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Automated Fixtures

Automated Fixtures. Brandon Anderson www.bdanderson.com Jan 16, 2006. Premise. What is an automated fixture? Any fixture whose focus can be controlled from a DMX controller. Usually contain extra features such as color wheels, gobo wheels, litho wheels, etc. What makes them different?

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Automated Fixtures

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  1. Automated Fixtures Brandon Anderson www.bdanderson.com Jan 16, 2006

  2. Premise • What is an automated fixture? • Any fixture whose focus can be controlled from a DMX controller. • Usually contain extra features such as color wheels, gobo wheels, litho wheels, etc. • What makes them different? • Most use HID lamp (higher color temperature) • Contain their own mechanical dimmers (dousers) • One fixture may be able to replace several conventional fixtures.

  3. Common Features • Pan and Tilt adjustment • Color wheel with saturated colors as well as CTO (color corrector) to match tungsten sources • Gobo wheel with multiple gobos and sometimes dichroic lithos • Gobo rotator built into gobo wheel • CMY color mixing using douser-like dichroic flags • Zoom and focus adjustment • FX wheel may include pebble, frost, or other optical distortion glass • Colors, gobos, and FX are replaceable and customizable • Controlled via DMX 512 console

  4. Classes of Automated Fixtures • Moving Head Flood • Emphasis on color mixing • Some control of beam spread • Moving Head Spot • Emphasis on pattern projection, even beam • 360 deg rotation (pan), over 180 deg tilt • Moving Mirror Spot • Emphasis on pattern projection, speed • Fast, but narrow range of movement • Accessories • Moving mirror, color scrollers, etc.

  5. Moving Head Floods • Optimized for use as color changing wash lights • May have fresnel lens and allow for beam width control similar to a fresnel • Most have CMY (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) color mixing • May have frost and additional color wheel • Built in douser for dimming

  6. Moving Head Spots • Wide range of motion • Heavy head means slow movement and high maintenance • Difficult to control due to non-axial pan (pan will rotate in a circular motion) • Versatile positioning (can sit on floor or hang) • Impressive looking, good for on-stage effects • Plano-convex or condenser versions common

  7. Moving Mirror Spots • Restricted range of movement (180 pan, 90 tilt) • Large and bulky body • Designed primarily to be hung • Handle fast changes easily • Low maintenance due to limited weight of mirror • Long, may not fit well some spaces • Nicknamed “scanners” • Easy to control

  8. Controlling Automated Fixtures • Dedicated Controller • Designed for that instrument • One controller per light (or type of light) • Conventional DMX console • Allows integration with conventional fixtures • Cumbersome, hard to learn • Automated Lighting console • Designed to handle many lights at once • Easy controls

  9. Dedicated Controllers • LCD / LED controllers • Joystick for pan/tilt • Buttons for each function • Some can control more than one light • Cumbersome when controlling many lights • Limited playback functionality • Good to learn on, but poor to program shows on

  10. Conventional DMX consoles • Convenient when may conventional fixtures to be controlled and few automated fixtures, but… • Hard to program: • Pan and Tilt expressed as value 0-255 • Functions expressd as banks (gobo 1 may be 0-30) • Control commands require complex sequence of steps (light off, control to full, light on, control to X, light off…) • Speed changes require extra steps between look cues • Hard to keep track of all of those addresses (97-124 = Cyber 1, 125…) • No Joystick or trackball control for pan and tilt makes positioning difficult • Limited definition controls (console uses percent instead of 1-255)

  11. Automated Lighting Consoles • Created to make programming and running shows with many automated fixtures easier • Joystick or trackball for pan and tilt control • Instruments controlled by type and function instead of address • Library allows functions to be controlled by name (Color 1: Yellow) • Hundreds of fixtures can be controlled from one console (using multiple DMX universes) • Midi sequencing allows timecode sync with music or other midi devices (eg pyro) • Multiple simultaneous playback cuelists allow for recycling looks in different combinations

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