Rosco Spectrum

Sharing ideas through the prism of Rosco.

Remember you can always find product info on the Rosco website www.rosco.com

Bone Up on FoamCoat

Filed Under : Rosco,Rosco - the products,Scenic by Joel

May.15,2013

Styrofoam has become one of the go-to substrates for creating scenic elements on stage, in themed environments and even in museum installations because it is light-weight, inexpensive and readily available. However, there are three major downsides to using foam: it’s fragile, it’s not flame retardant and it soaks up paint like a sponge. Rosco created FoamCoat almost 20 years ago to solve all three of these issues so that scenic artists and fabricators around the globe could texture, paint and protect their foam creations.

This Spectrum post shares the story of Haley Polak, a props artisan at the Alley Theatre. Haley sent us some photos illustrating how she used Rosco FoamCoat to create a large mastodon skeleton for the Alley’s world premiere of Elizabeth Egloff’s play Ether Dome.

Stronger than a mastodon’s cranium! The skeleton with its first coat of FoamCoat.

Strengthen From Within
Haley carved the leg bones, skull, and vertebrae separately out of rigid urethane foam and then applied them to a steel and wooden structure (the ribs were cast from another material). Haley chose to protect her large skeletal prop with FoamCoat because other techniques obliterated the features she painstakingly created in the carving process. The first coat of FoamCoat that she applied was diluted heavily with water. The absorbent foam soaked in the watery mix and the FoamCoat filled in the areas in-between the cells of the foam’s interior – making the foam stronger from the inside as well as adding a protective shell to the exterior.

Haley was able to preserve the details she carved in the foam thanks to Rosco FoamCoat.

Tone and Texture
The second coat of FoamCoat on the mastodon was straight from the bucket and went on thicker using a chip brush. After the FoamCoat had a chance to set up a bit, but before it was completely dry, Haley was able to use different tools to mold, shape and stipple the product to create the various textures she desired on the bones. She also sanded some of the areas coated with FoamCoat to achieve an ultra-smooth finish – a feat that other protective techniques cannot achieve. Now that all of the porous foam was thoroughly covered in FoamCoat, Haley had a textured skeleton that was ready for painting. She used a blend of Rosco Off Broadway Scenic Paints including: Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna and Raw Umber to layer in the base-coat with highlight and shadow colors that accentuated the textures she created on the bones.

Haley Polak posing with her completed mastodon skeleton.

Accessorizing Afterward
Once it’s dry, FoamCoat’s slurry of polyester strands creates a durable, rigid, flame retardant coating; however, it is also pliable enough to allow a nail or tack to puncture its surface without cracking. This feature is especially useful to attach accessories to a coated piece or assemble an array of coated elements, such as dinosaur bones, together to form a larger structure. Plus, simply by adding another layer of FoamCoat, you can blend the seams into one homogenous piece.

Jeffrey Bean in the Alley Theatre’s 2011 production of “Ether Dome.” Photo by Jann Whaley.

Share Your Work
If you have a project that showcases a Rosco paint or scenic product, share it with us like Haley did! Upload your photos, and the story behind them, to our Scenic Share-the-Work Page and we may end up featuring your project in an upcoming Spectrum post.

Rosco FoamCoat is available in single and 3.5 gallon containers.

My favorite part of Haley’s story is the fact that her first experience with FoamCoat came from a 2oz sample jar that she received at our USITT booth. Those sample jars are still available for you to experiment with before your next project. Visit www.rosco.com and click Where to Buy to find a local Rosco dealer that can send you a sample jar of FoamCoat. Then, see for yourself how using Rosco FoamCoat will ensure your foam creations won’t go extinct during the run of the show.

Tags : Alley Theatre, bones, Elizabeth Egloff, Ether Dome, fake bones, foam carving, foam skeleton, foamcoat, Houston, Jann Whaley, Jeffrey Bean, mastodon, metal, protecting foam, Rosco, Scenery, Scenic, Scenic Design, Scenic Paint, Scenic Products, scenic props, Share The Work, skeleton, stage props, styrofoam, Theatre, TX, wood

Dappled, Color Corrected Light Enhances Life In A Downtown Development

Filed Under : Lighting,Lighting for Architectural by dnicol

May.1,2013

by Stan Schwartz

As part of the revitalization of downtown Salt Lake City, the 23-acre City Creek Center brings business and people back to the heart of town with a walkable place to live, interact, shop, and work. The lighting designers for the project, Horton Lees Brogden (HLB), collaborating with a large team of multiple partners, used a variety of custom and standard luminaires. These included both decorative and theatrical fixtures.

