Advances in lighting technology seem to be coming faster and faster as manufacturers and developers bring out new products to make the lives of lighting designers, programmers and technicians that much easier. In order to help you stay up to date on the flurry of recent product launches, Church Production Magazine thought we would offer a roundup of some of the latest lighting technologies and products. I have included some of the most promising and useful products worth your notice and perhaps a demonstration.
Let's start with light emitting diodes (LED), which are starting to really come into their own for performance lighting. The products that use LEDs as their source are moving far beyond the initial purposes of basic color wash lights into lighting units with punch, accurate color control and real world usability for your lighting projects. An important advance is a single, solid beam that produces one shadow, not the multicolored shadows that you got in earlier units when you tried to create white light with red, green and blue LEDs.
GEKKO TECHNOLOGY
Kezia LED Spot Luminaire
Gekko has been working on LED lighting for the film and video markets and making impressive inroads worth looking at if you do any kind of video or broadcast as a part of your services. Started by a cameraman who knows all about proper lighting for image capture, Gekko has a range of LED wash lights with tunable white color temperatures. The company recently introduced the kezia, a hard-source LED spot luminaire that casts a single shadow. It comes in two models: the kezia 50 has an output brightness of a 250W tungsten unit yet consumes only 50W of power, and the kezia 200 has similar brightness to a 1kW tungsten light while consuming less than 200W. The kezia uses Gekko's kleer colour LED array optimized for film and video image capture, with color temperature presets calibrated at 2,900K, 3,200K, 5,600K and 6,500K. Gekko's proprietary arrays create broad-spectrum white light and, unlike traditional lighting products, the color temperature remains consistent throughout the full range of dimming, ambient temperature and life of the unit. The kezia also incorporates Gekko's color-feedback system of self-monitoring sensors to ensure stable color across a range of output levels, as well as correcting changes in performance caused by ambient temperature and component aging, which ensures consistent color temperature. In addition to the white-only mode, the kezia comes with an array allowing a wider saturated color range suited to theatre and entertainment. Interchangeable lenses allow either model luminaire to be operated in fixed-focus mode with 20-degree, 60-degree or 80-degree beam angle. Unlike wash fixtures that use LEDs, the kezia spot luminaires can be accurately cut with a barndoor, just like standard tungsten lights. The kezia fixtures are capable of operation under local or DMX control. Prices start at $4,500.
ROBERT JULIAT
Aledin LED Profile
Previewed at last year's LDI and fully launched this spring, Robert Juliat's Aledin fixture is an LED profile that let's you have an LED source with a lens system and shuttering capabilities. Based on the Juliat 600SX profile, the unit has an 85W LED light source, with features that include clean shutter and gobo projections, minimal power consumption and totally silent operation. Additional features include up to eight shutters with a nice shutter-lock system, a multifunction double slot for iris and gobo, a slot for frost, dichroic, or color correction filter, 90-degree rotating lens tube/gate/front accessories holder and quiet, variable forced-air cooling. Currently, there is a choice of color temperatures: 3,500K with an output of 3,000 lumens and a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 82 or 5,800K with an output of 4,500 Lumens and a CRI of 65. Since you don't need a dimmer you can go from full to 0 almost instantly. With the lowered heat, you can choose between metal, glass or plastic A-size templates, as well as put color in the lens tube, thus requiring smaller cuts of color. The 600SX comes with three zoom ranges-8- to 54-degree, 16- to 35-degree, or 11- to 26-degree, along with an optional double-condenser set with coated lenses for higher output.
There is local or DMX control, along with a four-button display with automatic light switch-off. The universal power supply ranges from 90 to 280V 50/60Hz. An upgrade kit is available, so customers who already own 600SX Tungsten or Quincy Profiles can purchase a replacement LED Insert Module. Please contact Robert Juliat for List Pricing at: www.robertjuliatamerica.com.
There haven't been a lot of big developments in terms of followspots in the recent past-simply incremental improvements or lamp upgrades for existing units. For a while now, there has been a gap between the lower end of the followspot scale, where most of the units are tungsten halogen-based and the upper end of the range with discharge and Xenon lamps. Lycian looks to bridge the gap with a more affordable discharge lamp followspot option. Also, the Juliat Aledin can be used as a followspot, so be sure that going forward LEDs will be investigated as an energy efficient source for followspots.
