Gobos, Wedding Gobos,Gobo Projectors, Custom Gobos,Theatrical Supplies

GoboMan.com adds Floating Shopping Cart

2011-02-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

GoboMan.com has added a floating shopping cart to their website to make shopping, and keeping track of your order as you order even easier.

GoboMan.com offers Free Shipping on Custom Steel Gobos

2011-02-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

GoboMan is now offering Free Ground Shipping on their $58.95 Custom Steel Gobos.

GoboMan.com redesigns website and offers new low price of $58.95 on custom steel gobos.

2011-01-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

GoboMan.com lowers price on Custom Steel Gobos to $58.95

2011-01-02T17:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

GoboMan lowers price on Custom Steel Gobos to $58.95!

GoboMan invests in new laser custing system for custom gobos

2010-12-02T08:22:00.000-08:00

Temecula CA-GoboMan, Inc. has recently aquired a laser cutting system for manufacturing custom gobos. This investment in a sophisticated laser cutting system enables GoboMan to produce high quaslity and highly accurate laser cut custom gobos with a short turn around. “GoboMan is now in a position to offer an economical alternative on custom gobos to theatrical dealers and production companies who previously had only a couple of sources to buy from to get custom Gobos for their customers.” said Steve Hoffman president og GoboMan.
GoboMan operates it’s new laser system in Temecula, CA and is providing much needed jobs in the local area. “Because the new laser system is safe to operate and has a very low power consumption, it will make it possible to open future offices duplicating the same fast delicvery as we offer here” adds Hoffman
Dealer inquries can be sent to customerservice@goboman.com

GoboMan.com has a LED Gobo Projector Light for ONLY $59.00

2010-11-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

GoboMan.com has a special running for a $59,.00 Gobo Projector light for ONLY $59.00. This is a great unit for anyone on a bnudget, or maybe a one time event. Order 24 hours a day at http://www.goboman.com/.

GoboMan.com Lowers price on Gobos

2010-11-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

GoboMan has lowered it's prices on duplicate steel gobos to $23.95 each. GoboMan's stock gobos are now available in any size, for any lighting instrument for only $6.95 each.

Order online 24 hours a day at http://www.goboman.com/, or call toll free at 966-391-GOBO

GoboMan.com’s Holiday Gobos

2010-11-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

Holiday Gobos can make any event or venue a festive holiday party for very little money. Check out the numerous holiday gobos designs available at http://www.goboman.com/. All holiday gobos are available in any size for only $6.95 each. You can also make a custom holiday gobo for only $69.95 and personalize the event.

GoboMan.com"s advice on 10 things to think about before you buy a Gobo Projector.

2010-11-02T16:22:00.001-07:00

There are a few important things to consider before you buy a Gobo Projector. here are a few in no certain order.
1. How big of an image do you want to project, and can that fixture do it, and still be bright enough to show up?
2. Is the lamp included, or a extra cost?
3. Are there any other parts I will need to project a gobo, like a Gobo holder.
4. Does the light accept glass and metal gobos?
5. Do I need tools to change gobos?
5. Are there stock non custom gobos available for this unit?
6. Do the gobos rotate?
7. What are the mounting options?
8.Does this unit run stand alone mode, or does it need to run from a control board?
9. Is there a duty cycle, or can the unit be on all the time?
10. How long does the bulb last?
Just a few things to think about before you buy.

Wedding Gobo Layouts at GoboMan.com

2010-09-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

GoboMan now has an easy to use pdf. link on their home page at http://www.goboman.com/ showing 40 wedding gobo layouts that can be made into custom wedding gobos.
Custom gobos can now also be ordered 24 hours a day direct on the website starting at $69.95.

GoboMan Redesigns Website

2010-08-30T18:46:00.001-07:00

Custom Steel Gobos $59.95. GoboMan.com has redesigned it's website, so you can now order Custom Gobos 24 hours a day. Custom Steel Gobos $59.95. GoboMan.com

Order GoboMan Gobos 24 Hours a Day!

2010-08-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

Now you can order GoboMan Custom Gobos 24 hours a day from GoboMan’s NEW online ordering process. To order, just make your selection for either a custom steel gobo,or custom glass gobo at the GoboMan website at http://www.goboman.com/. Order anytime, day or night!

