For this roundtable, Church Production Magazine (CPM) spoke with a range of manufacturers and distributors of lighting products about some of the technology trends they are seeing in theatrical lighting for the house of worship market.
PARTICIPATING IN THE ROUNDTABLE:
WALT DOWLING, southern regional sales manager, Altman Lighting Inc., Baltimore, Md.KEVIN LORETTO, director of dealer sales, Creative Stage Lighting Co. Inc., North Creek, N.Y.ERIC LOADER, director of sales, Elation Lighting Inc., Los AngelesJOE BOKELMAN, architectural marketing manager, Electronic Theatre Controls Inc., Middleton, Wis. VINNY FINNEGAN, vice president, Group One/Elektralite, Farmingdale, N.Y.STEVE LERMAN, director of sales, Lycian Stage Lighting, New York DARYL SUTTON, project sales manager, Martin Professional Inc., Springfield, Mo.GEORGE E. MASEK, product marketing manager, Vari-Lite, Philips Entertainment Group, DallasPETER ROGERS, senior director entertainment marketing, Philips Lighting, Andover, Mass.
CPM: Are there particular lighting trends in the house of worship market?
Dowling: Often, the lighting budget is lumped in with [the] sound and A/V budget during the budgeting process for a new facility. This can cause real problems down the line. Every foot of platform space requires a certain amount of light to be evenly lit-so bigger platforms require bigger lighting systems. It is important that the financial considerations of the lighting system be taken into account when budgeting a building.
Loretto: One trend we are seeing is that more and more designers are specifying LED over conventional fixtures where it is practical for the application. It allows the designer to put more of the budget towards the actual lighting rather than the dimming, since LEDs dim via DMX and can be controlled directly by the lighting console.
Loader: Lighting and video keep getting more closely related and incorporated together. Also, as LEDs get brighter, less dimming systems are required, cutting down installation costs and monthly power costs. An example of this is a church in Florida that recently replaced [its] high power 750W halogen lighting fixtures with our 100W LED Fresnel and cut the electric bill by 30% by switching.
Bokelman: LEDs are still the obvious trend. The most recent development is the arrival of LEDs for general lighting of the congregation and for illuminating the pastor. But it's still [in] the early stages of that, and technical issues still need to be resolved. You want the right quality of white light to blend with and complement the surroundings, not conflict with it.
Rogers: Energy codes are clearly having an effect on lighting in all public facilities, and in terms of both renovations and new construction, a number of jurisdictions are requiring facilities to completely update their lighting as part of any work of this kind. Designers and building owners need to evaluate how to maintain the look and feel of their lighting throughout a facility when these changes occur. This is particularly true of historic buildings that were primarily lit by incandescent light. We have seen beautiful renovations that had significant energy savings and preserved the appearance of a building-and the exact opposite where the result was energy efficient but aesthetically awful.
CPM: In terms of design itself, what are some of the trends that you are seeing?
Dowling: There has been a trend towards motorizing front of house lighting positions in worship facilities. While motorized rigging can be a great solution vs. catwalks, it is important to remember that everything except the moving lights will still need to be accessible for focus. With a motorized rigging system, this means that the church will need to budget and design for a personnel lift.
Loretto: We see certain innovative designers trying to get more duty out of the fixtures they are recommending by using more moving lights in their design, particularly LEDs, in situations where they previously would have used conventional ellipsoidal fixtures. Some of the reasons are the ability to auto focus, to easily change the focal spot of the unit, in the case of LED to give the client long lamp life, and to allow the system to grow as the clients' needs expand.
Loader: More than anything people are becoming more green-conscious, and LED technology is opening the door for practical solutions in the HOW market. Saving money on infrastructure costs can be greatly affected by the use of LED products. Less dimmers, less electrical service, less HVAC, less energy equals more technology for patrons to enjoy.
Bokelman: There is also a design trend to simplify systems so that they give houses of worship the performance they expect but don't drive volunteer staffers away from using technology. Any worship venue has to ask itself how they will work from within, how they are going to work with volunteers to set lighting up. When LEDs first came out, they were highly technical and really required a detailed sense of the scenarios they would be used in-very complicated to set up. But now as that technology has trickled down, they have been designed so that anyone can use them and understand how they work. People are really setting up spaces to be flexible for the future of lighting.
Lerman: Budgetary concerns often keep over-lighting in check, but I have seen occasions where churches have ‘too much of a good thing.' Finding a proper balance of intensity has become a challenge for some. As a followspot manufacturer, we have seen the increase in demand for higher intensity followspots to cut through ever increasingly brighter stages. Sophistication is the word that comes to mind when talking trends. Influences by television and theatrical production have made house of worship lighting top notch as far as equipment goes. In response to this, Lycian has seen quite an uptick in the amount of higher-end followspots going to the church market.
