Automated Fixtures Moving Heads For A School Theatre (Beams?)

[paulslhac]

Ok, Hi all and thankyou for viewing this. Its great to have such an easy, friendly community out there.

Im doing some research in regards to moving heads for a high school in Australia. We have a very well equipped venue with over 30 LED par cans, 30 conventional theatre lights and a sound setup capable of outdoor rock concerts.
Anyway, getting off the topic of sound before I get carried away, Im continually coming accross 'Beam' moving heads. I did a show recently with a production company who used 4 beam movers and used them at FOH as an 'audience pleaser'. I will admit these were used outside.

My question is simple, are there many differences between a beam and a profile/spot moving head? Im a complete novice to beam angles etc.

 

[Ben Dickmann]

The simple answer is yes, there are differences, but the definition of "many" is up to you.

Beam Fixtures, typically specialize in very narrow beams (as the name suggests) for aerial effects (which really benefit from haze or fog). Most of these fixtures have beam angles around 2 degrees, and never really more than 5deg. While they all have gobos in them, the gobos are used as beam shapers, and depending on the fixture do not necessarily project well. Several of them have frost filters as an effect that can be rolled in to make a pseudo wash.

Spot/Profile fixtures specialize in gobo projection, often with multiple wheels, and effect wheels. Their beam angles (which can often be varied) typically don't go down below 10deg. If you are looking to project gobos on anything, this is really the way to go.

Overall, Beam Fixtures are really more of a "one trick pony" and really have that specialized "mini-searchlight" effect and that's about it. If that's all you need it to do, there are several options out there, I can recommend versions from my company (Chauvet) in both LED and Lamp sourced styles. If you are looking for a little more versatility, go with the spot fixture, and again, I can recommend several. From what I've seen on the market, there's only one fixture out there that can do both well, and that's the Pointe from Robe.

If it were me, I'd buy the spots, and rent the beams when needed.

Good Luck!

 

[idio1tg3niou5]

Question, also a novice on movers, are "Beam" and "Wash" interchangeable terms as far as movers go? Im looking at renting some for my theater, and the local production company we use offers Moving Spot, or Moving Wash fixtures. Trying to determine the difference between the functions of a "Spot", "wash" and "Beam".

 

[idio1tg3niou5]

OK so whats the function of the wash fixture, is it that the field angle decreases from wash to spot to beam?

 

[TD-Thom]

OK so whats the function of the wash fixture, is it that the field angle decreases from wash to spot to beam?

If you are looking solely at the field angle, yes that would be the general progression.
A comparison could be made

moving head wash ~ Fresnel

Great for soft easily blendable washes of light.​

Moving Head Spot ~ Ellipsoidal

Usually used for their ability to have harder edges and project patterns​

Moving Head Beam ~ Pin Spot

Tightly controlled shaft of light​

Each fixture type has its own arena in which it shines and the lines are often blurred between fixture types. My favorite example though not the most recent of fixture is the VL1000 TS. With a Zoom range from 19-70, shutters, and a tungsten source it can function as a wash fixture, a spot fixture, and will the full compliment of gobos and CYM color options - can do flash and trash.