Suggestions for lightning effect

[Hockeybod]

Any suggestions for creating a lightning lighting effect? I think incandescent will be too slow to produce a realistic flickering effect. LEDs of course have a much faster rise and fall, is it worth investing in an LED strobe - it's not a big stage?

Thanks

[themadhippy]

hire a proper xenon strobe

[sunray]

49 minutes ago, themadhippy said:

hire a proper xenon strobe

And make sure it's syncronised to the sound effect

[Hockeybod]

Thanks, I just remembered I have a Xenon strobe at work I don't use any more so I'll give that a try. Hope the tube hasn't gone, they're not cheap (assuming you can still get them).

Out of interest, around 1 in 100 people have epilepsy, and of those around 3 in 100 people with epilepsy have seizures triggered by flickering light. That means the likelihood of someone in the theatre having photosensitive epilepsy is around 3 in 10,000, but if you have 100 people in the venue then it's a 1 in 33 risk which is why it's worth issuing a warning.

Most commonly the trigger is between 16-25Hz but can be anywhere from 3-60Hz. We use 30Hz in the Eye Dept and I have never triggered a seizure (yet).

[Ynot]

1 hour ago, sunray said:

And make sure it's syncronised to the sound effect

Hmmm...
That would need to depend entirely on the effect you want.
True lightning pretty much comes in advance of the thunder SFX of course, sometimes seconds ahead.

BUT the artistic licence oft used in theatre is for them to be triggered at the same time for max effect (and that old suspension of disbelief element).
:D

[Ynot]

31 minutes ago, Hockeybod said:

Out of interest, around 1 in 100 people have epilepsy, and of those around 3 in 100 people with epilepsy have seizures triggered by flickering light. That means the likelihood of someone in the theatre having photosensitive epilepsy is around 3 in 10,000, but if you have 100 people in the venue then it's a 1 in 33 risk which is why it's worth issuing a warning.

Induced epilepsy is most likely to be triggered by a SUSTAINED series of flashes, over an extended period of time. Whilst it is possible for just a small number to cause some sufferers to be affected, those will be in the minority. So a lightning effect with say 2 or 3 strobe flashes is FAR less likely than an extended fast-speed chase over the duration of a song, for example.

Yes - it is always wise to sign that flashing lights will be used, or a pre-show announcement to that effect.

[Jivemaster]

Only a xenon flash tube seems to replicate lightning readily. 

[gareth]

Martin Atomic, or equivalent. Particularly the newer LED version - they rock. Best thing for a lightning effect.

[alistermorton]

We were surprised by how effective just using LED fresnels with the curve set to immediate was. We have an atomic too, but for the effect we wanted we felt it was not directional enough, and just a couple of flash buttons on two of the fressies worked a treat.

[timsabre]

If you can do 2 flashes from different directions that also helps sell the effect. I was doing "Little Shop of Horrors" earlier this year and the stage was almost entirely lit with LED pars, separately flashing 2 groups of them to full white with instant release (in Avo-speak) gave some reasonably convincing lightning on a darkened "nighttime blue" stage.

[Hockeybod]

13 hours ago, gareth said:

Martin Atomic, or equivalent. Particularly the newer LED version - they rock. Best thing for a lightning effect.

So it should for £3K+!

[sunray]

On 10/9/2022 at 11:00 PM, Ynot said:

Hmmm...
That would need to depend entirely on the effect you want.
True lightning pretty much comes in advance of the thunder SFX of course, sometimes seconds ahead.

BUT the artistic licence oft used in theatre is for them to be triggered at the same time for max effect (and that old suspension of disbelief element).
😄

For halloween tours through tunnels we had a live hanging body lit only by sound controlled lightning, initially I added a delay (old Carlesbro tape machine) but it looked very silly and disjointed.

EDIT: More to the point sounded wrong as we had what I'd call 'rolling' thunder.

Edited October 11, 2022 by sunray

[gareth]

20 hours ago, Hockeybod said:

So it should for £3K+!

As with everything in life, you get what you pay for.

[sleah]

1 hour ago, sunray said:

 we had a live hanging body

Say what?!? As opposed to dead body or a prop...😂??

[sunray]

1 hour ago, sleah said:

Say what?!? As opposed to dead body or a prop...😂??

sorry that was more than confusing. we had a live person hanging (appeared to be by the neck) who would move as people were close enough to scare.