LYCIAN
Mini-Arc 1233 Followspot
Lycian has introduced the Mini-Arc, a compact followspot that utilizes a 200W HMI/MSR single-ended lamp. Lycian feels that the Mini-Arc offers an arc lamp followspot at a quartz halogen price. It is ideally suited for throws of 40 to 125 feet. The unit is designed with a dichroic glass reflector for a smooth, clean beam. It was designed to be cost effective with a fixed beam angle, but the company added a "Flip" lens, which can be flipped into the beam path to broaden the beam with the touch of a lever. Features include a six-color boomerang, dowser, gobo slot, fine focus control, fully closing iris and lamp changes that require no tools. The Mini-Arc also features a cam-operated tilt mechanism and does not require forced air cooling-so, no fans, no noise. An important feature for the HOW market's volunteer technicians is the safety switch in the top, so if the top opens, power is automatically cut to the lamp so there is no chance of shocks while re-lamping. An optional timer is also available. The full length, with rear handle, dimension is 34 inches; the head height is 16 inches; the head width is 14 inches; and the followspot has an overall height with base of 58-1/2 inches plus 13 inches of additional upward height adjustment. The head weighs 67 pounds and the base weighs 18 pounds. The unit comes with a 20-year warranty, and has a list price of $2,795.
CITY THEATRICAL
VSFX3 Visual Effects Unit
Putting a template into your ellipsoidal spotlight adds texture to your lighting; adding movement to the otherwise static image adds additional visual interest to a design. There have been methods of adding motion to lighting for years, some more successful than others. City Theatrical has been a leading developer of many of the better motion effects and now offers a new product option.
With the City Theatrical VSFX3 unit you can make realistic clouds move across your backdrop or make realistic flames and fire; make rippling water, rain, or snow; throw the unit out of focus and you can create abstract movement effects.
City Theatrical (CTI) redesigned this machine from the ground up with an advanced drive system that makes it smooth and very quiet. The VSFX3, controlled locally or remotely via DMX, utilizes an 18-inch glass disk to produce its visual effects. The large disk allows effects to move horizontally across the gate for maximum realism. Effect disks include Clouds-Fleecy; Storm and Thunder; Rain; Snow; Flame; and Running Water. You can see videos of the effects on CTI's website. It's designed to be used with the ETC Source Four PAR MCM (not included) or any suitable fixture and also offers standalone operation. It is fully RDM enabled.
CTI developed the VSFX3 system in partnership with White Light Ltd. of London, and as a new version of the White Light VSFX System, it's compatible with the accessories for all previous versions. Lenses include 30-degree, 50-degree and 90-degree as well as a Lens Adaptor for ETC Source Four lens tubes from 5 to 90 degrees. The power supply operates at 100-240VAC 50/60 Hz and draws 2A. The dimensions are 18.5-inches (470 mm) wide x 20-inches (508 mm) high x 4.75-inches (120 mm) deep and weighs 13.8 pounds (7.3 kg). The VSFX3 is CE Certified, CE & FCC Emissions compliant, RoHS compliant and ETL listed, and has a list price of $1,870.
SYNTHE FX
Luminair 2.0
There are certainly plenty of options when it comes to control for your lighting system. There are also just as many price points. The Synthe FX Luminair 2.0 is a lighting controller option that fits in your pocket and costs around $100.
Designed exclusively for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch-and coming soon for iPad-Luminair is DMX lighting control software that allows you to wirelessly control fixtures, color-mixable LED fixtures, dimmers, consoles and media servers all via WiFi. You could even use Luminair as a remote focus unit. Luminair works by transmitting and receiving DMX using Art-Net protocol, so it's compatible out of the box with lots of existing equipment on the market. It's multi-touch optimized and has a great user interface, with touch-optimized controls throughout the app. Some of the highlights include wide fader controls; large trigger buttons; RGB and CMY color pickers; XY controls with accelerometer support; and easy touch-based channel assignment. Features include one DMX output universe; one DMX input universe; master and individual blackout control; individual solo control; low-power modes to conserve the battery; individual fade and hold times per cue; cut/copy/paste for tracks, groups, and cues; and ships with a building-block preset library for popular fixtures. System requirements include any generation of Apple iPhone or iPod touch with iPhone OS 3.1 or greater; Art-Net compatible hardware or software; and a dedicated WiFi router or access point. Luminair gives users up to 3.5 hours of battery playback; offers extended times of over 36 hours with an external battery pack; and will run indefinitely when plugged into a USB power source. The list price for Luminair for iPhone is $99.99, and is available through the iTunes App Store. Luminair for iPad will be available mid July; exact date and pricing is still to be determined.
These are just a few of the latest lighting options to come out of the current technology burst. I am sure there is already something exciting to be announced even before the ink is dry on this article. As always, please feel free to let us know what you think of these products and let us know of any products you've discovered recently that offer solutions to lighting challenges.
