# Creating Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis



## rshakespeare (Jul 16, 2009)

We're doing a production that takes place in the North - I'm going to have to recreate the Northern lights. One idea I've had was maybe using a hazer and multi-colored lights just slightly off-parallel to the stage floor. Any suggestions? I'm really excited to hear!


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## ishboo (Jul 16, 2009)

What production are you doing? I just saw a production using a rep plot do a fairly decent job of northern lights using cyc lights, they only had red blue and green but they used the blue to do a nice looking sky and then mixing in the red and green looked good, that could be a good starting point possibly.


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## shiben (Jul 16, 2009)

We had a production that involved the Northern Lights at Calvin, and used a few FilmFX units on the cyc, along with what if I remember correctly were non-uniform gels incorporating the colors that the designer wanted. It looked fairly good. Just a question, how did you intend to use the haze? It sounds like an interesting idea.


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## NickJones (Jul 17, 2009)

Is projection an option? It could make your flickering at the bottom look more realistic, and I'm sure you could get HD footage of the Northern Lights.
Nick


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## ishboo (Jul 17, 2009)

That sounds like it would work well, I did a wuick search on istockphoto and they have plenty of northern light videos like this one: Northern Lights


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## NickJones (Jul 17, 2009)

Yeah, projection would be far easier and safer, hire yourself a nice big projector, and you could even use lights as well to add to the effect. If projection isn't an option maybe consider LEDs?
Nick


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## Dionysus (Jul 17, 2009)

I really like the idea of projecting video of the Aurora Borealis either with or without haze. Could look really sweet.
Then again you can totally make some amazing effects on a white cyc, with a black scrim in front. Maybe a little haze or fog between. With a combination of cyc lights and some LED pars or some lekos at various angles across the cyc, changing the colours contrasting against the cyc-lights.


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## IndigoFire (Jul 17, 2009)

Kjetil Skogli has created some amazing video of the aurora borealis that would work wall with projection through haze.


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## starksk (Jul 17, 2009)

I would also look at something like Rosco's Colorizers and Colorwaves on a cyc or scrim. With some haze and the right instrument placement, could be a cool effect as well...

~Kirk


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## highschooltech (Jul 17, 2009)

I personally like the idea of film fx they could create some really cool moving patterns. The cyc lights and LED pars could be cool as well if you want to spend time creating some interesting effects.


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## BillESC (Jul 17, 2009)

If projection or budget doesn't allow for fancy items, a prism and a sheet of mylar stretched across a frame can do a pretty good job. Put a small speaker right under the mylar for vibration.


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## midgetgreen11 (Jul 18, 2009)

ishboo said:


> What production are you doing? I just saw a production using a rep plot do a fairly decent job of northern lights using cyc lights, they only had red blue and green but they used the blue to do a nice looking sky and then mixing in the red and green looked good, that could be a good starting point possibly.




Almost, Maine at the International Thespian Festival?


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## xander (Jul 18, 2009)

I MEed a production of Almost, Maine. The designer and I worked together to come up with a really cheap solution that I think came out quite well. You need a cyc to start with, unless you can get an extremely thick cover of haze to project on. I used 2 Source4s, each with a color wheel and an I-Cue. Using this combination we were able get the undulation of color and movement. By placing the instruments extremely low shooting up you get the most intensity at the "horizon" and then it dissipates up the cyc. Add some nice deep blue cyc lights and some stars and you have a beautiful night sky. If you have the money I would recommend a dichroic color changer because the shifting will be much smoother and cleaner. I would do some serious research on the Northern Lights to figure out what colors you want. I think you will find some colors in there that you may not have thought of.
Good luck,
-Tim


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## ishboo (Jul 18, 2009)

midgetgreen11 said:


> Almost, Maine at the International Thespian Festival?



That's the one! I take it you were there?


