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Lighting Design Software?


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This is sort of off-topic to cinema but related.  I was hired to set up a church with a video streaming system.  Since they were in a hurry to get up and running, I set up temporary lighting on their balcony going purely by instinct (and a light meter of course).  I have the entire stage lit within 1/2 stop using six Fresnels and it looks good on camera.  I want to be a bit more "scientific" for the final version, where the lighting will be mounted to the ceiling and there will be eight fixtures total.  I did an experiment where I replicated my temp lighting in EASE Focus, which is speaker coverage software.  I chose a speaker model that radiated (in the high frequencies) similarly to a Fesnel and adjusted the virtual test frequency till I found the one that most closely matches the lights' beams.  See attached.  The results are consistent with my practical observations with measurements taken at eye-level.  The map is set to cover a 1-stop range where bright red (none showing) is the equivalent of +1/2-stop, deep blue (none showing) is -1/2-stop with green/yellow being on target.  The 2nd pic is a quickie experiment for a possible lighting scenario; much better than the current temp lighting with everything within 1/4-stop (but probably can't fully trust it).

Sound does not behave the same way as light, as similar as it may be in some respects.  Is there software out there that is DESIGNED for lighting?  I feel like that would be a lot easier to do than speaker placement software for certain.  Choose a fixture type, beam-width, power etc. place it in the room, adjust the angles and barn doors, done.  BTW, the grid is 5' spacing.  It's a pretty big stage.  The 2nd "zone" in the 2nd pic accounts for the difference in floor elevation as they sometimes have people talk in front of the stage.

Thank you!

ubc_temp_lighting.png

ubc_fixed_lighting_130o.png

Edited by Stephen Baldassarre
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