Custom Steel Gobos $59.95 at GoboMan.com

2010-08-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

GoboMan.com realizes that the recession is still going on, and has lowered prices on both custom steel and custom glass gobos. You can see the new lower price at http://www.goboman.com/. Custom Steel Gobos are now $59.95

GoboMan Launches LED Gobo Projector

2010-04-09T21:09:00.001-07:00

GoboMan has announced the introduction of the 6w LED GoboMan Gobo Projector Light. The new LED fixture is designed to be a long life version of the popular GP75 GoboMan Projector Light. This LED Gobo Projector is designed with all the same features of the GP75, but with an amazing 100,000 hour lamp life. Steve Hoffman owner of GoboMan explains that the similarities are intentional, "Everything is the same in the LED version as far as operation and simplicity of design, and we just increased the lamp life with the 6 watt LED lamp. The ease of operation is a key feature of our Projector Light, and we didn't want to sacrifice any of that by changing around too many things in this obvious next step."
GoboMan's Rebel Hoffman agrees, "We've had such a great reaction to the original GP75 75 watt Gobo Projector, that we knew that people would want a longer life unit for retail applications, so we started working to introduce this LED version. Because of the little heat generated by the LED lamp, you can even project 35 mm slides, and the long lamp life makes it ideal in a retail environment."
Like the previous model, the LED version includes everything included for immediate projection, even the gobos. Five steel gobos and four glass color filters come standard along with the LED lamp

GoboMan Launches LED Gobo Projector

2010-04-09T21:04:00.001-07:00

Gobo Earrings from GoboMan.com

2010-04-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

Goboman came out with a line of gobo earrings that are still available at www.goboearring.com. or www.goboman.com. They are $10.00 a pair, and ship free in US Post.

Color Gel Filters and Making Split Gels

2010-03-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some ideas on how to use your color gel filters, and turn them into Split Gels.

Sometimes you find you need a subtle mix of colors to achieve the look you want, such as a sunset, water or a stained-glass window effect.
Sometimes you feel the need to add extra excitement to a pattern.
These effects are easily attained through the use of split gels- various pieces of gel taped together. The light from an instrument will blend the colors a little bit, but you’ll still get enough separation of color to achieve some interesting and unique looks. There are endless ways that colors can be used together to achieve a myriad of looks. It is important to note that a split gel will look entirely different depending on which way it is inserted in the instrument, which instrument and beam spread is being used, even which pattern you are using with the split gel. A stained-glass window split will have three different appearances when used with three different window patterns.

Help my Gobo is burning!

2010-02-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

Actually, all gobos burn to some degree. If a Gobo Projector unit is new, or the gobos are new, oils can burn off and create a small bit of smoke, this is normal.

What can be a problem is, that if the lamp in your Gobo fixture is not properly focused in the gate, which can create a hot spot, or uneven burn.

The newer instruments are genreally cooler than the older lighting instruments, but you should still make sure that your lamp is bench focused, to avoid a hot spot, or a cocentrated burn area. The attached pictures show 3 different gobo burn types.

The bottom picture shows a burn from a older traditional unit, showing a nice complete burn across the gobo.

The middle picture shows a lamp that is out of focus and is creating a hot spot. A hot spot from a non focused lamp will cause your gobo as well as you gel to burn out early.

The top picture shopws a typical burn from one3 of the newer cool beam units which create far less heat than older units.

The typical gate temperature of an older 1k unit, was over 1700 degrees at the gate, newer cool beam units, have dropped the gate temperature to less than 500 degrees.

Is there a standard size Gobo?

2010-02-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

Is there a standard size gobo is a good question. The answer is no. The problem is that gobos differ in size for each lighting instrument. There are certainly some gobo sizes that are more popular than others, but there is no standard size Gobo. Each lighting fixture takes its own unique gobo size, although there are some crossovers in gobo sizes, most instruments take their own unique size.
When sizing a gobo, there are two measurements that are crucial, IA (image area) or VA (viewable area), and OD outer diameter. There are many websites online that provide lists of which lighting instruments take which gobo size and what the exact measurements are.
There must also be a match between the gobo size, and the correct sized matching gobo holder.Like the lighting fixtures, every gobo has it’s own size gobo holder. A good example of this is the ETC Source Four, which can take either a A size gobo holder, or a B size gobo holder, and also accepts a glass pattern holder, so not all gobo holders are the same, or a standard size for each light.
Below are some common gobo size names:
A, B, D, E, Q, M,D....

How Gobo Patterns are Created and the Technology Behind Gobo Patterns

2010-01-25T10:03:00.000-08:00

The use of patterns, also known as gobos or cookies, is probably one of the best ways to add visual interest and depth to any lighting design. Lighting designers are often called upon to help set not only the time and place, but also the mood and tone of a scene. One of the most versatile tools in the designer’s arsenal is pattern projection, not only because there are several thousand off the shelf, or stock, patterns available for purchase, but because each gobo can be used in a variety of different ways to create different looks. And with the advent of custom gobos, which allows a designer the ability to turn virtually any image into a pattern, possibilities are limited only by the scope of one’s imagination.
A lighting designer can use gobos to create stunning visual compositions. From a leaf pattern taken out of focus and used to gently add a dappled effect to the floor or a set piece, to stark, sharply focused bars of light that shoot across a stage to highlight an actor or dancer as he moves through space, patterns and their uses are myriad.
Subtle use of patterns created the backdrop of light behind the dancers
Stark, sharply focused patterns create a dramatic look.
Patterns can only be used in lighting fixtures that allow you to focus the beam of light. Primarily, the fixtures used for gobo projection are Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlights, so named because they have a reflector that is shaped like a portion of an ellipse, wrapping around the lamp nearly 240 degrees. This feature, along with a pair of plano-convex lenes, allow one to focus on an image. The optics are similar to those of a human eye. You may remember the diagram on how vision works from your middle school science textbooks.