Theatrical luminaires, many equipped with gobos, project soft, dappled light. This reinforces the exterior elemental attributes of the creek winding through the interior property.

They also made thoughtful and extensive use of theatrical projections with Rosco gobos and filters for color correction. HLB selected a color temperature of 3000k to reinforce the warm and welcoming environment. This, of course, required color filters to balance the sources which included HID, LED and linear fluorescents.

Even with the retractable glass roof closed, a sense of light and shadow is ever-present, largely through the meticulous selection of color temperature and the careful selection of gobos.

Among the designers’ most interesting innovations was the wide-spread use of Rosco gobos, or theatrical projections to dapple and otherwise change the character of the lighting and the surfaces it illuminates. Major design challenges included properly lighting the multitudinous architectural elements in conjunction with balancing color and character of lighting in an environment with a fully retractable glass roof, open structures, and circulation paths. Gobos played an important role in solving these challenges.

CITY CREEK CENTER CREDITS

Master Developer: City Creek Reserve, Inc.
Retail Developer: The Taubman Company

Lighting Design: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design
Architects: Hobbs+Black, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, Callison
Size: 23 acres; 3 city blocks

Tags : Architectural Lighting, color correcting light, gels, gobos, mall lighting design, projected texture

Why Rosco Bought GAM … And What It Means To You And To The Industry

Filed Under : Rosco,Rosco - the company,Rosco - the people,Rosco - the products by dnicol

Apr.16,2013

By Stan Miller, Chairman of the Board, Rosco

Note: This was originally published as an internal memo to Rosco employees. The interest and reaction it generated encouraged us to make it available to a wider audience.

Rosco acquired the assets of GAM Products just a few weeks ago. Because the deal happened so quickly, this is the first opportunity I’ve had to share with you what I believe is the significance of the event and what it means to all of us.

First, this was no routine acquisition.

I go back a long way with Joe Tawil, the founder of GAM Products. Our companies competed with each other in many product areas. But that didn’t prevent me from having a good deal of respect and even admiration for Joe and what he accomplished in terms of product innovation. The respect must have been mutual, because Rosco was the first (and only) call Joe made when he decided to exit the business.

Joe Tawil (left) and Stan Miller at the Rosco USITT booth on March 21^st, when they formally concluded the acquisition.

With help from Mark Engel and others, we completed the business details quickly and easily. It went smoothly because GAM and Rosco had complementary goals: GAM wanted its product legacy preserved and its remarkable products to continue to be available. Rosco wanted those GAM products to continue to be available as well – but in the Rosco style.

And the Rosco style is to insure ready availability everywhere in the world through our several hundred dealers and distributors.

GAM Products five new gobo designs

It’s going to take some time to make sure that products like GAMColor, GAM Patterns, Blackwrap, Twin Spin, etc. are readily available to customers not only in the US, but in Canada, Europe, South America – everywhere, in fact, that Rosco’s 13 offices and its distributors are located. Business issues such as pricing, discounts, marketing and sales need to be addressed. But I am confident that our team of managers and sales people everywhere will get the job done.

GAM Colors have been used in many unique lighting installations. Sky Light Paris used GamColor 835, Aztec Blue when lighting two of Paris’ most famous landmarks, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc De Triomphe, for a special event.

Keep your eye on the main ball: Rosco and its distributor network has expanded its range with excellent, tested products currently used throughout the theatrical, film and television industries. Our task is now to make customers – lighting designers, technical directors, stage managers and film professionals – more aware of these products and how they will make their productions better.

I’m excited to be a part of this project. I hope you are too.

Tags : film television industry, GAM, gel, Great American Market, lighting industry, rotators

Happy Loop-Year!

Filed Under : Lighting For Photography,Rosco,Rosco - the products by Joel

Apr.9,2013

Exactly one year ago, at NAB, we released our LitePad Loop LED Ring Light and we published a Spectrum blog post to introduce this revolutionary fixture for those that weren’t able to make it to Las Vegas to see the light in person. Since then, LitePad Loop has been used to shoot everything from interviews and portraits in studios to shell casings and blood spatter in crime scenes to stylized fingernails backstage during New York’s fashion week. Below are a few anecdotes we’ve gotten back from photo and video professionals that shared their LitePad Loop stories, images and videos with us this past year.

LitePad Loop’s unique, soft light output makes it the perfect choice when space is tight, available light is low and you need to keep the light smooth, even and comfortable. That’s why photographer Rick Friedman chose LitePad Loop to illuminate his model when he decided to pose the shot on the landing of his staircase in his Boston studio. Rick tells the story of how the LitePad Loop allowed him to be easily adaptable in this behind-the-scenes video he shot.

