Floodlights

Floodlights produce an uncontrollable (unfocusable) beam, typically illuminating a wide area. Because of the nature of this beam, they are used to create washes, but their positioning must be carefully considered. The beam can be 'shaped' or 'cut' using barn doors in order to prevent the beam from hitting areas which it shouldn't. The beam is sometimes angled using reflectors in the back of the unit. Common uses for floodlights are for lighting backcloths (cycloramas or cycs) and for working lights or in some cases as audience lighting.

Floodlights (or Floods)

A single flood like is principally very similar to the units found in DIY shops. Asymmetric varieties are available which have a specially shaped reflector, designed to provide an uneven intensity of light. This provides even illumination when the flood is close to a piece of scenery and angled sharply up or down.

Strip Floodlights (or Cyc Lights or battens)

Strip Floodlights (or Cyc Lights or battens) are commonly found in strip or baton form, usually made up in sets of three or four independently wired cells, with one colour per circuit. It is not uncommon to use permanent coloured glass filters called roundels; available in red, blue, green, amber and pink. Otherwise the cyc lights may be gelled with red, green, and blue coloured gels with one cell left open, which (in theory) will allow any colour to be produced in a range of saturation. However this is not easy and some lighting designers prefer to gel the cells with four distinct colours. For covering larger areas, more than one baton may be used.

Ellipsoidal Reflector Floodlights (or Scoop Lights)

Ellipsoidal Reflector Floodlights (or Scoop Lights) are large round floodlights without any lenses, which produce a wide wash. The inside of the 'scoop' has a matte reflector the reflector directs the light out of the fixture, which is the only way in which the light beam can be controlled. They tend to be used to flood the stage with light from above, or as a cheep alternative to strip lights to light backcloths. Scoops can normally be gelled.

Fluorescent Floodlights (or Fluros or Flories)

Fluorescent Floodlights (or 'Fluros', or as they are frequently used to provide working light 'Workers' or 'Working lights') usually provide general lighting for rehearsals and non-performance use of the theatre. Occasionally they may be used as houselights. Only recently has it been possible to dim them and as such tend not to be on dimmers. They are usually made of one of two long fluorescent tubes which clip in.

Parabolic Aluminized Reflector lights (or PAR Cans, Cans or PARs)

Parabolic Aluminized Reflector lights (or PAR Cans, cans or PAR) are little more than a lamp in a large bean tin. Some people wish to group PARs as spotlights on account of the tight beams that the lanterns can produce. However the only way to vary the beam size is to change the lamp (also known as bubble). The lantern itself has no lenses nor an internal reflector, although the lamp is a considered to be an optical unit in its own right. The lantern comes in both short and long nosed version, with long nosed versions being by far more common. The short nosed commonly has a double yoke which allows them to be used on the floor as well as in a rig. The number associated with a PAR relates to the diameter of the lamp in terms of eighths of an inch.

PAR16

PAR16's are also known as birdies and are commonly available with generic halogen spotlights (as used for display lighting in shops) and can commonly make up birdie trays which provide foot lighting. Unobtrusive, they are often useful for providing fill light inside items of set, e.g. the interior of a car.

PAR36

PAR36's are also known as pinspots commonly used for house lighting and for some disco and club lighting. They are not of the same construction as the other PARcans.

PAR56

PAR56 are used extensively for club and gig lighting.

PAR64

PAR64 are the most common PARcan to find in the theatre. They are compatible with some colour scrollers which increases their versatility. They can be fitted with a number of lamps which produce different beams of light. The CP60 lamp produces a very narrow beam of light and as a clear lens, the CP61 lamp produces a narrow beam of light and has a frosted lens, and the CP62 lamp produces a medium beam of light with a lenticular lens. All are 1 kW. There are also CP 86, 87 and 88 lamps which are the 500W versions of the 60, 61 and 62 lamps.

The PARcan is used extensively in gigs on account of their ability to produce a great deal of colour and light, their robustness, low cost and the manner in which they work with smoke and haze.

ETC Source 4 PAR (or PARnel)

ETC also produce a Source 4 PAR (or PARnel), which resembles a short nosed Par56. At 575 watts, ETC claim that they are comparable to 1000W PAR64s. They come with a set of four snap-in lenses that mount in a cool, rotating ring. Unusually the lenses should be fitted concavely; this will greatly improve your gel life! They take the same lamp as a Source4 profile, and the addition of lenses gives the different type of beams. This makes them very useful for venues with limited power. Their yoke comes with fittings which make them easy to mount on smoke machines. They are not truly floodlights, nor are they truly spotlights.

LED PARcans are also available which are discussed later in the intelligents section.