S4 - More spill than a rainstorm?
- Thread starterCharc
- Start date
School!! What's so important about school. When I was teaching my best techs were always failing all their other classes. Oh wait... that's probably not a good thing
No need for the official black wrap for a test run. Any tin foil will do... the heavy stuff should actually last just fine for the long run... I just wouldn't use the thin stuff more than a few minutes.
School!! What's so important about school. When I was teaching my best techs were always failing all their other classes. Oh wait... that's probably not a good thing
I'll join the "failing my classes" club. First period this morning, apparently setting up assembly is more important to me than correcting my english essay
.
We have a special running through the end of June...
http://www.internetapollo.com/Products/ProductLine.aspx?pl_id=52
http://www.internetapollo.com/Products/ProductLine.aspx?pl_id=52
Hey Charc, Listen to Kelite on that one for sure... if you do end up buying some top hats be sure to get tapered ones. I don't know why it took so long to figure out that tapering the end saves a ton of storage space because you can stack them. Duh. I think Apollo and City Theatrical are the only ones with tapered top hats so far, everyone will probably have them soon.
One thing I've had an issue with...I've got 2 36deg s4's, and I tried shooting a gobo through one--could not get rid of the halo effect for love nor money. Shutters, donut, iris, nuthin'. Found out, upon removing the lamp cap and having ignored it before, there were lots of itty-bitty chips in the edge of the reflector where the lamp goes in, and a hairline crack, almost unnoticeable, from lamp hole on down. In an s4 with a glass reflector, well... it's like a Porsche with a transmission that won't go out of first gear. Sure it'll get you there, but not the way it should by any stretch. Check for chips and cracks.
I am trying to picture your light spill issue, and it is really hard to do. I mean unless your fixtures are really a mess inside, the ambient spill, highlation (sp?), shouldn't be too different from any other ellipsoidal. It seems from the rest of the thread, that the problem is not light leak out the sides, back, accessory slot, etc.
It is the nature of the optics to let some light go stray and not focus 100% of the light straight down the beam. You could take an ellipsoidal, shoot it through a perfectly sized hole on a black curtain in a dark room you would still get illumination in the room even though you are blocking nearly all of the focused light.
Try turning on an ellipsoidal next to a wall, you might be surprised how much it lights up the wall even though it is not focused at the wall. As people have said, the best way to deal with this is with top hats, and also to realize that the auditorium can't be pitch black once you turn a light on, even if it focused at the stage.
It is the nature of the optics to let some light go stray and not focus 100% of the light straight down the beam. You could take an ellipsoidal, shoot it through a perfectly sized hole on a black curtain in a dark room you would still get illumination in the room even though you are blocking nearly all of the focused light.
Try turning on an ellipsoidal next to a wall, you might be surprised how much it lights up the wall even though it is not focused at the wall. As people have said, the best way to deal with this is with top hats, and also to realize that the auditorium can't be pitch black once you turn a light on, even if it focused at the stage.
>upon removing the lamp cap and having ignored it before, there were lots of itty-bitty chips in the edge of the reflector where the lamp goes in, and a hairline crack, almost unnoticeable, from lamp hole on down.<
Wow! It sounds as though this fixture had been 'ridden hard and put away wet' a time or two. You raise several good points when using 'Shutters, donut, iris' as these most often eliminate a lion's share of halation.
For those unfamiliar with that 5 dollar term-
ha·la·tion /heɪˈleɪʃən, hæ-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[hey-ley-shuhn, ha-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun Photography. a blurred effect around the edges of highlight areas in a photographic image caused by reflection and scattering of light through the emulsion from the back surface of the film support or plate.
Alex is spot-on with his analogy of projecting the light through a perfectly sized hole through a black curtain. The light is still passing through the space- how can we make best use of what we see?
Great thread!
Wow! It sounds as though this fixture had been 'ridden hard and put away wet' a time or two. You raise several good points when using 'Shutters, donut, iris' as these most often eliminate a lion's share of halation.
For those unfamiliar with that 5 dollar term-
ha·la·tion /heɪˈleɪʃən, hæ-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[hey-ley-shuhn, ha-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun Photography. a blurred effect around the edges of highlight areas in a photographic image caused by reflection and scattering of light through the emulsion from the back surface of the film support or plate.
Alex is spot-on with his analogy of projecting the light through a perfectly sized hole through a black curtain. The light is still passing through the space- how can we make best use of what we see?
Great thread!
drawstuf99
Active Member
To add to the wierd-discoveries-in-a-lighting-instrument list...
I opened up one of those Altman KL instruments (they're basically crap in and oversized box anyway, but...) because I had noticed even more spill than usual (which is a lot). I found the reflector in the worst shape I'd ever seen or heard of. It looked as if the reflector had been chipped and cracked from missuse and then SPRAY PAINTED with a greyish-silver color to "make up" for the cracks in the lense. Boy, I was pissed.
Needless to say that instrument is basically useless now...not that i really want to use it, but when you're in a pinch it's nice to have SOMETHING. Not to mention the fact that I'm sure silver spraypaint isn't rated to be so close to intense heat like that...
I opened up one of those Altman KL instruments (they're basically crap in and oversized box anyway, but...) because I had noticed even more spill than usual (which is a lot). I found the reflector in the worst shape I'd ever seen or heard of. It looked as if the reflector had been chipped and cracked from missuse and then SPRAY PAINTED with a greyish-silver color to "make up" for the cracks in the lense. Boy, I was pissed.
Needless to say that instrument is basically useless now...not that i really want to use it, but when you're in a pinch it's nice to have SOMETHING. Not to mention the fact that I'm sure silver spraypaint isn't rated to be so close to intense heat like that...
Hey, hey, hey! Don't bash the KLs! 2/3 off all my instruments are KLs. They are heavy, big, and useless(exaggeration), and I hate their diagonal shutter handles.