Scott Bourne called LitePad Loop his “favorite ring light on the market” in his PhotoFocus post back in October. One of the key things Scott appreciated about the Loop was the quality of light it produces. “EVERY other LED light source I’ve used – aims the LED right at the subject with its harsh, direct beam. The folks at Rosco have invented the LitePad technology so that the light is diffuse, flattering and easy on the subject’s eyes – all key necessities of a ring light.” A ring light is mainly used for close up work, so we designed the LitePad Loop to be soft, indirect and flattering, while at the same time comfortable for the talent looking into it.

Photo by Scott Bourne – Shot With LitePad Loop and additional background light

This necessity is especially important when you’re shooting people not used to being lit for camera, like brides (Scott’s specialty) or corporate interviews and headshots. Michael Artsis took his LitePad Loop Pro Kit on a tour of five cities in eight days to shoot interviews and footage for an upcoming Clearwire commercial promoting their LTE network rollout.

Its a Clear Day from ArtsisMedia, Inc on Vimeo.

LitePad Loop was the only light used while shooting this commercial.

While he was previewing the footage he just shot with Chris Comes, Clearwire’s Director of Field Communications, Chris turned to Michael – who was shooting on a D800 armed with a LitePad Loop – and asked if he could shoot a headshot for him. Michael ‘just grabbed the camera off the tripod and captured this headshot” that same day using the exact same setup that he had just used to shoot the commercial footage.

The lightweight and portable LitePad Loop kept Michael Artsis nimble enough to shoot in offices, boardrooms, laboratories and even on construction sites where crews were installing new equipment. This is also why cinematographer Matt Turve turned to LitePad Loop as one of the central lighting tools he used recently to shoot a low-budget feature entitled Sunny & Ray Ray.

LitePad Loop in-use on Sunny and Ray Ray

Shooting a feature like this meant a lot of in-home locations, which made it hard to bring in huge lighting packages. One of the innovative ways Matt put his LitePad Loop to work was by taking it off camera every now and then. Sure, LitePad Loop is a great ring light, but sometimes you don’t want the light flat and on-axis – you want it coming from an angle. So, using the Loop’s unique magnetic attachment to the camera, Matt was able to quickly and easily detach and re-attach the Loop to his camera as the scene necessitated.

Matt Turve using his LitePad Loop on a VAL

Perhaps my favorite LitePad Loop story comes from glamour and fashion photographer Rolando Gomez’ Lens Diaries where he encouraged his readers to “avoid sticking with limited lighting tools, as this will stagnate your photography and can limit your ability to create what you envisioned.”

In the image above, Rolando wanted to illuminate his model without spoiling the warmth from the fire in the background, so he chose the LitePad Loop as the right lighting tool for this shot. The sharp falloff from the Loop meant that the on-axis light from the Loop wouldn’t spoil the dark warmth the fireplace behind his model was creating.

Rolando points out another advantage to using a continuous source like LitePad Loop over a strobe or ring flash – the light contracts the iris. This technique showcases the color of the subject’s eyes rather than the black open pupils that are produced when shooting in darkened locations with strobes. LitePad Loop is a wonderful choice for creating tantalizing catch lights in the eye. There are also several creative options when it comes to creating an alluring eye-light using the available Light Masks. Rolando used the more subtle “slits” in his shot above, but there are other more dramatic choices available if you want to spotlight the eyes in your shot.

Photo Credit: Matt Wiseman

We love seeing how our creative customers use our products in innovative ways. If you have images you’ve shot using a LitePad Loop that you want to share, we’ve created a Flickr pool to collect your images so that others can see the results of your work. You’re also welcome to share images and links to videos on our Rosco Facebook page.

Be adaptable & flattering. Stay nimble & innovative. Avoid stagnation and get in the Loop!

Tags : Artsis Media, Chris Comes, Clearwire, eye light, Fashion Week, forensics photography, Hillary Button, indepdent feature, indy lighting, Las Vegas, Lens Diaries, Lighting, LitePad, LitePad Loop, Matt Turve, Michael Artsis, music video, NAB, New York, PhotoFocus, Photography, photography lighting, Rick Friedman, Rolando Gomez, Rosco, Scott Bourne, Sunny & Ray Ray, VAL, video lighting

Colors for a Cause

Filed Under : Colorful Inspirations,Lighting,Lighting for Architectural,Rosco - the company by Joel

Mar.27,2013

Adding colored light to people’s everyday environment is a powerful way to bring attention to your cause. Whether it’s something dramatic like changing the Sydney Harbor Bridge red for World Aids Day or something more subtle like adding purple gelled candles into windows along the route of an upcoming cancer walk , changing the color of a building or landmark gets people to pay attention.

