Hi, I'm a new member who's been working with lighting in the motion picture / television industry. I'm interested in using some moving
LED lights for our night exterior, New York City, street scenes. Often, we rig lights during our daytime pre-lights which are very difficult to access during shooting. Having something like a
MAC 101 in these spots would allow us to change the focus remotely as we move from shot to shot. These lamps would not be moving during the scene, we would pan, tilt and dim them between camera set
ups. At 8 lbs, the
Mac 101 would be easy to rig in some tough spots.
Here are some of my questions:
Is there a way to control these lights in a small
portable package? A laptop with software and a MDX interface box could work but I think we would prefer a mini controller if one exists. Is the a small weatherproof controller? If we use a laptop, what software and hardware would you recommend?
Is there an established way to put breaks in the
DMX cables so that the controller can be moved to various locations and out of the camera's view?
Is there a lightweight version of a
LED moving light that is weatherproof? What do the
Rock & Roll folks use for their exterior venues?
Thanks for your help,
John
As a NY based Studio Mechanic and moving light
programmer I can reply to your inquery on a number of levels.
#1
Fixture Choice: The 101 is a small moving
LED head, very spotty and fast but doesn't have very much punch at all. The 301 would be a better choice though its a tad heavier. It certainly has more pop. If your going for VLXs you might as well get regular moving fixtures. The VL2500 might be a great choice. 700watt lamp and all the bells and whistles. For night work on movies I've mounted multiple
LED battens (8 Colorforce 72") on Condors (aerial
boom lifts) and Scissor lifts. They produced a ton of f/stop. We recreated the
dynamic lighting of Times Square using these setups.
#2 Weather: They all hate weather. Techniques for weather proofing include buiding boxes with
clear plastic stretched across them to protect from the rain. I've seen plastic bins inverted over moving fixtures. Drill holes for the mounting hardware and mount the bin so it covers the ML brain. There was a picture posted in a thread on here or over at the lightnetwork. Seemed like it might work for some types of weather. The hard driving horizontal rain might defeat that. On a recent movie we used VL5a and VL6a fixtures from
PRG. It poured during the entire
load in (filled the bags covering the lights with water!) We just let them air out and fired them up. The remote ballasts of these lights helped keep them operational. They are old though and the racks are large. There are a number of weather proof
LED fixtures coming out. The Colorado is
IP65 as are a number of newer colorblast like fixtures.
Call your rental
house and talk to a salesman. They often know of gear like this. Interestingly the original colorblast was
IP65.
#3 Control Interface: the cheapest is probably Magic
Cue with a Ennetec
dongle. You get 1
universe of control and can run off a laptop. Downside is you have to learn the programming language. But that is very doable. Light Factory is another option. Hog PC and GMa on Pc are also usable from laptops however you will need dedicated widgets/Digital Processors to get
DMX out of it.
There are no weather proof control systems, but there are tents to put it in. The smallest is either the Magic Q or a Ma Pico. They are, however, dedicated moving light consoles. In terms of moving them around the best is wireless
DMX. WDMX or Show
DMX. However usually we just have an umbilical that has to be re-run. Put opti splitters at your break
point and the
DMX in can be run in two different directions and replugged.
Which leads to -
#4 Programmers: The use of moving lights on a movie set really requires a dedicated
programmer. Setting up and networking the gear and programming the
console for use during shooting is time consuming and requires a unique skill set. You have to know movies and moving lights. Many motion pictures are using the newer technology but it requires putting personel on the job that can do the work. Hanging 4 ML out there in the world off of street lights or balconys isn't that much of a big deal...until it doesn't work when you are in the middle of a setup. Trouble shooting the gear, networking the
system, working the
console during shooting are, generally, the providence of the Lighting
Console Programmer on a movies set. Dropping this gear onto an a standard electrician crew of a movie may very well prove problematic. Adding the vagaries of weather and temperamental equipment and you are setting yourself up for a frustrating night.
E.I. Teddy Read
Read Bros Entrance
