Michael Easparam
Forum Replies Created
-
Have any more information or photos?
A velour type curtain absorbs sound quite well and is very attractive. 16oz would be the minimum, and much heavier is available if you have the cash. This blocks light very well. The thick nap of the curtain is what helps with the sound. Ignore the 8-12oz “supervel” or “velite” which is a fake velour and very thin.
After choosing a good fabric, then you need to choose a sewing style. Flat curtain will be cheaper but not so attractive. By adding fullness to the curtain (pleats, etc) then you are not only adding more fabric to block the sound, but it looks much better.
Have someone like Rose Brand or Dazian actually sew the curtains to look like window shades or whatever. If you need more sound absorbtion, place 1″ thick fiberglass insulation panels behind the curtains (this is tightly compressed fiberglass, not the pink fluffy stuff). Do not have the drape lay right against the fiberglass. A 1-2″ air gap between them will actually block just as much sound as both the fabric and the curtains.
-
We use Vectorworks, def a great product. As someone who took 4 semesters of AutoCad classes – Vectorworks is NOT easy to learn! It’s completely different IMO, but once you either learn it yourself or (highly recommended) take a class – it’s not too bad.
Here’s the deal with Vectorworks – it’s a 3D program. That’s why it costs so much. You can literally flip the set from a frontal view to a top view to an isometric view with a couple clicks (assuming your machine is very fast!).
If you (or anyone else reading) decides to buy Vectorworks, buy the package with Renderworks. It’s MUCH cheaper together and it lets you texture shapes instead of just working with a wireframe model. Probably not as useful to the average commercial guy as it is to someone planning a studio setup, but it’s very nice to have and it will hit your pocket hard if you have to buy it later.
For basic 2D plots, I’ve seen lots of concert/theatrical guys use Microsoft Visio and some light symbol stencils. I think the student version of Visio is $9. However, I have not seen any film type fixtures in Visio before. In Vectorworks, we just draw a 3D model of the fixture if one is not available from the manufacturer (you can of course import AutoCad shapes).
Also, just for the sake of mentioning it – there is also another product similar to Vectorworks called Wysiwyg (What you see is what you get). In my opinion only – it’s the biggest pain in the butt I’ve ever seen. Totally backwards and you have to deal with their stupid dongle system. Lose the dongle, your software is useless and they will not replace it. I have however seen some nice drawings done with it. Not sure how long they took to make though!
-
I’ve never used a glass gobo in a S4 Jr, but I don’t see any reason why it would not work just fine. You will need to order a special holder for glass gobos since they are 1-2mm thick, instead of sheet metal.
-
I have found that with flos and LEDs, this is especially true. You get into all kinds of issues like quality control, LED binning, overall color temperature quality that is not as much of an issue with tungsten or even HMI fixtures.
Take cheapo LED fixtures for example – poor quality control and LED binning leads to HUGE differences between fixtures. You read a review of a light that sings it’s praises, yet the one you receive is nowhere near as good. It’s very possible the one received by the reviewer was indeed good, but every fixture is different. The same thing applies to buying multiple fixtures. One looks great, one looks bad. Nothing you can do about it.
Kino has spent years upon years tweaking their products for exactly what we do – production. They work well repeatably and match well with each other and other types of lights. Lamps are a huge part of it also, the funny color from the off brand lamp can ruin a shot. Why should you have to start color correcting brand new lights? Not to mention the next batch may be totally different.
If your main camera guy has a Diva, you should definitely buy something from that same family.
-
The largest that I know of is Rosco. That’s who we use, and we’ve never had any issues. Apollo is also good, I have used some made by them but never ordered any.
To be honest with you, the Source 4 Jr is not a great choice for metal gobos. It requires a smaller gobo size (43 vs 58mm) than a full size Source 4, but attempts to shove the same amount of light through it. The Jr is pretty inefficient, being considerably less efficient than it’s big brother. With a 575w lamp in both – at 50 degrees is about 60%, at 25 degrees is only 50%. Many people buy the Jr because they don’t need the extra lumens, but it’s a better idea to buy the full size and lamp at 375w. However, the full size zoom is ridiculously large and I find the Jr zoom to be quite good compared to the regular Jr.
A metal gobo in size B (58mm) should last for at least two 4hr sessions without much deforming of the edges (assuming your lamp is centered properly). Beyond that, it’s a matter of detail. I wouldn’t say it’s up to the manufacturer of the gobo to decide how thin lines of detail are or not. They are going to make the closest thing they can to the graphic you send them. However, we project gobos all the time that are extremely detailed and of course they burn up quite quickly. It’s just the nature of the beast. If you don’t need that kind of detail either tell them or modify the graphic appropriately yourself.
If you find that life span above too short, you really need to buy screened dichroic glass gobos instead. They are meant to last, you will likely damage the gobo from handling before anything else happens to it. Plus, they look better and you can introduce colors.
-
Qlab is great, and can handle up to 8 outputs. The nice thing about Qlab is that it can play audio at the same time, up to 48 tracks. This is the main reason many shows use it, and the video can be timed based on the audio tracks playing. It has very elaborate cue lists.
Since you are doing live theater, you may also want to look into a solution that allows lighting to cue the video along with their other cues. Media servers like Martin’s Maxedia and Green Hippo’s Hippotizer are both great solutions for video playback that can be controlled via DMX. The Maxedia Broadcast is fantastic!
Watchout and the like are great, but it’s a big mess if you’ve got a whole slew of operators running different systems. Personally, I haven’t seen Watchout used at a non-corporate type event in years. They all use media servers now. I’ve programmed multiple shows that have mixed format screens, extreme wide screens, etc with up to 20 Maxedias linked together. Easy as pie, and fairly affordable.
-
Qlab is the golden standard for cue by cue audio and video playback at events. Run around to some Broadway shows and you are bound to find it quite often.
I believe it tops out at 8 simultaneous video steams (you need a serious machine or multiples) and 48 tracks of audio.
Another cool feature is that you can rent licenses instead of buying. for $3/day you can use the video part. Pretty nifty idea. Of course, it’s pretty cheap at only $250 also.
-
Which Kino tubes are you using and in what fixture? KF29 or KF32?
Personally, I don’t like the KF29s at all. Much too reddish. Even worse in the Diva fixtures. If you manage to orient a Diva with the lamp connectors facing down, the combination of that plus these tubes is downright nasty.
The KF32 has a great color rendition IMO, but is perhaps slightly over 3200K. A bit of 1/8th CTO might warm it up some if needed. If you are matching other tungsten lights, chances are good they are less than the stated 3200K making the difference between lights more noticeable. No option for these in the 55w biax tubes for the Diva, which is a shame. One of the many reasons to use 4×4 banks instead.
-
Don’t forget to order Kino’s green lamps for the screen lights – they are fantastic! You need to ensure they do not spill onto the subject, if you are in cramped quarters, go with normal lamps.
-
A polarizer is most effective with direct sun, at a 90 degree angle. Off angle, indirect, or overcast make it less and less effective. Based on my experience, it probably would not do much in this case.
However, as this is the simplest way, a quick trip over to the site in question with a polarizer would answer that question.