Guy Holt

[ Actually, all mag ballasts have PFC incorporated into them in the form of capacitor banks. You are correct, mag ballasts will draw less amps than comparatively sized non-PFC electronic ballasts, but since your Generac is an AVR generator you require an electronic ballast to shoot flicker free (see www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html for details.) No. Most ballasts have a wide range of voltages in which they will operate – usually from 95V- 140V. You can usually over-volt incandescent fixtures by 140% without frying them, but their color temperature will change. You are correct – the EU3000 is not a single phase generator (one that generates two legs of power that are 180 degrees out of phase) and so there is not the opportunity to use the boost capacity of a transformer to compensate for line loss in power from an EU3000. A step down transformer will be able to convert the 240v/20A output from the 4-pin twist-lock output on your Generac to a 40A 120v circuit. See www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html for details. Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip. Lighting Sales & Rental in Boston.

Not exactly. Where our standard circuits are 15 & 20 Amp at 120V, they are 13 & 16 Amps at 230/240 in the EU. Which means that you can power a 2.5 HMI with Power Factor Correction off the wall over there, but not here. Not exactly. If the 1.2k HMI ballast is not Power Factor Corrected (most in this country are not) the head will have an Apparent Power of 2220W and draw about 18.5 Amps. The Honda EU2000i is a pretty robust machine and most people's experience is that it can power a 1.2k HMI, but nothing more. Not exactly. You don’t have to run Bates if you have the voltage boost capacity in the Transformer. In our system we run 10/3 Twistlock between the generator and transformer/distro. If you use a “Boost” Transformer, you can run 200-300 ft of your 10/3 twist-lock extension, and the transformer will compensate for the voltage drop from Line Loss over the cable run. That way you can operate the generator out of your grip truck or van and don’t need to build a special enclosure. If you don’t have Bates extensions and break-outs, you can wire 20A circuits directly into the secondary (load) side of the transformer. You can use a step-down transformer with any generator that has a 240V output. The only difference is that you will not have the benefit of the enhanced 7500W output of our modified Honda EU6500is. Used with an unmodified Honda EU6500is or your Generac (if it has 240V output), a transformer will give you access to the full power available in the generator in a single 120V circuit (5500W for the North American models of the unmodified Honda EU6500i generators). There is considerable benefit to having that power available in a single circuit because it will be larger than 20 Amps. Depending on the size of your Generac, you will be able to run bigger lights, like 4k HMIs or Quartz 5ks , or more smaller lights than you could without it (use this link - www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html for more information about using transformers with generators other than the Honda EU6500is.) Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip. Lighting Sales & Rental in Boston.

Whether you pick up generator noise or not comes down to how you use the generator as much as which generator you use. It is possible to record location audio without picking up generator noise if you use them with a transformer. To record sound without picking up generator noise you need a real distro system that will allow you to move the generator off set (like you would a Crawford), minimize line loss over a long cable run, and provide plug-in pockets conveniently close to set. That is where the transformer comes in. A Distro System consisting of a 60A Full Power Transformer/Distro, 2-60A GPC (Bates) Splitters, 2-60A Woodhead Box distributes power from a modified Honda EU6500is. Even though the generator is 100' away to reduce noise, plug-in points remain conveniently close to set. To record sync sound without picking up any generator noise, all you need to do is add 200' - 300' of heavy duty 250V twist-lock extension cable between the generator and a Transformer/Distro. This is usually enough cable to place the generator around the corner of a building, or to run it out of a van or truck - which is usually all the additional blimping you need with these generators. The heavy-duty 250V twist-lock cable eliminates multiple long cable runs to the generator and minimizes line-loss; as well as, eliminates the voltage drop you would have using standard electrical cords. 60A GPC (Bates) Splitters and Woodhead Box. To assure full line level (120V) on set, use a Transformer/Distro designed to compensate for the slight line loss you will have over an extended cable run. Use one designed to slightly boost the voltage on the load side (secondary) so that if you were to feed the supply side (primary) of the transformer 240 volts from the generator, 127 volts would come out on the secondary side where you plug in the lights. This slight boost enables you to place the generator further from set where you won't hear it, yet assure that the supply voltage on set does not drop too low. 60A Woodhead Box running Power-to-Light PFC 800W ballast (left) and PFC 1200W ballast (right.) Using a Honda EU6500is will certainly help. The Honda EU6500is inverter generator to begin with is much quieter than other generators. Part of what makes the new Honda EU6500is so quiet is it's "Eco-Throttle." The Eco-Throttle's microprocessor automatically adjusts the generator's engine speed to produce only the power needed for the applied load. It can do this because the inverter technology of the Honda EU6500is enables it to run at different RPMs and maintain a constant frequency and voltage. Where conventional generators like the Honda EX5500 and ES6500 have to run full speed at a constant 3600 RPM to produce stable 60 hertz (cycle) electricity, a Honda EU6500is only needs to run as fast as required to meet the load demand. Since their engines do not have to run at full speed, and given the fact that an inverter generator generates 20% more power per revolution of the engine, makes the Honda EU6500is substantially quieter than conventional generators and it can be modified to generate 7500W. For more details on the use of transformers with the Honda EU6500is for set power, I suggest you read the article I wrote for our company newsletter on the use of portable generators in motion picture production. Use this link - www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html for more information about using inverter generators with transformers for motion picture lighting. Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip , Boston