That’s why we’re proud to announce that this year, Roscolux 68 Parry Sky Blue and Roscolux 80 Primary Blue have been announced by Autism Speaks as the official color filter of Light It Up Blue - their annual, event to raise autism awareness that’s happening on April 2nd. The fact that buildings and landmarks all over the world will soon be installing our color filters on their lights in a global effort to support Autism Speaks makes us proud to support their cause by donating a portion of the profits from the March sales of R68 & R80 (two of our most popular filters) to Autism Speaks.

The Paris Stock Exchange lit up blue helps raise Parisian autism awareness

The biggest challenge to getting buildings and landmarks lit up blue is informing the operations staff responsible for turning the lights blue what to buy and how to install it. So, this year we asked our network of Rosco dealers to join our efforts in support of this campaign, not only with stock of product and their knowledge of how to install it on hot lights, but also with a $250 donation to Autism Speaks – we were thrilled when a number of our dealers said yes! Some dealers even shared stories of how the autism spectrum has affected them personally, such as Suzanne Levitt at Parlights using Light It Up Blue to introduce her son’s classmates to autism or NLFX Professional’s Bradley Olson who, despite his autism, creates and manages their powerful website.

Profile on NLFX’s Bradley Olson on LPTV for Autism Awareness Month 2010

Rosco continues to support causes through colored light with its Rosco Gives Back filters:
• Roscolux #313 Light Relief Yellow: Supports Light Relief, a charity established by and for the entertainment lighting industry, to help in times of extreme hardship.
• Roscolux #359 Medium Violet: Supports Behind the Scenes, an organization that provides financial support to entertainment technology industry professionals when they are ill or injured.
• Roscolux #361 Hemsley Blue: Helps fund the Gilbert Hemsley Lighting Programs, which provides internship opportunities and portfolio reviews for young lighting designers.

A portion of the profits generated from all three of these gels is donated to their respective organizations. In fact – recently, we handed out the donation checks to both the Hemsley Lighting Programs at their annual Hemsley Portfolio Review on March 16th and to ESTA’s Behind The Scenes while we were at USITT in Milwaukee this past weekend.

Rosco’s Mark Engel presents our 2013 Hemsley Lighting Program donation to Mark Stanley

We’ve always said that changing the color of the light was the easiest and least expensive to way to dramatically affect the action on stage or camera. Now, we can also begin to say that changing the color of the lights around us causes dramatic action in our communities - and we’re proud to be a part of it.

Tags : causes, charity, color, colored gel, colored light, light up bridges, light up building, lighting gel, World Autism Day

Going Green-Screen with Rosco

Filed Under : Colorful Inspirations,Lighting For FIlmmaking,Rosco,Rosco - the products by Joel

Mar.14,2013

Mmmmmmmm…. Green (Screen) Beeeer…

Saint Patrick’s Day is almost here and everywhere you look people are finding their inner Irish and going green.

Well, there’s nothing greener at Rosco than our green screen products, so today’s post is dedicated to sharing what we know about green screen paints and technology (it all applies to blue screen paints as well, but around St. Patrick’s Day, green is the theme).

A behind the scenes, green screen shot of Gerard Butler as a leprechaun in ‘Movie 43′

A good start is deciding whether to use blue screen or green screen – on days other than March 17th, of course. Most experts say if you’re shooting on film, use blue screen, and if you’re shooting digital/HD use green screen. The blue layer of the film emulsion is more sensitive, making blue screen the more effective choice, while the chips in most digital/HD cameras are more sensitive to green so green screen is more effective. Visual effects master Pete Kuran makes this point in our Green Screen Instructional DVD

However, you have to couple that rule of thumb with the subject matter you’re shooting in front of it. For example, if your set or costumes have a lot of blue elements in them, such as Cookie Monster’s blue fur, then green screen would obviously be a better choice no matter what medium you’re shooting on.

PAINTING A GREEN SCREEN

It’s tempting to buy your green screen paint at the paint store, because it’s usually cheaper and more convenient than the our keying products. But here’s the difference … and it’s crucial: Rosco green screen paints, including Chroma Key, Ultimatte and Digicomp, are manufactured using a single-source pigment. This means that instead of mixing together different colored pigments to manufacture the green paint, which is what happens when a paint store mixes up a color for you, we use one green pigment specifically chosen for optimal green screen results. This means the color is more pure and won’t reflect other interference colors, which will make for a cleaner key.