Imagine that the eye in the diagram here is your lighting fixture. The upside down bicycle inside the eye is the gobo placed in the gate. Images must be places in the gate upside down and backward for the design to appear right onstage.

It was not long ago that patterns for theatrical lighting were all made by hand. Even long after conventional off the shelf patterns were made readily available, students and budget conscious individuals everywhere still liked to make their own gobos. One of the easiest ways to do this was to use pie tins- the heavy duty aluminum kind that come three to a pack in the cooking aisle at the grocery store. If one were lucky, one could appropriate some used printer’s tin from the local newspaper. Then all one had to do was cut the appropriately sized circle, and trace and cut out the desired design. This was laborious and time consuming, and lacked the fine detail today’s patterns provide so well.

GAMPRODUCTS, Inc. was one of the first, if not the first, company to provide a line of off the shelf patterns for purchase by end users. Companies such as Rosco, Lee Filters, Apollo and GoboMan soon followed. Several companies producing stock patterns ensures a wide variety of designs available to suit any designer’s palette.

There are several different ways to create a steel gobo. Some companies use a stamping process. This involves using a machine to cut the design out of the steel, creating a stencil, more or less. The drawback of stamping gobos is that you can not have a lot of detail. The simpler the design, the better. The end result was a gobo that tended to look a lot like a home made one, but with cleaner lines and smoother edges. None of the major companies use stamping anymore, although you’ll still find stamped gobos in less expensive lighting packs that include several gobos in a kit. Ikea had a pretty nice, cheap model a year or so ago. Laser cutting is another method. It’s a bit more precise and allows for more detail, but by and large, acid etching is the preferred method. Acid etching, also known as chemical milling, involves a process in which the designs are actually put onto film negatives and applied to steel that has been coated with a light sensitive protective lacquer. These are then dipped into an acid solution. The acid eats away the material on the negative not covered by the protective lacquer, resulting in a pattern that can be as highly detailed and intricate as one likes. I’ve fairly glossed over the process here, because the truth is, it’s also a highly detailed and intricate process that involves many steps and safety precautions. There was a company a while back that sold a Do-It-Yourself acid etching gobo making kit. I don’t have any data on how disastrous that was, but let me go on record as saying that mixing corrosive agents at home in your spare time is not a good use of your weekend.

In recent years there have been many wonderful advances made in not only gobo creation, but in the instruments used to project patterns. The newer instrumentation is significant because without it, we’d still be stuck in a black and white world as far as image projection was concerned. (For purposes of this article, I’m omitting references to the use of gel to color light) The old workhorses of theatrical lighting, the Strand Century Ellipsoidals and Altman KLs and 360Qs were extremely hot in the gate area, the area in the middle of the light where the gobo is inserted. Often, the gate would reach temperatures of close to 1600 degrees. Gobos would turn red hot, sometimes distorting radically, and sometimes burning a hole straight through.

In the early nineties, new technology ushered in new instruments that were brighter, cooler and more efficient. The ETC Source Four and the Altman Shakespeare are two such instruments that quickly became industry standards. The gate area in these new ellipsoidals only reach temperatures of around 500 degrees. Now, in addition to regular steel gobos, we have mesh, or halftone gobos which use a dot pattern to create an image. When used for cloud and moon gobos, the effect created is much softer and more realistic looking than a cloud shape or circle to represent a moon cut into steel.

Regular and halftone cloud gobos

Manufacturers now have the ability to create glass gobos, which gives the lighting designer a full range of color that before was not possible in gobo projection.

There are several companies today that offer a line of colored stock patterns. Rosco Labs was the first that I know of to offer a collection of colored glass gobos, followed soon after by Apollo. Colored glass patterns display a range of creative options from simple to ornate. The stock Rosco Prizmatics, pictured below, are created by applying chips of dichroic glass to the glass surface. When placed in the gate, you can get a sharp focus on each individual color, or you can soften the focus to create a multi-hued pallete.

More intricate designs such as these, from Rosco’s Signature series, allow a designer to really experiment with the use of color in patterns.

Glass gobos aren’t limited to color, as evidenced by Rosco’s line of Image Glass, which give you a very soft pattern uniquely different from black and white steel and halftone designs.

Even with the thousands of stock patterns available, many designers feel the need to create custom images that will be unique to their event or production. Nearly every industry that deals directly with lighting has seen the possibilities inherent in creating custom images. Stores and business project their logos. Wedding planners project the names of the wedding couple at the reception, Churches project images of worship. Theatre designers like to create custom images relevant to the time and mood of the production. The possibilities are truly endless.

