# Shades of Black



## Schniapereli (Nov 29, 2008)

I have always heard of the different shades of black, but have never had someone explain it to me. Something about red based black and blue based black...?
Can someone explain this or refer me to a good site.
I have looked for a while, but could not find anything about it...

Thanks. =)


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## TheDonkey (Nov 29, 2008)

The easiest way to explain it is to state that there is no such thing as a "Black" pigment that occurs naturally.

So what we do is take a blue or red pigment SUPER ULTRA concentrate it until it eventually looks black.

So if you have a black shirt and you're out in the sun all season, some of the pigment gets burned out, revealing the true color of the shirt.

There's also the whole thing with Blue/Red/Black in UV, and how it all glows differently, but I myself don't get that so I'll let someone else answer.


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## cheef (Dec 1, 2008)

We have a small space that we use for all the student projects at our school. The problem is when each student paints the wall or floor black they all use a different black. Now the back wall looks like a black camo when the lights hit it. It you go to a paint store you will find hundreds of blacks if you look far enough. Every black is just a really dark color of what ever shade it fits in. if you go into paint on your computer and select edit colors you will see a spectrum to chose and no matter where you chose from on the Right you will see a slide of that color that goes from white to black in that color. You can make any color black if you concentrate it enough.


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## What Rigger? (Dec 1, 2008)

"Could it be any more black? And the answer is: No. None more black."
-Spinal Tap


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## lieperjp (Dec 1, 2008)

Check out this post for some info - don't know if this is exactly what you're looking for, but it talks a little about it.


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## Van (Dec 1, 2008)

TheDonkey said:


> The easiest way to explain it is to state that there is no such thing as a "Black" pigment that occurs naturally.
> 
> So what we do is take a blue or red pigment SUPER ULTRA concentrate it until it eventually looks black.
> 
> ...


 
I humbly and wholeheartedly disagree. Lamp black, a carbon based fuel combustion by-product, from which Buckey Balls can be garnered incidentally, is very black indeed. Lamp black is the most common pigment used to create "black paint" but it is often mixed with other pigments such as blue or red or green to give it a particular character, help it hide other colors under it, and to help it blend with other colors in a room, or on a set. If you "SUPER ULTRA concentrate ...." a red pigment you'll have a really, really red paint. Red is red, blue is blue, Black is black, I want my baby back, grey it's grey, since you went away , whoa whoa. < sorry.>
The point being, we add other pigments to black to warm it, cool it, and make it look more "natural" just as the Sparkies like fool your eye with all those silly gel colors.


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## TheDonkey (Dec 2, 2008)

Van said:


> I humbly and wholeheartedly disagree. Lamp black, a carbon based fuel combustion by-product, from which Buckey Balls can be garnered incidentally, is very black indeed. Lamp black is the most common pigment used to create "black paint" but it is often mixed with other pigments such as blue or red or green to give it a particular character, help it hide other colors under it, and to help it blend with other colors in a room, or on a set. If you "SUPER ULTRA concentrate ...." a red pigment you'll have a really, really red paint. Red is red, blue is blue, Black is black, I want my baby back, grey it's grey, since you went away , whoa whoa. < sorry.>
> The point being, we add other pigments to black to warm it, cool it, and make it look more "natural" just as the Sparkies like fool your eye with all those silly gel colors.



Bahh, it was a guess from what I've heard before, either way, I deal with light, not paint so I don't have much experience with paint >.<


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## Grog12 (Dec 3, 2008)

TheDonkey said:


> Bahh, it was a guess from what I've heard before, either way, I deal with light, not paint so I don't have much experience with paint >.<



Then you have no excuse.

Black in our world is the absence of light, or in the case of a black object the absence of reflected light.

Color is created because its what is reflected back by an object from the visible spectrum of light and not absorbed by the object.

We as LD's know that our primaries mix to white and their primaries mix to black.

Why? Because a mixture of all of the paint primaries will absorb the vast majority of the visible spectrum of light, by no means all of it though.

For a better and more well thought out explanation of the above see:
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/collaborative-articles/9166-color-mixing-lighting.html


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## cheef (Dec 3, 2008)

Scientists Invent Blackest Black 

It was just earlier this year that they made a substance that is the blackest black. Just to show how black black can get.


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## gafftaper (Dec 3, 2008)

In order to keep things cheep I do a lot of mixing my own paints. A few years ago I purchased some black paint at the hardware store. I think it was called "Very Black" actually. Anyway, I noticed when it was wet it had a slight blue tint to it. As it dried it turned black. When I went to mix it to make Gray or darken other colors they turned a definite shade of blue. Thus I have learned to ask the paint guy what is in the mix before I buy a specific color. 

Now on the other hand you can buy theater paints which cost more but are much more pigment conscious and are designed to be thinned out and mixed. Rosco Supersat paint is this super strong pigment that is designed to mix with other colors... you in fact have to mix it as it's like sludge in the can. The Rosco Off Broadway series is a really nice bright colored line of colors if you are looking for something like a really brilliant red. If you've got the money you will get really nice looking colors if you use the theater paints but they are more expensive. 

I like to purchase a lot of the $5 a gallon miss tint paint. Super Sats and get white paint for free. It's easy if you aren't picky about what specific white it is. Just contact a local dry wall company and ask if you can have some left over white paint. I get my guy to just dump a little of this and a little of that in a 5 gallon bucket for me. You get something that's white-ish that you can then use as a base with Supersat.


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## cheef (Dec 8, 2008)

I just went to the local Ace store and was getting some screws. The lady at the paint counter asked me if I wanted some paint for free since we were a school. I said sure. so see got a cart and went to the back about 10 minutes later she came out with 34 gallons, 8 quarts, and 1 5 gallon bucket of mis mixed and dented cans that they could not mix in the shaker. All flat paints. Jack pot!


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## propmonkey (Dec 8, 2008)

i remember reading some where that theres black paint that can be used on a stage floor that will absorb 99% of light. i dont recall what it was called


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## gafftaper (Dec 9, 2008)

propmonkey said:


> i remember reading some where that theres black paint that can be used on a stage floor that will absorb 99% of light. i dont recall what it was called



That sounds like a sales pitch to me. I bet just about every true black paint absorbs around 99% of the light.

EDIT: Found this article on Ultra-Black. Black paint is about 97.5% But there is a 99.9% super black material that was just invented.


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## derekleffew (Dec 9, 2008)

> The blackest flat paint I have found is made for theatrical scene painting by Rosco No. 150 06003 Velour Black. ... [Supersaturated line] Velour Black has a 2.69% reflectance.


From looking for the blackest black flat paint for wall - AVS Forum.


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