Current Issue

May 2008

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The color mixing Cascade from A.C. Lighting uses two subtractive color strings.   (Photo courtesy of A.C. Lighting, Ltd.)

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The A.C. Lighting Chroma-Q Plus Color Scroller   (Photo courtesy of A.C. Lighting, Ltd.)

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The 12-inch Rainbow scroller from Rainbow Colour Changers   (Photo courtesy of Rainbow Colour Changers Gmb)

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Wybron 19-degree to 26-degree Nexera dichroic color changing luminaire   (Photo courtesy of Wybron, Inc.)

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Morpheus Lights’ line of ColorFader3, from large to small, all use three CMY color strings   (Photo courtesy of Morpheus Lights)

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Ocean Optics’ SeaChanger Color Engine mounted into an ETC Source Four ellipsoidal   (Photo courtesy of Ocean Optics, Inc.)

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ColorCommand dichroic color changing luminaire from High End Systems   (Photo courtesy of High End Systems, Inc.)

The most basic principle of lighting design is that you want to use the controllable properties of light—intensity, direction, movement, and color as visual information. Color is one of the easiest to change and the right color choice will help support the message that you are trying to convey. There is a lot of psychology with color; underscoring a mood or setting the tone of a moment. You can easily change the look of your scenery or backdrop from cheery to ominous; you can use contrasting colors to highlight an area to move audience focus. Today there are many options to find that just-right color solution, and this story will delve into some of the most commonly used. While LED technology has added to the options, an in-depth look at that technology requires a story of its own.

Back to the Future
Prior to the early 1980s if you wanted to change the color in your lights that usually meant climbing a ladder; taking one color out of the light, and putting another color in its place. Sure, some manufacturers made a color wheel, much like the ones used at Christmas to change the colors on houses and aluminum trees, but this was pretty crude to control. Essentially, prior to automated color changers, you had one color per light. If you wanted a six-light color wash, you needed six lights for each color, so a three-color wash required 18 lights. Then along came color scrollers. With scrollers, you could now have six lights each with a color scroller mounted on front and as many colors as you could fit onto the color string.

Interestingly, both Wybron of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a pioneer in color scroller technology, and Dallas, Texas-based Vari-Lite, an early innovator of automated lighting, evolved from a shared idea of developing new color changing options. “The idea for a color changer came from Kirby Wyatt in 1976 when he and I worked together at Showco,” comments Keny Whitright, president of Wybron. “While at Showco, Jim Bornhorst and I worked on several ideas that were not practical. After I left Showco, I finally came up with an idea that became the scroller. At Wybron we continue to refine and push the scroller technology forward. Bornhorst came up with a color changer that used dichroic filters. They decided to make it pan and tilt, and that became Vari-Lite. So really, both products and then companies came from a request for a color changer.”

Today color scrollers are commonplace, being widely available for rental as well as purchase. The color scroller uses a series of individual plastic color filters taped end- to-end to form a scroll, also known as a color string, which are connected at each end to rollers that are motorized. This mechanism is in a metal housing and fits in the colorframe holder at the front of the light. By varying the channel level, you move the string back and forth in front of the light. Most scrollers use a tab that passes through an optical sensor for position control. In the early versions, scrollers were analog, so you usually had 10 frames of color—10% for the first color, 20% for the second… When scrollers went digital, you could get more colors on a string, now up to 32 colors. Scrollers have been refined over the years with newer features including quieter fans, more color capacity, and some now provide feedback, but the basic configuration has changed little.

Most current color scrollers work with an outboard power supply that feeds data and low-voltage power to the scroller units. These power supplies normally power six to 24 units depending on manufacturer and are placed near the scrollers. You run a DMX data line from the lighting console to the power supply and one scroller power/data cable to each unit. You set an address at each scroller, so the console knows which unit is which. If you want them all to do the same color moves, you can set more than one scroller to the same address and they will all move together. With the advent of Remote Device Management (RDM) you can set or change the addresses remotely. Some company’s scrollers allow you to run one power/data cable to the first scroller and then you can daisy chain to each additional scroller unit rather than having to cable each scroller back to the power supply. Since there is low-voltage power in this cable, you do need to pay attention to the manufacturer’s recommendation on the length limits for these cables or the scrollers will not function properly. Overall, cabling of scrollers is a very simple and straightforward procedure.

