new idea
- Thread starterandie
- Start date
saxman0317
Active Member
Honestly, i like to treat everyone the way i like to be treated. I have no problem treating people like equals, and i hope they can tkae a joke and know that its nothing serious. But at the same time, P.C. and such can go to far...weve all worked with the ones that have to make it a point to get the special attention for it, esp in high school productions. Im more than willing to treat everyone equally, but that also means that i dont want you all in my face about things either. Thats just annoying.
But as to the original thread... We got alittle bored during one of the more bad productions that i could just sit on one cue the whole rehersal and not worry about the mics changing(might i add that i had almost 200 cues, in a play that was barly 250 pages long if that adds any perspetive as to these 3 hours rehersals..) Needless to say we needed something to do witht the things on a sound deck. At hand you have epuipment, glowtape,exacto knifes, glowtape, adapters, and some sort of glowing stuff that can be removed later. So i started playing, and before the night was over i had a board that was nice and glowly. Very fun to be sitting there with the deck lights out during the show with a digitial board and control it with a laptop from somewhere else..great looks from other techies i must say.
True black light has limited use for seeing what you are doing and makes a really poor work light.
It will hurt your eyes in attempting to focus upon the script or see stuff in general given time spent in it doing work.
(A footnote from the Osram #24026 40w black light blue fluorescent lamp is a note that it’s not intended for “diagnostic, therapeutic, or cosmetic purposes.” Gee, that might mean that it’s both not a very healthy lamp to bask under the light of, much less do diagnostic thinking things such as following a script or finding little buttons on a light board under.) Also a caution for thus true UV outputting “black light blue” lamp - “Caution: this lamp emits ultraviolet (UV) power during operation is in Risk Group 1 per ANSI/IESNA RP-20,3-96. Exposure at less than 0.3 meters (12 inches) should be limited; for example exposure at 0.14m (6 inches) should not exceed 4 hours in an 8 hour interval (see ANSI/IESNA RP-27,1-96). Certain medications and chemicals can increase and individual’s sensitivity. Consult your physician for specific information. Protective eyewear should be worn in occupational situations involving long term exposure {{{such as sitting in the booth and programming and or following a show during rehearsals!}}} in colose proximity to the lamp. This lamp is not intended and should not be used for diagnostic, theraputic or cosmetic purposes.”)
General notes: I’m taking information from the Osram website only because it’s easier to navigate once you find your way into the proper places in it than most other websites such as the GE E-catalog where “don’t exist” is common for what does just does not exist where you are searching. This and these notes cited are similar in lamp and notes to all brands of lamp.
Than more importantly than damage done to you, also more importantly will be counter productive in a lighting booth in that it will make any surface in it that can phosphor from the whites of your eyes to any materials in the booth glow, thus draw attention to the booth by anyone that can see into it by way of sitting in the audience and seeing it or even standing up near it. This much less, anyone within light of the booth such as audience members near it who wear colors to whites will also tend to phosphor up. - No matter how curious, it’s not cool, that’s a bad thing in also drawing attention away from the stage much less in drawing attention to you.
Doing black light in the booth is breaking rule #1 of doing tech - doing your job invisibly so as not to draw attention to you and steel it from the play which is the thing you support.
Loose the black light lamps and stick to the dipped or if necessary transparent blue or even red ones which are in theory better for your night vision but less stage convention in not being there. See past discussions on here and on stagecraft about what color of clip light / back stage light is best for use - nowhere will you find a black light lamp recommended in past discussions about useful lighting for the crew.
