Gel

[RedDog]

Hi,using 400/500w halogen worklights for set. what gel would you suggest in order to tone down the light to a warm white?

thanks.

 

[sandall]

Hi,using 400/500w halogen worklights for set. what gel would you suggest in order to tone down the light to a warm white?

thanks.

Are you talking about work-lights for set construction or use as stage-lights? The old-school answer for "warming" a stage is Lee 103, the modern answer seems to be 1/4 or 1/2 CTO (don't have the numbers to hand). Or you could just dim them slightly ?

[ianknight]

Lee 159 works just as well from experience - makes the light a bit warmer without looking as yellow as 103.

[alistermorton]

L206 is 1/4 CTO which will warm but might be too much. L159 is much "kinder".

[J Pearce]

Cheap answer - run them at 70%, not a huge drop in intensity but will be quite a bit warmer in tone.

Longer answer, any of the gels suggest above (though I always avoid L103, makes people look sickly to my eyes).

[RedDog]

the lights will be used to light performers, as wellas being part of the stage set.

 

not being run from dimmers.no control other than on/off.

they will light performers, while being part of set.

 

Hi,using 400/500w halogen worklights for set. what gel would you suggest in order to tone down the light to a warm white?

thanks.

Are you talking about work-lights for set construction or use as stage-lights? The old-school answer for "warming" a stage is Lee 103, the modern answer seems to be 1/4 or 1/2 CTO (don't have the numbers to hand). Or you could just dim them slightly ?

[sandall]

not being run from dimmers.no control other than on/off.

they will light performers, while being part of set.

The best answer is to get hold of a swatch-book from Lee or Rosco & have a play, BUT if these are the standard Wickes / B&Q halogen lights with K/1 linear lamps your main problem is going to be how to attach the gel. The safety glass in these lights gets incredibly hot (they are intended to be used outside, in the dark, not on a warm indoor stage), so your gel needs to be spaced away by several inches, otherwise it will simply melt onto the glass, possibly causing it to crack.

 

I have a load of these lights, but they are all fitted with sets of barn doors (sold as accessories for some cheap Italian floods), so I attach the gel to the barn-doors with crocodile clips (standard film & TV practise). Not very elegant, so perhaps not suitable for your on-set lights. Would it be practicable to run them via a dimmer? If the lamps are 400W you could run up to 6 off a 2.5kW follow-spot dimmer - do you have a DJ hire-shop within reach? Alternatively, quite a few d0me3tic dimmers are rated at 500W.

[Modge]

The best answer is to get hold of a swatch-book from Lee or Rosco & have a play

This, it's your design after all. Some other choices I and others have had success with:

L238 (especially on darker skin, from the side)

L009 (quite strong, I like it)

L442

[Jivemaster]

The usual way of gelling "night fighter" lamps is to use a large sheet of gel very loosely around the lamp. -Effective but not pretty.

[RedDog]

not being run from dimmers.no control other than on/off.

they will light performers, while being part of set.

The best answer is to get hold of a swatch-book from Lee or Rosco & have a play, BUT if these are the standard Wickes / B&Q halogen lights with K/1 linear lamps your main problem is going to be how to attach the gel. The safety glass in these lights gets incredibly hot (they are intended to be used outside, in the dark, not on a warm indoor stage), so your gel needs to be spaced away by several inches, otherwise it will simply melt onto the glass, possibly causing it to crack.

 

I have a load of these lights, but they are all fitted with sets of barn doors (sold as accessories for some cheap Italian floods), so I attach the gel to the barn-doors with crocodile clips (standard film & TV practise). Not very elegant, so perhaps not suitable for your on-set lights. Would it be practicable to run them via a dimmer? If the lamps are 400W you could run up to 6 off a 2.5kW follow-spot dimmer - do you have a DJ hire-shop within reach? Alternatively, quite a few d0me3tic dimmers are rated at 500W.

 

thanks for the info.. useful.

[paulears]

Are these also going to be hard to get lamps for, as they're not on the exemption list are they?

 

The real issue with lighting performer with them is that the light is not very even and very stark. Floods went out of fashion for lighting stages quite a long time ago now!

[sandall]

Are these also going to be hard to get lamps for, as they're not on the exemption list are they?

I thought they were on the "exempt 'cos there's no alternative" list, but now you've got me worrying :(.

 

The real issue with lighting performer with them is that the light is not very even and very stark.

Perhaps the scene is set in a car-park ?? :huh:

[Jivemaster]

Terralec used to supply dichroic filter specifically cut for some large lanterns, maybe they can help for a large enough order?

 

Can any other gel or glass gobo supplier offer you a dichroic filter at a half sensible price?

 

Getting a precise match for a Lee colour could be hard.

[Stuart91]

A company called "Light Engineering" used to supply 300w halogen floods with dichroic glass pre-fitted. In the days before affordable LEDs it was quite a useful way to get some interesting colour about the place. However they tended to be more primary colours rather than just a bit of correction. Also the colour changes with the angle, so on a wide flood you get some very noticeable colour shift towards the outside of the coverage.

[adam2]

The linear halogen lamps used in these fixtures are exempt from the ban FOR NOW due to lack of alternatives.

 

In the longer term I expect that all common types of halogen lamp will be banned. Whilst retrofit lamps of reasonable output are not readily available, the fittings are very cheap and complete replacement of the fitting with an efficient alternative would be reasonable.