Inside a VL3000 moving head light. TCF
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ค. 2024
- This is a very common light in the entertainment industry. It's basically a very high quality moving yoke light with a well engineered optical path to maximise its light output.
Unlike cheap disco lights, this type of light is specifically designed for continuous touring and is extremely heavy and rugged. (a two person lift)
Because these lights were engineered to withstand the abuse of being toured they cost in the region of about $20,000 each when new. You can buy working used ones for closer to $4000 now, but they are still good workhorses in the industry, so it's not that easy to source them. The spares are also quite expensive due to their complex and proprietary nature.
One of the most notable features is the way that their colour and beam-shaping "bulkheads" can be swapped quickly in-situ. One of the less desirable features is the mount of case disassembly to change the electronic lamp ballast!
One of the many notable features of these lights is that they reduce the power to the discharge lamp when the shutter is closed to prolong its life. - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Thank god genesis decided to fund the creation of these. I couldn't imagine the entertainment industry without them. I really wouldn't want to have to gel lekos and manually focus/aim for every single show for the rest of my life.
I'm old enough to remember when you weren't allowed to see what was inside Vari*lites! Love your videos!
I'd like to see a demo of this lamp as it initialises and lights up, it's something we never see up close. 👍🏼
Having been a touring lighting director for years I *love* these videos... the deepest I got into the lights I toured with (all High End, the head of the company loved our band) was changing out a fuse. Since I was on the road (literally) all year any problem lights were sent back to Austin TX for repair so please please please keep the lighting videos coming !!!
I used to build lights like these at High End Systems in Austin. We had a demo room that was filled to the max with lights and could blow your mind.
Thanks for this! I've been fascinated by these since the 80s and it's great to finally have a look inside to see how they work.
I never really thought about how much goes on in those things, nice video!
Man, you're making me miss my theatre classes from days gone by! Great channel too. Keep on doing what you're doing :)
I remember first using these things in 2004 not too horribly long after they came out... they blew my mind.
When I worked with theater lighting, we never had these available. Kind of jealous as they certainly transformed the industry. The coolest feature we had were static gobos and we had to swap them in and out to get different effects. Thanks for showing us.
excellent demo and explanation - never seen one inside begore - thanks for sharing - highly apreciated !
Unfortunately, VL quality has diminished since the buyout by Phillips. I've had far more problems with post buyout VL3000s than with the earlier fixtures.
Man, I'm jealous... Everywhere I've worked with lights has had old fashioned mechanical lights that have to be hand operated...
I love concert and intelligent lighting and have for many years thanks for show how it works!!!! Hopefully I can see more videos like these!!!! Cheers from Canada!!!
I am a old VL op and tec for VL and it's nice to see the inside again
That's what i call a show light love when you show stage lighting and how it works and inside unit wish you could do more on stage lighting and back of stage lighting i do like all your videos so interesting
Your a lampie! Been watching for a while and finally got down to these videos! Had know idea you were 'one of us'!
please do more of these
i'm really interested in this!
Brings back some fond memories... first light units I worked on were Clay Paky Golden Scans Mk1 and Martin Roboscans (In a Glasgow nightclub too). Looks like they've come a long way since! Last units I worked on were CP Mini Scan HPE
I love lights, not sure why. But these things really tickle my fancy!
Wow impressive bit of lighting equipment
What a privilege to see! Thanks!
I repaired a few Martin Mac Moving Heads, It's Insane how much Stuff they put in those Lights. Especially the Mac 2000 Performance was filled to the Brim
I’ve had the pleasure of smashing one of these during a load out back in the late 2000’s. Make sure all wheel leg pins are secure before taking the slide hammer to the truss pins!
I always wanted to know about this, thanks
I wanted to see it light up 💡or see the lightbulb
Thanks for the video, and how much watts in total it needs?
+Julian Knödler Thanks Buddy.
Haha! I love watching your electronics videos, then while researching VL3000's your buttery voice starts up, and my face lit up! Pardon the pun 😉
I am so glad now we bought a bunch of good old high end cyberlight.
Heavy as hell and no great output but really easy to maintain.
I wonder if these were designed by avionics engineers...
I was on a production with 28 of these things and the rigging company (PSAV) decided that phase-reverse was necessary and when they shouted “truss moving” they “accidentally” ran the truss down instead of up and we ended up having to replace 4 of these fixtures. Fully loaded truss was no match for these fixtures. Everything was damaged and PSAV denied the claim.
