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Premise
• What is an automated fixture?– Any fixture whose focus can be controlled from a
DMX controller.– Usually contain extra features such as color wheels,
gobo wheels, litho wheels, etc.
• What makes them different?– Most use HID lamp (higher color temperature)– Contain their own mechanical dimmers (dousers)– One fixture may be able to replace several
conventional fixtures.
Common Features
• Pan and Tilt adjustment• Color wheel with saturated colors as well as CTO (color
corrector) to match tungsten sources• Gobo wheel with multiple gobos and sometimes dichroic
lithos• Gobo rotator built into gobo wheel• CMY color mixing using douser-like dichroic flags• Zoom and focus adjustment• FX wheel may include pebble, frost, or other optical
distortion glass• Colors, gobos, and FX are replaceable and customizable• Controlled via DMX 512 console
Classes of Automated Fixtures
• Moving Head Flood– Emphasis on color mixing– Some control of beam spread
• Moving Head Spot– Emphasis on pattern projection, even beam– 360 deg rotation (pan), over 180 deg tilt
• Moving Mirror Spot– Emphasis on pattern projection, speed– Fast, but narrow range of movement
• Accessories– Moving mirror, color scrollers, etc.
Moving Head Floods
• Optimized for use as color changing wash lights
• May have fresnel lens and allow for beam width control similar to a fresnel
• Most have CMY (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) color mixing
• May have frost and additional color wheel
• Built in douser for dimming
Moving Head Spots
• Wide range of motion• Heavy head means slow movement and
high maintenance• Difficult to control due to non-axial pan
(pan will rotate in a circular motion)• Versatile positioning (can sit on floor or
hang)• Impressive looking, good for on-stage
effects• Plano-convex or condenser versions
common
Moving Mirror Spots
• Restricted range of movement (180 pan, 90 tilt)• Large and bulky body• Designed primarily to be hung• Handle fast changes easily• Low maintenance due to limited weight of mirror• Long, may not fit well some spaces• Nicknamed “scanners”• Easy to control
Controlling Automated Fixtures
• Dedicated Controller– Designed for that instrument– One controller per light (or type of light)
• Conventional DMX console– Allows integration with conventional fixtures– Cumbersome, hard to learn
• Automated Lighting console– Designed to handle many lights at once– Easy controls
Dedicated Controllers
• LCD / LED controllers– Joystick for pan/tilt– Buttons for each function– Some can control more than one light– Cumbersome when controlling many lights– Limited playback functionality– Good to learn on, but poor to program shows
on
Conventional DMX consoles
• Convenient when may conventional fixtures to be controlled and few automated fixtures, but…
• Hard to program:– Pan and Tilt expressed as value 0-255– Functions expressd as banks (gobo 1 may be 0-30)– Control commands require complex sequence of steps (light off,
control to full, light on, control to X, light off…)– Speed changes require extra steps between look cues– Hard to keep track of all of those addresses (97-124 = Cyber 1,
125…)– No Joystick or trackball control for pan and tilt makes positioning
difficult– Limited definition controls (console uses percent instead of 1-
255)
Automated Lighting Consoles• Created to make programming and running shows
with many automated fixtures easier• Joystick or trackball for pan and tilt control• Instruments controlled by type and function instead
of address• Library allows functions to be controlled by name
(Color 1: Yellow)• Hundreds of fixtures can be controlled from one
console (using multiple DMX universes)• Midi sequencing allows timecode sync with music or
other midi devices (eg pyro)• Multiple simultaneous playback cuelists allow for
recycling looks in different combinations