I have always found reflector boards to be of limited use on this type of production because the light usually changes so rapidly that the footage never cuts together. In one shot the sun is out and you have something to bounce, in the next shot the sun is behind a cloud and the lighting doesn’t match. Even when you are blessed with a cloudless day the sun moves so rapidly across the sky that the modeling on your talent changes from beginning to end. Shooting elaborate productions like music videos or dramatic scenes, you need lights in order to maintain continuity between shots. If you plan your shots properly, you don’t need as big of HMIs as you may think. With proper planning you can get away with nothing more than a 4k and 1.2 which you can run on a modified 7500W Honda EU6500is with a Transformer/Distro that provides a single 60Amps/120V circuit. The approach that I find works best is to choose a location that allows you to shoot the establishing master shot of the entire band when the sun is in a backlight position. Up to that point shoot the close coverage of singles or two shots under a full silk. Shooting the close coverage under a silk offers a number of advantages. The silk takes the directionality out of the sun and knocks down its’ level by two and half stops so now you can use smaller HMIs to create consistent modeling in all the close-ups. Shooting into talents' down side under a silk, I find that a 4k through a diffusion frame is a sufficient key source for a good size two shot. If the 4k is the new Arri M40 with the Arrimax reflector you will have output close to that of a 6k Par. When shooting close coverage under a silk, nets behind your talent will control the background from blowing out. There are a number of advantages to waiting to shoot the wide masters of the entire band until the sun has moved around to a back light position. One, your background is also back-lit so the discrepancy in exposure between the background and your talent to camera is not that great and so you can open up to gain exposure of your talent in the foreground without burning out the background. Also, when your background is backlit, it does not over expose because of the discrepancy in levels under the silk and outside the silk – it helps to strike a good balance. Also, your background looks better because it is not flatly lit, but has some contrast. Finally, with the sun in a backlight position, the shadows of the silk frame and stands are thrown forward, which enables you to frame wider before picking up the shadow of the hardware. Guy Holt, Gaffer, SceenLight & Grip, Lighting and Grip Sales in Boston.

Tungsten is a power hog but offers good color rendition. LEDs sip power but the their color rendition is not very good (see www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html) for details. Your best bet is probably Kino Flo lights. But it really depends on whether you are shooting day exteriors or night exteriors? - Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting Rental and Sales in Boston

You won’t be able to use that generator unless you plan to overdub your audio. The problem with open frame portable generators like that is by the time you move them far enough off set that you don’t hear them, you have significant voltage drop from the long cable run. To the problem of line loss, you have the added problem that as you add load the voltage drops on portable generators. It is not uncommon for a generator to drop 10-115 volts under full load. The combination of voltage drop on the generator and line loss on a long cable run can cause voltage to drop to the point where HMI and Kino ballasts won’t strike and Quartz light brown out. The trick to recording clean audio with portable generators is to use a generator, like the Honda EU6500is, with a 240V-to-120V step down transformer that has a slight voltage boost built into it. The Honda EU6500is inverter generator to begin with is much quieter than the other portable generators and even Honda’s older movie blimped Honda EX5500. Part of what makes the new Honda EU6500is so quiet is it's "Eco-Throttle." The Eco-Throttle's microprocessor automatically adjusts the generator's engine speed to produce only the power needed for the applied load. It can do this because the inverter technology of the Honda EU6500is enables it to run at different RPMs and maintain a constant frequency and voltage. Where conventional generators like the Honda EX5500 and ES6500 have to run full speed at a constant 3600 RPM to produce stable 60 hertz (cycle) electricity, a Honda EU6500is only needs to run as fast as required to meet the load demand. Since their engines do not have to run at full speed, and given the fact that an inverter generator generates 20% more power per revolution of the engine, makes the Honda EU series of inverter generators substantially quieter than conventional models. The net result is that the EU6500is operates between 34 to 44 dBA at 50 ft. - half as loud (ten decibels) as the comparable EM7000is and ES6500 generators and comparable to full size movie blimped generators like the Crawfords. But you can't park a Crawford right on set and record sound without picking up the generator either. With sound specs this good all you need to record sound with a Honda EU6500is without picking up generator noise is a real distro system that will allow you to move the EU6500is off set (like you would a Crawford), minimize line loss over a long cable run, and provide plug-in pockets conveniently close to set. That is where the transformer comes in. A Distro System consisting of a 60A Full Power Transformer/Distro, 2-60A GPC (Bates) Splitters, 2-60A Woodhead Box distributes power from a modified Honda EU6500is. Even though the generator is 100' away to reduce noise, plug-in points remain conveniently close to set. [/center] To record sync sound without picking up any generator noise, all you need to do is add 200' of heavy-duty 250V twist-lock extension cable between the generator and a transformer/distro. This is usually enough cable to place the generator around the corner of a building, or to run it out of a van or truck - which is usually all the additional blimping you need with these generators. The heavy-duty 250V twist-lock cable eliminates multiple long cable runs to the generator and minimizes line-loss; as well as, eliminates the voltage drop you would have using standard electrical cords. 60A GPC (Bates) Splitters and Woodhead Box. To assure full line level (120V) on set, use a transformer/distro designed to compensate for the line loss you will have over an extended cable run. That is, use one designed to slightly boost the voltage on the load side (secondary). With these "boost transformers," if you were to feed the supply side (primary) of the transformer 240 volts from the generator, 127 volts would come out on the secondary side where you plug in the lights. This slight boost enables you to place the generator further from set where you won't hear it, yet assure that the supply voltage on set does not drop too low. Make sure the transformer/distro is equipped with a 60A Bates and three 20 A Edison circuits so that you have plug-in pockets conveniently on set. 60A Woodhead Box running Power-to-Light PFC 800W ballast (left) and PFC 1200W ballast (right.) For more detailed information on using transformers on set, I would suggest you read an article I wrote on the use of portable generators in motion picture production. If you haven't yet read the article, or looked at it in a while, it is worth reading. I have greatly expanded it to be the definitive resource on portable power generation for motion picture production. The article is available online at http://www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html. Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lightng & Grip Rental in Boston

