyc lights..?

For the moon, if you have an ellipsoidal you're not using, and can get the angle coming in a flat as possible (otherwise your circular moon turns into an oval moon), you won't have any issues with intensity. An added iris will give you size options. If you are planning on using tree gobos from the side, you might be disappointed with the results. When you focus them, the image would be across such a continuous range of distances, you would have to pick which 2 foot slice you would like in focus on the cyc. Ideally you want the distance from instrument to projection surface to be pretty much the same (or as close as possible). And the closer you are to the cyc, the smaller the range of focus will be. If you're already worried about the trees washing out, with a steel gobo, I would have the trees / branches be the things projected. The clouds might be a bit more forgiving because clouds don't need to have sharp edges.

 

[Skervald]

do the steel gobos work ok (and positive and/or negative inage..?) or are the glass ones like Apollo "Super Resolution" the ticket..? Esp. for the moon..?

I've had excellent results with the Apollo SR-0097 glass moon gobo. Well worth the $70 in my opinion. Especially considering how many productions need or could use a nice moon. Just make sure you get the right holder for it. Also, as Sean says, a flat angle is your friend both in keeping the moon round and in obtaining reasonably sharp focus.