Track lighting

[TomHoward]

Afternoon all

 

Does anyone know of any manufacturers that do any track lighting fittings with variable focus / gel frames etc?

 

We have a drama studio space that they want to put some more usable lighting into (more usable than strip lights), but due to the very low ceiling height there's no room for bars & IWBS or similar - not enough height for a Minuette on a hook clamp.

 

We've looked at track lighting systems as an alternative, but the best I can find is track lights with birdies (link) - which would allow them to use barn doors & colour etc - I just wondered if anyone knew of any other similar fittings that might give more control (to give a few 'profiles' with the birdies) or had any other suggestions of a moveable & colourable light source?

 

Thanks

[Ashley R]

What about useing a bit of, I think its called U channel UniStrut. Used on sideways rolling doors, and can carry a significant amount of weight. Essentially a bit of Box tube with a reinforced slot cut into it.

 

This is the stuff im talking about, although the lips would have to be a bit wider, and im thinking of much smaller channel than whats shown in the pic. My link

 

 

Just slide a bolt into the channel with a large enough bolt head, and then accompanying sized washers and wingnuts, so it cant fall out of the channel, then just tighten the wingnut to hold the fixture in place, if you need to move it, loosen the wingnut and slide allong the channel.

 

To power - Have outlets installed along the ceiling? , Or install ducting with a removable cover right next to the channel, and you can run your own cables.

 

By doing this your not restricted to anything by your power supply/ way of rigging. Only limited by the strength of the U Channel UniStrut, and what its bolted to.

 

Should provide you with enough clearance, and then you can use existing fixtures. If you need a small fully functional profile, try the Selecon Aureol range. (I think that's how its spelt)

[GR1]

The product Ashley is referring to is called Unistrut and it is widely used to hang all sorts of stuff using a springy thing which you attatch to the light fitting and which is normally referred to as a Zebedee.

 

Use it as a much shallower alternative to Lx bars, etc and install local sockets as Ashley has mentioned.

 

What about useing a bit of, I think its called U channel. Used on sideways rolling doors, and can carry a significant amount of weight. Essentially a bit of Box tube with a reinforced slot cut into it.

 

This is the stuff im talking about, although the lips would have to be a bit wider, and im thinking of much smaller channel than whats shown in the pic. My link

 

 

Just slide a bolt into the channel with a large enough bolt head, and then accompanying sized washers and wingnuts, so it cant fall out of the channel, then just tighten the wingnut to hold the fixture in place, if you need to move it, loosen the wingnut and slide allong the channel.

 

To power - Have outlets installed along the ceiling? , Or install ducting with a removable cover right next to the channel, and you can run your own cables.

 

By doing this your not restricted to anything by your power supply/ way of rigging. Only limited by the strength of the U Channel, and what its bolted to.

[ramdram]

TH, when you say low ceiling, how low is "your" low? I have just finished cobbling in a 20ft IWR (15A skts) in our Studio, (rehearsals/perfs/recitals over the colder months), which has a ceiling at 8'6". Our tallest member at 6'6" can walk under a Quartette or Par 56 from a standard (?) hook clamp with 2" of clearance.

 

I was able to use some slightly longer hook clamps bolted through the plaster board into a cross piece of timber at right angles to the roof trusses. Fortunately the trusses are at 16" centres and even my weight (12 stone plus/85kGm ish) on just one cause no deflection at all. These hooks were off 12m bolts positioned and just about touching a rafter. Longer hooks needed to provide clearance to ceiling for the junction box on end of bar.

 

However, as the lighting fraternity on BR will tell you, this position of lighting does leave something to be desired...obvious shadows being very obvious, so due consideration needs to be given to minimizing these. Plus there is the risk of illuminating the back of the heads of the audience and a bald pate has quite a high albedo...

 

Still, it beats have to erect tripods every time, which was the original practice.

