I don't know what made me think of this today, but I remembered when I toured the University of Evansville Theatre Dept. They had some neat home made lights for running lights. They were a standard 75-watt(ish) bulb in a screw base. The base was mounted on a square piece of plywood. Over the top was a top and four sides. (So it was a cube... 8"x8"x8" roughly.) The top was just another piece of plywood (with a few small holes for venting.) The sides had holes in them with a gel frame in a slot in front. If they didn't need light coming out of one-two-three of the sides they would just drop a mirror or a piece of plywood in the slot. To provide a darker look, they would have a blue or a red gel in it.
Running Lights
- Thread startersejordan
- Start date
VegasLites
Member
Ahh, lamp dip....so messy, so toxic. Anyway we now use blue LED bullet lamps in all our running lights. They have standard bases and they take years to die. They cost more than a single light bulb but it makes it up in never having to change them. We have put them in clip lights, sockets we have mounted on cable with beam clamps, and in Par20's and they all work great.
I saw a Westinghouse LED lamp at my dealer the other day. Standard medium screw base. Dealer said they come in a bunch of different colors. The globe is colored plastic which is nice because it eliminates the hazard of broken glass if dropped. PLus there is the long life thing. I asked for a quote, will let you know when I hear back.
VegasLites
Member
We use these
http://trinorthlighting.com/Store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=62&products_id=253&zenid=ac10ecfa49769e56fcc5e189bccbe24d
We buy them from bulbtronics and they are cheaper but not on their website...
They have a clear plastic cover so no broken glass when they get wacked by a piece of scenery. They are NOT dimmable so they are the level that they are...but you can always throw some neutral density at them. I personally find the output to be just right. But not for some riggers!
http://trinorthlighting.com/Store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=62&products_id=253&zenid=ac10ecfa49769e56fcc5e189bccbe24d
We buy them from bulbtronics and they are cheaper but not on their website...
They have a clear plastic cover so no broken glass when they get wacked by a piece of scenery. They are NOT dimmable so they are the level that they are...but you can always throw some neutral density at them. I personally find the output to be just right. But not for some riggers!
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Dimmable track lighting, blue light bulbs, go LED if you can afford it, Wal-mart if you can't
timeblazer
Member
We use dimmable 60 watt MES base lamps from Wal-Mart on our fly rail that spill onto the deck of the SL wing. Our ASMs just behind the Arch use clip lights with the same 60 - 75 watt MES base, that reflector is covered with Roscolux 68. We use the same clip setup on our props tables -- Flexible, reliable, redundant if needed, and not detracting to the audience.
We just use clip lights. What they lack in convenience in setup, they make up for in economy and versatility.
Zip cable is one of the reasons God invented gaffers tape.
Sorry to resurrect this older thread, but I was handed a prototype this morning for you all to have a 'look see'.
The gel frame was made here at Apollo and will hold 7.5 inch gel cuts, as many theaters have Source Four PAR cuts in their stack o' stuff.
Is this the right direction for this type of product?
Should the MSRP still be in the $19.99 area?
Attachments
For just the frame holder, or the entire fixture? Two-inch gaffer's tape is ~10¢/foot, or 4x 3" pieces, including courtesy tabs. Yes, the residue builds up and gets sticky, but ours seem to get lost, stolen, or broken long before that happens. Using Blacktak would be about 40¢/fixture.
McMaster-Carr lists the 8.5" diameter fixture, part# 1627K13, at $16.24/ea. I too, prefer the blue ceramic-coated lamps, or even these, but using white lamps allows one to easily vary the intensity by changing the color to suit one's needs.
Slight hijack: I think I've told this story before: I "caught" my house electrician using my 'good' 9" Round Super Trouper gel cuts to gel his cliplights. I went through and filed everything, and made a file specifically for him containing my rarely-used colors. It ended happily for both of us.
I can get clip lights at the local hardware store for ~$5-$8, color frame is ~$5, so I can't see spending more than $15 on something like this.
Might sell at $5.
Would I buy any ?. Nope, Derek explains why
Great idea for something everyone spends probably too much time on - gel'ing clip lights. $20 is an impossible sell to the general manager.
Thread hi-jack
I asked this of City Theatrical who wasn't interested.
Could somebody build an alternative to a LittleLite ?. The newer models are an improvement, especially as the power supply has a connector, but at around $60 for hi-intensity w/ base, I would think there'd be a market for a competing unit.
Just a thought
Steve B.
kelite! I really like where that idea is going. It's something I've been contemplating for a long time, glad to see you thought of it too. But $20 is too much, I'm sorry. However, I can see this being a useful item, another good thing on the list of apollo widgets. I suspect ship might show interest. The great thing about this is it allows the user the options of using a variety of white incandescent/fluorescent lamps that are much easer to find than specific colored lamps.
$10 I could find reasonable, but that would honestly be my upper limit.
At any rate my preference will always be for ceramic blue 25 - 60 watt A19 lamps.
I might start exploring LED options however.
$10 I could find reasonable, but that would honestly be my upper limit.
At any rate my preference will always be for ceramic blue 25 - 60 watt A19 lamps.
I might start exploring LED options however.
Something else to consider before commiting to manufacture. Am I the only one here whose clip light reflectors look as good as they did when first purchased ?. No dimples, bent edges, etc... I really really rag on my crew to treat them nice. They don't listen, thus I wonder how well the gel frame would work on a well used reflector.
SB
SB
I still want to know how that thing attaches to the clip lamp reflector.
Is it some sort of "wrap around" thing that is specifically pressed? OR does it use screws/bolts/rivets?
Now, something that JUST popped into my mind this instant is how the old 16"/18" scoops were gelled. Check this out.
Take that, scale it down to clip light size, and I think we have a better solution.
http://mail.altmanltg.com/publicsynergy/docs/BLItemDossier.asp?Item=161-CF&PLID=&Country=US
The great thing about a product like this is I see potential for use in dirt poor storefront theatres and such. I think such a product could see application far beyond backstage blues.
To save on costs, you might be able to make at least one of the screws a fixed stud. Also, I don't know which is cheaper - thumb screws or little spring loaded studs.
OR
Make it a two part plastic circular holder, and the two halves could cam or snap together.
Is it some sort of "wrap around" thing that is specifically pressed? OR does it use screws/bolts/rivets?
Now, something that JUST popped into my mind this instant is how the old 16"/18" scoops were gelled. Check this out.
Take that, scale it down to clip light size, and I think we have a better solution.
http://mail.altmanltg.com/publicsynergy/docs/BLItemDossier.asp?Item=161-CF&PLID=&Country=US
The great thing about a product like this is I see potential for use in dirt poor storefront theatres and such. I think such a product could see application far beyond backstage blues.
To save on costs, you might be able to make at least one of the screws a fixed stud. Also, I don't know which is cheaper - thumb screws or little spring loaded studs.
OR
Make it a two part plastic circular holder, and the two halves could cam or snap together.
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Right now I'm in the early stages of an upgrade to my backstage work light system to include permanently installed running lights. I'll be using a combination of T-5 and T-8 fluorescent fixtures with R-68 gel tubes. I've completed one portion of the install already, and the new lights work beautifully, though I may need to add some masking to one fixture or relocate it to deal with a minor spill issue.
I second that motion.
These things are no fun to gel, and the musicians hate it when you do. If the gel could easily be attached, cleanly, one might think that they would leave it alone.
This style is a bit easier to gel, but they still leak fairly bad. Lamp dip is an option with both styles, but that can get to be a real pain.
