Stage Light Controller
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Where can I find a follow spot (a spot light for stage/theater) that will PT (pan/tilt) automatically?
I'm looking for either a spotlight that has this capability on it, or something that can be affixed to a spotlight that will do this. I am basically wanting to have a spot light follow a person with little to no human interaction. Even a controller with a joystick would suffice if that is all I can find.
Theoretically what you're looking for is a moving light, be that a moving head or a moving mirror (sometimes called a scanner). The problem is, it's very, very difficult to use a moving light as a followspot for several reasons. You really have to pre-programme it as if you try to drive it live, it will be near-impossible because you don't have the fine control that you need - it just can't be done. And, if it's pre-programmed, your actor has to follow exactly the same path, to the inch, EVERY SINGLE TIME. And for 99.9% of actors, this is just not possible. I've managed to make it work once, and that was purely because the actor's movements were restricted by the set - he HAD to follow the same path or else he would have fallen off the set. Even then, it took a long, long time to get the programming right and that was for a simple 10-second sequence. If you're talking about having someone driving it with a joystick on a controller (which do exist, but are pretty uncommon), why not just have a person operating a followspot? You don't even need a full-blown followspot, I don't know how many times I've operated a profile spot with an iris fitted, mounted on a stand (using a spigot) as a followspot - works perfectly for a smaller show. If you're absolutely determined to have an automated followspot, you need to investigate tracking systems where the actor wears a transmitter and there is a receiver mounted on the followspot, but they're horrendously expensive and not all that accurate yet - give it a few years and maybe it will be better. There's a good reason that West End and Broadway shows still have human followspot operators - why don't you want to use a person?
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