Outdoor lekos

Radiant

Active Member
I don't have enough details yet, but I've been tasked to find a pair of Lekos to project a pattern outdoors. I think we'll be getting custom glass gobos made of one of our logos. A logo gobo, as it were. Anyway, who makes all-weather Lekos? Better still, who makes the most affordable all-weather Leko?

This is my first foray into pattern projection, so I'm chock full of newb questions. How do I compensate for the upward or downward angle, relative between the Leko and the building surface? Obviously I don't want a distorted oval shaped image. Is this something we need to take into account in the gobo design?
 
We have an HMI source 4 mounted in our "turn-around" on the front of our building. It's out doors but not exposed directly to the elements. It works just fine with aa Apollo twocolor custom glass gobo of our logo in it. If you are posistive of you placement and what angles you are shooting from you should be able to do some keystone correction on the gobo itself. I'd throw out a help question to possibly Kelite and ask if he knows if there is a direct formula for that somewhere.
BTW an HMI source 4 is an "architectual" unit. exactly the same as a standard s4 it just has a ballast attached to it and it uses a HMI lamp instead of a HPL 575
 
Radiant see Kelites post in this thread Custom Gobo Keystone Correction - ControlBooth

This will be your hardest issue. The angles have to really be worked out. Even with that settled, there is the brightness distribution problem. Simply put, the areas that are farther from your light source will have less light hitting them then the close areas.
 
There's a stack of S4 architectural units under the canopy at Ocean Terminal here in Edinburgh. Pretty nasty enviroment, sea air's never good for electrics. But they still work after a few years!
 
There's an outdoor theatre a couple hours from here; it's sort of like an ampitheatre built into the side of a hill. They leave their lights out in the weather all of the time. After seeing that I spoke to my ETC rep and he said that it's not the worst thing in the world to do, but lamp life is shortened, the lenses can become cloudy, etc.

You have two primary factors to compete with; angle and weather.
 
Got a little more information tonight. The thought is to have a pair of Lekos flanking our main entrance, mounted on the ground, projecting upward. I'll need to take measurements soon, The up angle will be pretty steep, though there shouldn't be any side angle.

Frankly, I'm not all that concerned with the life of the instrument or the lamp, it's the electrical hazards that that bother me. We might end up going with used Altman 360s, though I'm pushing for Shakespeares. Either way, if they turn to red dust by this time next year, I'd be ok with that. I just want to make sure we get the electric right.
 
Hmm, I also of late find myself shopping for some Lekos of any type that are best for use out doors in projecting patterns. Just got some S-4 Lekos back after two days out doors and that of much of it in the rain while not operating and the end result was instant surface rust to the whole shutter assembly plus other parts. Given this is a fairly regular event or thing to do, it would be more cost effective to have a fixture that won't require a lot of work after it gets back so as to bring it back to spec, than a fixture that will work but needs work.
 
Got a little more information tonight. The thought is to have a pair of Lekos flanking our main entrance, mounted on the ground, projecting upward. I'll need to take measurements soon, The up angle will be pretty steep, though there shouldn't be any side angle.

Frankly, I'm not all that concerned with the life of the instrument or the lamp, it's the electrical hazards that that bother me. We might end up going with used Altman 360s, though I'm pushing for Shakespeares. Either way, if they turn to red dust by this time next year, I'd be ok with that. I just want to make sure we get the electric right.

I'm not sure of the space, but a couple things come to mind... Is there any concern of people walking in front of the light, if it's on the ground? That might be a pretty steep angle to keystone... Also, the intensities of the areas further away... Can it go any higher up? Say on a lamp post, or telephone pole, even if not really legal.
 
One option which may apply is to have the light in the building shining through a window and onto a mirror mounted outside which reflects your image back onto your building.
 
I'm not sure of the space, but a couple things come to mind... Is there any concern of people walking in front of the light, if it's on the ground? That might be a pretty steep angle to keystone... Also, the intensities of the areas further away... Can it go any higher up? Say on a lamp post, or telephone pole, even if not really legal.

There's a fair chance of people walking in front of it, if I'm picturing it right. They would be positioned just off the sidewalk of our main entrance. I figure most people will be orderly and not walk on the grass, but it'll happen sometimes. No biggy. I could put them on our awning. That would relieve most of my electric concerns. But, the angle would be further complicated by being somewhat above the target area, and well off to the side.

Ohh, I could put them under the awning! Easier electric run, significantly better rain protection, nobody walking in front of the beam... We may have a winner. Measurements and pictures to follow...
 
Good idea, but there's no appropriately placed windows, and Kelite likely wouldn't want to do the math for that one.


(This one is starting to make my head hurt...)


:)
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back