Design How to achieve this look (tight ray of light, non-conic beam)

[Horvath]

I'm doing my first serious theatrical lighting design. I've posted some images of a look I'd like to create:
Horror, or Her Mirror | Rays

Basically I want to create some highly-visible, tight beams of light with parallel rays (not a conic beam of light). I can't rent a beam projector, but I do have 19 degree Source Fours, 6" Fresnels, Source 4 PAR or PAR 64 with NSP, and Colortran Zooms that can do a 9.5 degree beam angle. I also have barn doors.

What fixture or technique would you recommend to achieve this?
Thanks

 

[derekleffew]

While there's no substitute for a beam projector, based on your available inventory I'd use either
Source Four PAR with Clear (VNSP) lens
or
19 degree Source Fours / Colortran Zooms that can do a 9.5 degree beam angle
with an iris or aperture reducer.
You're going to need something for the light beam to reflect off of, thus particulate in the air (hazer).

 

[icewolf08]

Well, in order to really see the beams like in those photos you need something like haze in the air. In those photos the beam is visible probably due to dust motes in the air.

In the theatre it is pretty easy to achiever an effect like that with an ERS fixture. Figure the angle you want to what you are lighting, choose the tightest field angle fixture you have that will cover the area you want. Make shutter cuts if you need/want. Then add haze.

 

[Horvath]

Thanks for the responses. We will be using a hazer, so the visibility is fine. My only concern with an ERS is the conic nature of the beam...

 

[MNicolai]

Instead of using shutters, an iris or aperture-reducing gobo could narrow the beam of an ERS down while preserving a clean edge around the beam. You could even pair an aperture-reducing gobo with a breakup to give some texture to the light.

 

[derekleffew]

... My only concern with an ERS is the conic nature of the beam...

Which is a valid concern, but the only way to mitigate that is to use
as narrow of a fixture as possible (5° ERS or ACL) in the shortest of throw distance,*
or
a fixture that produces parallel rays (aka beam projector).

*Note the converse: our sun is a spherical source, but since we are so far away, its rays appear parallel.

 

[kicknargel]

Any of those fixtures produce a conical beam. You may have to live with it. Using a narower beam from farther away will reduce the cone effect. Perhaps you could use several fixtures with very narrow beams grouped very closely together. I've seen in textbooks (don't know how common it is in real life) designers who would put 8ish fresnels outside the window of a box set to create the illusion of parallel beams coming through.

 

[shiben]

Am I looking at the right thing? All of the pictures have the light spreading out at the end of the beam. For stuff like this I would just use an ERS with a gobo in it, as narrow a beam as you can get (the 19s are probably fine if your throw isnt very long?)

 

[JD]

Group of four PAR64 cans fitted with 4559 ACL lamps wired in series and on a 3600w dimmer will give you the biggest bang for the buck with the equipment on hand.
ACL - ControlBooth

 

[MNicolai]

You might be able to get a little more beam control on a S4 PAR with a VNSP lens by adding a concentric ring to closer simulate a beam projector, but it'll set you back $40.

 

[WooferHound]

I'm thinking that Pinspots would work, possibly the larger 6 inch 12 volt kind.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

I'm thinking that Pinspots would work, possibly the larger 6 inch 12 volt kind.

That would be the ACL's that JD suggested.

 

[WooferHound]

I was actually talking about a PAR 46 Pinspot that runs on a 12 volt AC transformer. The bulb is about 6 inches in diameter and you don't need to run 4 of them at the same time.

 

[derekleffew]

I was actually talking about a PAR 46 Pinspot that runs on a 12 volt AC transformer. The bulb is about 6 inches in diameter and you don't need to run 4 of them at the same time.

No, you need to run 10 of them in series; that is, if you want to dim them. See The Perils of Pinspots - PLSN .

 

[gafftapegreenia]

"Similar narrow beam, low voltage lamps are available in other PAR sizes, notably PAR56 and PAR46."
Straight from the CB wiki entry on ACL so thats what I was going off of.

But that does bring up the question, is a low voltage, narrow beam PAR 46 a "pinspot" (and I have seen them advertised as such) or is it an ACL? Is ACL exclusive to low voltage narrow beamed PAR 64's?

 

[derekleffew]

...But that does bring up the question, is a low voltage, narrow beam PAR 46 a "pinspot" (and I have seen them advertised as such) or is it an ACL? Is ACL exclusive to low voltage narrow beamed PAR 64's?

GE offers Aircraft Landing Lights of various voltages in PAR38, 46, 56, and 64 sizes. Most theatre electricians however, think only of 4552 and 4559 when they hear ACL.

I once used a 6 or 12V (can't remember) PAR56 lamp. The manufacturer called it a "locomotive head lamp."

 

[BillESC]

Beam angle: 6°
Light source: 1 x 3W White Edison® Edixeon™ LED, 60,000 hours
Luminous Intensity: 5,600 Lux/1m
Power and current: 90-240V, 50~60Hz; 10W (Max)
Power input cable: 24 in (610 mm)
Weight: 1.2 lbs / 0.55 kg
Size: 5 x 5 x 6.5 in / 127 x 127 x 165 mm

 

[JD]

If you are looking to duplicate sunlight entering a window or skylight, you are going to need a lot of kick. I just wouldn't think of pin spots. A cluster of ACL's will give you that kick, and can easily be gel'ed with daylight correction without dropping much CP. Now if it is just a shadow effect, that is different. The impression I got from the original post was more like a sunlight effect, which is why I suggested 4559's, which fit in the 64 cans.

Just a reminder, if you do go that way, remember that although the load adds up to 2400 watts, do not try to run them off a 2400 watt dimmer. There is just no headroom, and a quick turn-on will probably trip out the breaker on the pack. The ACL's have short fat filaments, so the inrush at turn-on is more demanding (longer duration) then say, two 1000 watt pars.

One caution about the scenery: Your opening will probably mask the beam and if the effect is on for awhile, you risk setting fire to it! (not much thermal drop-off on the beam) You may need a metal or foil mask to protect it. You also want to spend some time testing it out to make sure you do not have a fire hazard.

 

[65535]

Which is a valid concern, but the only way to mitigate that is to use
as narrow of a fixture as possible (5° ERS or ACL) in the shortest of throw distance,*
or
a fixture that produces parallel rays View attachment 4415 (aka beam projector).

*Note the converse: our sun is a spherical source, but since we are so far away, its rays appear parallel.

I'm not sure most venues are equipped for 60" ~20KW Carbon Arc's, I've never actually seen one that had a powersupply to run it off utility power, only a straight 6 GE generac.

 

[LuxMax]

GE offers Aircraft Landing Lights of various voltages in PAR38, 46, 56, and 64 sizes. Most theatre electricians however, think only of 4552 and 4559 when they hear ACL."

The 4552, 4559 and 4553 (PAR46 size) lamps are all 28 volt lamps and are the only type of ACL that produce that very narrow, high output 'pinspot' beam.
The 4552 and 4553 are both 250w and the 4553 is 600w.
You can run these off 12v but at half intensity, although plenty bright, just much warmer color temp.
The 4553 are nice since they fit in a more compact PAR46 fixture and require less dimmer capacity when run in series at 120v (1000w compared to 2400w with the 4559 lamp)