Focusing Wash & Specials Outside - during the day

[Stagemanager01]

I will be having to focus some wash and specials for a concert outside during the day. Definitely not a preference, but we don’t always get our way and do the best we can. I have had to do this in the past, and just tried to find the hotspot of the light and go from there, and it’s turned out ok, but could be better. I’m wondering if anyone else has their own tips and tricks to fine tune during this issue.

 

[ptero]

Sunglasses. The eyes can become 4 point or 8 point star filters from looking into hotspots too much. Sunglasses allow you to see/feel what’s going on but help hold off the stress(?) to the eyes.

Otherwise, I agree on looking for the hotspot and going from there. I once had to focus an outdoor amphitheater with the sun rising over the hill, directly competing with the FOH hotspots. Worked out fine. Good luck.

 

[Jammer]

+1 on sun glasses. Had to do this for two outdoor shows recently. Used Capture Sweden to pre-vis and printed out Top, Side, Front plots which got us close. The movers aren't too bad as long as they are on palettes through all the cues. If your careful you can make fine adjustments on the fly after dark. Fixed Leko's, just had to do the best we could with someone walking in and out of the beam. I did have a thought about whether or not a light meter would work to map out the beam projection or least get fairly close, but never tried it. Also ended up using wider lenses which resulted in a bit of undesired projection, but helped to cover inaccuracies.

 

[cbrandt]

For a concert? Welding glass and hotspots. I've found that with spots in the day, I can usually center the filament (and thus the hotspot) without even having them on. Doesn't work so well on pars or movers. Plan your plot with enough slop around the edges so that focus being a bit off won't hurt. Not always possible, but use a followspot to fill in the lead performer, and a lot of other sins are forgiven.

The short answer that doesn't help very much is experience. Once you've done it enough times you'll get the swing of it. Just keep doing it, and checking your work.

 

[jtweigandt]

For anything with a lens, I have used a super bright halogen flashlight in reverse. (redneck fishing light) . From the stage shine into the light, and you can find the hospot quite readily.. kinda like a cats eyes glowing in the night. Less eye burn.. can have someone aloft, and you can focus even if you don't have access to the booth or an RFU. Won't work for multi element LED washes, or anything with a frost diffusion, but works primo for Elipsoidals.

 

[Van]

Always wore welding googles myself but with LED,s it might not matter as much. I'd have to go look at the wavelength output. With halogen you HAVE to protect your retinas from burning. Summer stock at Tsa-La-Ghi theater we'd focus at night after Rehearsal. the original rough focus was Welding googles.
Oh BTW, Yes we called them Googles but it was WAY before Google.

 

[NickyLightz]

I have had moderate luck using a high power laser pointer from instrument position to "aim" lights in daylight outdoor venue.