We recently build a new performing arts center and went all LED. One of my biggest issues is complaints from the dancers that the LED's are just too bright. They can't see. The issue is mainly with the ETC Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr units with the enhanced definition lens system and the ETC diffusion sheet installed. Is anyone else having this issue? I have added R119 or R132 diffusion to diffuse the image and that helps some, any other suggestions? Is the Installed Soft Focus Diffusion Kit hepful with this issue? http://www.etcconnect.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737460879
Thanks, Mark Wenderlich
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
 
More diffusion and dimming the lights. Lots of dancers don't like front lighting in their face because of glare and it makes them harder to spot points of reference.
 
Besides lowering the intensity, but as well, which positions are they complaining about the most ?, side ? (I assume side), FOH (maybe less likely) ?.

Some LED clusters can be annoying to look at. Some of our designer insist on a diffusion or lense on our Lustre 2’s or D60’s so as to not see the bright LED cluster at the lense.

This might also be a case of they are just not used to the intensity and color temperature of no color LED’s, as compared to S4 incandescent, thus a learning curve to adapt to the newer units.
 
Perhaps I'm unclear on the problem, but why can't you just turn the intensity down?
Thanks for all the feedback. The issue is that as an LD designing from the house I will create the almost perfect look and find that the sidelight is blinding the dancers. Of course I can turn down the intensity, but then the “look” goes away and the cue is merely adaquate. At times this is necessary as safety is paramount, but I’d like both. I do find that this seems to affect faculty more that students. The sidelight is set up with shins, mids, heads on movable booms and 5 hi sides on a ladder above. I do have the issue if I am only using one set, say mids, as well as when all are on.
 
This is fairly common in ballet, as far as I've experienced, and usually only gets resolved by changing lighting positions.
For me, it wasn't necessarily that the lights were too brights, but that the dancers couldn't see anything but lights.
Our resolution was to move the booms further into the legs, so when they looked offstage, you could actually see some of the color of the leg itself, which was softer to the eye.
We also tried a bunch of different lighting angles, all at full NC, and walked the stage personally, to see which position was the least blinding feeling, and using those positions for our most consistent, brightest use-cases.
 
Try to consider using the dimmer control on LED's, it is something I have had to start to do now LED's are brighter. I use a 18x18W 6in1 LED PAR for sdielight at full, but when I use them as a bar of backlights for rock and roll look, I have to drop them down to 25%. They still look great at 25%, but I am conscious of the level of glare off the stage floor towards the audience.
 
Some part of this -- and I'm spitballing cause I haven't had my hands on those fixtures yet -- may have to do with the diameter of the pattern of the light coming out the front of the luminaire.

If the pattern diameter is smaller than with an HPL, then the lumens per cm2 will be higher, and you'll have the same problem people have looking into projector headlights... as opposed to the old 8x10 inch ones on Volvo 240s, say.

Same number of lumens, but the *observed brightness* is much higher.
 
This is fairly common in ballet, as far as I've experienced, and usually only gets resolved by changing lighting positions.
For me, it wasn't necessarily that the lights were too brights, but that the dancers couldn't see anything but lights.
Our resolution was to move the booms further into the legs, so when they looked offstage, you could actually see some of the color of the leg itself, which was softer to the eye.
We also tried a bunch of different lighting angles, all at full NC, and walked the stage personally, to see which position was the least blinding feeling, and using those positions for our most consistent, brightest use-cases.
Thank you. I’ll give that a try!
 

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