I've seen that happen with an Edinburgh company lowering a truss onto a very expensive centrepiece light. It made a sound like a car crash.
A nice lighting fixtures. Vari*lite used to be industry standard for moving lights but I think Martin and Robe are the new industry standards.
That's a long way from slapping a gel into a Leko and futzing with the shutters like I used to do back in the 80's...
We still do a lot of that too, it's a lot cheaper than using these moving heads!
Very frustrating! With your detailed explanation I was hoping to see what the lamp did. I am a fan of concert lighting and sound and would have loved to see the results.
got any vl1000 series?
where I work we have 12 of VL1000AS and I am the one that has to fix them (they are old 05 or 06) and the most common problem are the motor drivers. although sometimes some other parts fail. and unlike the 2000 series and 3000 series light from VL these are not easily serviced. any work inside the head you have to take the lamp housing off to get to the modules (usually takes at least an hour to fix them)
The color flags are about $450 each on HES Studio Colors / Studio Spot CMY. I'm assuming it would be similar on the Varilites?
i love the V.L 3k profile
in the bottom are nema stepper motor?
Very interesting thanks :)
I love programming these lights
Awesome! Those things cost about $13,000 here in the America.
Hello Clive may I please ask where this video was made and what company? ???
Damn that lamp must be loud with them fans in it :P
Far more going on inside this thing than I imagined! But can I ask though, what does the "TCF" stand for in the video title?
+goose300183 Tattoo Cocktail Fund. We have a silly sort of cocktail night once a week on that job, where we create ludicrous drinks and add some atmospheric lighting with spare lights. Any advertising revenue from these videos will be added together and used to buy a bottle or two of random spirits.
+bigclivedotcom haha if I had a hundred guesses I don't think I would have got that! Sounds like a good night though.
Dang it... I worked with Martins 1220 scanners back in the day. The dip switch patching between the types was a nightmare...then the 500 and 600 moving heads hit the marked. You should, if possible, do a teardown of a 1220, it's a beast of a scanner.
DipSwitches are officially a nightmare. Every time I see one I smash my head into a wall. As a noise boy I very rarely have to deal with them though.... thank god!
It looks like a freaking ray gun from a 1980's Sci-Fi film! :D
I was lucky enough to be able to use VL3500q spots from prg at college this year, and jesus they're heavy and slow but the optics really are something to admire considering how old these are now.
The Varilite stuff is heavy because it has to withstand the rigours of touring. Mainly rough handling of flight cases while loading in and out of trucks. Some of the newer waterproof LED fixtures are extremely heavy due to having diecast sealing covers.
Yeah it definitely is worth it for the ruggedness.
I don't dare drop my dj shit on the ground when rigging or de rigging and I'm pretty careful with my stuff, but we did (carefully) drop the 3500's on the ground when we took them off the rigs (as we needed to vaccum them before putting them back in the cases). They also got battered on the scissorlift.
It was rather funny as well as we had some robe spikies along with the loan (decent little lights), and we lost our collective shits over the size difference
Don't suppose you have any MAC lights there? I have a connection to lights particularly made by Martin as I worked for a company that manufactured the irises for them. I can't remember if we made them for Phillips though.
Matthew Bliss We used some Mac 2000's for a while. But they were absolutely terrible for lamp ballast failure.
+bigclivedotcom I used to work on the MAC 2K, 500 and 250 lights. FYI there were two versions of the 2k, a magnetic ballast and electronic ballast version.
it is so cool
How does this light and Clay Paky compare to Martin lights in terms of quality?
+SpriteXP Each has its own merits. The choice of light will generally be based on the application and which light actually suits it the best. Specific lighting designers also have a preference for particular lights and brands.
It used to be that Martin was supreme with their Martin Mac 700, 500, viper lines etc. then Philips Varilite came along. High End Systems has really stepped up their game ever since ETC purchased them. Nowadays the likes of the massive Syncrolites are gone almost. TSO used them extensively but those lights are too darn massive. HES for me.
@@mrodriguez4829 Vari-light has been around since the early 80s, they started the industry. Genesis funded and first toured with them for their Abacab tour. For a while they were the only band, to use them and even after that VL were the only intelligent fixture manufacturers.
Could it use slip rings or are there too many conductors ?
Proper touring lights have a very tough life. Slip rings have been tried on lights in the past and they didn't catch on.
When you said 'very very expensive' you weren't lying...This thing costs a fortune.
What is the light source technology in these lamps? Xenon discharge?