One of the best companies for custom metal gobos is N&N Productions in Nevada. They use brass instead of steel, and the quality they turn out is excellent.

There are several companies that offer custom glass gobo services, but the process and results are all fairly similar. These companies also offer custom steel gobos, which gives the consumer a choice in price and workmanship. Custom steel (or brass, at N&N) are the most cost effective option, as they are significantly lower in price than glass. One distinctive feature of a custom steel image is that you do basically have a design that is, in appearance, a stencil. Words and images have to be etched into the steel, so support tabs are needed to hold in the centers of letters and more intricate designs. Also, you get an image that is reversed from the original. Imagine a word, in black ink, on a white page. Transferred to a gobo, you have a white light word on a field of black.

It can’t be the reverse, because then the letters would need to float in space, which, as we know, is not going to happen. (I blame Newton.)

The only way around these issues is to upgrade to a glass black and white gobo. With the glass, the design is etched into the glass, but not all the way through, so you don’t need tabs to hold in centers. You can also design a black word in a pool of white light.

When you move into colored glass, you can really go nuts. Manufacturers usually divide colored glass gobos into four tiers: one color, two color, multi color, which would be, of course, three or more colors, and photo-realistic, in which your completed product looks exactly like the photograph you sent in. The price for each tier goes up accordingly.

All of the manufacturers have tried to make the ordering process for custom gobos as easy and hassle free as possible. But some general knowledge on the part of the designer is required for a smooth process to actually occur. It helps considerably to know what size gobo is needed, and which fixture you plan to use. The ETC Source Four, for example, will take two different sized gobos, depending on your pattern holder size and your personal preference. The fixtures nowadays that accept gobos range in size from small to large, as do the gobos that fit into them. Gobo sizing is primarily done in letters. “A” size “B” size and “M” size are most common for theatre. The retail and architectural world, as well as moving light fixtures tend to use “E” and “D” size, and there are smaller sizes for moving lights. The manufacturer of your choice can provide you with the details needed. In general, the artwork submitted should be a jpg or better. Eps files are among the best. Faxed artwork has a tendency to distort or get fuzzy. Some manufacturers won’t accept faxed artwork. If your design is purely text, let your manufacturer know which font you have chosen. If it’s not a standard font, the manufacturer’s computer may switch it to a more common font without warning anyone, and the manufacturer will have no way of knowing if the newly selected font is even close to the one you’d chosen.

Patterns are a dynamic way to add visual interest to a lighting design. They’re a versatile tool that’s relatively easy to learn to use, and provide a wealth of opportunities for creative expression. Whether you’re experimenting with stock patterns and focal ranges, or designing intricate custom work, let your imagination be your guide. If you need help, the manufacturer of your choice can provide any assistance you require.

Some helpful links:
http://www.goboman.com/

GoboMan starts off the year with even lower pricing!

2010-01-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

GoboMan starts off the new year with even lower pricing. All stock A&B size gobo's are now only $6.95 each. Wedding Gobo and Gobo Projector light only $149.00, Custom steel Gobos any size $65.95, flat price, no extra's!!

Color Wedding Gobos at GoboMan.com

2009-11-19T17:05:00.000-08:00

GoboMan is now offering color designs for the GoboMan wedding package. Now you can offer project your names or monogram with a full color design. To see the NEW color wedding gobos, contact goboman.com or send us an email at customerservice@goboman.com

Free Custom Gobos at GoboMan.com

2009-10-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

You can now get a Free Custom Steel Gobo, when you join the GoboMan “Gobo Loyalty Program”. You just buy 12 custom steel gobos, and get the 13th custom steel gobo you order FREE! Contact customerservice@goboman.com to join.

GoboMan T Shirts $9.95

2009-09-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

After so many requests, we came out with a line of t shirts available with any GoboMan gobo design. T shirts are available in S,M L, white only for $9.95 Contact GoboMan.com

A few basic Gobo Terms from GoboMan.com to make your life easier. Part 1

2009-06-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

1. GOBO-a gobo is just the template with the design,

not the whole fixture and everything. Gobos are either stock, or custom, and can be made into glass or steel. If you have questions about glass or steel gobos see earlier GoboMan posts.
2.Gobo Projector, Gobo Lights, Lekos, Not all lights take gobos! They must have the ellipsed lenses in order to be able to focus on a gobo,otherwise you just get a blob of light.
3. Gobo Sizes & Gobo Holders-each fixture not only takes it’s pwn unique gobo size, but each has their own gobo holder.
4. Will my Gobo be in color? Steel Gobos project white light unless you add a color gel filter. If using gels on stel Gobos, you will be coloring the entire design and not be able to control the color on any particular section. If you want multiple colors in your Gobo design, then you want to look at glass gobos.

GoboMan.com 75 watt Gobo projector- a great fixture at an affordable price.

