Over the last decade, stage lighting has taken some extreme curves and turns. What started as a weak source of light in questionable fixtures has emerged as a most viable source of light with new fixtures emerging at a rapid pace. LED lighting has become quite the buzzword with touring productions, bands and management, and is strongly associated with green lighting or environmentally friendly lighting. Recently we asked a select few from our industry to give us their opinions on the current state of green lighting for the touring sector, including Ethan Weber, an industry veteran and lighting director for U2's 360 tour, Steven Douglas, lighting designer/director for the Killers, and Chris Ewington, manufacturer and designer of i-Pix LED fixtures.
The Spice of Light
To fully understand the concert tour lighting needs, trends and progressions we need to go back and take a look at the industry before automated lighting. Weber explains: "Before moving lights were accessible and affordable, we would vary our fixture types to give the light show more character – PARs, lekos, fresnels, omnis, etc.; it adds variety. LEDs work better as up lights than old sources, mainly because of their low profile and unlimited colors. I use LEDs as truss toners as well. I like PARs with color changers better, but I use the LEDs because they're easier to deal with, cheaper and have more colors."
Ewington adds, "LED lighting has introduced another layer of effects potential. First generic technology came along, and then moving technology, which was supposed to replace generic fixtures, then video, now LED fixtures with pixel mapping. Increasing intensities are now leading to LED moving fixtures. You can see where the industry is heading. It's not rocket science. We know LED technology will sit alongside older technologies for a while, purely down to the additional effects choice LED technology brings to the lighting designer."
The quest for better, brighter and budget fixtures is an ongoing theme. "We all want to be more responsible in our power draws, but it can be hard to find an LED light that's bright enough, cheap enough and dims decently," said Weber. In recent times the LED has improved greatly but we still have a way to go.
The LED Challenge
The challenges of implementing green lighting into our conventional and automated rigs are many, as Douglas points out. "Green lighting is definitely becoming more and more prevalent these days, with companies and bands in particular coming under pressure to acknowledge and do something about their carbon footprint," he said. "But in my mind, the reason for using LED lighting has to do with servicing the show first and foremost, and not become a trend that people follow. They are an addition to the world of lighting, but I don't think they will ever completely kill off traditional fixtures."
Ewington adds, "Not many designers have (embraced) the energy saving aspects of using LED technology. Our industry is used to being power hungry, and many designs using LED technology still consume vast chunks of power. Gradually, as LED intensities increase, we will see a push away from older technology towards LED technology, so the goal is firstly mimicking what everyone is used to with moving heads."
Smooth Operators
Dimming curves are also an important factor. LED lighting has garnered a reputation for choppy dimming. For that reason, it is often used for eye candy instead of key or fill light. Ewington points out that there's more to LED dimming than meets the eye. "It's not just the LED; it's the driver technology behind the LED that counts in terms of smoothness of response, long fade times, slow transitions, etc. Sixteen-bit control has crept in over the last few years, allowing for a more precise control of LEDs, especially at low intensities."
The need for smoother dimming of LEDs is certainly important if the source is to continue to replace conventional fixtures. Weber echoes the sentiment. "Have shied away from using LEDs because of the dimming curve," he said. "I usually use them either as effect lights, truss toners or band up lights. Nothing is much worse than trying to do a nice slow fade in or out and watch the things pop on and off at 20 percent."
Most designers would probably agree with Weber, however, in recent times the dimming curves in some LED fixtures have improved dramatically. Fixtures like Martin's Stagebar 54 and i-Pix BB7, among others, have a certain dimmer quality that was previously unobtainable.
Whiter Whites
For years, designers have battled low CRI in white LEDs and greenish ambers that are lackluster at best and unacceptable at worst. That, too, is changing.
"The addition of white and amber LED into the RGB format has definitely had a massive impact on the use of LED fixtures," Ewington said. "It's now possible to achieve true whites and ambers whereas before LED fixtures were always blotchy and slightly unfinished looking color wise. Also, a big advent has been non-conventional LED sources such as the i-Pix BB series and the VL-X whereby the fixture doesn't look like an LED source with that pixilated look we all know."
Weber agrees. "I'm much more likely to use lights that have white and amber LEDs," he said. "Not being able to get a true white or decent CTO is almost as annoying as not being able to dim the lights."
Ewington first built an LED fixture with amber LEDs in 2004. "I'm not convinced of the 25 percent additional cost versus benefits. Whites and ambers increase the potential color choice, but I feel they only compensate for missing colors from the type of RGB LED chosen. We invested in getting our LED light engine right. I have an ongoing argument with a lighting designer friend about the use of amber and white. We both agree that lighting desks have evolved around three encoders for secondary and primary color mixing. TV and still cameras have RGB sensors, not RGBW or RGBA sensors. Our eyes are RGB sensors, so the same rules apply. Yes, the additional color is useful, but if you get the RGB mix right, there is no need to compensate."
Arc Lamps vs. Solid-State
Is the need to change upon us? Maybe not. Arc lamps are already quite efficient, and our power consumption has dropped dramatically since the days of the power metal PAR can rigs of the 1980s. What is the advantage of leaving the arc lamps in the shop in favor of LEDs?
"Arc fixtures have gotten more efficient over the years, and many manufacturers have cut the power draw in half when the dimmer blade is closed," Weber said. "We tend to turn moving lights on in the morning and leave them on through to the end of the show. LEDs are on for testing, programming and the show, and are used much less over the course of the day."
"Plasma lamps will probably creep into this world," Ewington adds. "However, it's a waste of energy, quite a considerable waste to have a lamp on full, and then use motors and filters to filter the white light to the color you want. Their mechanical nature makes for a hard time touring such devices, with possibly ten percent of fixtures in ‘sick bay' at a time. LED technology is solid-state and does not suffer the same problems of mechanical color-changing devices."
Lighting for the Long Haul
Cost and inventory are big factors in the concert and touring industry. Rental houses need to be able to shift the product for long-term gains. A product needs to be reliable so that people will be willing to invest in tomorrow's technology. Ewington sums up the demand at present: "All of our hire company customers are more than happy developing their LED inventory for the benefits of low power, longevity, and a fixture that lasts years rather than having a limited useful life. Companies are holding onto kit now that they bought in 2002. If a payback is, say, 35 weeks, you can imagine the cash flow benefits of low maintenance lights, plus no consumable costs such as lamps or filters."
Greener touring is definitely viable, and it is an attractive option for the touring industry. As technology progresses, we will produce bigger shows with more light and lower power consumption.
