# Colortran "set light" application



## brent (Mar 8, 2011)

Our church came across a couple Colortran "Set Light" model No. 108-005. Googling it brings up nothing but bulbs. I am trying to figure out what a good application for it would be. A general stage wash? It takes a halogen lamp (basically a work light bulb) and has a single barn door. Any thoughts would be appreciated.


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## venuetech (Mar 8, 2011)

Well first off it does not have anything between you and a lamp that has the potential to fail in a violent manner. (it can explode) So do not operate without extreem caution and do not stand where parts of the lamp can hit you.

It would be normal to have a fine mesh screen in front of the lamp.


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## derekleffew (Mar 8, 2011)

brent said:


> ... I am trying to figure out what a good application for it would be. ...


How about
for lighting that little patch of sky visible through a window.
lighting a backing flat so it doesn't look like actors are walking into a black hole when they leave the set.
As a backlight or frontlight fill for the pulpit area.

See also the wiki definition for broad and nooklight.


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## GBtimex (Mar 8, 2011)

You could use those as a general fill. From the looks of it I would assume that they were once designed as cyc light for the bottom. They look like they would have a very wide throw and could be really useful. I would be reluctant to use them as work lights cause of the price of the lamps. But by all means if they light up I would use them. I would also suggest placing them in a place that is both easy to access for repairs (I have had some bad luck with Colortrans) and could cover a large area.

What do you think you should do with them? What are the needs of your space? What is the power and control situation? How often would you need to use them? Is white light ok or would you like color in them? What role do you think these lights could fill?

These are things I would consider before acting. 

Best of luck to you and your church,

GBTimex


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## CSCTech (Mar 8, 2011)

This doesn't have anything to do with the light in question, 

But venuetechs' comment made me think of something.
We use four Colortran Far Cycs linked to below. We use them as downlighting (As we don't have a cyc, yet four cyc lights), should there be something infront of the lamp? 

Far Cycs > Fixtures > Theatrical Equipment > Commercial Lighting > All Products from Leviton Electrical and Electronic Products


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## DuckJordan (Mar 9, 2011)

CSCTech said:


> This doesn't have anything to do with the light in question,
> 
> But venuetechs' comment made me think of something.
> We use four Colortran Far Cycs linked to below. We use them as downlighting (As we don't have a cyc, yet four cyc lights), should there be something infront of the lamp?
> ...


 

Its a safety precaution to place a screen in front of the lamp before the gel if any, Otherwise its just something people prefer to do. Not required but again safety is a 1 importance and whatever you can do to help reduce risks of issues. I have seen a cyc lamp fail, small shards of glass but otherwise a fairly easy clean up (ours was on top of an escalade borrowed from a dealership but still a costly thing if there was damage).


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## dramatech (Mar 10, 2011)

brent said:


> Our church came across a couple Colortran "Set Light" model No. 108-005. Googling it brings up nothing but bulbs. I am trying to figure out what a good application for it would be. A general stage wash? It takes a halogen lamp (basically a work light bulb) and has a single barn door. Any thoughts would be appreciated.


 
The Colortran Set light is a very unique instrument introduced in the mid 60s.
Colortran when they first started up, and before they were owned by a parade of larger companies, started out by making light weight lighting instruments for the film and TV industry. At the time, almost all Film lighting was Mole Richardson, (the huge dark red instruments, that appeared to be built with old battleship steel.) Most TV studios were using Century instruments. ( big old grey things that weighed about half of a Mole Richardson.) In the early 60s and for some time, newer and lighter cameras were being introduced in the film industry, and shortly thereafter portable TV cameras were becoming practical. In both industries the cameras were becoming more light sensitive. In a natural order of things as cameras became more sensitive and less heavy, Colortran was one of the first to introduce lighter weight instruments for portable use. They were identified by their royal blue paint. At about the same time Lowell introduced competitive instruments, although a bit more pricey. They were identified by their yellow color. As Colortran saw a very quick success in portable light weight instruments, they expanded their line to include several instruments that were both portable and quasi-studio. Rather than compete with instruments that were already popular, they developed several new designs. They introduced the "broad", a rectangular scoop type instrument, that lended itself to the shape of TV sets better than the conventioal scoop. They also introduced the "Setlight" it is smaller than a broad, and has a non-symetrical reflector. The idea is that the reflector will distribute the light brighter on one side of the projection than on the other. If hung correctly, and pointed at the set piece background behind a newscaster, the brighter side of the projection would light the lower part of the set piece. With the distance of the instrument from the top to bottom, and the light falling off with distance, it was possible to illuminate the entire set piece with the same amount of light. It didn't do that quite as well as designed, but came pretty darn close.

So what you have, is a small rectangular scoop type light or "broad" with a reflector that is designed to give even illumination on a wall located quite close, and behind talent. As for use in the theatre, it was never meant to have gel mounted on it, as TV cameras have a white balance circuit and most TV uses white light. You probably could make some sort of gel frame, but it would have to be mounted quite a bit in front of the instrument. 
All that I have related above is from personal experience and not from the history books, so my disclaimer is that maybe there is more to the history portion than I am aware of. I started in TV when I was 16 in 1957 and continued in that field until 1992. Theatre was always a hobby until I retired from TV, and then theatre became my profession.

Tom Johnson


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## dramatech (Mar 10, 2011)

Right after making my last post, I went ot the Apollo cyc add at the top of the CB page, and noticed that they use that same Asymetrical reflector in their cyc lights. So there you go, you have a very small cyc light.

Tom Johnson


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## derekleffew (Mar 10, 2011)

dramatech said:


> ...They also introduced the "Setlight" it is smaller than a broad, and has a non-symetrical reflector. The idea is that the reflector will distribute the light brighter on one side of the projection than on the other. If hung correctly, and pointed at the set piece background behind a newscaster, the brighter side of the projection would light the lower part of the set piece. With the distance of the instrument from the top to bottom, and the light falling off with distance, it was possible to illuminate the entire set piece with the same amount of light. ...


Building on what Tom said, in the 1970s (Berkey) Colortran introduced the FarCyc, which was the first assymetric flood fixture specifically designed for lighting large backdrops. It was copied by Altman (SkyCyc), Kliegl, and Strand-Century/Ianiro/QuartzColor (Iris). Prior to that cycs were lit with strips and scoops. Today all cyc light fixtures (except LEDs, which the exception of Altman SprectraCyc) use a J-shaped reflector. Modern fixtures have a screen or hi-temp glass either directly in front of the lamp or in the colorframe holder to protect against hot glass shattering down in the event of a catatrophic lamp failure.


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