You want to pick the scroller that will fit your lighting fixtures best; however, it makes the most economic sense to buy one that will also fit the broadest range of your lights. If you only buy small units, for example, an Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) Source Four ellipsoidal, they won’t work on a Source Four PAR. Conversely, a larger unit for the PAR could be adapted to fit the ellipsoidal since many scroller manufacturers make either a universal mounting plate that adapts to different color frame sizes or make plates that can be swapped out easily to fit right. When you have different models to choose from, the measurements—four-inch, 7.5-inch, etc.—generally indicate the measurement of the aperture or opening that light passes through. Many scrollers also have accessory holders on the front of the unit to mount an accessory like a top hat. Look at getting the most use as possible when you think about the size of scroller to purchase. If you are renting scrollers for a specific unit, be sure that the shop knows what mounting plate you want, and if you are not having them provide generic color strings but custom ordered strings, be sure they match in size as well.

Currently, Wybron has a range of color changers to fit a variety of lights as well as a variety of budgets. The line today includes the Wybron Forerunner, an entry-level color changer that features four-inch and 7-inch models, 16-frame color changing, Autoload, a separate 16-head power supply, individual DMX addressing, and supports daisy chaining. The Coloram II includes four-inch, 7.5-inch, 10-inch, 5 kW, eight- and nine-light versions, as well as a 7.5-inch and 9-light Aquaram for wet location use. The Coloram II features quiet operation, 32 colors, three-speed fans, and a 24-head remote power supply. They are fully digital, have intelligent diagnostics, are dual-speed, and contain remote control fans. Wybron has also implemented RDM technology with its InfoTrace (IT) line of products that adds remote control and feedback about what is going on at the scroller.

Other manufacturers have picked up the basic design of a scroller and added their own variations on a theme. A.C. Lighting currently produces the Chroma-Q Plus range of color scrollers, which delivers added new electronics and features including increased capacity and DMX control for fan speed, scrolling speed, and color-saver mode. Models include the Broadway, specifically designed for low-noise environments, and feature a cooling system comprised of three low-noise fans; the Universal offers an integrated universal mounting system that adjusts between 5.8-inch and10.8-inch (147-275mm); while the M5 Plus is designed to work with larger fixtures ranging up to 5 kW and the new M8 Plus fits all standard eight-light fixtures.

Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Apollo Design Technology has the Smart Color range, which includes 5.25-inch, 7.25-inch, and 10-inch units. Smart Color scrollers are made from durable, lightweight aluminum construction and offer large apertures to ensure maximum beam angles and light output. Other standard features include digital circuitry with rotary DMX addressing, an automatic scrolling mode to continuously scroll or frame-by-frame step through each color at various speeds without the need for a lighting console, and remote fan control. Each Smart Color comes with pre-installed Apollo Gel Shield to extend color string life; a color string of your choice comes pre-loaded, along with a standard mounting plate of your choice.

Another scroller line is the Rainbow Colour Changer, originally from the UK and now based in Germany. Rainbow scrollers also come in a range of sizes to fit different lighting units. Functions and features include a color mode that helps avoid burning out darker colors; the ability to adjust different positioning modes from the console; an update cable allows software updates to the new Rainbow PRO2 electronic hardware from any Windows-based PC with USB output. Rainbow scrollers support three different positioning modes: full-color frame mode; half-color frame mode—which parks between two colors—and direct positioning, which allow you to park the string anywhere you want so you can mix the two adjacent colors. You can also program automatic operation so they can operate without a console.