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## venuetech (Jul 18, 2009)

For a production of King Island Christmas I had on each side of the cyc 3 or 4, 36dg ERS all with linear breakup gobos, oriented vertical. the focus was a series of vertical streaks across the cyc. each unit had it own color from the palette i was working with.
The cyc was then then gently waved from one end by the deck electrician as an cue effects loop ran. 
as the waves rippled across each touched a beam.
the deck elect was the one in real control, as the size and freq. of the waves made the effect. she was able to easly cordnate the effect with the action onstage.

This looked very nice and i receved many positive comments on it


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## midgetgreen11 (Jul 18, 2009)

ishboo said:


> That's the one! I take it you were there?



Yes I certainly was.

"Rep plot," "Cyc Lights," "Red, Blue and Green" made the connection.

That was probably one of the best shows we saw this year. I enjoyed last year's shows better overall though.


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## MNBallet (Jan 15, 2010)

*Northern Lights*

Here is the video from my version of doing the northern lights that several people have been asking for. This was done by using a scrim-like material (white sport jersey type fabric) and a cyc. Behind the scrim was hung strips of thin painters plastic, the type you get on a roll at your hardware or painting store. Then behind the plastic was hung 24 LED parcans (6 3watt units, and 18 10mm colorkey units.) Fans were placed (on low) in back to move the plastic around

I had issues with the plastic and static cling to both the cyc and the scrim. It was solved by having two crew members (one on each side of the stage) to direct the fans to keep the plastic from sticking. I would have prefered to have more space between the layers so the plastic couldn't stick, but as we all know space is limited.



Kenneth Pogin
Production / Tour Manager
Minnesota Ballet


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## derekleffew (Jan 15, 2010)

The post above has been moved here from another location. 

For more, see also: Aurora Borealis.


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## cvhstech (Feb 4, 2012)

Hello i am a light designer for my high school, and we a re doing a production of Almost Maine, and we also want to do a northern lights effect. We were planning on using LED light racks that go on the floor, and a fog machine. The racks are controlled by a computerized software that i still have to program. Would you recommended this way to get a good Northern Lights effect? Thank you for your help!


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## jfetter (Feb 4, 2012)

If you have some available pipes, you could take some 20' x 3' panels (or similar cheap fabric) and cut the bottom edge in a gentle, random wavy pattern and hang 3 or 4 of these a few feet apart at center stage. When they are flown in, it would give a 3D layered appearance (you could also add a gentle breeze to give movement) that when light by perhaps several LED bars hanging on the same pipes (with deep colors), give a pretty good simulation of the Northern Lights. Add a few moving heads down stage, one on each wing panning back and forth very slowly on the panels and you could add some more movement (maybe add a gobo), perhaps slowly rotating to hit the panels and allow some light to spill onto the next panel. Assuming you have the lighting, the panels are cheap to make...

Jack


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## shiben (Feb 4, 2012)

I wonder if you could use lasers effectively, some sort of fog effect hanging about 3-4 feet off the floor and end it in a trap or something? Also, what are these LED Racks you speak of? Are they controlled by the lighting console? Or are you writing custom software for this?


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## z2oo (Feb 4, 2012)

I've totally done this! 8x ETC Selador Vivid-R 11", black scrim, star drop, fans...
Video here.

EDIT: Original attempt w/ painter's plastic instead of two scrims here.


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## cvhstech (Feb 5, 2012)

The led light racks we are using is controlled by a computerized software which I will have to write the program for.


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## shiben (Feb 5, 2012)

cvhstech said:


> The led light racks we are using is controlled by a computerized software which I will have to write the program for.


 
I guess I just dont know what an LED Light Rack is... Im envisioning a 48 space server rack with LEDs crammed onto the front...


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## Pie4Weebl (Feb 5, 2012)

azylka said:


> I've totally done this! 8x ETC Selador Vivid-R 11", black scrim, star drop, fans...
> Video here.


 
Woah, that's awesome.


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## cpf (Feb 5, 2012)

azylka said:


> I've totally done this! 8x ETC Selador Vivid-R 11", black scrim, star drop, fans...
> Video here.


 
That looks really great. Too bad the ripples couldn't really run more slowly, but I can't think of a way that would work.