Masek: Like everything else in this economy, designs are trending towards cost reduction. We see fewer fixtures in rigs and we see them expected to do more. The expectation is that each fixture will have more features and be able to offer more answers to designer's issues. If we truly desire to make the best tools possible for the designers, we can only respond to these requests as quickly as possible with products that deliver.
CPM: How are these trends affecting your product development?
Dowling: Over the past decade, Altman has focused on both color changing and white light LED solutions for both interior and exterior applications. Altman manufactures the Spectra-Cyc 100 as well as a line of user-friendly LED PARs, including the Spectra Par 100 that leverage very efficient LED engines.
Loretto: As the trend of switching to LEDs continues we are also seeing the transition from static LED to LED moving lights. An excellent example of this is the A4 and A7 LED Zoom moving wash lights from JB Lighting, which have the benefits of lower energy consumption, low heat output and longer lamp life. This has also created demand for more advanced lighting consoles that will support moving lights and the mapping of LED fixtures, like the Dlite from Compulite (CPM Jan/Feb 2010), which allows the church to control moving lights, LEDs, and conventional.
Loader: LED is where 90% of our R&D is being focused-be it lighting or video solutions. Now general lighting products are being designed with LED source solutions that are quite usable. Still, some theatrical effects cannot be duplicated by LED, but that list is getting shorter every year.
Bokelman: At ETC we've recently been focusing on niche areas where LEDs can be extremely effective-as with our Fire and Ice fixtures-where a single LED fixture can replace many standard halogen lights with deeply saturated colors, and our new Pearl fixture, which offers a warm and cool factor of white light, which is great for broadcast lighting.
Lerman: Tremendous amounts of R&D money are looking at alternatives as environmental and economic pressures make cleaner, more efficient light sources a necessity.
Sutton: At Martin, we engaged in a proactive stance to pursue opportunities that would enable us to provide educational opportunities to the local church. During this process, we have been able to connect with many local churches across many faiths, geographical locations and congregation sizes, and have received invaluable market feedback that has had an effect on our product development. I would say that the MAC 350 Entour, Maxxyz M1, and the recently released MAC 101 are great examples of market information resulting in actual market products.
Rogers: Our customers are pretty good at communicating their needs and we do a lot of work to find ways of delivering lighting solutions that help them meet both their artistic needs and help them save energy, labor and meet the growing spectrum of legislation. Philips is working on these issues on many fronts from more efficient conventional light sources, creative luminaire design, and embracing LED technology where it is appropriate. Lighting control is another big element, and our software and electronics teams are working hard to create products that integrate the control of all types of luminaires.
Masek: I think what houses of worship look for is really quite similar to what all of our clients are looking for. Obviously, cost of ownership and operation are foremost in everyone's minds. We try to focus on creating fixtures that are cost effective in terms of purchase price, but also reasonable to own and operate. LED technology helps us in this regard with very long source life and a reduction of required moving parts, thus combining to make a fixture that should provide years of trouble-free operation with minimal service and support requirements.
CPM: What interesting things do you see lighting designers and technicians doing with church lighting in this economic climate?
Dowling: More and more there is a trend to only purchase the dimmers that you need, and to place them locally with the conventional lighting fixtures-distributed dimming. This method, besides reducing the cost of the dimming system, gives the designers and technicians increased flexibility.
Loretto: One thing we see [is that] church specifying [is] scaled down, [with] cost effective systems for secondary places like the youth room, etc., so that more of the budget can go towards the primary space, the sanctuary. While this may not be new, some of the products they are utilizing are-looking to alternative vendors for cost-effective yet dependable solutions where the mission isn't quite as critical.
Bokelman: People are being very choosy about what new things to add to a HOW lighting system-anything new needs to be very versatile and have capabilities that will extend into the future. So, it isn't about just solving one problem, it's about trying to solve many problems with one spend/purchase.
Sutton: What I am seeing is the creative capacity of individuals being exercised. I think too often we forget that lighting is an art and we rely too much on money to solve our issues/needs. It's no secret that everyone's budgets have been tightened over the past few years. However, this can be good. It can cause one to think through the process and develop new creative ideas.
After this roundtable, it is very clear to me that all the manufacturers and distributors both value and respond to the feedback and needs of the house of worship market. They are also very willing and happy to discuss the products and solutions they can provide, so feel free to contact any of them for answers or product demonstrations.
