focusing in daylight

[len]

Ran into an unanticipated problem last night.

Venue "tent" which had a wall of windows. Facing west. I had a bunch of ellipsoidals and pars, but trying to focus was impossible because of the sun. Waiting until dark was out of the question.

How do you focus in daylight?

 

[techieman33]

For pars I run them at low intensity, put on my sunglasses, stand where I want the hot spot and then direct the person doing focus so the hot spot is on me. The same can be done with ellipsoidals, but getting the shutter cuts perfect can be a challenge, lots of the focuser flagging the light can help though.

 

[JChenault]

If you look at the fixture, you can tell when your head is in the hot spot. For an ellipsoidal you will see the lamp centered in the lens.

 

[MNicolai]

Ran into an unanticipated problem last night.

Venue "tent" which had a wall of windows. Facing west. I had a bunch of ellipsoidals and pars, but trying to focus was impossible because of the sun. Waiting until dark was out of the question.

How do you focus in daylight?

Polarized sunglasses are a good trick. They help reduce down the obvious light sources to the ones that are pointed directly at you.

Lifting gels out until the luminaire is finished being focused is another useful tip.

You could always make vainful effort to obstruct the windows temporarily long enough to focus your lights, but good luck with that depending on the size of the room, available materials, and available time for futzing with that kind of nonsense.

 

[Robert]

Since it is an outdoor tent and probably no smoke detectors, use a some machine.

 

[len]

Hard to look into the beam when the beam should be focused at the ceiling. Not really a tent so much as a pavilion with a tent ceiling. And insufficient time to clear smoke before guests rolled in even if it was allowed. I have a feeling some obstacles are just not meant to be overcome.

 

[MPowers]

Just thoughts for the future. If you know there's a window or large open space on one side or another, re-arrange the load-in schedule to have the problem lights hung and powered up at a time of the day when the sun is not as much of a problem. Even if time is tight, if there is time enough to focus them on a normal schedule, there is time to focus them and get everything else done in a slightly rearranged schedule.

 

[jglodeklights]

Agree with Michael here. Proper Prior Planning. Other than that, have in stock or be able to run to the closest hardware store to get some tarps. GAFF OR CLIP 'EM UP! As for when the lights are to be focused on a stage: Welding glass. Even at lower intensities it can allow you to see exactly where the beam is centered, and where a shutter is cutting to. You will see when a shutter cuts into a beam you are staring at.

 

[len]

Good suggestions, but we had 3 hours from the in until the guests came in. Another event in the room during the day. No budget, time, or availability of tarps. The resort is 45 minutes from any sort of hardware store, and all their pipe and drape was in use already.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

I sometimes get behind the fixture so that where I look is where the beam should land. If you know your beam spreads, you can make a pretty good guess as to what will get hit, and what won't. Good luck on shutter cuts, and barrel softness. Again, this *can* be guessed if you are good at figuring out how a light will behave in your head.

Haven't done it myself, but I have seen others use a Gaffer's Glass to find the hot spots. Also a valid method.

Guess, aim, and pray. I can focus a basic wash in the day, but if it has to fined tuned theatre, only a night focus will do.

 

[StNic54]

If its a wash unit, I stand in the performance areas until I'm confident the hot spots are good (caution to the wind with shutter cuts). If it's a gobo unit, I work with the fixture until I can see a sharp focus at some shady spot, move it to the desired location, then keep flagging it with my hand until I'm confident it is where it should be.

 

[len]

Guess, aim, and pray. I can focus a basic wash in the day, but if it has to fined tuned theatre, only a night focus will do.

That's what I ended up doing. Still didn't work. To top it off, they said "paint the walls AND the ceiling, from 60' away, but make sure not to get the light in anyone's eyes." With an insufficient number of fixtures. Probably lost a client over this one. Oh, well.

 

[bishopthomas]

You really had that much of a problem with this? Maybe it's that I'm doing this kind of focus on probably 80% of my jobs, but I really don't think it's all that difficult. What were you rigging the lights from? If the tent poles then just aim them up the "ceiling." Really, it's all about knowing the fixture and knowing what you're trying to achieve. I often focus lights with the light off. If I can see the lens then I'm getting lit; obviously there's a bit more to it, but that's the gist. Hopefully you're being dramatic and you didn't actually lose your client.

 

[len]

Solid wall of west facing windows, and in August, with the sun lower in the sky. It was pretty harsh (and hot). A/C was working full blast. Original idea was to light the ceiling only, but she wanted the east (solid) wall lit, too. So not only was seeing the beams difficult, the client changed the design concept at the last minute, and we were trying to make something happen with the wrong equipment in the wrong position. Everything was on booms (nothing could be attached to the building at all). Just one of those nightmare events. And yeah, something like this CAN cause you to lose a client. They can be like that.

 

[deadlygopher]

I sometimes get behind the fixture so that where I look is where the beam should land. If you know your beam spreads, you can make a pretty good guess as to what will get hit, and what won't. Good luck on shutter cuts, and barrel softness. Again, this *can* be guessed if you are good at figuring out how a light will behave in your head.

Occasionally I'll focus by pulling the lamp base out of a source four and looking through the fixture. It's definitely not perfect, but a better approximation than I'd get by guesstimating shutter placements.

 

[len]

So today we had a last minute job, same problem as the previous one. Different tent, but same color wash concept across the ceiling. i asked the client if we could get in the night before. She called back and said no. So we finish setting up in the blazing daylight (at least the air was on so it wasn't too hot) and I go to the office to check about load out times, etc. She says "why didn't you come in last nite? Seems to me it would have been a lot easier." Obviously, my client never checked with the venue.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[AEGProduction]

I always try to ask my client who their contact is with the venue. A bunch of my clients are usually too busy to check into things for me, and/or I have to wait a while for an answer. Especially with last minute deals I find that the longer I wait for an answer, the more I worry, and am less likely to have the show go off without a single hitch.

 

[PeteEngel]

Flag and move on. Have one person on the floor next to the wall to make sure you aren't too low into the heads of audience. The trick I used (focusing a FOH position for an outdoor drama in full daylight) is to take a minute behind the first fixture and fly it around to get a feel for the pool of light and how it looks in the current situation. A slightly turned head brings the reflected light through the lenses of your eyes into slightly different rods and cones to allow you to "see" what you need. Shutter cuts were easy, PARs were a bit harder. I could focus 90% or more of the show during the day leaving minor touchups at night, thus more time for beer, errr, cueing....