Sharpy's

[ImagineerTom]

Where do you think the trend for over-tanning in young club-kids has come from........?

[numberwrong]

Apparently you can get a heat filter that fits inside the light that reduces the recommended distance to 10m at the expense of a bit of intensity. Remember that if you have a colour in then the heat of the beam is greatly reduced. I tend to plot positions with the CTO in to help with the heat but still see the beam properly.

 

I was asking someone on the Clay Paky stand at Plasa about this issue and un-surprisingly they maintained that the 12m/10m must to be up held.

 

I then asked them about the Sharpy they had rigged about 2m off the floor on a slow circle fx. The beam frequently passed their desk and shone on the people I was talking to.

They looked sheepish and said that it did get a little hot when it passed over.

 

Everyone does it (even the manufacturer). Does that mean you should do it???

 

It's your call. as mentioned earlier, if it goes wrong you probably wont have a let to stand on.

 

At least make sure they are easily powered off from the distro if they lose data.

 

 

[pete LD]

 

Wonder if the larger surface area of bread for toast would work better?

 

or perhaps can find a client who needs a pizza cooker with pizazz.

 

Next week on Cooking with Clive...

 

I cooked bacon with 40 Elation 5rs... It involved pointing them all in to the same spot and using a frying pan! It was far too hot but it did cook it!

 

We did this after a soldered connection in a mic on a stand melted whilst doing focus positions on to the stand.

 

I think its impractical to keep 12M on all sides of the fixture! After all there will be other fixtures rigged on the same truss closer than 12m! and an U/S truss will often have a drape not to far behind it! But so-long as its show positions are all pointing the right way and there is a dimmer tech who can kill power to any fixture that has a problem then I would be happy!

 

Nightclubs are where the problems will start....

[Matt Cowles]

Apparently you can get a heat filter that fits inside the light that reduces the recommended distance to 10m at the expense of a bit of intensity. Remember that if you have a colour in then the heat of the beam is greatly reduced. I tend to plot positions with the CTO in to help with the heat but still see the beam properly.

 

I was asking someone on the Clay Paky stand at Plasa about this issue and un-surprisingly they maintained that the 12m/10m must to be up held.

 

I then asked them about the Sharpy they had rigged about 2m off the floor on a slow circle fx. The beam frequently passed their desk and shone on the people I was talking to.

They looked sheepish and said that it did get a little hot when it passed over.

 

Everyone does it (even the manufacturer). Does that mean you should do it???

 

It's your call. as mentioned earlier, if it goes wrong you probably wont have a let to stand on.

 

At least make sure they are easily powered off from the distro if they lose data.

 

 

There is an optional lens available that reduces the minimum distance to 8m rather than 12m. It can be installed inside the fixture but out of the beam as well so that it doesn't go missing.

[timsabre]

So much for setting things on fire with the beam, but what about eye safety if you're shining out into the crowd (as most sharpys seem to)

[top-cat]

So much for setting things on fire with the beam, but what about eye safety if you're shining out into the crowd (as most sharpys seem to)

 

In my experience, even at 12 metres it's still not very nice having sharpies pointed in your eyes.

[timsabre]

Well even a parcan in the eye is not very nice, but do you need to be careful to keep them off the audience like you would with lasers?

[top-cat]

To me, it just comes down to the fact that Sharpies, like many other pieces of lighting / FX / rigging / power etc equipment can be dangerous if not used with the proper precautions, and that the safe use of sharpies simply comes down to a competent person using them in a manner that is properly thought out and takes into account all the potential dangers.

 

Just because something doesn't come with a warning sticker on it, it doesn't mean you don't have to still apply a bit of thought when using it! But if you look at what you're doing and think about it properly, you can use anything in a safe manner.

[timsabre]

I know that, but I've got some on a big outdoor event in a few weeks, seen plenty but never actually programmed them before. I was just wondering how others handle this. I wouldn't think twice about waving a robe 1200 spot over the audience...

[timd]

It's non coherent radiation. The only way for them to cause damage would be for someone to stare into the beam, but that's not going to happen due to the blink reflex, pupil contraction and so on. Leaving one parked on someone's face wouldn't be too pleasant, but waving them around won't be any sort of safety risk.

[norty303]

if you are going to have the lanterns closer than the manufacturers recommended minimum, should include the situation where the controlling signal is lost and the beam stops moving on full intensity. What do you do in that situation? How do you quickly avoid the beams overheating their target as the manufacturer has explicitly warned against.

 

This is precisely the sort of situation that requires laserists to have an emergency stop button, and usually some sort of scan failure device.

 

I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult for the manufacturers to include a 'short range' mode option that shuts down or dims the fixture if it is in 'short range' mode and it detects movement has stopped or is too small and therefore presenting a fire risk to fixtures/fittings/people.

 

In fact, it seems hugely sensible to me, and probably something that nightclubs would use. In fact, I'd consider that a selling point for installers, so of commercial value too.

I wonder how long until we see something like this? (and I get my cut of the royalties...) ;)