2009-06-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

The GoboMan 75 watt Gobo projector is a great deal for the price.It projects steel custom and stock gobos, and any 35 mm slide. GoboMan carries 30 stock Q size gobos and 25 full color holiday slides that fit both the GoboMan 75 watt and 100 watt unit.The unit comes with a yoke and your mounting options vary from simple C clamp to wooden table top stand.

if you are not looking to spend a lot on lighting or are doing a one time event, this is the perfect unit.

http://www.goboman.com/

http://www.weddinggobo.com/

Do I need to use a glass gobo to add color to my projection?

2009-06-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

The answer is no. One way is to use gel filters to color your gobo image. There are over 130 GoboMan lighting gel filters which are perfect for this. Simply cut the gel filter to the appropriate size for your lighting fixture, and your done. If you look back in the GoboMan blogs, we also show how to use the same colored lighting gels in a split gel format, allowing you to create hundreds of color combinations.

GoboMan Super Black transparencies vs Homemade computer transparencies

2009-06-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

The problem is the blacks. You just can’t get a good solid opaque black background. Some work better than others, but usually you get a gray background with bleed through.This occurs with a ink jet or laser printer. You can make them, but you can see the difference between the two in these photos. GoboMan uses a super saturate printing system made just for achieving a super saturated black background.

How much will fit on my gobo??

2009-06-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

That is a question that comes up almost everyday when working with custom gobos. The problem is that each lighting instrument that projects gobos takes it’s own unique gobo size, and because sizes are different, some gobos can fit much more, or a larger design, than others can. There are 0ver 75 different gobo sizes and each fixture takes it’s own unique gobo size. Gobo sizes are usually refered to with a corresponding letter, like A size, B size, D size, or even Q size. If you do not know the name or the size of gobo you need, the two sizes that you will need are, the OD (outside diameter), and the IA (image area), the IA is where the design will be placed on the gobo. For example, A size gobos have a 100 mm OD, and a 75 mm IA, but the Q size gobo for the GoboMan projectors, has only a 22mm IA,and a 49 mm outside diameter, so obviously the A size will fit much more and a larger design than the Q size gobo. That said, you can still get up to 13 letters on a Q size gobo depending on the font used. You don’t want to try to get to much on a gobo because you can end up with tiny letters that don’t project a lot of light .

Worlds smallest Gobo projector fits in your pocket

2009-05-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is the smallest custom gobo projector available today, and it fits in your pocket.

Contact GoboMan.com for prices and availabilty.

How big will my gobo image be projected?

2009-05-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

Gobo image size is a common concern. The Gobo image size has projected has nothing to do with the gobo size itself, but is determined by the lens degree and distance projected and gobo design. Each gobo fixture has a set lens degree, unless it is a zoom unit which incorporates many lens degrees in one fixture.
To make this easier to understand I will pick one of the most common gobo projection fixtures on the market the Source Four by ETC. The Source Four has many lenses to choose from but for this example we are going to only mention the 19, 26,36, 50 degree lenses. A 50 degree lenses is what you call a one for one. If you are using a 50 degree lens and are projecting a gobo image from a distance of 20 feet, you would have a 20 foot projected image, depending on the gobo design and if it uses the entire image area. So knowing that a 50 degree is one for one, we can assume that a 26 degree would roughly be half that size. So using a 26 degree lens from 20 feet would give you roiughly a 10 foot image, again depending on the amount of image area used in your gobo. Knowing the 50 degree is a one for one lenses makes estimating projection beam size a little easier. ETC doeas make much wider and narrower degree lenses for it’s line of Source Four lighting fixtures.

Using a 35 mm slide in a GoboMan Gobo Projector

2009-05-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

With gobo projectors, until recently if you wanted to project a actual photograph you needed to spend close to $500.00 or more for a glass multi color photo gobo.
The 75 watt GoboMan gobo projector allows you to use your full color 35 mm slides and project them without any damage from heat. Its a great way to project a couples picture at their wedding, or at any event where you would like to project a full color image.
The GoboMan 75 watt unit is only $89.00 and available at http://www.goboman.com/, the slides are yours!

GoboMan soft color sleeves for Flourescents

2009-04-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

GoboMan colored filter sleeves slip over fluorescents to correct or change their color temperature. They're an excellent and economical choice to simulate neon, reduce glare or to color correct for motion picture and television production. GoboMan soft colored sleeves are available for fluorescent lamp from T-5 to T-12. They're also available for biaxial & compact fluorescents lamps, requiring only trimming of length, which is easily done with scissors.

Fluorescent lamps generate high levels of ultraviolet energy which is detrimental to dyes in fabrics, paintings, drawings and other art work.Protective UV sleeves are a extremely effective way to protect your valuable items. Choose from 115 colors in T-12, T-8, T-5.Protective sleeves are essential in any museum or art gallery. GoboMan soft sleeves are an excellent and economical choice to simulate neon, reduce glare or to color correct for motion picture and television production.

Why there is no such thing as a standard size gobo?

