chrisporter1984 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 In the show that I'm currently working on I've had to create a TV flicker effect, which I've done by putting a fluorescent starter on the live wire. The problem that I'm having though is that I need a slower flicker. I'm using a mains voltage GU10 down lighter with a 4-65w starter. If I use a lower wattage starter (maybe) 4-20w) will I get a slower flicker? Cheers in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Q Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Just speaking from personal experience, I have never created a TV flicker like this.... I have usually mounted two birdies inside the TV set, on two separate channels, and therefore can control the flicker rate from the lx desk.This creates an effect on faces watching the TV set, facing away from the audience normally, with heavy diffusion gel where the screen would be. However, "TV flicker" is a fairly general definition of what you want to do.... could you explain further perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisporter1984 Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Just speaking from personal experience, I have never created a TV flicker like this.... I have usually mounted two birdies inside the TV set, on two separate channels, and therefore can control the flicker rate from the lx desk.This creates an effect on faces watching the TV set, facing away from the audience normally, with heavy diffusion gel where the screen would be. However, "TV flicker" is a fairly general definition of what you want to do.... could you explain further perhaps? Thats pretty much what I'm trying to do, trying to create a flicker onto actors faces whilst they watch TV. The two birdies are wired together with the starter only on one, so that I have one static and one flickering. Only problem is that I'm working in a small venue and I have no more circuits left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Need Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Using florry starters is great for making random flashing for a fire effect - but probably far too fast. A TV flicker is very slow, often with no rapid changes for long periods of time, so I would usually set up a sequence on a second playback to run this effect. Every thought of using a REAL TV, wired back to a DVD player and running a movie? This works even better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benash Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I was watching TV last night looking at the light on the opposite wall of the room. It made me wonder if it would be better to do this effect with an RGB LED parcan or something similar? The colours you get from general programming are constantly variable and it might look a little more realistic than just having 2 separate colours to choose from. I guess you'd have to control it off the desk. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtastic3 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I was watching TV last night looking at the light on the opposite wall of the room. It made me wonder if it would be better to do this effect with an RGB LED parcan or something similar? The colours you get from general programming are constantly variable and it might look a little more realistic than just having 2 separate colours to choose from. I guess you'd have to control it off the desk. Ben Spot on. This is the best effect. You don't want exact colours all the time though. You kind of what to range it between the areas of 70% - 100% with RGB so you only get slight hues then now and again going straight to full blue or a second B/O. But yeah LED pars are the best for this effect. In fact LED pars are now great for anything: lightning, fire, passing train effects, siren lights.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 A very fancy solution would be to map the led par as a one pixel video screen then play video back. I suspect programming a series of hues with a variety of transistion times would give the same desired effect without the expense or hassle of a whole media server for a one pixel screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Why bother going to the effort of rigging lamps and programing a suitable chase when the works been done for youFake TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gherriott Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I have used the starter motor effect before and the trick I found to make it more realistic, was to add two more lamps that are on constantly. This evens out the tones a bit and makes it look more realistic. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LXbydesign Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Why bother going to the effort of rigging lamps and programing a suitable chase when the works been done for youFake TV I went and bought this after losing patience with the designer who was more concerned about the "tv light" than anything else. The LX guys and board op were thrilled with not having to program a long winded chase just for a tv effect. Arrived within a couple of days , it got mounted into the fake tele , controlled through the desk on a hot mains independant - not a dimmer - and looked the biz!! Well worth the small amount of cash for it and easy to switch around into other tvs' I just wish they had a model version you could use for a plasma or LCD tele!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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