Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1966 - 45

dimmer scales touched while either push was held were
routed to the appropriate fader and lit up in White or
Red. In addition dimmer channels could be selected as
common to both faders and display both red and white.
Thus, a preset could in effect be formed into three
groups and a cross-fade carried out with some channels,
for example the sky, remaining static without resort to
another preset. Channels were removed from a master
fader by using the "Individual Black push" in the same
way.
The "All White" or "All Black" pushes operated without
the need to select individually at the dimmer scales. This
was very useful when simple non-group presetting was
required since at a touch all channels could be set on the
white. These "All" pushes were also helpful when
setting either nearly full or almost empty combinations.
Thus, if a lot of channels were concerned they could all
be set "on" at one touch and those not required then
removed using "Individual Black" and/or Red. In the
same way using" All Black" the preset could immediately
be cleared to "off" and the few required picked out in
white or red or both as appropriate.

Focussing Flood

It was important to realize that the groups formed using
this luminous system were quite independent on each
preset. Thus six independent groups or blocks of light,
or nine if the commons were included, could be set at
anyone time, while the groups still remained under individual control for balance and change when necessary.
In other control systems which used push buttons or
switching this practice of separate grouping to each preset was not advisable due to the extra work entailed in
matching groups when cross-fading group by group from
preset to preset: but on the luminous system such matching, when required, was quite automatic. "All Black"
was pressed first, as a substitute for what already had
been selected.
Until as recently as last year switching and routing had
involved relays with consequent space and wiring involved
but now this action was solid state which involved no
moving parts and was carried on a small printed circuit
board which formed part of the dimmer lever assembly
itself. In the event of a defect this could be withdrawn
from the front and a spare substituted.

for Quartz

Charles Levy

I.R. CODE: equipment - lighting - instrument

Century Focussing Flood,
with Quartz Lamp
Today we are demonstrating a quartz Iodide lamp; a
jacketed single-ended lamp ~ith a medium pre-focus base.
Now, I know very well that there is nothing terribly exciting about a scoop itself. The excitement of course is
in the lamp, and possibly the philosophy of a slngleended lamp, since the sons and daughters and nephews
of the first single-ended lamps, are arriving very rapidly
in great numbers_
The scoop itself has an added feature which IS somewhat
unusual for a unit that we usually think of as a flxedfocus unit. It has a provision for focussing from medium
flood to full-flood that we don't associate 'iVith a scoop or
any flood-type of unit.
The standard characteristics of the scoop are still here:
broad field, soft edge, the evenness and the soft shadow,
with the added feature of an adjustment in spread, or the
ability to increase the intensity by coming down to a
smaller spread.
There is a range of lamps available for thiS kind of unit,
of 500,750 and 1,000 watts, of varying Kelvin temperatures and lives.
The

important

thing

OCTOBER 1966

here we feel, is the use of the

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1966