Curious . . What brand gel and what does it cost?

Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

I don't remember what I am currently paying for gel, though I know there are slight variations between manufacturers. Mostly in the $5-$6 range. We use whatever the designer specs.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

I generally only buy Roscolux. The two sheets of plastic with the color baked in the middle seems to make it more durable to me (sorry Keith... I do like your gobos better). Current price locally is $5.79 a sheet.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

Usually 5-6ish, depending. If I need something quick and have to get it local its usually a bit more then going through a large vendor.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

Yeah, in the $8 CDN range for a sheet, I go with Rosco or Lee depending on the colour, although I like Lee far more for durability and saturation.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

I use Lee and I pay $A11.50 for a sheet but I live in Australia so that information is no use to you at all.
(He sniggers quietly and sneaks away.)
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

I use Lee and I pay $A11.50 for a sheet but I live in Australia so that information is no use to you at all.
(He sniggers quietly and sneaks away.)


Maybe Bill's thinking about opening a branch office in OZ.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

I'm paying about £4 a sheet, I don't know how the dollar's feeling at the moment, but that's probably around $7-8.

For a roll I'm looking at about £60.

Do you buy in Rolls and Sheets in the US?

I've only ever bought one Roll. And that was L103 (straw) and it was shared between three local Am-Dram groups!

I usually buy Lee HT.


Tim
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

We have everything available from the big 4 (R,L,G,A) runs in the 5-6ish range a sheet.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

I personally love the fact that this thread brought out nearly every Non-us number possible, interesting way to do conversions though.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

The few I've purchased have been in the $7.50/sheet range. I usually buy Rosco cuz I'm most familiar with their numbers.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

Rosco usually, occasionally a lee blue. In Chi I pay $6.50 a sheet, not sure what cost down here in STL is.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

Every brand. Most is Roscolux, but there are some Lee colors that Rosco does not match! (126 mauve, 119 Blue, 139 green) I even have an old stash of Roscolene, which I don't think is carried anymore.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

<(sorry Keith... I do like your gobos better)>

That's quite alright, every quality product has a growth curve! We have dealers stocking Apollo gel in over 26 states and several countries for last minute shoppers. You'll be seeing more of the 24 x 24 inch sheets and Apollo Perf-Gel in the future!
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

I'm paying $5.75 for Rosco or Lee locally, + shipping. Not bad. I tend to purchase Rosco more often as I am more familiar with their colors and the Lee gel book is absolutely stupid to try and search for anything. I usually buy Gam diffusion for around $6.00 and will pick up Rosco or Apollo patterns for around $10.00 a piece (steel).
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

I was buying Rosco in Detroit for about $7 a sheet, thats about average in the area. Not sjure on the prices in Milwaukee yet.

I usually use Rosco because I like the colors and EVERYONE has it. However, some of those Apollo colors look awesome and can't wait to try them out.

I agree about LEE, that book is horrible to search.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

You see, I'm sure there is a method to it, something about saturation or hue or transmission or something, but it is NOT obvious and the number system is totally screwy--can someone from Lee explain their gel book!?

I'm not from Lee, and I'm sure Keith, Skip, Steve Terry, or others will correct me if I'm wrong, but...

The Lee numbering system and colors were derived from Cinemoid--a plastic color medium, like Roscolene, as opposed to polyester like Roscolux, that became defunct as it could not stand up to the energy of Q-I (T/H) lamps. Those of us who used Cinemoid, which were 5xx numbers, are quite comfortable with the Lee numbers, which use 1xx. The Lee 7xx and 3xx are newer colors added when they ran out of 1xx numbers. Yes, it's a caluge, but Lee still offers a "Numeric Edition" swatchbook, and a "Designers Edition includes Numeric listing" swatchbook. My "Numeric Edition" is still what I use most often, does not include 3xx and 7xx, and is rather dog-earred. Most British LDs prefer Lee, as Cinemoid was a Rank-Strand product. Many American LDs, particularly in dance, seem to want to emulate the British and specify LEE Filters only.

To further confuse matters, the Lee 0xx numbers are "clones" of Roscolux colors, with notable exceptions, i.e. Lee002 IS NOT the same as Lux02; Lee003 IS NOT Lux03; but Lee004 IS very close to Lux04. I once went 'round and 'round with a Master Elect. who said the sheet he had that just said "003" was Lux03. I didn't have my swatchbooks with me so I couldn't prove it, and it was only Followspot color for a one-off that the LD wouldn't use anyway. And I was right; we cut, framed, and loaded 6 colors in 6 spots and the LD only used OW and Frame#1. Happens ALL the time. Rant OFF. But I digress. Also Lee has the "HT" prefix, which costs $2-3 more per sheet, but does hold up longer, and IMO, is worth the added cost in saturated colors.

The only color media manufacturer that makes sense spectrally is GamColor. When Joe Tawil took the colors of the defunct Gelatran, he was able to devise a system that made sense, as he was starting from scratch. I feel GAM colors are the "flashiest," as well as having the sexiest names, like G195 Nymph Pink, G888 Blue Belle, and G985 Ripe Plum. Three of Roscolux's sexiest colors are what I call the "ego" colors: X336 Billington Pink, X39 Skelton Exotic Sangria, and X349 Fisher Fuchsia. Do the designers, or Tom Skelton's estate, get a royalty whenever these colors are sold?

Roscolux has been able to keep somewhat of an order, by adding 3xx in between xx colors, but Excel doesn't understand that and it makes my color lists odd when I sort by color#. In the early 1980s Rosco was having quality-control issues and began adding an "-A" suffix to colors they could no longer replicate. Thus there was R35 and R35A, and they were close, but not the same, color.


Sorry Keith, no offense to Apollo Gel implied, but it took me 10 years to accept GAM, and I still only use a few of those colors, not available in Lee or Roscolux.

For a .PDF of an Excel conversion chart of Lux to Lee & GAM, visit my site at http://www.derekleffew.com/referencedocumentsandwebsites. For the actual Excel file, so you can sort other ways, email me.

Hope this helps. As I've said before, I have a fetish for "modern" stage lighting history.

Derek
 
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Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

I always have two lee book around, a numeric and a designer. Lee is weird simply because it is an older system, but instead of throwing it all out, they just went with it. Same reason we still measure in feet over here in the states, we are to lazy to learn a new system. The last theatre I was at the house elec put all the 3's or rosco in a separate filing cabinet, it was very annoying. Short of going to the dewey decimal system, gel organizing will never be a perfect art.
 
Re: Curious . . What grand gel and what does it cost?

This post is not directed toward anyone in particular, but more as an FYI to all gel users.

The actual light spectrum, with visable light beginning around 350 nanometers(Ultra-Violet) and ending around 800 nanometers (Infra-Red), is the spectral wavelength professors and scientists use when placing a specific color on 'the map'. All gel manufacturers use a spectral chart to indicate the color of their gels. Each gel has a slipsheet within the swatchbook, indicating the color name, number, and the color's placement within the spectral curve.

Apollo has chosen to use the spectral numbers as our gel numbers (how simple is that?) to simplify the process. The Lavs/Violets are in the 3000 range, Blues are in the 4000 range, Greens/5000, Yellows/6000, et al.

With four digits, we have more than enough room to add transmissions between existing colors- avoiding prefix numbers and letters.

I completely understand using products which are familiar to you, and am encouraged by the growing number of Apollo Gel users at the school level as well as theater.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.....
 

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