2009-04-24T08:40:00.001-07:00

People often say they would like to order or make a standard size gobo. The problem with this is statement is, that there is no standard size for gobos. There are certainly some gobo sizes that are more popular than others, but there is no standard size in the Gobo world. Every lighting fixture that projects gobos, takes its own unique gobo size, although there are some crossovers in gobo sizes, most instruments take their own size.
When sizing a gobo, there are two measurements that are crucial, IA (image area) or VA (viewable area), and OD outer diameter. There are many websites online that provide lists of which lighting instruments take which gobo size and what the exact measurements are. There must also be a match between the gobo size and the correct sized gobo holder. This is also not a standard size. A good example of this is the ETC Source Four, which can take either a A size gobo holder or a B size gobo holder and also a glass pattern holder, so not all gobo holders are the same, or a standard size.

How Patterns are Created and the Technology Behind Patterns

2009-04-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

The use of patterns, also known as gobos or cookies, is probably one of the best ways to add visual interest and depth to any lighting design. Lighting designers are often called upon to help set not only the time and place, but also the mood and tone of a scene. One of the most versatile tools in the designer’s arsenal is pattern projection, not only because there are several thousand off the shelf, or stock, patterns available for purchase, but because each gobo can be used in a variety of different ways to create different looks. And with the advent of custom gobos, which allows a designer the ability to turn virtually any image into a pattern, possibilities are limited only by the scope of one’s imagination.

A lighting designer can use gobos to create stunning visual compositions. From a leaf pattern taken out of focus and used to gently add a dappled effect to the floor or a set piece, to stark, sharply focused bars of light that shoot across a stage to highlight an actor or dancer as he moves through space, patterns and their uses are myriad.

Subtle use of patterns created the backdrop of light behind the dancers

Stark, sharply focused patterns create a dramatic look.
(Lonnie Alcaraz’s lighting design for the Hunger Artist Theatre Company’s production of The Medea Project)

Patterns can only be used in lighting fixtures that allow you to focus the beam of light. Primarily, the fixtures used for gobo projection are Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlights, so named because they have a reflector that is shaped like a portion of an ellipse, wrapping around the lamp nearly 240 degrees. This feature, along with a pair of plano-convex lenes, allow one to focus on an image. The optics are similar to those of a human eye. You may remember the diagram on how vision works from your middle school science textbooks.

Imagine that the eye in the diagram here is your lighting fixture. The upside down bicycle inside the eye is the gobo placed in the gate. Images must be places in the gate upside down and backward for the design to appear right onstage.

It was not long ago that patterns for theatrical lighting were all made by hand. Even long after conventional off the shelf patterns were made readily available, students and budget conscious individuals everywhere still liked to make their own gobos. One of the easiest ways to do this was to use pie tins- the heavy duty aluminum kind that come three to a pack in the cooking aisle at the grocery store. If one were lucky, one could appropriate some used printer’s tin from the local newspaper. Then all one had to do was cut the appropriately sized circle, and trace and cut out the desired design. This was laborious and time consuming, and lacked the fine detail today’s patterns provide so well.

GAMPRODUCTS, Inc. was one of the first, if not the first, company to provide a line of off the shelf patterns for purchase by end users. Companies such as Rosco, Lee Filters, Apollo and GoboMan soon followed. Several companies producing stock patterns ensures a wide variety of designs available to suit any designer’s palette.

There are several different ways to create a steel gobo. Some companies use a stamping process. This involves using a machine to cut the design out of the steel, creating a stencil, more or less. The drawback of stamping gobos is that you can not have a lot of detail. The simpler the design, the better. The end result was a gobo that tended to look a lot like a home made one, but with cleaner lines and smoother edges. None of the major companies use stamping anymore, although you’ll still find stamped gobos in less expensive lighting packs that include several gobos in a kit. Ikea had a pretty nice, cheap model a year or so ago. Laser cutting is another method. It’s a bit more precise and allows for more detail, but by and large, acid etching is the preferred method. Acid etching, also known as chemical milling, involves a process in which the designs are actually put onto film negatives and applied to steel that has been coated with a light sensitive protective lacquer. These are then dipped into an acid solution. The acid eats away the material on the negative not covered by the protective lacquer, resulting in a pattern that can be as highly detailed and intricate as one likes. I’ve fairly glossed over the process here, because the truth is, it’s also a highly detailed and intricate process that involves many steps and safety precautions. There was a company a while back that sold a Do-It-Yourself acid etching gobo making kit. I don’t have any data on how disastrous that was, but let me go on record as saying that mixing corrosive agents at home in your spare time is not a good use of your weekend.

In recent years there have been many wonderful advances made in not only gobo creation, but in the instruments used to project patterns. The newer instrumentation is significant because without it, we’d still be stuck in a black and white world as far as image projection was concerned. (For purposes of this article, I’m omitting references to the use of gel to color light) The old workhorses of theatrical lighting, the Strand Century Ellipsoidals and Altman KLs and 360Qs were extremely hot in the gate area, the area in the middle of the light where the gobo is inserted. Often, the gate would reach temperatures of close to 1600 degrees. Gobos would turn red hot, sometimes distorting radically, and sometimes burning a hole straight through.