Mix and match
Some manufacturers offer units that are still scrollers but with a very different approach. They developed multiple scrolls of secondary colors in one unit for subtractive color mixing to get the color that you want. Morpheus Lights created the ColorFader, with a patented subtractive color system that uses three color strings of cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY) filters. This method lets you mix thousands of color variations by directly controlling each independent scroll. Morpheus now has the ColorFader3 series that adds remote variable-speed DMX fan control, direct push-button addressing, and electronics that expand functionality including variable-speed transitions between 90 pre-programmed colors or 10 pre-programmed chases. The units come in different sizes, S Fader, M Fader, XL Fader, and 8 Fader models to fit a wide variety of fixtures.

Wybron created the CXI Color Fusion, which uses two color scrolls with graduated frames of CMY filters. The CXI starts with single-channel control to mix the most commonly used color filters. Built into the system are 255 preset colors that match the most popular colors from Rosco, Lee, and GAM. Choose the color you want from the CXI Color Menu, select the corresponding DMX level, and the two CXI scrolls will move into position to mix that color. It runs on the Coloram power supply and also now comes with InfoTrace feedback. CXI models are available in four-inch, 7.5-inch, 12-inch,, eight-and nine-light versions as well as one that fits the ETC Multi-PAR and the Mariner for wet locations.

A.C. Lighting has also entered into the color-mixing scroller field with its seven-inch Cascade color changer, which is supplied with two color strings of secondary colors. There are two control modes available to offer either 100 pre-defined library colors or a full CMY color mixing mode. It incorporates a universal mounting system and is available with black or white housings.

Dichroic Color Changers—The New Frontier
Growing out of the technology of automated lighting, manufacturers also offer dichroic color changing luminaires. Dichroic glass gives you color consistency so colors won’t fade or change over time, but it has a higher price. The next three product families all use incandescent lamps, so they are all starting out with a 3,200 degree Kelvin color temperature making them easier to match conventional lights that you are already using. These units mix colors by moving the different dichroic colors pieces, allowing for a wide range of colors options.

Wybron produces the Nexera range of color changing luminaires that use 575W lamps. Among the product line is the Profile Spot, an incandescent ellipsoidal zoom spotlight with a dichroic CMY color changer and a zoom range of 25 degrees to 40 degrees. It has four stainless steel, Teflon-coated shutters with an effects slot for pattern rotators or other accessories. With the Nexera Wash Light, you change the beam angle by moving one or both lenses. Convection cooling is used throughout the entire range.

High End Systems produces the ColorCommand, a 750W color-changing PAR/wash-light using a patented color-mixing system that incorporates automated color-changing and variable beam-angle control. The unit uses four DMX channels for control—cyan, magenta, yellow, and beam size and is adaptable to fit barndoors, top hats, and other accessories.

Ocean Optics has joined the dichroic color changer market, but not with a standalone luminaire. The SeaChanger Color Engine for ETC Source Four ellipsoidals fits between the lamp and the lens module of the Source Four and you move the Source Four’s yoke onto the SeaChanger for balance. It uses four patterned dichroic filters—cyan, yellow, magenta, and a patented xG “Extreme Green” filter. The xG filter extends the CYM color gamut, enabling you to create more blues, reds, and greens. Recently added is a SeaChanger Wash version with a manual zoom that adjusts the beam 20 degrees to 70 degrees. The SeaChanger equipped Source Fours can use 575W or 750W HPL as well as HID lamps.

They also can still accommodate accessories such as gobo rotators and patterns.

There is a color changer that will fit most every budget with a wide variety of technologies to choose from, whether it’s the more traditional color scroller with color strings of color filters; to units that use multiple CMY color scrolls for wider ranges of colors; to automated color changers that use dichroic colors to mix just the right shade. As always, get demonstrations from your dealer or from the manufacturer to find the right tool for you to open up your productions to the widest range of color choices.

Michael S. Eddy writes about design and technology. He can be reached at mseddy2900@hotmail.com.   Email Michael S.