1. Types of Lighting
Equipment
Lucy Eckersley

2. Flood
A flood light is possibly the simplest type of lantern you can get consisting of only a lamp and a reflector in a box. You cannot control the size of the beam only its general direction.
You can get floods that have an asymmetric or a symmetrical reflector and are designed to light cycloramas.
They can also light spaces such as a Theatre to flood the stage with light, football stadium and for security as they have a sensor at the bottom which will turn the light on. You can also use gels on them.

3. Pacific 45°-75° Zoom Spot
This light has a 10-16cm throw distance as well as a modular design which means its got a universal lamp house and any twelve optical systems and six light sources can be fitted. This is an advantage as Its versatile, meaning you can change the light source- the right colour temperate –cool white and warm white. They can also be used as a follow spot or lighting up a small area on a stage. This light has an easy way to adjust the lamps position by using the selecon central gear mechanism which allows you to do this very smoothly as well as having full control of the beam distribution because you can focus on specific things such as one person and then a group of 4. Its very easy to focus the beam on this light by it having the cool touch operational controls. They are a separate control panel not on the light to stop it burning as the lights are hot. This is good because if the control panel was on the light then it could overheat and burn you. However the ETC Source 4 has a bigger range of beam angles such as it has quite a few optional angles above 75 and below 45. Such as 5°, 10°, 14°, 19°, 26°, 36° below and 90° above. This is better as you can then focus the light on a lot smaller objects on stage. Such as a small candle, using a source 4 is easier to use then a Zoom spot as you have a smaller beam angle option.

4. Parcan
A parcan is the most common fixture and traditionally is self contained. This means the lamp, reflector and lens are combined in one unit. With a parcan you cannot adjust the beam angle but can adjust the orientation of the light by moving the lamp around inside. If you want to adjust the beam angle you have to buy a specific lamp to go into the fixture. You can get 4 types of lamp. These are: vnsp – very narrow spot, nsp- narrow spot, mfl- medium flood and wfl- wide flood. Having all these shapes of the beam can be good because you can focus on specific things on a set such as a chair or small piece of set and then make the beam bigger and focus on a group of people. Though they are not commonly used you can get barndoors for this light to tidy up the edge of the beam. However, they aren’t as effective on the parcan as they are on a Fresnel. You can control the brightness of the light by using a dimmer.

5. Parcan- Continued
For a general coverage of a stage or theatre, meaning you don’t want to highlight anything specific, a parcan would be better then a source 4 as a parcan has a better general coverage of a stage, so you could use this at a music gig. Parcan 56 short, 56 long and 64 long all have a gel frame and can come with a variety of different power inputs, including 15A plugs and IEC. Par 64s fixtures can contain lamps with a higher wattage than Par 56. The 64 is available in 500W or 1,000W whereas as the 56 are all in 300W. Depending on what you are using the light for they can be better in different scenarios. Such as a 1000 W would be used in a larger theatre as the light source is further away. They can be very effective if they are used in backlighting. You can also use colour gels on them.

6. Par-16 – Birdie
A birdie is a smaller version of a par and is called a Par 16. It’s a miniature lantern that is meant for hiding in small spaces of a set or somewhere along the edge of the stage(downstage). Barn doors are available to use in this smaller par. This lantern usually takes MR16 lamps that are 12 volts as well as each of the par16s have a transformer connected to it so it can be told the correct voltage. They generally are used by 120 volt lamps. This means they generally cannot be connecting to the same dimming system as the rest of the lighting. They are suitable for displays in shop windows, exhibitions and event and stage use. They are good for things like shop windows and exhibitions because they are small and not as noticeable as bigger lights so they don’t take the attention away from what the shop window is displaying or any art work in exhibitions.

7. Fresnel Lens spotlight
A Fresnel lens spotlight is lighter and smaller than a source 4. This fixture has a variable beam width so you can change it and have more control over the beam angle then a flood. . Unlike the source 4 this doesn’t have shutters and is also not as powerful. This fixtures beam width is very wide. To change the beam width you have to move the lamp and the reflector closer to the lens to make it wider and move it further away to make it narrower either by a screw mechanism or a slide. The Fresnel has a bigger beam compared to a source 4 but the source 4 is only bigger on its widest beam. On this fixture you can’t use a gobo but can be shaped by using barn doors at the front of the lantern. Fresnel's are very useful when you want a soft edge, a consistent wash across the whole stage and the ability to have a variable beam width.

