Optimizing Your Translight Experience
Your Translight backdrop is created with lighting in mind. It’s important to have a basic understanding of the best way to optimize the impact of your drop with lighting. Your lighting designer will know more, but we’ve provided some tips and tricks to assist you in using Translight to its maximum effect in any venue.
FRONT LIGHTING YOUR TRANSIGHT DROP
All styles of Translight can be front lit normally. Because Translight has a matte finish there is no glare. Any type of fixture can be used—including traditional theatrical PARcans, Fresnels and linear ground washes.
Intelligent LED fixtures like Colorforce and VariLite can be used to highlight specific areas of your drop to achieve maximum effect. Translight works best when lighting with oblique or indirect angles, and it may be necessary to light from both the top down and bottom up depending on where your specific effects are placed on the drop.
REAR LIGHTING YOU TRANSLIGHT DROP
Here are some tips for rear lighting each type of Translight backdrop.
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Translight Fabric
A Lighting Designers dream Because the rear of the drop is identical to the front, there is no specific specialized lighting needed to maximize the saturated color. The same front lighting may be utilized behind the drop. Depending upon how you will use your drop. specific focusing of your fixtures onto the front, rear, or specific areas of your drop to achieve effects of time of day can be used–as can combinations of front and rear lighting to highlight shadows and contrast. The same rule applies for event lighting. Typical event lighting instruments such as LED-based fixtures, including movers and intelligent linear wash lighting, can be employed to add even more color and contrast to your drop.
Translight Day to Night
Translight Day/Night drops are created to eliminate any concerns of light bleed through the drop. Light the rear of your drop in a similar fashion as the front to achieve a general day to night transition. You may wish to utilize fixtures with a narrower focus or barn doors to focus on specific elements of the rear of the drop to add more dynamism such as random window lights igniting, blinking neon, etc. A combination of bottom up and top down lighting works best, allowing an overall wash.
NOTE – True day/dusk/night transitions can be achieved by slowly transitioning from front to rear lighting, and using fixtures and controls that allow for control over intensity and color.
Translight Magic
Translight Magic relies on the drop’s ability to transform, revealing unseen changes on the face of the drop when lit from behind. Some additional lighting and light control considerations are recommended when using Translight Magic. In many cases, rear lighting of Translight Magic can be similar to that used for other Translight Products. Wide light washes on oblique angles top and bottom will be more than sufficient to create a solid wash across the entire rear surface. LED and intelligent lighting such as Colorforce or similar linear fixtures are ideal. Fixtures of this type allow greater control of your effects, revealing elements in desired order, even creating basic “animation” like blinking signs, lighting strikes, text and logos or anything designed into your backdrop.
Additional Tips For Lighting Translight Magic
Ambient Lighting Conditions
When hanging a Translight Magic backdrop, it is best to ensure that ambient venue light, particularly light behind the print, be reduced or eliminated with masking. This will ensure that any rear elements to be revealed do not “ghost” through to the face of the drop before illuminating the drop from behind.
Show Lighting Conditions
Consideration should be given to the overall show lighting during the show or event. The less light used downstage or in the venue during the reveal, the better the Translight Magic drop will react. More light in the immediate downstage area of the drop can result in a muted reveal of the effects. Additional