Lighting a Cyc

[AV Ian]

Dear Blueroom,

 

Unfortunately one of my pet hates has cropped up at work and I'd like to pick your brains. I generally dislike cyc's, not the effect they give, but the practicalities of making them work. I’m not really too well versed on stage lighting so please forgive me any errors.

 

We have a 10mx4m white fabric cyc. Lighting is currently provided by 5 Coda 3's positioned on a bar 1m downstage of the cyc and at the same height as the hanging bar for the cyc.

We have never been able to achieve a smooth colour wash, more like beams of light. The beams do overlap at the edges, although the colour is faded out by this point. According to the Strand spec sheets, we do have them spaced at 1.5m apart.

Q: Would a diffuser gel provide a better horizontal distribution of the beam colour?

Should I be looking to install more Coda 3's to reduce the distance between lanterns?

Perhaps I am missing something obvious?

 

The colour also seems to fade out around halfway down the drop. I have tried angling the lights downwards until they fall off the top of the cyc, but this doesn't seem to help.

Q: I assume the best option is to try and light equally from the top and bottom?

Should the gel frames have the sharks tooth edge on the upper or lower edge of the frame?

Are Coda's likely to be bright enough to light a 4m drop from top and bottom against general stage lighting?

Is 1m about the right distance downstage for the lighting bar or would I be better increasing/reducing it?

 

Finally, A

Q: Are Coda's really a good option for cyc lights?

Would the Thomas or Selecon Cyc floods be a better option as a long term investment?

What about Par 38 or MR16 battens?

Do you use Coda's and are you happy with them?

 

I hope I have given enough information to receive some useful responses. Please bear in mind that I work for a school so budget is somewhat limited. I could consider up to £800 for improvements this year with any additional requirements hired in until next year’s budget arrives. I am happy to purchase second hand - usedlighting.co.uk (am I allowed to mention companies?) have been very good to me in the past.

[paulears]

Codas are not too bad at all, but I suspect the problem is there are too few. 5 means you have one every two metres or thereabouts, and at a metre from the cloth, you have the vertical function, but horizontal fade between units will be a problem. Have you tried moving the spacing between them by closing them up as a test - slide them along the bar till they almost touch and having a look at the smoothness. I'd bet it's a lot, lot better. You mention 1.5 m apart? They should be on 1.5m centres, so with a coda 3, that's almost touching as they're 700mm-ish wide. I'm guessing but have you spaced them 1.5m edge to edge? If so, the results you are getting are exactly what we'd expect - effectively, there's two missing from each gap!

[Suzette]

I have a cyc lit from above with 4 x Coda 4's. The cyc is approx 4.5m high and 8m wide. The codas are rigged with about 0.3m between then.

It's not absolutley perfect but it's not a bad coverage. When I need a better coverage (and budgets allow) I hire the same again and place on the floor in front and uplight as well.

 

As paulears says -- probably too big a gap between your units and possibly not enough of them. If I were you I would spend any extra money you may have on buying a couple of extra Coda 3's rather than starting again with different units.

[AV Ian]

Thanks Paulears and Suzette,

 

Having popped back up the ladder I can confirm that they were 1.7m c-to-c, reducing the gap to 1.4m seemed to do the trick.

So, the solution would appear to be a few more Codas’ from above. Then I can hire in some more, or play with other options on hire for the bottom end when needed.

 

Can anyone shed any light on the sharks tooth edge on the gel frame? I assume it is supposed to soften the sharp edge of the beam, but should it be at the top or bottom in this situation?

 

Additionally, what 3 colours would you have in a row of Coda 3's? I'm guessing RGB, but may be wrong. Ideally I need a cold and warm wash for general use. Any particular/favourite gels that work really well?

[J Pearce]

I avoid RGB, as you can't really achieve much mixing, and I rarely find any use for a green cyc.

 

For corporate/architectural I often do Red, Blue and some colour of interest, perhaps something that ties in with the set or venue, or just something different.

[Suzette]

Dance show this week ... I have Blue, Amber, Purple & Green ..... it works for the dance numbers this week!

I would suggest the lighting designer decides what they need for each show.

[The Gaffa]

Viz the frames, I'd normally have the "teeth" at the bottom of the unit with the tab facing the Cyc at the top.

Its mainy personal choice as to which way you want to use the frames.

 

My standard colours are straw (103), blue (161), pink (107), red (106).

 

I use 12 Coda 500/1's to cover a 9m wide by 5m drop rigged about 1m from the Cyc with about 0.3 - 0.4m spacing (unit to unit). In our main hall or 3 x 8cell S-type batterns.

 

In the smaller venue I'll use 9 to cover 6m wide by 4m drop rigged 0.9m from Cyc.

 

HTH.

[AV Ian]

Thank you all for your replies.

I'll be ordering some more Coda 3's this afternoon and getting the swatch book out for gel colours.

Have a good day!