thank you for the insight! our problem is when the spots turn off and on it never looks nice, the only controls we have access to are the shutter, an iris, and just turning of the spot i have tryed all of these and they just never seem to be consistent or look good. My next step was to either get them on dimmers and be controlled along with all the other lights, the problem with that is in my current space that is rather pricy to get them onto dimmers. we have tryed just hooking up a dimmable light switch to them but its too hard to fade on and keep it steady/on the subject. thank you!I'd instead be teaching them how to adeptly use the provided controls, mechanical dowsing, or electronic dimming if provided. If they move on to use ANY other FS they will likely never come across a foot pedal and will need to get good at the built in controls.
Not that the idea isn't intriguing.
"PHOEBUS ULTRA QUARTZ II FOLLOWSPOT"May I ask what spots you are using?
"PHOEBUS ULTRA QUARTZ II FOLLOWSPOT"
@McAfee @SteveB As Steve posted: Rewire to power the fans directly from your nearest non-dimmed receptacle, Rather than attempting to use any of the small dimmers intended for use in homes, find a Variac autotransformer dimmer, one you can sit on the catwalk next to you or wherever's convenient to reach. The Variac's weight will keep it sitting there with its large rotary actuating knob on top and its comparatively stiff and SMOOTH operation will rapidly become your friend. For real finesse, you can add 3/8" diameter self-adhesive rubber feet on top of the Variac immediately outside of the knob's periphery where your operators will learn to feel them while they're actuating their dimmers. Use the self-adhesive bumpers to mark any intermediate levels you want to return to for specific scenes. If / when you're running three spots for a production such as 'Chorus Line', having the ability for all 3 spots to have one or two intermediate reference marks for times when zero and full just aren't enough is a definite plus. The advantages of using the self-adhesive foot / bumpers over masking tape and Sharpies is your operators will learn to feel their reference settings by touch without ever having to take their eyes off their picks. If / when your lighting designer or director insists on changing her / his intermediate settings, peel off the bumper, discard and apply a new bumper. I've seen people attempt to peel and reuse the same bumper but their adhesive is designed to work well ONCE when applied to a CLEAN, DRY location. The small bumpers are typically found 12 on a backing card for a dollar. Attempting to re-use in this application is false economy. I've employed this method for 3 spot operators sitting cross-legged on cushions to dim Source 4's from 1st FOH cove positions for two or three amateur productions of 'Chorus Line' and found larger, appreciably over-rated, variacs to be the smoothest for the amateur operators to actuate without ever having to look to find them or inadvertently moving the actuator when reaching to re-grasp it.What many folks have done is re-wire the fixture. The lamp is a 360w ENX/FLE ?, isolate it from the fan(s), run the fans on dedicated power and either A) Have lamp power from a dimmer circuit then off the control desk, submaster ?, cued ?. or B) Buy a single 600w or 1000w in-line dimmer and place the dimmer where the operator can access it easily.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/235897-REG/Smith_Victor_402010_DC_1_Dimmer_Control.html/?ap=y&gclid=CjwKCAiA0ajgBRA4EiwA9gFORwG0FiF7GFMC1_EZMRXrT78dV-ULo50u3Eiljqa6gBk39JNuGt2T2RoCZm4QAvD_BwE&lsft=BI:514&smp=Y
Since the ENX is an 82 volt lamp fed by a transformer in the fixture, you would have to make sure whatever dimming you apply takes into account the transformer. With an autotransformer dimmer, it should be no problem. With electronic dimming, there could be issues depending on the design of the dimmer.
@McAfee and @derekleffew Far too many end users never realize their "Shutter" is in actuality their DOUSER and capable of being smoothly opened or closed to provide 30 to 40 second SMOOTH fades to and from fully open and closed or any intermediate intensities in between. I appreciate you KNOW this @derekleffew but perhaps @McAfee has yet to discern this? Perhaps @derekleffew you ought to explain that your Blackwrap colorframe can execute 30 to 40 second SMOOTH fades as well and needn't always be actuated in increments measured in fractions of seconds.
@McAfee and @derekleffew Far too many end users never realize their "Shutter" is in actuality their DOUSER and capable of being smoothly opened or closed to provide 30 to 40 second SMOOTH fades to and from fully open and closed or any intermediate intensities in between. I appreciate you KNOW this @derekleffew but perhaps @McAfee has yet to discern this? Perhaps @derekleffew you ought to explain that your Blackwrap colorframe can execute 30 to 40 second SMOOTH fades as well and needn't always be actuated in increments measured in fractions of seconds.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
@SteveB Exactly as you state: Carbon spots for example typically had three similar handles: Closest to your arc was the Dowser / Douser (Dependent upon your spelling) intentionally out of focus, next your shutters as you describe and in focus followed by your iris furthest from the heat of your arc and normally crisply in focus. Much further forward came your "trombone" (Optical zoom lenses) which you normally operated approximately 80 to 85% forward for the most optically efficient operation and pushed all the way forward if / when needing to hold a tight, bright shoulders up / head shot. Controls varied from two of the three on Strong's Troupers with their identical carbon rods and AC arcs through all three on Strong's legendary Super Troupers and Gladiators with their dissimilar lengths and diameters of rods for their DC arcs and other arcs of previous eras such as Genarco's which predate me.
@derekleffew In post eleven you posted: "The spec sheet says "iris and douser." Are they not separate?" I understood you to be referring to @McAfee 's Phoebus Ultra 'Dark' at that point. Supers had dousers, choppers and irises as did Strong's even larger Gladiators. Never mind Mueller, what about the poor chief of staff?Strong's manuals call it the "Horizontal Masking Control," so @SteveB wins that one.
"Pull back and strip!" Anyone? Anyone? Mueller?
The carbon-arc Trouper did not have a douser. I don't believe I claimed it did. Supers always did.
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