+zh84 Not Xenon. Typical metal halide/HID style lamps.
I worked on Children in Need in Colwyn Bay a few years ago when a truss full of brand new lamps like this was destroyed by a freak gust of wind bringing the roof of the stage down.
It was a sad and sorry sight seeing these twisted and mangled on the floor below.
Apparently they were brand new too.
I have photos somewhere....
Don't blame the wind, blame the bad rigging!
I wonder how long it will be before all of the mechanical innards are replaced with the type of light engine that you see in a video projector. You could then have arbitrary control over color and gobos.
You do get moving head projectors, but they are very expensive and relatively inefficient.
Very interesting,I didn't see any hot spots..
do u have a light made by prg on your table with these vl 3000's ? it looked like the best boy 4000 or it could be the wash version as well
PRG Bad Boy. We were using them as followspots.
Could u please do a inside video of those I really want to see its cmy wheels
Have you seen the new "remote" operation unit that can be used with the Bad Boy? I had a play with it at ABTT recently, I was really suprised at how easy it was to use!
Do you mean the unit that allows it to be used as a (part) manual followspot? We were using eight of those last year on the Edinburgh Tattoo.
It's called the PRG GroundControl Followspot System. You get a monitor and a remote control unit on a tripod. You can control everything on the "followspot" (bad boy) from this controller. It's designed to avoid having operators climbing truss and working at height.
been testing the new VL 4000 wash and spot fixtures. the optics and colour output is amazing. the only problem we've had with them is the noise from the fans. too noisy for a opera house.
+Julian Knödler I go crazy over the "new" robe bmfl washbeam :o such a cool light...
Wow, no wonder these are expensive.
What price is something like this? There is an amazing amount engineering in the compact little package!
When this model came out it was around $15000
***** Just think at a festival there could be hundreds of these installed...
ronnie doorzon umm a VL3000 blows your little sl250 any day
ronnie doorzon you might want to compare the features a bit more 😂 they’re not in the same league
ronnie doorzon Cmy colour mixing, variable CTO, 6:1 zoom, iris, quieter, approx 12x brighter, 5pin dmx, industry support and usage, highly more likely chance of someone having whole fixtures available to rent if needing more or in need of replacement if unit fails (in many different countries). Who even is movitech 😂
what would you say the lumen out put might be?
Wow. Nice lol :D
I just purchased 12 of these for $2700 nzd for a pair in a case.
Has anyone done something similar with a Martin Mac 500? I'm trying to deconstruct to replace it's ignitor.
Yes try and find the part number
Isn't the lamp controlled via mechanical shutter? I don't know if HID has " brightness/blanking " like LEDs do.
That is a nice moving head light, it's quite sad I have seen nicer lights in far worse conditions.
It does have a mechanical dimmer, but if the shutter is fully closed the lamp will run at lower level to remain lit while extending lamp life.
Interesting, I have not seen many situations where the HID was veritable. Most of the movers and video projectors seem to rely on mechanics. I am glad LED is taking over a bit more but it's sure hard to beat the output of a ball of plasma. in all honesty I tend to stay away from HID related stuff so there is bound to be stuff I don't know in that field.
Nice, always wanted to see inside one of these. eBay time...
Pay for shipping from Texas? Heck I live in Texas I'll go ahead and pick them up! I'd die in happiness to get my hands on a pair!
I work in a high school auditorium. When i see that pricetag, the deathtrap $80 ones from china look awfully nice...
Or making tiny ones with submicro servos :3
But at the same time the pricetag of these boys won't allow them to fail when you blow near them!
Wow.. i'm gobsmacked at how much stuff is inside that thing! Surely it would be cheaper to use a high power RGB array instead of having 6 discs and the stepper motors to drive them. Maybe they can't focus the light from LED's well enough for it to be as good as the conventional light in that machine.
LEDs can't compete with these lights yet. These have a massive optical output.
you haven't seen the SolaSpot Pro 2000 by High End Systems. Be sure to check them out!
I'm using two of the SolaSpots next week, very impressed by the even beam and dimming curves on them. Also, I agree, they are really bright!
stick with what works and whats paid for, no point upgrading for the sake of upgrading when they still work
Ironically we've just loaded in the show and it's all PRG Best Boys including most of the followspots this year.
So much better made than the average "made down to a price" consumer stuff. Didn't expect them to be made by Philips though. Good to know there are still some good products coming from them though. Philips is not as impressive as it once used to be :-(
+mysynthesis Aha, I see. Phillips bought that in, lazy people !