Finally, separate the “black light” from the “black light blue” you are used to seeing and thinking that the blue part of this color is what makes it phosphor. Separate out the blue as it were color temperature or color of light subtracting and or absorbing properties of the visible light spectrum from true UV spectrum that’s invisible and makes appropriate absorbency reflectance and radiating elements of the projected material glow with a phosperance source. The more efficient sources of UV and especially the true “black light” will have little to no visible light from the source. You simply cannot tell it’s outputting black light unless you put in front of it something that will glow in phosperence reflectance. A black light lamp, than as available is harder to focus but much more a true black light source than that of a “black light blue” source. Once that UV-A range of what’s visible by way of radiating the un-visible spectrum of light by way of heating up what phosphors of coatings or otherwise inert rendering qualities of what absorbs the radiation than glows, it’s easy to tell the difference between what is said to be black light but only a color correction and heater, verses that which is of the UV spectrum of light. Given incandescent lamps don’t provide much in the UV spectrum of light, and what is outputted is normally for the most part, absorbed by the glass surrounding the filament, even with phosphor and color correction coatings on a incandescent source to boost the UV output, it’s limited in ability to be efficient as a source. What black light one might think is limited much more so, and more seeming blue in association with black light blue than actual and real black light UV-A spectrum of light output. The black light blue incandescent lamp no matter the supplement of UV output has limited value as a UV lamp. It’s first a UV “looking” blue lamp first and UV lamp to some extent. This is not a real UV lamp - more “Party bulb” and very inefficient.
Science part of it...: (New for me amongst other Osram/Sylvania PDF books on lamp technology that are free; have a look for the 60ABlackLightRP 120 6/CS 1SKU lamp or 60w black light lamp in their website, or Part #11715 lamp. Than go to further readings and click on “Engineering Bullitin - Incandescent Technology. It’s a free 12pp book on incandescent lamp design which is very useful to know and a quick read.) (No doubt someone enterprising can provide a direct link to this book amongst a few that is highly recommended reading from me by them by way of free knowledge other brands of lamp also provide but not as easy to access at times.) Also while in the free text area, read the warnings about “Blacklight Incandescent lamps,” it’s important to read or see below.)
While you can get incandescent “full spectrum” (more or less) black light blue lamps down to 15w, mostly the GE brand 75w Party black light bulb is what you will find in the stores. Note however that a incandescent lamp radiates most of it’s spectrum of light in the visible light range (325 to 2500nm) due to it having a filament. (Most UV and IR radiation from the filament is also absorbed by the glass of the lamp before it even comes out of it.) UV radiation such as UV-A a real black light is radiating so as to make things phosphor is for the most part nominal out of a heater lamp - filament source. A 20w Black Light Blue fluorescent lamp will provide more in the UV spectrum and output than that of a 75w Black Light Blue incandescent lamp. What you have is a heavily gelled as it were 75w lamp that perhaps boosts some of the UV-A range of radiation in light by way of filtering and perhaps phosphor coatings, but for the most part is just a really dark lavender/blue mix to the lamp in coating on it. See past discussions about what gel is best for making black light out of a stage lighting fixture - results are at best limited for doing black light, only at best simulating it in that blue color and very limited in the actual UV-A output. That 75w black light lamp is not much more than that of a transparent blue party bulb with a deeper blue/purple/lavender coating on it and due to the amount of light in the spectrum blocked to simulate black light blue color, it’s more of a inefficient heater than that of a effective work light. Very much not a “green lamp.”
The dipped with a ceramic blue coating lamp will at 40w put out more useful light with less heat and energy savings than that of the 75w black light lamp. A 60w transparent blue lamp will also put out more useful light than that of the 75w black light lamp.
Onto warnings beyond the possibility that the hopefully not but most common 75w black light blue incandescent lamp might be in a very commonly rated for only 60w fixture. We get from Osram warnings about Black Light Blue incandescent lamps:
Document No.: DQ4-144-002
Revision No.: C
Issue Date: 11 MAR 98
Warning:
- This bulb operated at temperatures higher than standard incandescent bulbs and can melt or burn some materials. (The amount of spectrum of white light blocked by the filters is turned into heat which could become a fire hazzard or destroy equipment it’s installed in.)
- .... (normal skin burn note for all lamps in letting it cool before touching.)
- To avoid risk of fire:
>Do not allow paper or other flammable or heat sensitive materials within 12 inches of the glass blub.
>Do not use in fixtures or lamps that are enclosed, have lampshades, or have paper lined sockets.
>Use only in standard (120v) sockets designed for a minimum of 75 watts. (Note: this is for their 60w version of the black light blue lamp - they don’t sell a 75w version. For a 75w lamp, consider it a 100w lamp.)
- Normal shatter risk when wet note...
- Normal indoor use note...
- Do not use if bulb is scratched, cracked, or damaged in any way. (This note might also be a normal lamp note but is more important given the heat within this lamp than on a normal lamp.)