As you can see from you location stills, you will need to turn off or wrap the street light in Duvetyne so that its' sickly green doesn't pollute your lighitng - it won't mix well with your tungsten lights. If possible, I would suggest rigging the Blond on the street light to create a pool of top light that will give the Thug an ominous look. You can then bounce that back to give her a more flattering look. I would still suggest you back light the bamboo trees with your 1.2 HMI so that you have some detail outside the pool of light that will define the edges of your frame and dig into the background. How successful you will be depends somewhat on the make and model of the 7000KVA generator - is it a Honda EU7000i? Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip

Check out this thread - http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=55922 - everything that applies to night interiors also applies to night exteriors with the added problem of lighting deep background which is where the 1.2 HMI may come n handy. You have enough lights to get into trouble with if you don't have sufficient power. How much power do you have access to and how far away is it? Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting Equipment Rental & Sales in Boston

More likely than not, the side of the bulb facing the camera was treated with either a brown hairspray or a very light application of black spray paint so that it would not clip on camera yet throw a lot of light on the wall. You can do the same with bulbs inside lamp shades instead of using ND. - Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip,

To that I might add, “don’t assume a dark scene is “underexposed.”” As David explains very well, it’s not that a dark scene is underexposed, but rather that the exposure values in a scene are balanced relative to a proper exposure so that most of the scene remains dark but serves up the full contrast range the medium is capable of. There are a few tricks, all of which are evident in this shot, that should be followed to do this well. 1) Edge light objects in frame. Use reverse keys for talent and underexpose flesh tones by at least two stops or more. As long as you define the contours of your subject with subtle underexposed edges, don’t be afraid to let your talent fall off into black. There is a scene beautifully lit by James Merifield in the “Deep Blue Sea” of Rachel Wiesz and Harry Hadden-Paton standing in a dark alley way. They are back light by a practical at the end of the alley. Their contours are defined by the rims motivated by the practical, but otherwise their fleshtones fall off to complete shadows. 2) I personally believe you should always have a hot spot in a frame – a practical in the scene or something in the deep background. You can shift your overall exposure in the camera or in post to create a dark scene, but without a hot spot reference in the frame it will lack contrast and look underexposed. A hot spot in the frame serves as a reference point and creates contrast. Practicals should be close to clipping and appear to be the source of light in a scene. 3) Don’t try to light your talent with only practical’s because they will blow out – the hot spot in your scene has to look natural. Not only is supplemental lighting required to light your talent, but you must also treat the practicals to make them look realistic. I find that practical lamps never look convincing unless one treats the lampshade as well as boost the bulb wattage. That is because if you stop down to keep the shade from burning out, the output of the practical, on the table it sits on or the wall its on, looks rather anemic. I find you get a more realistic look if you boost the wattage of the bulb and line the inside of the shade with ND gel. It is a delicate balance to obtain. You can obtain this delicate balance without a monitor, by using the old school method with incident and spot meters and a selection of practical bulbs including PH 211, 212, and 213 bulbs. Years ago Walter Lassaley, BSC, instructed me to balance practical’s such that an incident reading of the direct output one foot away from the bulb is one stop over exposure. I have found that rule of thumb gives a realistic output to the practical - the light emitted downward onto the table top and upward onto the wall or ceiling is realistic. After establishing the practical’s output using an incident meter, you then use a spot meter to determine how dense an ND gel is needed to line the inside of the shade so that the shade does not become too hot. 4) Define the edges of your frame with a little detail. As long as you define the edges of your frame with a little detail, as Sonnenfeld does here, you can leave most of it black without it looking under exposed. 5) Soft sources like China Balls and Kinos are the wrong kind of fixtures for this kind of scene. You will need fixtures that you can easily control because you will need to cut them off large parts of your set. It will be hard to keep china balls and Kino Flos from spilling light all over the place and filling shadow areas that you want to keep dark. Fresnels with light diffusion inside the doors, cut with flags and nets, will give you the control you need. Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting and Grip Equipment Sales and Rentals in Boston.

