focussing variable angle profiles

first of, apologies if this question has been posted before.. did a search and couldn't find a related topic..

question, how are variable angle profiles best focussed? get the size first then the sharpness or the other way? and will this vary from fixture to fixture and what your LD requires of it?

or what methods suit you'll best?

thanks!
 
I prefer to rough focus ellipsoidals in the spot position. That way you can in during the focus part of the hang center the beam on the desired acting area once it's in position and get an idea of how far it's off it's target.

Otherwise in hang and kind of pre-focus, it's probably acceptable to especially in a rush do it the other way around. Get the light up, get it rough focused and perhaps for rehearsal that night, flood it out. This might be a good way of doing it when time is short and you don't have time to come back and further focus the lights before they will be used.

In any case when focusing, normally the designer wants a good tight focus to focus with, than they will either leave it there or have you flood out the barrel. Given you will need to be on a ladder behind the pre-hung fixture during a focus call, flood or spot won't matter as an absolute during the install but it normally will save a step in pre spotting the fixture during it's hang.

If a quetion of zoom type Lekos where you can change the beam angle of the fixture, getting the desired or expected beam angle during hang is necessary. Much easier to change the beam angle to what's desired on the ground. If someone wants it the reverse of this say flooded first than brought in during hang, they have not done their photometrics homework and are making those do the focus for them do extra work because of this. Easy to pre-figure beam angle on the plot before hand and only as needed change it as opposed to hang it first than change the beam angle in the air.
 
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I always go for size first then focus. It's not worth doing it the otherway as anytime you change the size the focus changes. This is because adjustable profiles have two lens that move in relationship to each other.
 

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