In the early nineties, new technology ushered in new instruments that were brighter, cooler and more efficient. The ETC Source Four and the Altman Shakespeare are two such instruments that quickly became industry standards. The gate area in these new ellipsoidals only reach temperatures of around 500 degrees. Now, in addition to regular steel gobos, we have mesh, or halftone gobos which use a dot pattern to create an image. When used for cloud and moon gobos, the effect created is much softer and more realistic looking than a cloud shape or circle to represent a moon cut into steel.

Regular and halftone cloud gobos

Manufacturers now have the ability to create glass gobos, which gives the lighting designer a full range of color that before was not possible in gobo projection.

There are several companies today that offer a line of colored stock patterns. Rosco Labs was the first that I know of to offer a collection of colored glass gobos, followed soon after by Apollo. Colored glass patterns display a range of creative options from simple to ornate. The stock Rosco Prizmatics, pictured below, are created by applying chips of dichroic glass to the glass surface. When placed in the gate, you can get a sharp focus on each individual color, or you can soften the focus to create a multi-hued pallete.

More intricate designs such as these, from Rosco’s Signature series, allow a designer to really experiment with the use of color in patterns.

Glass gobos aren’t limited to color, as evidenced by Rosco’s line of Image Glass, which give you a very soft pattern uniquely different from black and white steel and halftone designs.

Even with the thousands of stock patterns available, many designers feel the need to create custom images that will be unique to their event or production. Nearly every industry that deals directly with lighting has seen the possibilities inherent in creating custom images. Stores and business project their logos. Wedding planners project the names of the wedding couple at the reception, Churches project images of worship. Theatre designers like to create custom images relevant to the time and mood of the production. The possibilities are truly endless.

One of the best companies for custom metal gobos is N&N Productions in Nevada. They use brass instead of steel, and the quality they turn out is excellent.

There are several companies that offer custom glass gobo services, but the process and results are all fairly similar. These companies also offer custom steel gobos, which gives the consumer a choice in price and workmanship. Custom steel (or brass, at N&N) are the most cost effective option, as they are significantly lower in price than glass. One distinctive feature of a custom steel image is that you do basically have a design that is, in appearance, a stencil. Words and images have to be etched into the steel, so support tabs are needed to hold in the centers of letters and more intricate designs. Also, you get an image that is reversed from the original. Imagine a word, in black ink, on a white page. Transferred to a gobo, you have a white light word on a field of black.

It can’t be the reverse, because then the letters would need to float in space, which, as we know, is not going to happen. (I blame Newton.)

The only way around these issues is to upgrade to a glass black and white gobo. With the glass, the design is etched into the glass, but not all the way through, so you don’t need tabs to hold in centers. You can also design a black word in a pool of white light.

When you move into colored glass, you can really go nuts. Manufacturers usually divide colored glass gobos into four tiers: one color, two color, multi color, which would be, of course, three or more colors, and photo-realistic, in which your completed product looks exactly like the photograph you sent in. The price for each tier goes up accordingly.

All of the manufacturers have tried to make the ordering process for custom gobos as easy and hassle free as possible. But some general knowledge on the part of the designer is required for a smooth process to actually occur. It helps considerably to know what size gobo is needed, and which fixture you plan to use. The ETC Source Four, for example, will take two different sized gobos, depending on your pattern holder size and your personal preference. The fixtures nowadays that accept gobos range in size from small to large, as do the gobos that fit into them. Gobo sizing is primarily done in letters. “A” size “B” size and “M” size are most common for theatre. The retail and architectural world, as well as moving light fixtures tend to use “E” and “D” size, and there are smaller sizes for moving lights. The manufacturer of your choice can provide you with the details needed. In general, the artwork submitted should be a jpg or better. Eps files are among the best. Faxed artwork has a tendency to distort or get fuzzy. Some manufacturers won’t accept faxed artwork. If your design is purely text, let your manufacturer know which font you have chosen. If it’s not a standard font, the manufacturer’s computer may switch it to a more common font without warning anyone, and the manufacturer will have no way of knowing if the newly selected font is even close to the one you’d chosen.

Patterns are a dynamic way to add visual interest to a lighting design. They’re a versatile tool that’s relatively easy to learn to use, and provide a wealth of opportunities for creative expression. Whether you’re experimenting with stock patterns and focal ranges, or designing intricate custom work, let your imagination be your guide. If you need help, the manufacturer of your choice can provide any assistance you require.

