Lighting design can be complicated. There is plenty of math, physics, color theory, computers, data management, science, and other details that can get in the way. So, for those of you who may just be getting into the world of lighting, or maybe you are having to deal with lighting design out of necessity in your situation, I thought it would be helpful to cover some basics. In this article, I will discuss the basic lighting fixtures you are likely to use in a small to mediumsized room, as well as best practices for implementing them.
Today’s lighting fixture market is a dizzying array of LEDs, moving heads, strip lights, wash fixtures, profile fixtures, and infinite combinations of all of them. So let’s back up a bit and talk about where it all started. I’m talking about “conventional” lighting fixtures.
Conventional lighting fixtures are static lights that originally used some type of tungsten lighting source. Consider these instruments to be the foundation of any lighting design you create. For our purposes, we will talk about these fixtures:
• PAR cans
• Fresnels
• Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight (ERS)
• Strip lights
PAR Cans
PAR stands for Parabolic Aluminized Reflector, but all you need to know is that it was literally a metal cylinder that held a sealed-beam lamp. Typical PAR cans for live production were the PAR 46, PAR 56, and the most common PAR 64. Fun fact, the number refers to the diameter of the lamp in eighths of an inch. So, the PAR 64 was an 8” diameter lamp. The sealed-beam lamps came in various wattages, but for the PAR 64, the most common were 1000W or 500W. The other feature of the PAR lamp was how it was textured for beam dispersion. You could get these lamps in Very Narrow Spot (VNSP), Narrow Spot (NSP), Medium Flood (MFL), and Wide Flood (WFL). But remember, these are sealed beams, so if you wanted to make your MFL a WFL, you had to change the entire lamp. When ETC came out with the Source 4 PAR with swappable lenses, our lives were forever changed.
GOOD LIGHTING ISN’T ABOUT HAVING MORE FIXTURES — IT’S ABOUT CHOOSING THE RIGHT ONES.
So, what is a PAR fixture good for? Just about anything if you use it properly, but it is largely best as a wash fixture. With the exception of the VNSP lens, a true PAR lens puts out a beam that is not round but oval. This allows for fantastic stage washes where the ends of the ovals overlap each other, creating very even coverage. I like using them for back-light washes, but they are very suitable for frontlight washes if deployed properly. PAR lights can have accessories added to the front, like gel frames, barn doors, and snoots (top hats), allowing you to customize them to your specific needs.
The PAR fixture is far from extinct, by the way. Do a Google search for LED PAR cans, and you will find more results than you can count. LED PAR fixtures are a great entry-level lighting instrument to incorporate into your design. In fact, it might be all you need.
Fresnel Lights Fresnel
(pronounced “fruh-nell”) lights are often thought of as a theatrical fixture, but you will find them very useful for church applications, as well. The term “Fresnel” actually refers to a specific lens design that was invented by Augustin-Jean Fresnel. You could find a Fresnel lens on any number of lighting fixtures, but it was originally used in a can light, similar to a PAR can, but with a very different design feature of being able to move the lamp closer to or further away from the lens in order to change the beam diameter. Fresnel lights are best known for their beautiful wash pattern of a perfect circle with smooth falloff on the edges. The output pattern of a Fresnel fixture is difficult to control, even with barn doors. In live production, I use these fixtures almost exclusively for backlight. The new LED versions of Fresnel fixtures are amazing, and if you are looking for a great fixture for a video recording space, you will find many great options from all of the quality manufacturers.
Ellipsoidal Fixtures
Ellipsoidal, Leko, Source 4 - whatever name you like to call it, we’re talking about an Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight (ERS). Leko and Source 4 refer to brands (Lekolite and ETC), kind of like PAR Cans » Fresnel Lights » Ellipsoidal Fixtures » Kleenex for tissues or Xerox for copy machines. The power of ellipsoidal fixtures comes from how the light beam is generated. The light source sits inside an ellipsoidal reflector, which reflects the light to a specific “Congucal Focal Point” or “Optical Gate” before it goes on to a plano-convex lens system to output over long distances. See the image below:
Here’s what this means for you:
• Beam shaping - because of the optical gate, you end up with a hard-edge light beam that can be shaped using built-in shutters.
• Focus control - lenses can be adjusted to make the image sharp or out of focus.
• Patterns - you can insert gobos for breakup patterns, images, or even logos.
• Long throw distances - the lens system projects the light over longer distances than other conventional fixtures.
• Lens choice - ERS fixtures have swappable lenses to suit your specific throw distance and spread.
Ellipsoidal fixtures are all about control; therefore, they are almost always my first choice for front light. I want the ability to shutter front light into specific lighting areas, giving me the ability to illuminate exactly the parts of the stage I want people to see and keep light off of areas I don’t want them to see. Because of the lens options, you can utilize ERS fixtures in just about any design situation.
CONTROL, COVERAGE, AND CONSISTENCY STILL DEFINE GREAT LIGHTING.
Fortunately, ellipsoidal lights have transitioned nicely into the LED era. It took a while, but today I can find LED ERSs that will suffice for pretty much any throw distance or design need. Keep in mind, there are many different styles of LED ERS fixtures: RGB (red, green blue), RGBW (adds a white option), RGBWW (warm white), WW, etc. Basically, consider what you need in your application. For me, if I’m doing front light, I typically do not need color (I hate colored front light, but that’s for another article), so I want a fixture with variable white. Variable white means I can dial in the color temperature from warm to cool. If I need to use an LED ellipsoidal for side light or something else where I need color, then I just have to choose how much color control I want. Manufacturers make a wide variety of color options for these lights, so do your research carefully, as your choice will also impact pricing.
Strip Lights
Strip lights are exactly what they sound like: lights arranged in a linear strip. The huge advantage of a strip light is that its linear design makes it ideal for uplighting or downlighting walls or drapes and for use as foot lights. I hated these fixtures back in the day because they were typically built using halogen lamps, which got super hot and burned out the sockets frequently. Obviously, the LED versions run much cooler, and are more versatile, low profile, and easy to deploy. Here are several design scenarios in which to consider using them:
• Uplights for walls or other scenery - it’s amazing how much you can improve the look of a small stage simply by uplighting the back wall.
• Foot lights - with enough diffusion, strip lights make for a great effect for musical moments or nice fill light during the sermon.
• Backlighting - if you have a stage with a low ceiling, strip lights work quite well for backlight when you have limited space.
• Scenic elements - try mounting strip lights vertically or in other interesting layouts facing the audience, and use them as light-emitting scenic elements. You’ll need to keep the intensity super low, but they can be quite effective.
LED FIXTURES CHANGED THE TECHNOLOGY, NOT THE PRINCIPLES.
Understanding the history of stage lighting is important so we can take the core principles behind the fixtures and better implement the newer versions of them. Think about what you need for your stage design. Can you get away with inexpensive PAR fixtures for front light, or do you need more control and longer throw of an ERS? Even if you decide you want the added flexibility of moving head fixtures, the concepts of these core conventional fixtures play into your design choices.
Take this basic information and use it to build your knowledge of design into a skill set that will help the Church. Also, the next time you find yourself complaining about an LED light malfunctioning and showing the wrong color, just remember, it could be worse. You could be having to climb a truss and hang upside down while removing the retaining ring of a burning hot 1000W PAR lamp. Try to appreciate how far technology has come. And if you need help, just talk to some of us old guys. We have stories.
