Image courtesy of Clark.
At Live Design International (LDI) in 2017, many new intelligent lighting fixtures came flooding to market, and they didn’t come alone. They came packed with new technological advancements. So many that Paul Green, creative director for Clark in Atlanta, reports, “Most of the manufacturers showed up at LDI with fixtures using LED engines. LEDs now have better color output and intensity, and have dropped to the $5,000-$8,000 price range for quality fixtures.”
Green is not alone in reporting that LED engines are one of the largest technological advancements in moving light fixtures. But there are other notable advancements, too.
“We are seeing better warm white options from LED sources, and much better color rendering indexes (CRIs).”
—Peter Maurelli, Lighting Systems Integrator, Barbizon Lighting Co., Denver, CO.
“We are seeing a lot of new fixtures with a white light LED source now,” says Peter Maurelli, lighting systems integrator with Barbizon Lighting Co. in Denver. “A lot of this stems from research being done in the architectural lighting market. We are seeing better warm white options from LED sources, and much better color rendering indexes (CRIs). Manufacturers are using more LED colors to increase the CRI. In addition to the typical red, green, blue and white LEDs, they are adding LED colors such as lime, cyan, amber, indigo, and others.”
“Most LED fixtures also now have homogenized beams, where all the different colors from the LEDs are blended together before the light leaves the fixture,” notes Josh Holowicki, lighting designer at E2i Design in Detroit.
This means that these fixtures will blend better with traditional theatrical lighting instruments, avoid the harsh blue-white color of arc-source lamps that traditionally power intelligent fixtures, and not make an object look to be a different color than it really is.
Optic wonders
The optics in fixtures have also come a long way. Whereas once LED fixtures could only be used for washes, manufacturers have now been able to expand on that. “Manufacturers are creating fixtures with a very flat field, and [that] are able to do a great job with gobo projection,” Maurelli continues.
Fixtures are also getting improved features. “On the wash end, the fixtures now offer a zoom function as well as pan & tilt—often around a 9- to 40-degree zoom range,” Holowicki says.
And he continues, “Better optics also means that more light is getting out of the fixture. This increases the efficiency of the fixture, and improves the crispness of gobo projection.”
Hybrid fixtures are also becoming more prevalent. Maurelli says fixtures that can serve as a wash, spot, and beam are increasing, and they help reduce the number of fixtures a church may need to achieve a wide range of effects.
Image courtesy of E2i.
Color temperature has also improved with moving light fixtures. For white light, intelligent fixtures are traditionally at a very high color temperature, up around 7,000K or higher, which has a very harsh appearance. “Manufacturers are developing traditional intelligent fixtures with warmer color temperatures,” says Holowicki. “These fixtures look better on video, and more closely match color temperatures used for key lighting. Some of the arc-source moving lights are now down around 6,000K in color temperature.”
Color temperatures are important to consider, especially if you are doing live video. Anything that emits light has a native color temperature, and this includes LED video walls and projectors. If you have a video background on your stage that has a color temperature of 5,200K, and are using key lighting with a typical tungsten lighting color temperature of 3,200K, then your video background is going to appear to be a completely different color on video than it does live. If your video is used for IMAG, this can look downright odd.
“For this reason,” says Holowicki, “we have been moving towards more of a 4,200-4,400 color temperature range for key lighting. This performs better for saturated colors, and renders better on camera.”
It will also get the key lighting closer to the color temperature of LED video walls. So, find out what color temperature all your other light-emitting devices run at, and try to bring them close to the same values. Purchasing products where the color temperature is adjustable can also be helpful. If your venue has a lot of windows, bringing your color temperatures closer to daylight might make sense, so you won’t have competing color temperatures with the light streaming in from the sun.
And keep in mind that traditional tungsten lighting shifts to a warmer color temperature as it dims. While it might be 3,200 at full intensity, it could drop to 2,800 at 25% intensity. LED lighting doesn’t have a color temperature shift as it dims.
Maurelli adds, “LED lighting also has warmer offerings, with several manufacturers producing a warm white LED fixture.” For Green, this means that he’s now able to use moving lights for key lighting instead of just as washes or effects.
“These fixtures are now about half the price that they used to be,” Green states. “It also means that we can get away with fewer key lighting fixtures, because the moving head fixtures can be aimed to wherever they are needed instead of having fixed theatrical fixtures for each lighting zone.”
Practical jewels
The quality of the light isn’t the only thing that’s being impacted with LED fixtures. “With LED fixtures, some can get adequate cooling through fan-less convection cooling, eliminating the noise caused by those fans,” says Green. “This is offered primarily in higher end fixtures designed for theater, because there are a lot of quiet ‘moments’ in theater that fan noise would intrude upon. Houses of worship have those same types of moments and will benefit from this technology. And convection cooling means lest dust and grime pulled into the fixture.”
“Better optics also means that more light is getting out of the fixture. This increases the efficiency of the fixture and improves the crispness of gobo projection.”
—Josh Holowicki, Lighting Designer, E2i Design, Detroit, MI.
For arc-source fixtures, manufacturers are also becoming more aware of the challenges of maintaining fixtures. “Some manufacturers are changing their air flow to keep outside air moving only over the lamp,” says Holowicki. “This helps keep dust and dirt out of the rest of the fixture. Others have adopted tool-less access for replacing filters.”
Maintenance is critical, but not merely for keeping the fixture operating. “If you send out a dirty, dusty fixture for warranty work, they may invalidate the warranty for not conforming to the required maintenance schedule,” Holowicki notes.
Maurelli says he’s seeing an especially interesting design trend that also affects maintenance. “We're starting to see more than one manufacturer offer weatherproof products. Most people don't consider these when looking for options for their auditorium since they are designed for outside use, but from a maintenance standpoint, you're filtering out all the particulates like fog, dust and dirt.” This can help a lot on reducing the maintenance efforts for your fixtures.
Price smarts
Fixture pricing is also starting to move to points where they are easier for a church to purchase. “For basic wash fixtures, you can find quality options with motorized focus and color wheels in the $1,500 range,” states Holowicki. “If you add in CMY color mixing and motorized zoom, it’ll be a bit more. For profile fixtures that include effects, animation wheels, prisms, higher light output—you’re looking at closer to $7,000–$9,000.”
While costs of moving light fixtures are coming down, it’s important to remember that some of the old adages still hold true. “Cheap is still cheap—you're not going to get high quality and great light for little money,” says Holowicki. “Especially for a video venue, you need consistent quality in your fixtures so they all work well on video. Make sure these things are being considered when putting a system together.”
And always consider the maintenance requirements when you are thinking about buying moving lights. Moving lights do break. You need to budget money for regular repairs, and time for regular maintenance, the experts suggest. This is part of the total cost of ownership. If you can’t afford the ongoing effort and cost of maintaining them, delay adding moving lights to your venue until you can.