DotLot Digital Studios illustrates the difference between hardware store paint and Rosco Chroma Key paint in post

All Rosco paints are also manufactured to have an ultra-flat finish. This means there is no sheen or gloss in the finish at all, which is important because sheen/gloss in your green screen will appear as white or yellow on camera and may spoil your key. The “flat” finishes available from paint or hardware stores will have a sheen to them when lit for camera.

Yellow light reflections on a gloss green surface

There are two kinds of compositing colors – Chroma Key and Digital. The main difference between the two is simply the precision of color. Rosco’s original Chroma Key paint was designed for the analog Chroma Key Switchers that would take out the entire band of green or blue and replace it with an image – usually a weather map. Today’s digital compositing software has the ability to lock onto very narrow bands of colors, which allows for more precise and easier keying in post.

Cinequipt’s Studio C painted in Rosco’s Chroma Key Green

As a rule of thumb - most green screen projects will work great in studios painted with #5711 Chroma Key Green. In fact, Chroma Key Green is our #1 selling paint product - it is easy to apply and often times will cover in one coat. As you’re planning to paint your green screen, first ask yourself what kind of keying you plan on doing in post. If the edits will be relatively simple and the shots won’t have complex special effects, then Chroma Key Green is the answer.

Brandon Routh as Superman suspended on cables in front of a digital green screen.

However, if you believe your keying will be more complicated, then you might consider using one of our digital green paints. These high-end paints are great for making it easier to key in post – but digital paints like Rosco’s Ultimatte Green or Digicomp Green will add significant cost to your project and can be difficult to apply. We recommend using digital paints only if you need them for very complex keying work such as high speed capture for extreme slow motion work, characters suspended on wires or motion capture.

LIGHTING A GREEN SCREEN

A key factor in lighting your green screen is keeping the light level on the green screen even and shadow-free. The best way to achieve this is to light the green screen separately from the subject using a source that produces a soft, easy-to-blend beam. You can make any light source soft and easy-to-blend by placing Rosco Diffusion Filters on your lights to soften the edges of the beam.

Complete Greenscreen with Eve Hazelton from Realm Pictures on Vimeo.

If you’re shooting a green screen wall, another good technique is to place Rosco CalColor #4430 30 Green on the lights aimed at the green screen. This will turn any light into a pure ‘green screen green’ source by removing any interfering colors from the output of the light. If you’re experiencing a green halo on your subject from the green bounce off the wall, use CalColor #4730 30 Magenta on some lights aimed from the ceiling at the back of the subject. CalColor 30 Magenta is the complementary color to the bounced light coming off a green screen and will neutralize any of the offending green spill.

Celebratory green spill into the Chicago River - guess which holiday this celebrates!

If you have any other green screen questions, feel free to reach us at spectrum@rosco.com. Happy St. Patty’s Day and Cheers from all of us at Rosco!

Tags : Basic Blue Screen and Green Screen Photography, Brandon Routh, CalColor, Chicago River, Chroma Key, Cinequipt, Cookie Monster, diffusion, Digicomp, DotLot Digital Studios, Duff Beer, Enterprise Videos, Eve Hazelton, Gerard Butler, green beer, Green River, green screen, John Williams, leprechaun, Lighting, lighting a green screen, Mike Weinstein, Movie 43, painting a green screen, Pete Kuran, Realm Pictures, Rosco, Saint Patrick's Day, Saturday Night Live, Scott Leigh, Sesame Street, SNL, St. Patrick's Day, St. Patty's Day, Superman, The Simpsons, Ultimatte

Some Free New Aids To Research, Create And Document Theatrical Lighting Design

Filed Under : Lighting,Lighting For Theatre,Rosco by dnicol

Feb.26,2013

by Stan Schwartz

Theatrical lighting design can be the most rewarding and satisfying of professions. And both satisfaction and reward are multiplied when you use the newly available electronic tools to research, create and document your work. Two of these tools – or “apps” — have the added benefit of being FREE, and available from the Rosco web site.

Let’s start, as most designers do, with the research. This is often done by perusing pictures, books or even films. Though time consuming, these often provide ideas on the texture and feel of the period of the play, or the emotions expressed or even the time of day. The new portal for research is the Color Resource Gallery.

This Gallery, available free on the Rosco website, is simply a collection of stage pictures. But we’ve arranged these several hundred stage pictures in several categories so you can electronically search the Gallery quickly and easily. For example, you can search the Gallery by type of production, such as play, opera, dance, etc. or by how the color was used (create a mood, an emotion, time of day, etc.) or simply by the name of the production. This allows you to see how other designers have solved the very situation you may be facing. Perhaps more important, it may well provide just the inspiration you need as you proceed to the creative phase of the task at hand.

