Automated Fixtures Orientation of sidelight MLs

[derekleffew]

In this thread http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/...ientating-mls-overhead-vs-floor-fixtures.html we discussed orientation of overhead vs. floor lights. Here is the place to discuss sidelights.

So let's say we've decided that all fixtures on overhead trusses have their whip going toward stage right. On each side of the stage is a truss running US-DS.
One can hang MLs one of three ways:
1. The same as the overheads, with tails on units on both trusses going SR.
2. Hang fixtures "sideways," with all tails going US or DS.
3. Hang fixtures on the SR truss with tails going DS and tails US on the SL truss or vice-versa.
As a programmer, which would you prefer and why?

 

[icewolf08]

Are we cabling up to the truss or down to the floor?

From a programming standpoint I think it would be easiest if the fixtures were oriented either "front" up or "front" down. While it is easy to invert pan and tilt, you can't really set them to be 90˚ off one way or the other.

 

[derekleffew]

Perhaps I need to clarify: the side trusses are horizontal, running US-DS, not vertical towers/booms. Units will be hung "normally" with the base above the head.

 

[icewolf08]

Perhaps I need to clarify: the side trusses are horizontal, running US-DS, not vertical towers/booms. Units will be hung "normally" with the base above the head.

Well, unless you changed the original post, I just missed that bit of information.

That being the case, i would want my side fixtures oriented either in the same direction as the overheads or 180˚ rotated. That way every fixture is capable of moving in concert even if you have to invert P/T.

 

[Pie4Weebl]

On a martin I would want the arrow pointing on stage. that way I could grab both the SR and SL truss and roll the lights up on stage at the same time. Because they would be pointed more often there than out in the crowd I'd want to be able to tilt to the stage, instead of in the crowd. Now if the rig was a rig of fingers I would want all the light's arrows pointed DS.

 

[rochem]

My experience with MLs is mostly limited to theatre and small corporate where the MLs are just used to wash the stage and set, not as blinders or visual effects on their own. So what I've done in the past, and what I would do in this situation, is to have the MLs hung "sideways," similar to option 2 or 3. Since I figure that most if not all of my shots will be shooting sideways onto the stage, I want to be able to adjust the tilt and have the light move on stage with one action. If I hang the fixture the same way as the overheads, this becomes a minimum of two actions (adjust tilt, then turn the pan to an onstage position, then probably fix the tilt again). It's not mentioned here, but I also made a custom home position for these fixtures that had the tilt already pointing at center/center, which I'd probably do again.

If for some reason swapping pan and tilt wasn't available, I would probably choose option 3, so that a positive adjustment of the tilt value corresponded to a move in the onstage direction. This also makes it really easy to focus two mirrored cross shots at once. I've never done it, but I've also considered making a positive movement always correspond to a SL-> SR movement (moving from left to right from the console), regardless of what side of the stage the fixture was on, so that moving the encoder to the right resulted in the fixture also moving to the right from FOH. This would probably be easier if the MLs were mainly used independently for specials and such, but would be annoying if I wanted a mirrored shot.