8. ETC Source 4
This is a profile lantern which means it picks up and can pinpoint certain spaces on a stage. Beam angles include 5°, 10°, 14°, 19°, 26°, 36°, 50°, 70° and 90°. To change the colour of the beam you use filter gels which can’t be too thick. Can be known as conventional fixtures or generic fixtures. Using a gobo which is a metal disc you can project patterns by shining a light through it. The source 4 also has a shutter which is on 4 points around the light. These can fit to certain shapes and are useful when you need sharp edges. This is a fixture that can be shuttered to fit a shape but it also has a fixed focal length which is where you can only change the size of the beam by moving it, a gobo or shutter. If you have a short lens the beam is wide whereas is you have a long lens it focuses more so the beam is narrower. A source 4 zoom has an adjustable tunnel. You would use this light if you were wanting to highlight a certain object or person on a stage as this is a good light for a single bright spotlight. You would use this light over the Pacific Zoom spot if you wanted to highlight small objects on a stage as this light has smaller beam angles then the Pacific Zoom.

9. Pebble Convex
This is a lantern that used a plano-convex lens with a pebbled effect on the flat (plano) side. It gives the beam a soft edge because it can then blend in better whereas a hard edge like a fresnel with barn doors on cannot blend in as well as this. This light is available is 500w, 650w, 1kw, 1.2kw and 2kw. They are frequently used in place of a Profile lantern if space is limited.

10. Blinders
Its designed to have a really bright effect and it has two main uses. These are: 1- To literally blind people and to create a bright impact. It creates a controlled dramatic stage effect. 2- To light up the audience, for example at a concert they will be all around the stage to allow the audience to be seen. Depending on the fixture, you can control certain lights on the blinder. For example on the Show Tec Stage Blinder 8 DMX whichhas a built in 4 channel dimmer so it can be controlled with a DMX. This is very similar to a floodlight as they both have the intention of blinding you and are used to light up places such as concerts or stadiums.

11. Multidim MKII IEC version DMX 512 4CH Dimmer Pack
This is a dimmer pack that has 16 built in chase sequences. This is where it automatically turns on and off lights to create patterns for an effect. Its got a chase program which is the sequence it will run though. Chase Speed which is how quick it runs through the sequence. Chase Dimmer which is how bright the light is during the sequence. It also has 8 IEC plug sockets available as well as XLR male and female connector. You can also have one dimmer pack (Master) and connect it to another dimmer pack(Slave) and have the slave do the same thing that the master is doing. This is called the master slave function. I think this is useful because then you don’t have to do each individual pack, you can just connect them up to one. These are also useful because they are small and portable, so are used for smaller events such as a small performance and can use a T bar rather than the dimmer racks that are used for bigger events like concerts or festivals. You could use this instead of plugging the lights directly into the power so you have control of the light to gain the best artistic quality for your event. Another advantage to this is that you can change the brightness of them.

12. Qtx DP4 4 channel Dimmer pack.
This has 4 channels with each channel having 2 IEC power outputs. Much like the Multidem it has 16 built in chase programmes that are controlled by a 4 channel DMX as well as having a master/slave function.
This pack has a pulse feature which keeps the lamp filament warm. This allows you to have an instant on off effect. Meaning even when the lamps is off it sends it power to keep the lamp warm so its quicker to turn on and get to full brightness as a cold lamp takes awhile to turn on to its full brightness. This can be useful as if you are putting on a show and a set of lights are only used twice, once at the beginning and once halfway through you can easily turn it on and have it at its full brightness straight away rather then have it gradually get brighter.
Each channel in this pack can use a maximum of
10 amps but is set at 2.5 amps per channel so if
you try to plug something in that is over 2.5
amps, it wouldn’t work and would blow the fuse.