Rosco, being Rosco, has created myColor. This is another free app, available on the website, which allows you to choose and record exactly the colors you need for your show. (You’re on your own with issues of fixture selection, placement, focus, dimming, etc.) But this app makes lighting with color easier and much more comprehensive. myColor allows you to find, filter, sort, compare, notate, and save all of your colors the way that you want. It’s fantastic to use as you’re debating colors. While your real swatchbooks are fanned open on your desk, you can have them virtually fanned here to see additional product details as you add/remove colors and whittle down to your final selection.

You can use myColor in a number of ways. If you know the color you’re looking for and need more details (whether because you need more technical information or because you can’t quite recall exactly what filter you have in my mind), you can type in a filter number or part of a color’s name into the search box – and immediately see the color’s details, including spectral data, available sizes, and any important bits you may forgotten, like full name or number.

Perhaps the two most powerful features of myColor show up in the documentation phase of your work. One of these features is myPalette.

myPalette is like your very own custom swatchbook. Use it to keep track of your favorite Rosco colors – the ones you use over and over again and/or the ones you can’t wait for a chance to try. Make notes on what draws you to each color. Assistants can use myPalette to keep track of designer favorites, using notes to reference the designer’s name or memorable project. Resident companies can create a myPalette of their inventory that they can export for visiting designers, or save a palette of their stock gel-scrolls for designers to reference while making color choices for the rest of their plot.

The other feature is myShow, which is simply a color list for a particular show. But with myShow, you can start by adding colors you’re considering to the palette builder, and then save as a new myShow. Add, remove, and refine your color choices as you work on the project, using the notes section to list the purpose or position for each color. Export your final selections and email them to your assistant or ME.

One of the best things about these two new online apps is that they are actually designed to work together. When you select a color in myColor, if there is a production photo using the color you’ve selected in our Color Resource Gallery – a link will appear in the ‘Color Data’ section of the page.

That way, as you’re looking at the color filter’s spectral and technical data, you can also get an artistic sense of how it could play on stage by looking at images portraying how other designers have used it.

Lots of designers, at every stage of their careers, are already using the Color Resource Gallery and myColor. Join them – the price is right – and let us know how it works for you.

Tags : Cinegel, Ecolour, Roscolux, Roscolux Mug, Share The Work, Supergel, theatrical lighting tools, web lighting

When — And How — To Use Plastic Gobos In Your LED Lights

Filed Under : Lighting,Rosco,Rosco - the products by dnicol

Feb.12,2013

by Stan Schwartz

Seems like DJs, event lighting designers and theatrical lighting designers everywhere are using LED-based fixtures. And many are anxious to use plastic gobos in those fixtures. Not so hard to understand. LED lights generally produce much less heat than traditional tungsten units. More important, the plastic gobos cost a lot less than steel or glass gobos.

Here’s what “a lot less” means: A Rosco steel custom gobo generally costs around $79, US list price. The plastic version (we call it the Cool Ink gobo) has a US list price of just $39!

So, if you’re lighting a wedding and the bride and groom just want to use a couple of wedding gobos they’ve designed … and you have access to LED-based spotlights … there’s maybe 80 bucks of savings right off the bat.

The other good reason to use Cool Ink gobos is that they cost the same for full color images as for black-and-white images. Most of the designers we know would rather create a colorful projection, especially if the price is right.

But as attractive as these advantages are, there are a few caveats about using plastic gobos. Here are some of them:

1. Plastic gobos won’t last as long as steel or glass gobos. Of course, LED-based fixtures are cooler than traditional spotlights – but they’re not heat-free. Our tests show, for example, that the ETC Source Four LED Daylight instrument generates 130 degrees Celsius at the gate, when a gobo is inserted. That’s less than the heat at the gate of a tungsten Source Four – but it sure ain’t heat-free. Generally, Cool Ink gobos will last 15 to 50 hours, depending on the image, the amount of ink coverage and the instrument in use. That’s certainly enough for most events, but not for long-running shows or permanent installations.

2.Cool Ink HD gobos are often the better choice. The HD version of the Rosco plastic gobos are usually chosen because the image requires higher resolution or you need it to last longer. Rosco uses a different film for the HD product which offers a true opaque for the black background. Cool Ink HD Gobos are also sandwiched between two pieces of glass and are mounted in an aluminum bezel, which offers additional protection from the heat, as well as the ability to easily clean off fingerprints and dust. They readily fit into Rosco’s glass gobo holders. Some LED luminaires we’ve tested only accept the HD version. Plus, they list for only $59.00!

