Can 2 many lumens be a bad thing

[asterix]

It wasn't until the last few gigs where I've also done heaps more lighting that I've started to note the space outside the screen - how projector light reflects on the room and how that impacts on the atmosphere of the room.

In this particular room (20mX35m dancefloor) I've used highly reflective 3 metre screens and 1500/1700/2000 ansi projectors. The screen reflection really cut into the intensity of the roboscans and showed up everything in the room (they were raised about 4.5m in the air). People seemed to hide like cockroaches around the edge of the room when they are not dancing.

The last gig I used a 1200 ansi projector on a 4X4metre 'truckie tarp' screen. The picture quality was ace and the reduced reflection factor made a far more harmonious interaction with other lighting (higher contrast, more beam).
It definately made people less self concious about getting up and dancing earlier in the night.

Has anyone else made a similar observation?

[WordVirus23]

I've done small gigs where 1500lum was too bright, even with minimal white on screen... I've found in these cases, the Fade-To-Black knob on the V4 works wonders.
..j...

[alangeering]

My work is mostly in theatre.

Imagine a 6x8 screen with a powerful projector, and a low contrast ratio.

Due to the above even in a "balckout" the screen glowed.

Being a Sci-Fi spoof musical, it wasn't so bad, but the stage crew didn't appreciate the extra light on stage (making them visible)


Now we use an iris in front of the projector when we need a true blackout.

Alan

[syzygy]

Even with a really bright projector, you don't have to send a fully bright video signal to it.

A bright projector might allow you to bathe the room with light, but that doesn't mean you have to.

Dan.

[videoteque]

How true, Dan!

Dynamics. Mix always some black in the quiet moments, and let the extra Lumes for the snare rolls and epic moments... :jump2:

[many2]

Originally posted by syzygy
Even with a really bright projector, you don't have to send a fully bright video signal to it.
A bright projector might allow you to bathe the room with light, but that doesn't mean you have to.


Exactly !

On one of the last shows I made I had 11 projectors, each one of them shooting 11 500 lumens ! Was that too much ? Not at all. It wasn't even for a club or a show but for a benefit supper (with a little show at the end where I got the opportunity to mix visuals for Lionel Ritchie). Everything was very very smooth and flowing (people were eating after all) and not too bright. I must say the real-time control over brigthness, contrast and color, as well as all the blending modes on the Hippotizer were very handy to keep an acceptable brightness level.

What is trickier though is when you use LED screens : those screens are so bright ! Their problem is that they are not very good to reproduce subtle colors and tones - send a dark grey signal and you'll see what I mean. LED screens are perfect for bright and saturated colors, but they are not ideal for subtle images.

[Stuart]

At my work we generally use 5K lumens projectors. ND in front of the lense to get rid of video black nonsense dumps the light level a bunch and then wacky parabollic mirror and RP action dumps some more. More light just means more flexibility.

[asterix]

Many2 I'd imagine a dinner hall would be ok for that sort of output (high ambient light)!
Dan - what sort of brightness level is acceptable/ inacceptable (for a club for eg)

[videoteque]

what sort of brightness level is acceptable/ inacceptable (for a club for eg)

How can you measure it?? How much funky a DJ must be??

I think brightness is one more of our long list of chores/tasks. If you see people scared to dance because you are throwing too much light, mix with black and let the people relax. Once they are most of them in motion, nothing will stop them (not even the closing hour arriving!!!)

Another "tasks" sometime we lack are:

-Why I am here?
-Why I am projecting this?
-Is my projection related in any way to the music?
-How many effects are too many?
-What is people expecting?
-Should I offer the expected or the opposite???

[Stuart]

How much funky a DJ must be??

James Brown funky says I!

[AndresC4]

I have the same problem, very high proyector.
It was a panasonic of 1800ansilum,
it was seted in low, and the brigh and the cotrast were calibrated
to make a darker image,,, but it was almost imposible...

i think it was a huge proyector for a very small place

some pics

http://www.rosarioe.com.ar/c4/cubo1.JPG
http://www.rosarioe.com.ar/c4/cubo2.JPG
http://www.rosarioe.com.ar/c4/cubo3.JPG
http://www.rosarioe.com.ar/c4/cubo4.JPG

the 3rd pic was Fear and loathing las vegas
and the 4th was a short sccene of transpotting ( all the hands with the flash.. :) )

[xiayu]

doesn't seem like ambient light was a problem in these pictures.

[AndresC4]

There are only 3 source of ligth there
the 2 dmx on de back and the screen, that was very close
the dancefloor. The people like dark places,,, very dark places...
on the pictures you can?t see ir well, but belibe me
half of the people complain abouth the ligth of the screen.

[organicsound]

i was doing visuals for a gig at my school, where i decided to use a new projector that was just purchased. Because the new projector had new lumens, the amount of ambient light completly washed people and made them even less likely to have a good time, i'm simply restating that people love the dark high contrast images and projections. After that event, i went back to using the older projector. What MANY2 said is completly true as well, depending on what kind of event and venue it is depends on the amount of lumens are appropriate.

please forgive spelling errors :)

organicsound

[Ocular]

2 little lumens can often be a bad thing. If you have to many lumens there are a multitude of ways to bring the brightness down. We use Optiscreen LED walls and most of the time only use 25% of the screens brightness at the most. This of course if for indoor or nighttime concerts. I would suggest getting the most you can and scaling back the brightness.

[krezrock]

If you're screens are placed behind the band. And the screens are brighter than the band. It's taking away the stage element of the band itself. I tend to knock the brightness way down to at least match the level of the spots on the members.