Displaying Lantern Beam Angles on a Lighting Plan

[smalljoshua]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm currently working over the finer details of my initial lighting plan, which is forming part of the initial design portfolio that I plan present to the Production team for a show I'm working on. It has been requested that I display beam angles of the keylight fixtures as they are worried that coverage will not be adequate as the last LD who worked for them in that venue didn't actually seem to do any "Design" meaning their worries from past experience are well founded.

 

I want to ensure that the markings to show these beam angles are clear and well presented. They will be on a full lighting design plan so need to be both clear but can't obscure other details I may be quizzed on during the meeting.

 

I am using Visio 2007 and am working to scale. I have access to Photoshop and the likes if that is of any help. I am also happy to make available the Design in a PDF format if that helps.

 

Many Thanks

 

Josh

[madorangepanda]

Create a different symbol for each fixture and indicate in the key what angle each is. Simply adding notches on the sides or strikes across the body can be used to make them distinguishable.

 

Or place text clearly on or around the fixture on the plan to indicate the angle. Make sure this is marked in a different way from Gels, Circuits etc

[mrcog]

Like madorangepanda has said, typically when I've been putting designs together I distinguish different beam angles using slashes or crosses in the body of the symbol... As long as you indicate it in the key, then you could pretty much do whatever you want!

[smalljoshua]

Thanks for the replies guys, however I think I may have phrased my question wrongly.

 

I need a way to visually show where the light will hit for a given beam angle. I am thinking that the basic "lines" extending from the lantern representing the edge of the beam would be OK but I was wondering if there was any sort of convention.

 

E.G. I have a number of Sil15s at FOH and need to visually show where on stage the beams will fall (as per the Producer's request)

 

The obvious solution would be to use something like WYSIWYG or similar to actually render the stage with beams falling on it but I just don't have that luxury. :)

 

Josh

[Bryson]

Sometime I do this to help me visualise the right position - I just draw two lines at the correct angle from each other and stick them on the front of the light - nothing fancier than that! I usually put them on a separate layer because they're a touch intrusive for the people who end up "using" the plan to hang lights, but they're there if I need them.

[mrcog]

Ohhh okay then! Typically you wouldn't want those lines on a plan as it would just tend to get messy... So I guess you could either tell the director to trust you to design it so that youve got an even coverage... Find yourself a mate with a copy of WYG and lob it in there... Or fake a few ovals just too keep the director happy... I reckon it would be quite hard to get an accurate beam angle on a copy of viso however I haven't used it that much so I'm none the wiser really...

[the kid]

In which case you may have to live with doing a version of what wyg does draw a line direct from lantern to point.

 

And then to make it easy for them, do 2 lines on the spot, one being the widest and one the smallest (I am sure you can work out the maths of drawing angles) for the specials.

Or do a sheet with a "demo" angle I guess a scale drawing of how much x degrees will cover.

 

You could dive on the demo of wyg and get a prt sc of it.

[gareth]

As the lighting designer it's up to you to determine that the beam angles you've chosen will provide the necessary coverage. The rest of the production team need to be able to trust your judgement on that front. If they're not able to do that, then if I was in your shoes I'd be suggesting they find themselves another lighting designer who was happy to have each and every decision, no matter how minor, questioned by people with no experience of lighting design. I've never heard of a non-technical member of the creative team asking a lighting designer to make this sort of detailed justification of their design decisions.

 

Edit : Or just blag it! As long as you're confident in your beam angle selection and you're happy that the kit you've drawn in the position in which you've drawn it will do the job, just sketch some lines and ovals onto a copy of the lighting plan covering the area you want to cover, and give it to them just to shut them up :)

[smalljoshua]

I'm sure I could go down the route of a WYG demo but I really don't want the fuss of all that if I'm honest when it is only a quick visual rep to keep the director happy (he only wants to make sure all the cast's faces will be lit.

 

I have got the lines on there already but I can't help but think they're a messy way of doing it. I've already got various colours and styles of line representing stage edges/tiers, installed scaff bars, hung scaff bars, Wing Masks and various other appendages to the stage plan. I was just wondering really if there was a definitive way of doing it (perhaps how it was done in the days before WYG?)

 

Many Thanks (again)

 

Josh

 

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@Gareth

 

This is less about justifying my design decisions as it is about restoring their confidence in lighting designers. Their last one was a bit of a Lemon and sacrificed a fair amount of front light throughout the show in order to have enough lanterns for one effect in a scene. I was just asked to show that my lantern placement for the frontlight (4x Sil15) would be adequate in a non-technical way.

 

Cheers for the Input though.

 

Josh

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

@Bryson

 

That's exactly what I have done so far, I was just wondering if there was perhaps a better way.

 

Cheers

 

Josh

[Bryson]

Yeah - they look pretty ugly but can be useful during "construction" of the design. Not sure I'd show them to anyone!

[smalljoshua]

That is my worry too. I've worked with the Group for 3 years previous to this and I've always heard good things about my designs, however during the last show, the guest director decided to throw his toys out of the pram (before meeting me) and decided that he would only work with "his" LD meaning I was out of a job for the show. The show also happened to be the first in a new venue to the group. As such, the production team's confidence in Lighting Designers in that venue isn't what it was before this fiasco.

 

I may have a play with the free demo of WYG from the cast site when I have a free weekend in which to run the software non-stop.

 

Josh

[AndyJones]

I have had to do this a few times. So far I have found the easiest way is to print out the lines of the beams on accetate or tracing paper. I then put a "rigging point" symbol in each corner so I can line the two pages up with eachother.

 

It's quick and simple and then leaves the plan free and uncluttered for the rest of the meeting.

 

HTH

 

AndyJones

[Andrew C]

I'm sure I could go down the route of a WYG demo but I really don't want the fuss of all that if I'm honest when it is only a quick visual rep to keep the director happy (he only wants to make sure all the cast's faces will be lit.

I don't think I've ever worked with a director who could work this out from a two dimensional representation of a lighting rig. They might see the ovals covering the floor and say "Great", but not realise that the cones of light won't be overlapping at face height.

[gareth]

To be blunt, Joshua, either they have confidence in your ability to light the show or they don't. If they do, they should let you get on with it. If they don't, then as I said, if I were you I'd let them know politely that I don't need the hassle of having my judgment questioned at every turn and that they should look for another lighting designer who was happy to work that way. (I'm guessing this is an amdram job rather than a paid one, so you wouldn't be losing any income by turning down the gig?)

[smalljoshua]

@Andrew

 

I get where you're coming from there, and I would probably struggle to see it too if I was non-technical. I'm just going to draw (correct) beam angle lines from the Sils to the front lip of the stage and then explain what they mean at the meeting. It seems to me to be the easiest way, unless someone wants to buy me a copy of WYG? :)

 

@Gareth

 

If this was almost any other company, I would be doing exactly that. I do however have a lot of time for this company (they gave me my "break" as you might call it). It is Amdram but I do take a wage from this particular group so I would loose out in this instance. They are more worried about anyone being able to light a show in the new venue than my ability to light a show in general.

 

I do see your point though Gareth and in a few years time I may have the luxury of being able to pick and choose what work I undertake, however as a student, I have to undertake any work that will add to the Uni fund.

 

Josh