Fresnels and Pars and Floods, Oh My!

Yesterday we talked about ellipsoidals and I said that they were the workhorse of the conventional lighting world.  So are fresnels (pronounced "fruh-nell", with the accent on the "nell".  If you call it a "frezz-nell" on stage you will be mocked.  I'm sure the techies will be laughing with you and not at you though.)   Fresnels throw a nice, soft, round pool of light.  You can manipulate the circle to be larger or smaller, but that is all the control you have.  Fresnels are great for down light and back light because it is easy to blend multiple fixtures together.

Fresnels have spherical shaped reflectors and a Fresnel lens.  

A fresnel showing the lens

Fresnels are measured by the diameter of the lens. There are small fresnels commonly called “inkies” (short for inky dink) that are about 3” across the lens.  Most theatres use 6” or 8” fresnels that use 500 watt or 750 watt lamps.  There are even large fresnels that use 1000 watt and 2000 watt lamps. 

Fresnels sometimes use an accessory called a barn door.  Barn doors have flat panels that fold out to block the light spill.  A barndoor slides into the gel slot at the front of the fixture.  Other than the barndoor and perhaps a scroller, there just aren’t any other Fresnel accessories.  It just does what it does with no frills.

A closed barndoor on the left and an open barndoor on the right.

Bonus Jeopardy information- The Fresnel lens was named for Augustin Jean Fresnel, the 19^th century French engineer that created it.  The Fresnel lens was originally developed for use in lighthouses. 

PAR cans are a type of flood light.  PAR stands for Parabolic Aluminized Reflector and refers to the shape of the reflector.  PARs are unique in that the lamp, lens and reflector are all one unit. 

A PAR 46 lamp showing the lens, reflector and ceramic

PARs throw an oval shaped beam of light that can be rotated to provide light in paths.  There is very little control of the light (unless barndoors are added).  It just floods the stage with light.  PARs were originally used in the concert touring industry.

For concert tours a truck would be loaded with a ton of these (Pre-Rigged Truss loaded with parbars of Par 64s).  This loaded truss will fit in a truck just like this.  At the venue it can be flipped over on its casters and easily rolled inside.  Once in place it bolts to the PRT next to it, is rigged up to motors and flown up to height.  The bars will unlock and drop down below the truss.  It's easy peasy, right?  Insta-lighting rig.)

Pars come in a variety of sizes.  PAR16s (sometimes called “birdies”) are small, 100 watt fixtures.  Par 16s are great for tucking up in scenery or under stair units to provide a little fill light.  They are inconspicuous, lightweight and inexpensive. 

Par 16s on kupo clamps

PAR 36 and PAR 46 fixtures are a little bigger and use higher wattages.  PAR 56s can be lamped as 300watt or 500 watt units and are often used theatrically.  PAR 64s are the largest of the par fixtures.  Par 64s are generally lamped at 500 watts or 1000 watts.

Par 56s

PARs can be lamped as very narrow, narrow, medium, wide and very wide beam spreads.  When you buy a PAR lamp you will need to specify which one you need.  Very narrow beam lamps look like clear glass.  A narrow lamp has a pebbled look to the surface of the lens.  Medium lamps have vertical lines about a quarter of an inch apart and horizontal lines about an inch apart.  On a wide lamp the horizontal lines are about half an inch apart. A very wide lamp has lines about a quarter of an inch apart.  It looks like a grid.

 A narrow lamp on the left with a medium lamp on the right

The majority of the pars out there are a metal can with a lamp in the back.  The lamp fits down on a ridge and has a metal retaining ring to keep it in place.  When you put the retaining ring in make sure that you position it so the lamp can still rotate around.  The lamp connects to the body with a ceramic base that is wired to the plug.  To rotate the direction of the beam shape you reach in through the back of the fixture (wearing gloves!), grab the ceramic and twist.  It will rotate the whole lamp around.

ETC PARs are set up a little different.  They use a separate HPL lamp (like the ellipsoidal uses) and the fixture comes with a lens kit so you can change the lenses out as needed.  To rotate the lens there is a wheel with ridges at the end of the fixture.  That wheel spins the lens around.

ETC also makes a version they call the Parnel.  It is a mix of a par and a Fresnel.  It has an oval shaped beam that you can make larger or smaller.

Other flood lights include the strip light, cyc light, and scoop.  Strip lights are a long unit with a bunch of small lights in a row.  There are three cables per unit with each cable controlling every third light.  Usually they are gelled in three colors or small colored circles of glass (called rondels) are used.  Strip lights can be used for down wash or for cyc lighting.

Cyc lights are used to light the cyclorama (the big white fabric upstage used as a backdrop).  Cyc lights come in a variety of styles, but all have reflectors specifically designed to throw light in a smooth wash.  You can use cyc silk gel (Rosco 124, 125 and 126) in your cyc lights to help spread the light as well.  Cyc lights do not use a lens.

The scoop is a large light that just throws a bunch of light around.  You have no control over it.  It does not use a lens. Scoops can be used for general wash light or work light.

A plethora of scoops

Most facilities will have some combination of these conventional fixtures.  In our next “How Do You Do That” we will look at LED lighting fixtures.