3. Not all LED fixtures can accept plastic gobos. Rosco maintains a data base of LED fixtures which have successfully used the Cool Ink or Cool Ink HD gobos. But it’s best to check with the fixture manufacturer to determine if the model you’re using can handle a plastic gobo in the gate.

4. Plastic gobos aren’t new! Rosco has long offered plastic gobos which can be used in most traditional tungsten spotlights. They need only an i-Pro Projector attached to the spotlight. Click here for details about this projector. The techniques and technology used to produce i-Pro slides are the basis for the Cool Ink gobo development.

Your theatrical supply dealer can get a Rosco multi-color plastic gobo made from your artwork ASAP. Cool Ink ships next day, Cool Ink HD ships within 2 business days. But if you’ve never bought an i-Pro slide or a Cool Ink gobo before, it’s probably a good idea to allow enough time to talk it over with Rosco’s gobo staff. They are knowledgeable about which images work best and which LED instruments are most suitable.

Tags : colorful projections, DJ, LED fixtures, Plastic Gobos, Projections, wedding

Fluorescent Light Is Alive, Well And In Color

Filed Under : Lighting,Lighting for Architectural,Rosco by dnicol

Jan.29,2013

by Stan Schwartz

Remember fluorescent light? It’s what your mother had in her kitchen. But it’s harsh, cold, and has a lot of green on it. Wavelength green, not environmental green.
So no self-respecting lighting designer would use that kind of light unless, maybe, the owner demanded it. Right?

No, wrong. Consider the brilliant work of the designers at Focus Lighting. Their charge was to light the 137-foot long space shuttle Enterprise for the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. One of the challenges involved was to create a rich backdrop for the 150,000-pound monument to space travel. The lighting design team tested five interior tent colors and was able to conclude and demonstrate to the client that a rich blue backdrop –specifically R80 Primary Blue – provided the desired dramatic contrast with the stark white space shuttle. They designed a surrounding blue horizon line, carefully concealed behind the perforated perimeter walls.

And the most practical way to deliver this R80 color was to use fluorescent light. In this case, 380 feet of Lamar 32-watt T8 linear fluorescents. Each tube was equipped with RoscoSleeves . These are clear polycarbonate tubes with the specified color filter inserted inside the sleeve. RoscoSleeves include a UV filter which allows less than 10% transmission below 390 nanometers. This prevents premature color fading and protection from harmful UV rays.

A great application of an old favorite, fluorescents, dressed up with Roscolux 80 for a breathtaking effect.

Focus Lighting Team:

Brett Andersen, Principal Designer
Stephanie Daigle, Senior Lighting Designer
Samuel Kitchel, Lighting Designer
Kenneth Schutz, Project Manager

H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture was the Exhibit Architect.

The Enterprise exhibit opened at the Intrepid Sea and Air Museum in September, 2012. Unfortunately, when Hurricane Sandy struck the area on October 29th, the Space Shuttle Pavilion was damaged. The Pavilion, as well as Enterprise, remain temporarily closed and is expected to re-open to the public in Spring 2013. Until then, the Enterprise’s history is shared through a new exhibit that opened on January 17, 2013 entitled Space Shuttle Enterprise: A Pioneer.

Tags : colored fluorescent lights, fluorescent lighting, gel, Intrepid, museum exhibits, R80, sleeves, Space Shuttle

Illuminating the Inspirational Details in Stained Glass Artistry

Filed Under : Lighting for Architectural,Rosco,Rosco - the products by Joel

Jan.16,2013

For centuries, stained glass artisans have been using their art to bring color and life into homes and houses of worship. In a way, stained glass windows were the original color filters and talented artists throughout the ages utilized the pigments and color mixing techniques available to them in much the same way designers use modern day lighting and architectural elements today. Our Rosco Architectural team has recently come across a number of jobs where they’ve used Rosco’s Custom LitePads to not only fully illuminate some of these gorgeous pieces of art, but they also showcase details in the glass that have previously gone unnoticed.

St. John's Stained Glass Windows - Before the Renovation
Photo and Project Credit: Barbizon Lighting

Part of the renovation plans at St. John’s Church in Cold Harbor, NY was to remove the aging and damaged stained glass windows behind the pulpit, restore them, and then replace them on a newly constructed wall that would shelter them from the exterior elements. This, of course, meant that the sun wouldn’t ever reach the stained glass windows either, so part of Tom Venturella from Venturella Studio’s challenge during the restoration process was to find a slim, light-weight, light source that would evenly illuminate the church’s beautiful stained glass windows.