- Normal keep out of reach of children and pets note.
It will hurt your eyes in attempting to focus upon the script or see stuff in general given time spent in it doing work.
(A footnote from the Osram #24026 40w black light blue fluorescent lamp is a note that it’s not intended for “diagnostic, therapeutic, or cosmetic purposes.” Gee, that might mean that it’s both not a very healthy lamp to bask under the light of, much less do diagnostic thinking things such as following a script or finding little buttons on a light board under.) Also a caution for thus true UV outputting “black light blue” lamp - “Caution: this lamp emits ultraviolet (UV) power during operation is in Risk Group 1 per ANSI/IESNA RP-20,3-96. Exposure at less than 0.3 meters (12 inches) should be limited; for example exposure at 0.14m (6 inches) should not exceed 4 hours in an 8 hour interval (see ANSI/IESNA RP-27,1-96). Certain medications and chemicals can increase and individual’s sensitivity. Consult your physician for specific information. Protective eyewear should be worn in occupational situations involving long term exposure {{{such as sitting in the booth and programming and or following a show during rehearsals!}}} in colose proximity to the lamp. This lamp is not intended and should not be used for diagnostic, theraputic or cosmetic purposes.”)
General notes: I’m taking information from the Osram website only because it’s easier to navigate once you find your way into the proper places in it than most other websites such as the GE E-catalog where “don’t exist” is common for what does just does not exist where you are searching. This and these notes cited are similar in lamp and notes to all brands of lamp.
Than more importantly than damage done to you, also more importantly will be counter productive in a lighting booth in that it will make any surface in it that can phosphor from the whites of your eyes to any materials in the booth glow, thus draw attention to the booth by anyone that can see into it by way of sitting in the audience and seeing it or even standing up near it. This much less, anyone within light of the booth such as audience members near it who wear colors to whites will also tend to phosphor up. - No matter how curious, it’s not cool, that’s a bad thing in also drawing attention away from the stage much less in drawing attention to you.
Doing black light in the booth is breaking rule #1 of doing tech - doing your job invisibly so as not to draw attention to you and steel it from the play which is the thing you support.
Loose the black light lamps and stick to the dipped or if necessary transparent blue or even red ones which are in theory better for your night vision but less stage convention in not being there. See past discussions on here and on stagecraft about what color of clip light / back stage light is best for use - nowhere will you find a black light lamp recommended in past discussions about useful lighting for the crew.
Finally, separate the “black light” from the “black light blue” you are used to seeing and thinking that the blue part of this color is what makes it phosphor. Separate out the blue as it were color temperature or color of light subtracting and or absorbing properties of the visible light spectrum from true UV spectrum that’s invisible and makes appropriate absorbency reflectance and radiating elements of the projected material glow with a phosperance source. The more efficient sources of UV and especially the true “black light” will have little to no visible light from the source. You simply cannot tell it’s outputting black light unless you put in front of it something that will glow in phosperence reflectance. A black light lamp, than as available is harder to focus but much more a true black light source than that of a “black light blue” source. Once that UV-A range of what’s visible by way of radiating the un-visible spectrum of light by way of heating up what phosphors of coatings or otherwise inert rendering qualities of what absorbs the radiation than glows, it’s easy to tell the difference between what is said to be black light but only a color correction and heater, verses that which is of the UV spectrum of light. Given incandescent lamps don’t provide much in the UV spectrum of light, and what is outputted is normally for the most part, absorbed by the glass surrounding the filament, even with phosphor and color correction coatings on a incandescent source to boost the UV output, it’s limited in ability to be efficient as a source. What black light one might think is limited much more so, and more seeming blue in association with black light blue than actual and real black light UV-A spectrum of light output. The black light blue incandescent lamp no matter the supplement of UV output has limited value as a UV lamp. It’s first a UV “looking” blue lamp first and UV lamp to some extent. This is not a real UV lamp - more “Party bulb” and very inefficient.