13. Avolites ART 4000 Dimmer Rack
This is a dimmer rack that has 48 ways of dimming lights and each of the 12 ways has its own processor. This is good because if one them blows up you have 3 backups for whereas if they all ran from the same processor you would be screwed if it blew up as you would have no backups. They all work independently from each other which means you have extra security and they are more reliable.
It also has 48 channels which is a lot bigger then the dimmer packs with only 4 channels so this rack can handle a lot more lights then the packs.
These would be used it larger events such as concerts but not used on a T bar because they are too big whereas dimmer packs are used for a lot smaller events and can use a T bar.

14. Zero 88 Betapack 3 It has a range of 6 channel dimmer packs
This rack has 12 back up memories for maximum security as temperature monitoring to make sure that it doesn’t over heat and if it exceeds the maximum temperature it will give you a warning and begin to shut down .
Each channel is supplied with a miniature circuit breaker for maximum security and protection. This is good because then if one blows then it doesn’t effect any others so you can continue with the show or whatever event you are using this for whereas if they were all on the same one and it blew up you wouldn’t be able to continue.
They are designed to be installed on a wall or
even carried and Is suitable in places
such as professional theatre use,
TV studios or classrooms.

15. Jester TLXtra
This is a lighting control desk that can use up to 200 dimmer channels for 30 fixtures and has 512 DMX channels. Which is good because you have full control over a DMX universe. Having the 200 dimmer channels is good because its dedicated for that purpose of dimming and then have the remaining 312 channels for intelligent fixtures. It has a LCD Display which is a screen that allows the operator to see what’s going on. This is used for when you’re running though pre programmed scenes. This is a good desk to use in theatre and performances where continuous playback is frequently used. Due to the fact that it has a numerical keyboard which allows the operator to easily recall scenes. The Jester can be used anywhere where you’ve got intelligent and generics fixtures as it has built in controls for automated lights. Automated fixtures that for example has pan and tilt, it has a built in controls that make doing this easier.

16. Cobra Colour Control 12 DMX Controller
This is a lighting control desk that controls 24 DMX channels, meaning its suitable for DMX lights that need up to 24 channels.
You can also store up to 46 scenes or chase sequences with having a maximum on 999 steps.
This desk is very suitable for LED parcan use.
You could use this desk at smaller events such as exhibitions and for small gigs put on by mobile singers. This is because it is a very basic desk, meaning its easy to get to every fader and can easily control the colours of the beam.
Having 46 scenes or chase sequences is also
good for a mobile entertainer as you can have
sequences pre programmed prior to the event
and just re calling a scene, meaning they have
full control over what sequence is played.
So for example, if it’s a singer and they are
performing a calm song and then a quick
change to a faster more up beat song they
can quickly go to the desk and re call the
sequence for the up beat song. This allows
them to also have easy and smooth
transitions between the lights.

17. Chamsys MagicQ MQ100 Pro 2014 Console
This control desk has the control of up to 32,768 fixtures meaning it has 64 universes with 32,768 channels. It can be connected to the network or mac meaning you can control the desk from other places rather then the desk itself and also comes with a remote to control is. This can be good because if for some reason the person managing the desk isn't there then it can also be controlled by other people in other places. It also has 5000 cues meaning you can cue up the next 5000 sequences. So technically you can run a whole show by pressing one button as not every show will have more then 5000 sequences. This is good because its a lot simpler and easier then having to do them all yourself and it also lessens the change of the lights going wrong if its all cued. This desk is used for massive concerts and festivals such as Glastonbury and arenas like the O2 and Wembley as it has a huge amounts of lights that this lighting desk can handle.

18. Zero88 Juggler DMX Lighting control Console
Like the Cobra this also controls up to 24 channels using pre-programmed faders to make this a simpler, less complicated and cheaper control desk then ones like the Chamsys MagicQ MQ100 that has over 30,000 channels. It also allows you to have 12 sequences with a maximum of 99 steps and allowing you to use multiple channels per step. This is a considerable amount smaller then the Cobra desk. You can also control how quick to fade between two scenes. This control desk is mainly used in smaller events, so for example a small concert, in a school and conferences as they are perfect for small scale lighting systems.

19. Bibliography