Installing the Restored Windows and LitePads Onto the New Wall
Photo and Project Credit: Barbizon Lighting

The church created videos showcasing their renovation process, including the removal of the original windows and the construction of the new wall – all of which illustrates the amount of caring effort they put into the new home for their beautiful, newly restored, stained glass windows. Our Rosco Architectural team, working with The Barbizon Systems Group provided Custom LitePads that were installed behind the windows on the fresh new wall and the church’s prized stained glass windows shone again in all their glory for the congregation.

St John's Stained Glass Window - After the Renovation
Photo and Project Credit: Barbizon Lighting

Another benefit of lighting up stained glass with LitePad, instead of relying on the unpredictable sun to shine through it, is that the LitePad is completely under your control – allowing you to decide when it’s lit up, when it’s not and how bright it needs to be. This control aspect became particularly appealing for St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Toronto.

St. Anne's Stained Glass Cross - Unlit
Photo and Project Credit: Christie Lites

For many years the church has had a large stained glass cross hanging above the pulpit. The concept was to have the stained glass cross tie-in to the large stained glass windows nearby, but because of its position, there was no effective way to get light to shine through the glass – stifling the beauty and craftsmanship of this exquisite piece. The church tried for years to light the cross using conventional lights, but nothing ever worked quite right.

St. Anne's Cross - Lit with LitePads
Photo and Project Credit: Christie Lites

The Rosco Architectural team, working with Christie Lites, installed nine segments of Custom LitePads into a thin frame that was mounted behind the cross that evenly illuminated the cross from top-to-bottom and side-to-side. The church had not only finally achieved a beautifully lit, stained glass cross above their pulpit, but they can also dim the cross to balance the light level of it with the existing lighting in the sanctuary – full brightness when the sun is shining through the nearby stained glass windows, dimmed down for evening masses, etc. The church’s gloriously lit cross was presented to the St. Anne’s congregation at this year’s Christmas Eve mass.

St. Anne's Cross with LitePads next to Stained Glass Windows
Photo and Project Credit: Christie Lites

Dean Ebben, the exhibition designer for the Museum of Biblical Art in New York, was tasked with building light boxes to house and illuminate ten Tiffany windows on loan from various collectors for their new exhibit – “Louis C. Tiffany and the Art of Devotion.” Dean reached out to Kyle Chepulis of Technical Artistry who presented LitePad as a simple option to build clean, slim light boxes that would make these works of art – some as big as 13′H x 8′W – glow majestically.

MOBIA's Tiffany Windows Illuminated by LitePad
Photo Credit, Gina Fuentes Walker

By using LitePad, each window was evenly lit, and every detail; texture, color, depth, was enhanced, giving further insight into how Louis C. Tiffany wanted to present the story. The LitePads kept the coloration of the windows true – the deep reds are powerful, almost velvety, while the blue skies are soft, yet powerful.

MOBIA's Tiffany Windows Illuminated by LitePad
Photo Credit, Gina Fuentes Walker

During the design and installation process, Dean expressed to our Rosco Architectural team several times that they are beyond impressed at the quality of light from the LitePad. After the exhibit opened, Dean wrote us to say “I was told that when people entered the gallery on the opening night, they literally gasped at how beautiful the windows and the installation looked.”

MOBIA's Tiffany Windows Illuminated by LitePad
Photo Credit, Gina Fuentes Walker

If you’d like to see these exquisite works of stained glass art, MOBIA’s exhibition dedicated to Louis C. Tiffany continues through January 20th.

If you’d like to contact the Rosco Architectural team – and to see another great before-and-after Stained Glass project showcasing LitePad illuminating the Tiffany window at the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York – click here and let our global team of lighting experts help illuminate the details of your next project.

Tags : Architectural Lighting, Barbizon Lighting, Barbizon Systems Group, Canada, Christie Lites, Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York, Cold Harbor, Custom Light Boxes, Custom LitePad, Dean Ebben, Decor, Design, Gina Fuentes Walker, Kyle Chepulis, LED Lighting, Lighting, lighting design, LitePad, Louis C. Tiffany and the Art of Devotion, MOBIA, Museum Exhibit Design, Museum Exhibit Lighting, Museum of Biblical Art, NY, Rosco, Rosco Architectural, St. Anne's Church, St. John's Church, St. Louis, Stained Glass Window, Stained Glass Window Lighting, Stained Glass Window Restoration, Technical Artistry, Tiffany Glass, Tom Venturella, Toronto, Venturella Studios