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## chausman (Feb 5, 2012)

azylka said:


> I've totally done this! 8x ETC Selador Vivid-R 11", black scrim, star drop, fans...
> Video here.


 
That's great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## cvhstech (Feb 5, 2012)

shiben said:


> I guess I just dont know what an LED Light Rack is... Im envisioning a 48 space server rack with LEDs crammed onto the front...


 The LED light rack looks similar to this.



I don't remember the actual company that created ours, but i know it says LED Wall Washer. Also off topic question, but how do you quote someone on here? I spent 30 mins trying to quote someone but it i couldn't figure it out


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## chausman (Feb 5, 2012)

cvhstech said:


> . Also off topic question, but how do you quote someone on here? I spent 30 mins trying to quote someone but it i couldn't figure it out


 
With the "Reply with Quote" button on the lower right side of each post. Or a harder, less effective way is to just add [noparse]

> and


 [/noparse] tags and copying and pasting the text. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## cvhstech (Feb 5, 2012)

chausman said:


> With the "Reply with Quote" button on the lower right side of each post. Or a harder, less effective way is to just add [noparse] [/noparse] tags and copying and pasting the text.



Got it!!! Thanks!!!


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## derekleffew (Feb 5, 2012)

cvhstech said:


> The LED light rack looks similar to this.
> 
> I don't remember the actual company that created ours, but i know it says LED Wall Washer. ...


Okay, now you can STOP calling the unit an "LED light rack". It's an "LED wash fixture" (as opposed to the other standard shape--the LED PAR), not terribly dissimilar from the Selador Vivid-R 11", as discussed in post #22:

Selador Vivid/Paletta/Lustr by ETC - Electronic Theatre Controls

Your LED Wall Washer should take, at a minimum, three DMX channels (one each for R, G, B). More advanced units add an Amber and/or White circuit. The Selador fixtures use 7 colors of LEDs. None of that is really important right now--your fixture is what it is. How many of them do you have? Note that the video used 8 fixtures.

In any case, if your unit does not have a user mode that enables it to be controlled by DMX512 from your lighting console, there's not a lot we can do to help you.


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## Les (Feb 5, 2012)

I'm curious as to why you need to write software to control them, and how you plan to achieve that? I mean, it took USITT years. What are you expecting this software to do, and how will it interface between the operator and the fixture(s)? I guess I just want to get a feel of your proficiency with DMX. I'm a little confused given the rest of the terminology you use.

These days, it hardly makes sense to write your own software for something so simple, given so many off-the-shelf options (some of which may be built right in to your lighting console). By the way -- what console are you using?

Now, when I was a kid, we ALWAYS had to write the software for our fixtures -- uphill both ways!


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## cvhstech (Feb 5, 2012)

We have about 10 we can use. The thing with this fixture is that it connects with a 3 pin dmx cable, microplex? If I'm not mistaken, and we dont have that tupe of board, whic brings us to the software I don't mean write software but I meant to say was write the show. We are going to be using light-o-Rama because with this software we can control the fixtures with a computer, and we can create a lot of colors with this software.


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## josh88 (Feb 5, 2012)

you can get a 3pin to 5pin adapter to go to a board. How are you going to control the lights? you say they are 3pin and that you're using that software but do you also already have the hardware for a connection to the computer?


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## cvhstech (Feb 5, 2012)

Yes, we have a 3 pin to computer connection adapter.


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## shiben (Feb 5, 2012)

cvhstech said:


> Yes, we have a 3 pin to computer connection adapter.


 
You sure its Microplex? A lot of DMX gear uses the Non-Standard 3 pin XLR connector these days, Im almost positive any LED unit out there today will run on DMX.


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## cvhstech (Feb 6, 2012)

shiben said:


> You sure its Microplex? A lot of DMX gear uses the Non-Standard 3 pin XLR connector these days, Im almost positive any LED unit out there today will run on DMX.