For a good explanation on how to light a dark scene, see David Mullen’s excellent post at http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=55891. In it he warns not to “make the classic mistake of assuming that a dark image involved working in low light levels.” To that I might add, “don’t assume a dark scene is “underexposed.”” As David explains very well, it’s not that a dark scene is underexposed, but rather that the exposure values in a scene are balanced relative to a proper exposure so that most of the scene remains dark but serves up the full contrast range the medium is capable of. There are a few tricks that should be followed to do this well. 1) Edge light objects in frame. Use reverse keys for talent and underexpose flesh tones by at least two stops or more. As long as you define the contours of your subject with subtle underexposed edges, don’t be afraid to let your talent fall off into black. There is a scene beautifully lit by James Merifield in the “Deep Blue Sea” of Rachel Wiesz and Harry Hadden-Paton standing in a dark alley way. They are back light by a practical at the end of the alley. Their contours are defined by the rims motivated by the practical, but otherwise they are in complete shadows. 2) I personally believe you should always have a hot spot in a frame – a practical in the scene or something in the deep background. You can shift your overall exposure in the camera or in post to create a dark scene, but without a hot spot reference in the frame it will lack contrast and look underexposed. A hot spot in the frame serves as a reference point and creates contrast. In my opinion the opening scenes of the clip look underexposed because the practicals aren't hot enough and don't put out light. Practicals should be close to clipping and appear to be the source of light in a scene. 3) Don’t try to light your talent with only practical’s because they will blow out – the hot spot in your scene has to look natural. Not only is supplemental lighting required to light your talent, but you must also treat the practicals to make them look realistic. I find that practical lamps never look convincing unless one treats the lampshade as well as boost the bulb wattage. That is because if you stop down to keep the shade from burning out, the output of the practical, on the table it sits on or the wall its on, looks rather anemic. I find you get a more realistic look if you boost the wattage of the bulb and line the inside of the shade with ND gel. It is a delicate balance to obtain. You can obtain this delicate balance without a monitor, by using the old school method with incident and spot meters and a selection of practical bulbs including PH 211, 212, and 213 bulbs. Years ago Walter Lassaley, BSC, instructed me to balance practical’s such that an incident reading of the direct output one foot away from the bulb is one stop over exposure. I have found that rule of thumb gives a realistic output to the practical - the light emitted downward onto the table top and upward onto the wall or ceiling is realistic. After establishing the practical’s output using an incident meter, you then use a spot meter to determine how dense an ND gel is needed to line the inside of the shade so that the shade does not become too hot. 4) Define the edges of your frame with a little detail. As long as you define the edges of your frame with a little detail, you can leave most of it black without it looking under exposed. The scene above from “Millers Crossing” lit by Barry Sonnenfeld that David Mullen, ASC, analyzes in http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=55891 is a good example of all these tricks. These are the wrong kind of fixtures for this kind of scene. You will need fixtures that you can easily control because you will need to cut them off large parts of your set. It will be hard to keep china balls and Kino Flos from spilling light all over the place and filling shadow areas that you want to keep dark. Fresnels with light diffusion inside the doors, cut with flags and nets will give you the control you need. Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting and Grip Equipment Sales and Rentals in Boston.

HMI heads running on electronic ballasts can "sing"so you may want to check out the heads. Most electronic ballasts will have a "silent mode" switch which will reduce the amount of resonance in the head but not eliminate it. Since it is the head that sings and not the ballast, you won't be able to move it out of the room. As for alternatives, it depends on what power is available. How had you planned to power the 2.5 HMIs. - Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip

This is exactly how PRG is marketing their Foton. In my opinion the Foton still suffers the inherent limitations of all LEDs (Remote or not) using Phosphor Technology to generate colors with longer wavelengths. The inherent limitation to the “Stokes shift” process by which a portion of a “pump” color is transformed from shorter wavelengths to longer wavelengths in Remote Phosphor LEDs is that it works in only one direction – that is why Remote Phosphor LEDs don’t emit color wavelengths shorter than their pump color. Another, inherent shortcoming to this approach to generating “tungsten” light from an LED is that there is a tradeoff between lumen output and warmer color temperatures (see my newsletter article for details.) If you compare the Spectral Power Distribution Graph for the Foton to that of a true black body radiator like a Tungsten filament, the Foton clearly suffers from these limitations. Compared to a black body radiator source like a Tungsten filament, the output of the Foton drops off steeply below its pump color (which is at 425nm verses 465nm of the Blue LED used in typical Phosphor White LEDs) so that it puts out no wavelengths below 400nm. By comparison a Tungsten filament continues to generate light with wavelengths well below 400nm which is why tungsten light will render violet colors better. While the Foton appears to generate more light in the medium blue-cyan-turquoise range from about 465-510nm than the typical Phosphor White LED, its’ long-wavelength cutoff is still at about 625 nm where a tungsten filament continues to generate light all the way out. Because of this rapid drop off of wavelengths above 625nm, pinks, reds, oranges, and other long wave-length colors will look dull under the Foton, compared with how they look under a Tungsten source which continues strong all the way out on the long-wavelength end. Marginally better than the typical Phosphor White LED, I would not say it “correlates perfectly with professional light” and surely does not “eliminate the challenge of lighting with (the) discontinuous spectrum inherent in most LED lighting sources” as PRG claims on their website. - Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting Rental & Sales in Boston

If it was Mitch Gross at Abelcine that said this, he was probably referring to the PRG Foton (he has been promoting it heavily.) It was in fact the Foton that David Pringle was referring to above. He also correctly observed about the Foton: Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip

Art Adams posted on CML recently a link to tests he shot comparing a wide range of LED fixtures for their color rendition. Apparently there is some question about the validity of his methodology on those boards, but the tests are informative all the same, so you might want to look at them before making statements like “I understand that the B&M's MacTech tubes are near perfect, and those new Mole sources are the same.” David Pringle, the founder/owner of Lightning Strikes/Luminys/Softsun, correctly questioned in the same CML thread that, where that might be the case, will manufacturers of LEDs necessarily trade off better color output for diminished efficiency and lumen output? Besides, the now well established deficiencies in the color output of LEDs, they also have the problem that, where you know what to expect when you put a color correction gel, say ¾ CTO, on HMI or Tungsten lights, you don’t know what you will get putting that same gel on an LED light. The reason is that because of their discontinuous spectrum, the use of CC gels on LEDs have unintended and undesirable consequences. 3/4 CTO gel passes only certain wavelengths (represented by the spectral transmission curve (center)) of daylight (left) to create the color spectrum approximating that of a 3200K tungsten light (right.) The same 3/4 CTO gel applied to a daylight LED (left) passes the same wavelengths (represented by the spectral transmission curve (center)) to create an unknown color spectrum that does not approximate a 3200K tungsten light. A good example of this is what happens when you try to convert the 5500K out-put of Phosphor White LEDs to 2900k with Full CTO gel. Where you can do it with some success with HMIs because there are long wavelengths in it’s continuous spectrum to pass disproportionately to the blue part of the spectrum to achieve a nominal 2900K, since LEDs don’t put out much beyond 625nm, there is not much for a filter to pass to rebalance the light output to 2900K, so the “corrected” light is too cool. Another undesirable consequence comes from the fact that Full CTO is designed to pass extra green (there is a bump in the spectral transmission curve of Full CTO in the green portion of the spectrum) and so it creates, given the amount of green inherent in Daylight LEDs to begin with, a disproportionate amount of green (creating an overall green bias) to the "corrected" light when used on Phosphor White LEDs ( link to test results demonstrating this with a Lightpanel 1x1 Daylight Spot.) The gel pack that eventually made the Lightpanel 1x1 Daylight Spot in the test marginally similar to a tungsten light, was only able to do so at the expense of two stops – so much for the greater efficiency of LEDs. Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip

However you decide to shoot the pool scene be sure to use GFCIs on all the cables supplying your lights – whatever size they happen to be. GFCIs are a must when working around water in order to avoid someone taking a potentially lethal shock. If you stick with smaller quartz lights, you will be fine with the hardware store variety of GFCI cords. But, if you use HMIs, or even Kinos, you will need film style GFCIs, like Shock Blocks, that are specifically designed for motion picture lights. To prevent the nuisance tripping that electronic Kino & HMI ballasts can cause with standard GFCIs, film style GFCIs sense on an "Inverse Time Curve." And, to deal with the harmonics that non-PFC Kino & HMI ballasts kick back into the power stream (that will cause other GFCIs to trip), film style GFCIs include a harmonic filter with a frequency response up to 120 hz. 3rd harmonics are attenuated by 50%, and by 500 Hz are down to 20%. Attenuated by the filter, the harmonics generated by dirty loads such as non-PFC Kino & HMI ballasts, pose less of a problem. A single 100A GFCI "Shock Block" can provide ground fault protection on wet locations for the entire distro system of a Honda 6500 portable generator when used in-line with a Step-Down Transformer/Distro. One problem with Shock Blocks is that they don’t come smaller than 100Amps. If you can’t rent a tow generator with a distro box with 100A pockets, the next best thing is a step-down transformer like the 60A Full Power Transformer/Distro we make for our modified 7500W Honda EU6500is generator. A transformer will step down the 240V output of a portable gas generator to a single 60A 120V circuit that you can put a Shock Block on. A 100A GFCI used inline with a transformer can provide safe and secure ground fault protection for an entire distribution system consisting of Bates Extensions, Splitters, and Break-Outs to Edisons – eliminating the need for hardware store 20A GFCIs that are not designed to be used with harmonic generating loads like non-PFC HMI & Kino Ballast, & LED Power Supplies. Used in-line with transformer/, a 100A Shock Block will provide a larger GFCI protected circuit than is commonly available in homes. In fact, it enables the operation of even 4k HMIs on portable generators with GFCI protection. Working around a pool, you may not need a generator at all to power larger HMIs like 4ks. If either the pool water heater or pump is not hardwired but a plug in type, you can use the same transformer that would step down the 240V output from a generator to step down the 240V from the receptacles powering these devices. Master shot of an iRobot commercial lit with a 4kw HMI Par (outside) & 1.8kw HMI Par (inside) powered from a 30A/240V dryer outlet through a step-down transformer/distro. Note: Sunny feel created by 4k Par on an overcast day. [/center] I used a similar approach on a recent commercial for iRobot (see production stills attached.) The spot contrasted the iRobot Scooba designed to clean kitchen floors to the old mop and bucket approach. For the mop and bucket approach we had a haggard looking Mom slopping water all over the kitchen floor as kids ran slipping and sliding across the floor. Left: Transformer/Distro plugged into a 30A/240V dryer outlet. Right: 4K HMI Par under rain protection powered by Transformer/Distro [/center] Because we knew water would get everywhere we used one of our 60A Transformer Distros on a Dryer Plug to power a 4K HMI, a 1800W HMI, and some Kinos. We put a 100A Shock Block like the one pictured above on the load side of the transformer/distro to provide Ground Fault protection inside around the wet kitchen floor. It was a good thing that we did, because it ended up pouring rain that day and so the Shock Block did double duty for the 4k that was outside the kitchen window. Left: Arri AS18 1800W Par powered from Transformer/Distro. Right: 4Kw and 1800W HMI ballasts powered from Transformer/Distro. [/center] For more detailed information on using Shock Blocks to provide Ground Fault protection on Dryer/Range plugs or with portable Honda generators, I would suggest you read the article I wrote for our company newsletter on the use of portable generators in motion picture lighting. Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lightng & Grip Rental & Sales in Boston

For the non ENG shooters, that translates to a 100W incandescent open-face (I don't believe one is even made that small) with full CTB on it. Where full CTB transmits only 24%, you have basically a 24W daylight source - i.e. not much in a daylight situation. Without the hard data the rest of your description is meaningless, so I look forward to receiving the data - especially the spectral power distribution. While you are at it, please provide the B50/L85 life on the fixture (not the diode alone in some lab setting.) Thanks, Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting Rental & Sales in Boston

Kevin, The interchangeable LED lamp module of your Frezzi LED is an interesting concept, but your website is short on information. Since marketing is the art of omission, can you provide more detailed information such as the CRI for each of the standard sixteen CRI color patches, spectral power distribution for the visible light spectrum, the Power Factor of the AC-to-DC converter that mounts onto the back, the Apparent Power of the head operating on AC, the beam width for each beam angle at 4' and the FC and beam angles at 10', 15', and 20.' Also, please expound upon the verbal acrobatics of "Equivalent to a 100W daylight corrected tungsten" - I'm not sure what is meant by that. Finally, please explain what is meant by "HMI Type Output." Thanks, Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip

Bouncing an LED into the ceiling or a white card is not going to enable you to hold detail in windows. For that you will need a fairly large HMI - something in the order of a 4k Par. - Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting Rental and Sales in Boston

One of the biggest challenges in situations like this is getting light into the eyes of your talent. If you don't, your talent's eye will look dark and bruised because the very toppy light of the overhead fluorescents won't dig into their eyes. Unfortunately to get light into their eyes, you will have to hang lights below the ceiling. There are drop ceiling hangers (baby pins on scissor clips) available just for this purpose. However to hang anything larger than a 1k or to hang kino banks you will need something like the hangers picture below: You may want to consider the approach we took in the production stills above, where we hung 4'-4 Bank kinos with Opal coved below the fixture to make a "Bay Light." Coving the Opal under the light, redirects it horizontally so that it will dig into the talents eyes. You may also want to consider using a combination of hard and soft light as we did here to create contrast in a situation where the practical lighting is usually very flat. As you can see here, with the right rigging equipment, you can use drop ceilings like a studio grid. Use this link for more pictures of productions that used drop ceilings on location as if they were a studio grid. - Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting Sales in Boston