Some helpful links:
www.GoboMan.com

Gobo Projector Comparison

2009-03-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

This was shot 11 feet from a tan wall with medium ambient light. The unit on the left is the 5 watt LED Gobo Projector and the uit on the right is a 75 watt mr-16 unit.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STEEL AND PLASTIC GOBOS

2009-03-12T15:37:00.000-07:00

The most noticeable difference is the blackness of the background that steel provides. This is because the light is being totally blocked out by the steel, as opposed to the transparency, which is not as dense as the steel, and is showing a bleed through of light. The difficulty in printing your own transparency gobos is getting the background black enough.Some people will show you a gobo projector projecting a gobo with a clear background, but this is not often requested, as it tends to bleach out the gobo image.

2009-02-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

The difference between Gobo projectos sometimes is more about what you are going to be using them for.
If you are having a one time event, and want to use gobos, it makes no sense to pay $400.00 or more on a Gobo fixture. There are units like the GoboMan 75 wtt and the GoboMan 100 watt unit that cost less than $100.00. But keep in mind you get what you pay for. Don't expect to blast a gobo design a bright fromm from 40 feet, or run it in your office or store day in and day out. The units like the ETC Source Four fixtures, are just one of the many fixtures on the market that will give you years of use and take a beating while still giving fantastic gobo projection. These units use a 575 or 750 watt lamp and can project at many distances depending on the degree lens and the size image you are looking to achive. The profesional type fixtures come in many sizes, but don't try to take a inexpensive fixture and try to make it do something it's not designed to do. The difference can be summed up in this example, the ETC Source Four which is made of steel and weighs over 20 lbs is a fixture that is designed for the rigors of the tough theatrical market but once you start looking up you will be amazed where you see ETC Source Fours. Then there is te GoboMan 75 watt fixture for $89.00 which is made from plastic and weighs 3lbs, but on the positive side of the GoboMan unit, at $89.00 you are up and running and have a working gobo light with gobos ready to project.So think about what your application is. Are you doing it as a just one time thing, or are you going to be offering this as a service that represents your company. Nobody wants to get the clients call on Sunday that the fixture failed.

Gobo Projectors Part II

2008-12-30T09:06:00.001-08:00

Here is a example of a low budget gobo projector costing around $100.00. This 100 watt unit is from GoboMan.com and is plastic and weighs about 3 pounds. It is ideal for a one time event, or home type uses such as holidays and birthdays. The projectors image size is about 6′ from a 20′ throw, which is pretty good. It is not a zoom fixture and lenses cannot be changed.There are over 25 stock gobosavailable for the GoboMan unit, but most low end fixtures do not offer any stock gobos besides the few gobos they come with. The GoboMan unit takes Q size gobos, and every fixture takes it’s own unique size gobo. They are not interchangeable.
So if you want to do your own lighting, this is a great option for the money.

Gobo Projectors Part II

2008-12-30T09:04:00.001-08:00

Gobo Projector Light

2008-12-29T11:14:00.001-08:00

Here is a great theatrical lighting fixture known for excellent gobo projection.. The Source Four is a professional fixture that provides clear and clean gobo projection. The Source Fours can be either 575 watt or 750 watt, which provides plenty of punch.
Source Fours take either A or B size gobos depending on whichgobo holder you have.
Posted

Color Gel Filters and Split Gels

2008-12-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

Everybody knows how to use gel. You select the color to enhance the mood you want to convey, slide it into a gel frame and place it in the gel frame holder in the front of your instrument. But sometimes you find you need a subtle mix of colors to achieve the look you want, such as a sunset, water or a stained-glass window effect. Sometimes you feel the need to add extra excitement to a pattern.

These effects are easily attained through the use of split gels- various pieces of gel taped together. The light from an instrument will blend the colors a little bit, but you’ll still get enough separation of color to achieve some interesting and unique looks. There are endless ways that colors can be used together to achieve a myriad of looks. It is important to note that a split gel will look entirely different depending on which way it is inserted in the instrument, which instrument and beam spread is being used, even which pattern you are using with the split gel. A stained-glass window split will have three different appearances when used with three different window patterns.

Wedding Gobos

2008-12-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

Wedding Gobos are a great way to personalize and add that special touch to your wedding. Having a custom gobo made for your wedding is a simple process that can be done from your own design in as little as a few days. There are over a hundred different gobo sizes which come in both glass and steel, so it’s important to know which lighting fixture you will be putting the gobo into before you begin production.

GoboMan is a great source for not only custom gobos, but gobo projectors and all other theatrical supplies.

Gobos Glass or Steel?

2008-12-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

We get many questions about wedding gobos and the differences between Glass Gobos and Steel Gobos.
With a steel gobo, think of it as sort of like a stencil- The design is being cut through the metal, which would require tab support lines to keep the image intact- holding in the centers of letters, things like that. Steel gobos project white light or a single color by using a gel. Glass gobos employ a silk screening process on top of the glass, so they do not require support tabs, and can be muti-color. The cost of glass is almost 4 times as much as the cost of steel, so it's important to take into consideration not only your personal aesthetic, but also your budget concerns. Please contact us at www.goboman.com if you have futher questions or need help designing your custom gobo.