 
Honestly I'm not 100% percent sure if it is microplex or dmx. Our board only take 5 pic dmx or microplex, so I might need to get an adapter to see if it will work on dmx.


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## derekleffew (Feb 6, 2012)

99.44% certain it's not Microplex. All you need is an adapter, 5-3. 

Besides Light-O-Rama, what console do you have? Even a two-scene preset could control the fixtures, but to do a ripple effect like in post #22 probably requires a memory system, Express or better. Certainly easier on, but not exclusive to, consoles that have an Effects Engine or package.


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## z2oo (Feb 6, 2012)

derekleffew said:


> ... but to do a ripple effect like in post #22 probably requires a memory system, Express or better.


 
Actually, all eight of our Vivid-R's were set on a static color, with four fans blowing one of two scrims for the ripple effect.

Your logic is certainly sound though, but if the LEDs were set to one color (doesn't always require a memory board, fans could be used to blow either some sort of translucent plastic, or scrim like we did to get ripples).


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## cvhstech (Feb 7, 2012)

We have a ETC Ion Light Board, but our LEDs, for some reason, doesnt work wit it.


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## cvhstech (Feb 7, 2012)

azylkaYour logic is certainly sound though said:


> scrim[/autolink] like we did to get ripples).



How would a fog maxhine effect be? Would it give the same cloudy aurora effect?


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## chausman (Feb 7, 2012)

cvhstech said:


> We have a ETC Ion Light Board, but our LEDs, for some reason, doesnt work wit it.


 
What happens when you try to connect the LEDS to the Ion?


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## z2oo (Feb 7, 2012)

cvhstech said:


> How would a fog maxhine effect be? Would it give the same cloudy aurora effect?


 
That might be a viable option, depending on how long the effect must run. We tried fog, but it rose too much in our space, plus we have fire alarms to worry about with a low ceiling/flyspace. The fog also was more effects fog (fast dissipating), so we didn't exactly have the right equipment to use...


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## Tex (Feb 7, 2012)

derekleffew said:


> 99.44% certain it's not Microplex. All you need is an adapter, 5-3.
> 
> Besides Light-O-Rama, what console do you have? Even a two-scene preset could control the fixtures, but to do a ripple effect like in post #22 probably requires a memory system, Express or better. Certainly easier on, but not exclusive to, consoles that have an Effects Engine or package.


 
I've used both Light-o-Rama and Vixen. They are, in essence memory controllers and this effect is similar to those done with Christmas light displays, which both packages are designed for. Should be fairly easy, in fact. 
The OP has an Ion too, apparently so he really should be using that.


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## josh88 (Feb 7, 2012)

azylka said:


> That might be a viable option, depending on how long the effect must run. We tried fog, but it rose too much in our space, plus we have fire alarms to worry about with a low ceiling/flyspace. The fog also was more effects fog (fast dissipating), so we didn't exactly have the right equipment to use...


 
This would be a good application for a hazer. Not so much with your alarm system, but a haze hanging in the air would add just enough to hold and extend the lighting effects into 3 dimensions.


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## z2oo (Feb 7, 2012)

josh88 said:


> This would be a good application for a hazer. Not so much with your alarm system, but a haze hanging in the air would add just enough to hold and extend the lighting effects into 3 dimensions.


 
We have a hazer, but there was some reason our TD didn't want to use it. I believe it had something to do with fire alarms, as well haze moving out into the house - but also because it just didn't look right with random swirls moving in and out of the light.


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## shiben (Feb 7, 2012)

cvhstech said:


> We have a ETC Ion Light Board, but our LEDs, for some reason, doesnt work wit it.


 
Did you patch the LEDs right? On the back there ought to be some sort of device (buttons or dip switches or something) to give it an address. I like giving mine 10 apart even if I dont need 10 channels per, it just makes addressing them by student volunteers easier and less problematic. Also make sure you are plugged in the port you want, then patch them as RGB LEDs at the proper universe and address (so 2/1 or 2/2 , alternatively 002 or 514 for Address 02 in U1 and U2 respectively).


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