If you are wondering where all that extra power is going – it is going into the generation of harmonic currents which can distort the voltage waveform of the power in the distro system and can build to dangerous levels on the Neutral of the system. This is why Kino Flo, on their website, cautions users of their older style fixtures that use T-12 tubes, that the ballasts “will draw double the current on the neutral from what is being drawn on the two hot legs. On large installations it may be necessary to double your neutral run so as not to exceed your cable capacity.”(http://www.kinoflo.com/FYI/FAQs.htm#2). Left: Pkg. of 2-1200 HMI Par w/ non-pfc ballasts & Kino Wall-o-Lite powered by grid power. Right: Same Lighting Pkg. powered by conventional AVR Generator (Honda EX5500) Note different effect that the same non-linear load harmonics have on grid power and power from conventional AVR generator. The distortion of the voltage waveform that harmonic currents can cause (Harmonic Noise) can also severely limit the total number of lights that can be reliably operated on conventional generators (see voltage waveform distortion above.) Use this link for more details on the source of harmonics and how to counteract their adverse effects. Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting and Grip Rental and Sales in Boston.

I came up with a PF of .54 for the Kino 4-Bank Select ballast by plugging the following figures into the equation for Power Factor below. The “True Power” of the system (expressed in the equation as KW) is the sum of the wattages of its four 4’ T12 tubes or 300W (75Wx4). The “Apparent Power” of the system (expressed in the equation as KW + KVAR) is what you would get if you were to measure the current (using a Amp Meter) and voltage (using a Volt Meter) traveling through the cable supplying the Kino ballast and multiply them according to Ohm’s Law (W=VA). According to the technical specifications on Kino’s website the 4 Bank Select ballast draws 4.6A at 120V making the Apparent Power 552KVA (4.6A x 120V = 552.) Which makes the Power Factor (expressed as PF in the equation) .54 (300W / 552KVA = .54), or the Kino ballast draws nearly twice the power of an incandescent lamp to generate the same 300W of lights. Use this link for a more detailed explanation using electrician’s favorite beer analogyillustrated above. If you are wondering where all that extra power is going – it is going into the generation of harmonic currents which can distort the voltage waveform of the power in the distro system and can build to dangerous levels on the Neutral of the system. The Harmonic Noise that ballasts with poor Power Factor, like the Kino 4 Bank Select Ballast, kick back into the power stream can also severely limit the total number of lights that can be reliably operated on conventional generators (use this link for more details.) Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting and Grip Rental and Sales in Boston.

The tech specs on the Kino website for the current drawn by their T12 fixtures (the 2’ & 4’ single, double, and four bank fixtures) are confusing because, like the Joker HMIs, their ballasts are not Power Factor Corrected, which means that they draw more power (their “Apparent Power”) than the wattage of the bulbs that they use (their “Real Power.”) I’m not certain about the 2’ double, but a 4’- 4 Bank ballast with four 75W tubes draws more than the 300 Watts (4x75W=300Watts/120V = 2.5 Amps ) that you would think according to Ohms Law. With a Power Factor of .54, it in fact draws 4.6 Amps or has an Apparent Power of 550W. In other words, it draws nearly twice the power that a Power Factor Corrected ballast would draw to power the same four 75W tubes. The greater Apparent Power of lights with a poor Power Factor is not the only consideration when using a number of them on a location or operating them on conventional generators. Of equal importance, is the Harmonic Noise that they kick back into the power stream because it can severely affect power quality. For instance, on their website Kino Flo cautions users of their older style fixtures that use T-12 tubes, that the ballasts “will draw double the current on the neutral from what is being drawn on the two hot legs. On large installations it may be necessary to double your neutral run so as not to exceed your cable capacity.”(http://www.kinoflo.com/FYI/FAQs.htm#2). The Harmonic Noise that ballasts with poor Power Factor kick back into the power stream can also severely limit the total number of lights that can be reliably operated on conventional generators (use this link for more details. ) Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting and Grip Rental and Sales in Boston.