 

If you did find that an IWB is doable then given some thought to the cables or multi from the junction box, as in they have to run somewhere and you could do worse than hanging another series of hook clamps to act as cable trays as it where.

 

HTH

[ramdram]

Just seen the post re. Unistrut (thanks, v. useful gen for running blacks in our Studio!).

 

Now, playing DA (devils advocate) the only issue I could see here, possibly, is that of heat from the lanterns onto the ceiling.

 

I found that there was quite a lot of heat from a Par 64 I experimented with.

 

Still if you are using LEDs then the heat issue is not quite so relevant perhaps.

[ianl]

there certainly were mini profiles and fresnels available on a lighting track

 

I looked at buying some about 10/15 years ago but cant remember the make

 

I seem to remember seeing something similar if not the same more recently in used lighting's office

[csg]

altman make mini profiles etc, mountable to track fittings

 

Erco make some very good focusable fixtures such as profiles and fresnels - lots of art galleries and the like use them - obviously only fit erco type track though

[TomHoward]

Having spent a bit of the afternoon looking into this, it seems that track lighting is available with fittings to bolt your own lanterns onto - so like the birdie linked earlier, you can just bolt on the lantern of your choice. We're looking at things like Par30s and birdies, so hopefully heat won't be too much of a problem. The Unistrut idea is good (there's a venue near us that has Unistrut recessed into the walls up the side of the seating area - useful for securing unusual tabs and lighting positions) but ideally we'd like to keep it as neat as possible. The ceiliing height must be around 7'6, so once you add a bar, clamp and lantern you're possibly under 6' - not much clearance at all. We were thinking of running some 3-circuit track down each side of the room, wired back into a 6ch dimmer - so 1-3 on one side and 4-6 on the other - using birdies etc in three colours on each side would give us a three-colour wash from both sides - should be interesting enough but would be nice to add a couple of small profiles for breakups etc if we can find something low power, light and small enough to run off a track fitting without any heat or weight issues.

[TomHoward]

I have found a solution for this now, but I need to find a focusable profile, which ideally takes a gobo, that weighs under 5kg and preferably no more than around 100-200W for heat issues - does anyone know of any profiles that can be as low as 200W for very small applications?

[cafc-dan]

Something like these? I realise they might not be punchy enough for your application but I've used them on small indoor architectural projects.

 

http://www.altmanltg.com/micro-ellipse-me2.htm

 

Take an E size gobo and dim rather well.

 

HTH

[TomHoward]

Interesting, thanks for that - the main lamps are going to be 100W Par30s though so I don't know whether an MR16 will punch through. We could use a Minuette profile but I'm a bit worried about the heat - the top of the yoke is only going to end up around 3-4" from the ceiling.

[david.elsbury]

50w MR16 (standard, not "high efficiency"/ "energysaver" type) should be giving light output to 100w incandescent lamp. Guess it depends on how efficient your PAR30's are - also, a lot of the PAR30's I've seen are quite a diffuse beam.

 

HTH somewhat

David

 

Otherwise may be possible to see if you can retrofit an ELC 24v 250w lamp, same physical size, but obviously much higher heat output, maybe worth an email to the manufacturer?

 

(Or, retrofit something with a discharge source, and then mechanical shutters/douser... oh wait, you wanted small ;) :) )

[TomHoward]

How hot do Source 4 Juniors get with a 375W lamp in them? That fits within the power limit and (just) within weight limits, depending on how hot the unit gets.

 

Alternatively, could I stick something like a CP81 300W lamp in a Minuette Profile?

[Don Allen]

The Minim range old Strand Minim 23 Profile spot with a 300w lamp would be one of the most compact units around. Hopefully you will be able to get some unwanted ones as they were designed for a very compact space (shop windows)so did not work too well in theatres.

[Brian]

Strand also used to do the 50W and 75W Minispot and the 150W discharge Hilite.

 

Alternatively, could I stick something like a CP81 300W lamp in a Minuette Profile?

CCT do discharge versions at 70W and 150W for architectural use.