LXbydesign Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Hello, I just wanted to post up - and im in no way related to the man!! - but I thought Dave Daveys lighting on this show, dispite the expected video element - is somewhat refreshing and actually enjoyable to watch. The design in terms of placement etc looks fairly straight forward , but it all works and I cant see any mover thats not there for the sake of it. I thought last years lighting on the show was very bland and boring, but this year its dynamic and colourful. So a big shout to all the tech team, programmers, racks guys on this year!! A good job!! Im actually watching the show for now just to see technical because until those two irish idiots are voted off, the entire thing is just laughable. Once again, great job guys - a nice bit of tech tv!!! Dom (ps - you can pay me later Dave ;) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron-Hill07 Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 I actually do agree completely, it really has upped since last year and I've been so far very impressed with the lighting. Anybody know the exact kit list for it? And what they use for control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LXbydesign Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 Spend a couple of minutes on the net and all is revealed!!! X Factor LX Spec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron-Hill07 Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Moving lights provided by PRG but what are they? anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Spend a couple of minutes on the net and all is revealed!!! X Factor LX Spec is there a reason you are posting a news story from 2 December 2005? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron-Hill07 Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 I didn't even spot that! After researching I believe they used Martin Mac fixtures and Colour Kinetics iColor Tiles for the LED flooring etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtastic3 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 One thing I want ot know about the lighting of this years X- Factor.... Yes the set looks grand with the strips of LED flooring and walls and ceilings, but how the hell is everything DMX patched!? How do you decide that one set of fixtures is addressed from channel 1 and how does this work in relation the positions on a stage with various levels??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Yes the set looks grand with the strips of LED flooring and walls and ceilings, but how the hell is everything DMX patched!? How do you decide that one set of fixtures is addressed from channel 1 and how does this work in relation the positions on a stage with various levels???It's actually very simple, there's just a lot of it.It's all down to your paperwork. In a big system, you'll generally dedicate ranges of universes to sets of fixtures - in a recent large system, we simply patched the fixtures into 'washes', 'spots', 'uplights' and 'dimmers' with banks of maybe 12 universes for each group.It didn't completely fill those universes, but it's better to leave gaps in case a few fixtures get added. It's actually quite easy, it just takes a long time and you need to remember that you *don't* need to keep it all inside your head - you can (and must) write it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hallett Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 but how the hell is everything DMX patched!? How do you decide that one set of fixtures is addressed from channel 1 and how does this work in relation the positions on a stage with various levels??? My preferred method is to patch by physical location - so as much as possible everything on one truss is on the same DMX stream. On X Factor the 2 upstage curved trusses are stream A, with VL3000 spots, VL2k washes and a couple of Novaflowers. The minibeam truss downstage of the screen and finger 1 are on B, fingers 2-4 on C etc etc. Similarly the floor lights are split stage right and stage left. The lights mounted to the sides of the screens are Alpha Beam 700s freshly shipped over from the US by PRG. I generally set the channel numbers and the programmers are tolerant enough to stick to them so the plans remain accurate. There are quite big gaps left at the tops of the streams - it's a long series and we have extra kit brought in for different shows. If I can just bolt that on to whatever stream is local then it's easier for all concerned. Doing it this way makes the paperwork and desk patch a bit more involved - but means that the wiring on site is much easier. Having separate streams for spots and washes can lead to 3 or 4 DMX lines going to the same truss - which (I think) makes things very complicated on site. Things are further complicated on X Factor by there being 2 desks running different bits of the lighting. The dimmers which light people, Source 4 revolutions, VL3000 washes, and VL1000s (this week only for big band week) are on one Vector Green, and everything else including the 'effects' dimmers are on another Vector Green. This does lead to lights on the same truss being on different streams as they're on different desks - but there's not much I can do about that! There is then a Vector Blue running the Hippotisers feeding the MiStrip ceiling and floor and the Toshiba 6mm main screens and 15mm screens. If there's anything else do ask - but please keep the thread civilised. There's a long history of threads about this show in the past being closed if things get too 'controversial'. Cheers Dave(X Factor moving light gaffer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LXbydesign Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Thanks for that info Dave. Very interesting read! I prefer as well to simply run up a DMX to each 'area' rather than split to 'type'. Makes fault finding a lot easier also! Is it the same crew / LD on this year as last? This years just seems to be a lot fresher, varied and more interesting to look at compared to last years. The Alpha 700's (now we know what they are!!) are excellent! Get some Bad Boys in before the last show!!!!! and see the racks guys working O/T !! hehe :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hallett Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 The new set is a vast improvement on the one we've had for the last 3 years. There is now the potential for some depth on the stage - so not every shot is of a head against the big video screen. In my opinion that's what's giving it the sense of airiness - and making it look more varied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Oh, and it was all going so well... As much as I dislike the basic concept of the show, the set and lighting this year looks very good. Good job people, keep it coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtastic3 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Yeah I'd say the Alpha's look very impressive. Although I've never used them before, the first time I watched the show I knew they were Alpha's just from the sheer output they give and the really tight beam angle you can achieve. I have noticed that when the camera pans out over the crowd the singer is displayed on the big screen and then dissapears as the next close up shot comes. Is this so that the 'Doctor Who' effect doesn't happen in the close up shot (with singer in front of screen)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hallett Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I have noticed that when the camera pans out over the crowd the singer is displayed on the big screen and then dissapears as the next close up shot comes. Is this so that the 'Doctor Who' effect doesn't happen in the close up shot (with singer in front of screen)?It's not so much to avoid the infinity effect - more to avoid having a massive face behind the close up which always looks odd. The screens are cut by a different vision mixer so the vision mixer cutting the TV pictures doesn't run out of fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinE Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I watched Xfactor for the first time this year at my parents house and I also noticed how well the lighting looked especially the movers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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