Sorry to have muddled the thread - somehow I missed the fact that the OP was in the UK. In this situation it is important to bear in mind that HMIs and Kino don't follow Ohm's Law (W_VxA) because they have a Power Factor that causes them to draw a greater Apparent Power. For example, the Joker HMI ballasts are not Power Factor Corrected. Their poor Power Factor causes them to use power inefficiently which can lead to unpleasant surprises in situations like this. If we look at the technical specifications for Joker Buglites, we see that the ballast that the Joker 800 uses has a Power Factor of .56. What that means is that it draws 12.5 Amps rather than the 7 Amps you would think using Ohm’s Law (W=VA.) The difference between the actual current drawn by the bulb, 12.5 Amps, and the 7 Amps a 800W bulb should draw using Ohm’s Law (800W/115V=6.956A), is the difference between what is called “Apparent Power” and “True Power.” If, in this case, you were to measure the actual current (using a Amp Meter) and voltage (using a Volt Meter) traveling through the cable supplying the Joker 800 ballast and multiply them according to Ohm’s Law (VxA= W) you would get the “apparent power” of the bulb (115V x 12.5A = 1437W). But, if you were to instead, use a wattmeter to measure the actual amount of energy being converted into real work (light) by the ballast you would get the “true power” of the bulb which in this case is specified by the manufacturer as 800W. The ratio of “True Power” to “Apparent Power” is called the “Power Factor” of the light. A favorite analogy electricians like to use to explain Power Factor is that if Apparent Power is a glass of beer, Power Factor is the foam that prevents you from filling the glass all the way up with beer. When lights with a low Power Factor are used, the distribution system must be sized to supply the Apparent Power (beer plus foam), even though only the True Power (beer) counts. With a Power Factor of .56, you must take into account that the Joker 800 ballast draws considerably more power (1437W) for it’s true power output of 800W. Used on wall outlets in the US, this relatively inefficient use of power is negligible because the power draw of the Joker 800 fits easily in a standard wall circuit. However, the greater Apparent Power of lights with a poor Power Factor must be factored in situations like this or when using portable generators. For instance, you would think that you could operate a Joker 800 on a simple two stroke 1000W generator. But, in fact, you would overload the generator because the “continuous load” rating of the All Power America 1000W Generator sold at Walmart is only 850W and the actual load of the Joker 800 is 1437W. The greater Apparent Power of Lights with a poor Power Factor is not the only consideration when operating them on a generator. When you use lights sources like HMIs, Kinos, CLF lamp banks, and even LEDs, on generators it matters not only what type of ballasts the light uses, but also what type of generator you use to power it. The harmonic currents that ballasts with poor Power Factor, like the Joker 800 electronic ballast, kick back into the power stream can have a severe adverse effect on the power waveform of some generators. Use this link more detailed information on Power Factor and Power Factor Correction. Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lightng & Grip Rental & Sales in Boston

The best way to determine the maximum load the electrical service of a location can support is to look at the main breaker of the service head (main electrical panel.) Domestic wiring is almost always single phase, meaning it has two hot legs that are 180 degree out of phase. A flat would have either 60 or 100 Amps per leg, which means that there would be either 120 or 200 Amps available. While that’s a good amount of power, it is nearly impossible to access it all. The first problem is that it is only available to you in small branch circuits of 15 or 20 Amps. The second problem is that you must balance the load of your lights over the two legs of the electrical service. For these reasons, you end up not being able to utilize large lights or even a lot of the power that is available. The voltage of opposing legs of a single phase circuit add while the current carried on the legs subtract. One way to utilize larger lights, or more of the available power, is to step-down a 240V circuit to 120V with a transformer. Common household 240V circuits include Range Plugs, Dryer Plugs, and special receptacles installed for Window Air Conditioners. Like it does with the enhanced 7500W/240V output of our Honda EU6500is Generator, a step down transformer will convert the 240 volts supplied these household 240V receptacles to 120 volts in a single circuit that is the sum of the two single phase legs of 30/50 amps each. Now that you have a larger (60A usually) 120V circuit, you can operate larger lights, or more smaller lights, than you could otherwise. Master shot of an iRobot commercial lit with a 4kw HMI Par (outside) & 1.8kw HMI Par (inside) powered from a 30A/240V dryer outlet through a step-down transformer/distro. Note: Sunny feel created by 4k Par on an overcast day. I used this approach to provide GFCI protection for a 4k HMI on a wall outlet on a recent commercial for iRobot (see production stills attached.) The spot contrasted the iRobot Scooba designed to clean kitchen floors to the old mop and bucket approach. Left: Transformer/Distro plugged into a 30A/240V dryer outlet. Right: 4K HMI Par under rain protection powered by Transformer/Distro For the mop and bucket approach we had a haggard looking Mom slopping water all over the kitchen floor as kids ran slipping and sliding across the floor. Because we knew water would get everywhere we used one of our 60A Transformer Distros on a Dryer Plug to power a 4K HMI, a 1800W HMI, and some Kinos. Left: Arri AS18 1800W Par powered from Transformer/Distro. Right: 4Kw and 1800W HMI ballasts powered from Transformer/Distro. We put a 100A Shock Block like the one pictured below on the load side of the transformer/distro to provide Ground Fault protection inside around the wet kitchen floor. It was a good thing that we did, because it ended up pouring rain that day and so the Shock Block did double duty for the 4k that was outside the kitchen window. A single 100A GFCI "Shock Block" can provide ground fault protection on wet locations for the entire distro system of a Honda 6500 portable generator when used in-line with a Step-Down Transformer/Distro. By giving you access to more "house power" through common 240V household outlets, a Transformer/Distro can eliminate the need for dangerous tie-ins or expensive tow generators (use this linik for details.) Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lightng & Grip Rental in Boston