Science part of it...: (New for me amongst other Osram/Sylvania PDF books on lamp technology that are free; have a look for the 60ABlackLightRP 120 6/CS 1SKU lamp or 60w black light lamp in their website, or Part #11715 lamp. Than go to further readings and click on “Engineering Bullitin - Incandescent Technology. It’s a free 12pp book on incandescent lamp design which is very useful to know and a quick read.) (No doubt someone enterprising can provide a direct link to this book amongst a few that is highly recommended reading from me by them by way of free knowledge other brands of lamp also provide but not as easy to access at times.) Also while in the free text area, read the warnings about “Blacklight Incandescent lamps,” it’s important to read or see below.)
While you can get incandescent “full spectrum” (more or less) black light blue lamps down to 15w, mostly the GE brand 75w Party black light bulb is what you will find in the stores. Note however that a incandescent lamp radiates most of it’s spectrum of light in the visible light range (325 to 2500nm) due to it having a filament. (Most UV and IR radiation from the filament is also absorbed by the glass of the lamp before it even comes out of it.) UV radiation such as UV-A a real black light is radiating so as to make things phosphor is for the most part nominal out of a heater lamp - filament source. A 20w Black Light Blue fluorescent lamp will provide more in the UV spectrum and output than that of a 75w Black Light Blue incandescent lamp. What you have is a heavily gelled as it were 75w lamp that perhaps boosts some of the UV-A range of radiation in light by way of filtering and perhaps phosphor coatings, but for the most part is just a really dark lavender/blue mix to the lamp in coating on it. See past discussions about what gel is best for making black light out of a stage lighting fixture - results are at best limited for doing black light, only at best simulating it in that blue color and very limited in the actual UV-A output. That 75w black light lamp is not much more than that of a transparent blue party bulb with a deeper blue/purple/lavender coating on it and due to the amount of light in the spectrum blocked to simulate black light blue color, it’s more of a inefficient heater than that of a effective work light. Very much not a “green lamp.”
The dipped with a ceramic blue coating lamp will at 40w put out more useful light with less heat and energy savings than that of the 75w black light lamp. A 60w transparent blue lamp will also put out more useful light than that of the 75w black light lamp.
Onto warnings beyond the possibility that the hopefully not but most common 75w black light blue incandescent lamp might be in a very commonly rated for only 60w fixture. We get from Osram warnings about Black Light Blue incandescent lamps:
Document No.: DQ4-144-002
Revision No.: C
Issue Date: 11 MAR 98
Warning:
- This bulb operated at temperatures higher than standard incandescent bulbs and can melt or burn some materials. (The amount of spectrum of white light blocked by the filters is turned into heat which could become a fire hazzard or destroy equipment it’s installed in.)
- .... (normal skin burn note for all lamps in letting it cool before touching.)
- To avoid risk of fire:
>Do not allow paper or other flammable or heat sensitive materials within 12 inches of the glass blub.
>Do not use in fixtures or lamps that are enclosed, have lampshades, or have paper lined sockets.
>Use only in standard (120v) sockets designed for a minimum of 75 watts. (Note: this is for their 60w version of the black light blue lamp - they don’t sell a 75w version. For a 75w lamp, consider it a 100w lamp.)
- Normal shatter risk when wet note...
- Normal indoor use note...
- Do not use if bulb is scratched, cracked, or damaged in any way. (This note might also be a normal lamp note but is more important given the heat within this lamp than on a normal lamp.)
- Normal keep out of reach of children and pets note.
Thanks Ship, I've been looking at this thread and waiting for someone to give the UV safety lecture. Feeling a bit sick myself, I didn't want to do it.
Guys black lights are fun to play with, but they don't help you do your job and they do pose real health risks over long term use. No professional tech worth their pay check is working with blacklights in the booth, trust me.
Now that said, want a cool fun way to light your booth that is safe and still allows you to see your work... go buy some blue or purple rope lights and line the ceiling. It makes the whole room "glow" without irradiating you and if you buy enough you can still see to do your job.
Guys black lights are fun to play with, but they don't help you do your job and they do pose real health risks over long term use. No professional tech worth their pay check is working with blacklights in the booth, trust me.
Now that said, want a cool fun way to light your booth that is safe and still allows you to see your work... go buy some blue or purple rope lights and line the ceiling. It makes the whole room "glow" without irradiating you and if you buy enough you can still see to do your job.
