Using Selecon HUI cycs as groundrow and Altman Sky cycs as cyc tops

[Robersim]

Hello,

My school's auditorium recently underwent major rennovations, and with the renovations we recieved new lighting fixtures. Before the construction we used a set of six altman sky cycs to flood our cyclorama. Now we are using 5 Selecon HUI 3 cyc cells, and they only wash out the top portion of the cycs, any way you use them.

My first question is:
has anybody else had a problem with the Selecon Cyc cells, with them not washing out the cyc fully(we are using silks by the way)

My second question is:
would it be okay to use a combo of the altmans and the selecons, with the selecons being used as a ground row and the altmans bieng used for in the air coverage.



Thanks,
Simon

 

[shiben]

Hello,

My school's auditorium recently underwent major rennovations, and with the renovations we recieved new lighting fixtures. Before the construction we used a set of six altman sky cycs to flood our cyclorama. Now we are using 5 Selecon HUI 3 cyc cells, and they only wash out the top portion of the cycs, any way you use them.

My first question is:
has anybody else had a problem with the Selecon Cyc cells, with them not washing out the cyc fully(we are using silks by the way)

My second question is:
would it be okay to use a combo of the altmans and the selecons, with the selecons being used as a ground row and the altmans bieng used for in the air coverage.



Thanks,
Simon

Are you using the silks right? That does not sound like the Huis we have. You can use them like that, probably would work fairly well.

 

[icewolf08]

First of all, there is nothing wrong with using a ground row of different fixtures, that is very common. When you look at the photometrics from any cyc fixture you will see that the bottom of the cyc always gets less light, it is kind of a rule of physics.

Now, it is possible that you have some things to try to troubleshoot with your new fixtures though. First off, check to see if they are lamped similar to the old units. If you went from 1000W to 500W lamps or 1500W to 1000W you will see that difference. Secondly, make sure that the fixtures are hung right-side-up. The reflector is shaped like a "J" and the long side should be down towards the floor. Thirdly, check the focus, as you tip the units down you should see a hard line at the top of the beam, this should be aligned with the top of the drop, not any higher or you loose light at the bottom. Sometimes you can even tip them down further depending on your borders and sightlines. And lastly, I agree with shiben, you should check the orientation of your silks. Silks spread the light perpendicular to the orientation of the fibers. Most people orient the fibers vertically to spread the light across the width of the cyc and avoid "scolloping." This can effect how bright the cyc gets towards the bottom. You can try rotating the silks the other way, but you might end up with holes or dark spots between fixtures.

HOw big is your cyc and how far away from it are the cyc lights? It seems like if you used 6 units before that you should have got six new units. in general, for an even wash, the spagind between your units should be equal to the distance from the units to the cyc. So, if you were lighting a 50' wide cyc from 10' away you would want 5 units on 10' spacing, if you were 5' away you would want 10 units on 5' spacing. The closer you hang your units to the cyc, the brighter the top will appear compared to the bottom.

 

[DuckJordan]

In every show that need a good even cyc wash I have always seen a combo of ground row and aerial cyc use.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[Robersim]

First of all, there is nothing wrong with using a ground row of different fixtures, that is very common. When you look at the photometrics from any cyc fixture you will see that the bottom of the cyc always gets less light, it is kind of a rule of physics.

Now, it is possible that you have some things to try to troubleshoot with your new fixtures though. First off, check to see if they are lamped similar to the old units. If you went from 1000W to 500W lamps or 1500W to 1000W you will see that difference. Secondly, make sure that the fixtures are hung right-side-up. The reflector is shaped like a "J" and the long side should be down towards the floor. Thirdly, check the focus, as you tip the units down you should see a hard line at the top of the beam, this should be aligned with the top of the drop, not any higher or you loose light at the bottom. Sometimes you can even tip them down further depending on your borders and sightlines. And lastly, I agree with shiben, you should check the orientation of your silks. Silks spread the light perpendicular to the orientation of the fibers. Most people orient the fibers vertically to spread the light across the width of the cyc and avoid "scolloping." This can effect how bright the cyc gets towards the bottom. You can try rotating the silks the other way, but you might end up with holes or dark spots between fixtures.

HOw big is your cyc and how far away from it are the cyc lights? It seems like if you used 6 units before that you should have got six new units. in general, for an even wash, the spagind between your units should be equal to the distance from the units to the cyc. So, if you were lighting a 50' wide cyc from 10' away you would want 5 units on 10' spacing, if you were 5' away you would want 10 units on 5' spacing. The closer you hang your units to the cyc, the brighter the top will appear compared to the bottom.

Our cyc is about 80 feet wide and 40 feet tall, but the 3rd electric is about 10 or 12 feet from the cyc

 

[shiben]

Our cyc is about 80 feet wide and 40 feet tall, but the 3rd electric is about 10 or 12 feet from the cyc

Found the problem! 80' into 6 parts is 13'-3" sections, you should be hangin your cyc units around 13 - 1' away, and they will be fairly dim 40' down, nothing to be done about that. I think that for how far away your cyc is from the LX pipe, you want at least 3 more units to light it properly from the top, and at that height, 8 more for the bottom!

 

[Robersim]

Thanks,
would there happen to be a rule for trim heights, as we have an automated fly system that is accurate to the millimeter.
Also, unfortunately we are stuck with the fixtures we have, so would a frost serve my purposes better than a silk, say R100?

 

[Les]

Thanks,
would there happen to be a rule for trim heights, as we have an automated fly system that is accurate to the millimeter.
Also, unfortunately we are stuck with the fixtures we have, so would a frost serve my purposes better than a silk, say R100?

Get the fixtures as low as you can without them or the light cut-off being visible from the front row of the audience.

 

[derekleffew]

... so would a frost serve my purposes better than a silk, say R100?

Silks and frosts are really used to compensate for
1) fixtures too close to the cyc; 2) not enough fixtures. If you actually have 10' throw distance, you might not need any diffusion at all, and you'll get more light. Are you sure it's an 80'W x 40'H cyc? That seems awfully large, even for a grand opera house, let alone a high school stage. Using Altman SkyCycs from above and the HUIs as a ground row sounds like a great idea, except that the ground row is usually much closer to the cyc so as not to take up so much stage space, so you'll probably need more than five units.

 

[Robersim]

I'm so sorry, I now realize my estimates were waay off, thinking back I remember the pros is 23' high, but the width is about 70-80 feet wide

EDIT:
Pros width is only 50 feet but cyc extends about 10 feet outwards into the wings

 

[icewolf08]

I'm so sorry, I now realize my estimates were waay off, thinking back I remember the pros is 23' high, but the width is about 70-80 feet wide

EDIT:
Pros width is only 50 feet but cyc extends about 10 feet outwards into the wings

So the drop is probably a 30'x60' which is a fairly common size. I would also double check the distance from the cyc to where the lights are hung, then check your spacing.