Huh. Assuming the Mac 250s are built the same way no wonder they're so damned heavy. Loads of fun to mount up on the roof when you're terrified of heights XD
The VL3000 weighs a LOT more than a Mac 250!
+Lufferov still bloody heavy. Prefer em to the 350s though. Don't like heights so trying to put those guys up while on rickety scaffold is extra fun
a 250 also outputs the same as a freaking candle :P
God. Bloody Mac2000s with the magnetic ballasts. Those things are fkn heavy
Wow that thing is complex , Glad im not the one that has to repair it
Still its not something id like to try ,the complexity reminds me of old mechanical VCR guts or something crazy
Think ill stick to my 12V led lights haha :-) , I bet you could cook a egg on that light
The good thing about older electronics is they actually can be repaired as you can trace a fault through the massive amount of separate components, compared to newer devices where you might have to replace an entire board as they're built down to the lowest amount of components possible.
best lights in my opinion I'm not a fan of led these kind are the best... just can be challenging when mounting
Ahh much better!
They look like they could be repurposed as phaser emitters on a starship... :P
big buggers... yeh i'm glad not many productions these days use the variolights they can be such a pain for stagehands like me xD i'm wondering tough is there a change i'll be able to see the insides of a clay paky sharpy sometime on this chanel :P?
+roy00100 I was working with Sharpy's not that long ago. I really should have made a video. But to summarise they are VERY similar to the "blunty" video I made except the light source, which is a tiny discharge lamp designed for projectors, which has it's own precision reflector. The absolutely tiny point source of light is the secret for the Sharpy's ultra tight beam. I was really impressed. OK, I wasn't so impressed that at the touch of a single button on the control panel they routinely jammed my fingers between the base and yoke with explosive force, but I soon learned to keep my fingers away from that area.
Haha yeh they sure have some force on them when they are on learned that the hard way aswell :P cool thanks for the info i was rly wondering how one of them would work and how they got that super nice beam ^,^
+roy00100 +bigclivedotcom
I tend to keep a good distance from Vari*Lites when they're starting up, they love to do a self-test by flailing about unexpectedly. One of my colleagues learned the hard way and took a hit to the head.
Need more things lile this
+Michael Grinshtat Search my videos for PRG to find a look at the next level up in lights.
Miss! Miss! He said "LCD display".
didnt get to see the bulb!!
Bulbs are in the garden.
Here's the lamp: www.osram.com/osram_com/products/lamps/specialty-lamps/metal-halide-lamps/sharxs-hti/index.jsp?productId=ZMP_56307
I used to have a 24v DC version of that light and it was a Japanese make so after 21/2 years its power supply exploded violently!!!!
How does it do in the rain? 😂
In this application they were sheltered under a dedicated canopy. The new lights are all fully waterproof LED ones.
hello!
Now attach a Bat signal.
That's an older unit.
@bigclivedotcom - if you ever get the chance to tear into an LSD Icon, I would be eternally grateful. (also, have you ever SEEN an Icon desk? they were BONKERS)
the only thing it lacks is in weight it weighs a whopping 91 lbs
uau omg
Like
The stepper motor driver board is unnecessarily massive. You could replace all that with a small chip on a board and a few extra components.
Mussie Tesfay Note that this board controls *multiple* stepper motors. And most of the board just distributes the output to the various plugs.
I dread to think what that costs. I'd want it to be able to decapitate things with a laser for the money.
and to make it better, it is made by PHILIPS :D
killer1479 Yeah, in the sense that Philips bought loads of pioneering lighting companies, and got the product, but not the engineering talent behind it.... That's in the light next to it. The PRG Bad Boy light which was designed by ex-Vari Lite designers.
bigclivedotcom well, seems to have the design by the engineers like you say, with the reliability of philips, so, surely you cannot go wrong ? :)
***** cool! try and convince them to send one my way :P lol
***** cool :D
All that engineering...... then stick a mains fan motor on it
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Nothing wrong with it. Runs at lower currents, doesn't need a power supply, and if it's a induction motor pretty much will only fail after the bearings failed.
superdau must be a retro thing :)
google Account The main reason is that if the 24V fails then the fan will still run on the mains supply as the lamp housing cools down. But in reality, the mains fans tend to be inefficient and failure prone.
bigclivedotcom Yeah I can see the heath & safety aspect of it now, they are potentially very dangerous.
Is it a late 90's vintage?
2003 :)
balance ur mic