BEND, Ore.—Redwood Light is a lighting design and integration company with over 20 years of experience utilizing and installing a broad scope of lighting products in both live and produced entertainment applications.

We’ve been working with BB&S Lighting products since they first hit the market, installing Area 48s and Force 7 lekos in dozens of studios over the years—often alongside other lighting systems. BB&S has always stood out for its exceptional reliability, consistent high-quality light output and thoughtful design.

In the past year, we’ve transitioned to outfitting entire studios exclusively with BB&S fixtures, including Reflect Bi-Color lights and Compact Fresnel (CFL) Bi-Colors. These products have been integral to recent installations for Novi City Government, Southwest Airlines, AIG, KION-TV in Monterey, Calif. and KWTV in Oklahoma City—delivering the performance and efficiency our clients need for broadcast and content creation.

Low-Profile Design
The low profile of BB&S fixtures make them perfect for smaller spaces with low overhead grids, while also providing a clean, open aesthetic in larger studios. Their compact size makes them ideal for fitting into tight or unconventional spaces—giving us, as lighting designers, more flexibility and creative options.

We love the beautifully soft, diffuse light that the BB&S Reflect Bi-Color system delivers—it’s perfect for broadcast environments. Its slim form factor is particularly well-suited for desk lighting, offering superior wrap and coverage compared to traditional 1x1 panels. We frequently use the 4-foot Singles as soft backlights in dynamic areas with multiple talent positions or where talent needs freedom to move, like green screens, touch screen monitors, or interview setups.

The Compact Fresnels (CFLs) measure just 5.5 inches in diameter but pack a punch. They’ve become our go-to for key and backlighting for fixed positions, such as seated desks; and their small size allows for discreet placement in even the trickiest spots.

But what truly sets BB&S apart is how their lights render skin tones. Every time we install Reflect systems, anchors and producers comment on how natural and flattering they look on camera. With high CRI and a color spectrum that complements all skin tones—whether warm or cool—the results are consistently outstanding.

Lighting KWTV
One notable use case is our work with KWTV in Oklahoma City. KWTV’s studio was a large, multipurpose space designed for maximum versatility—requiring multiple camera positions for nearly every set, from the anchor desk to interview and lounge areas. The BB&S Reflect Bi-Color units allowed us to create broad, soft lighting that looked great from every angle. Their even, diffuse output made it easy to maintain a polished look across the entire studio, no matter where the cameras were positioned.

Because the studio used a mix of lighting brands, the superior quality of the BB&S fixtures stood out. Every BB&S light delivered identical color, tone, and quality—ensuring a cohesive, professional appearance across every shot.

Another client of ours, KION-TV in Monterey, had a studio that presented a different challenge with low ceilings and a more compact layout. The BB&S Reflect fixtures were the perfect solution—keeping the space open and uncluttered while delivering high-quality light. Their slim design allowed us to maximize headroom, making wide shots easier and helping the set feel more spacious on camera.

As always, the exceptional light quality from BB&S impressed both the production team and on-air talent, resulting in a final broadcast image that looked clean, natural, and professional.

More information is available at https://brothers-sonsamerica.com.

Television lighting techniques have evolved over the years, pushed by advances in camera technology and viewers’ discerning eyes. Much as our studio sets have had to become more realistic, the broad strokes of lighting have been refined to encompass the more subtle nuances that are visible now. As image resolution has increased, the adage “close enough for television” no longer holds true. Television is still a “closeup” medium, but those tight shots are now larger than life and extremely detailed. 

The skin-pore-revealing detail of the medium is something that every news anchor over 30 is keenly aware of, particularly as their own smile lines begin to appear. As a result, most on-camera talent understand the value of good lighting (along with the importance of makeup and even camera shading). 

Anchors attending public appearances are sometimes told that they look better in person. There are many reasons for this, but it’s sometimes retold as a subtle complaint about their lighting. I was once tempted to tell a grumbling anchor that (with apologies to Star Trek’s Dr. Leonard McCoy), “I’m a lighting designer—not a plastic surgeon!” (not that I would actually say that). They were just seeking help to “accentuate the positive.” 

Lighting Techniques
Presenting on-camera talent in the best possible light is fundamental to television lighting. While there’s no single recipe to magically make everyone look great, there are techniques that help. One important tool is using fill light to moderate the prominence of wrinkles by controlling the degree of contrast. The less dark the wrinkle’s trough, the less prominent it is.

Fill light is more than an instrument within some “three-point lighting” triumvirate. Fill light includes the ambient light bouncing off all the surfaces in a normal room. Just as an echo in a room tells you if the surfaces are reflective or absorbent, the ambient light tells a story about the space. And much as an anechoic sound chamber doesn’t sound anything like an actual room, a dark studio doesn’t look like a “plausible” space—unless it’s supposed to be a cave. 

News studio lighting is grid-mounted to keep the floor clear for roving cameras. That limitation presents challenges to providing natural-looking fill. “Normal” rooms have light coming from many directions at once. Table lamps, windows and bounced light from the reflective surfaces each contribute to the general lighting in a room. But studios are not natural spaces. This is where integrated desk lights or camera-mounted lights (such as Obie Lights), can help fill the gaps in creating a visually plausible space that is more flattering to the face. 

One of the tools that we can use to emulate ambient light is the chin light. 

Chin lights provide a specialized type of fill. They deliver light from below the zero-degree sightline, where grid-mounted lights can’t directly reach. They’re intended to emulate the softly scattered light that bounces off horizontal surfaces and under-light the face. This can be an actual light fixture that’s embedded in the desk or elsewhere below the height of the camera lens. For example, Walter Cronkite had two scoops on floor stands for the purpose—but there are many techniques to accomplish the same effect.

My favorite version of chin lighting is done without additional instruments. Assuming the anchor desk has a large enough acrylic top, it’s possible to use the anchor desk fill lights as bounced fill off the reflective acrylic desktop. This bounced light helps fill in the anchor’s face from underneath without using additional instruments. It does, however, require planning in conjunction with the rest of the lighting design. 

Angles of Reflection and Incidence
Remembering that the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence; you need to establish that the desktop is large enough, and that the bounce light angle is correct to land the light on the anchors’ faces. A bonus with this technique is that the instrumentation remains invisible to the audience. 

Another advantage of this bounce technique is that the light intensity is more consistent across the area since the Inverse Square law works in your favor over the longer throw.

Light originating in the grid provides a much farther throw distance than a desktop-mounted source. The longer the throw distance, the less impact on intensity changes from the anchor leaning into (or out of) the light. In short, they won’t “bloom” when they lean forward. While this reflected chin light technique requires finesse to achieve, it’s the most natural-looking of all the options.

Another method to create a chin light is to build them into the anchor desk. This will require some coordination with scenic design and a bit of grip/electric/carpentry work. Compact LED fixtures, such as the remote phosphor BB&S Pipeline lights, can be tucked into a desk to gently up-light individual anchor positions.

With the short throw distance you’ll only use a fraction of the total output of these fixtures, but the demand for high-color quality and dependability remains the same. Accessories can be added to increase the effective aperture size (larger is always softer), and egg crates will help control spill and shield them from the camera view.

Another option is building your own lighting fixture into the desk using LED tape, matching power supplies and dimmers, diffusers and more. This is a much more labor-intensive option since it requires extensive custom work. Done right, it can become integral to the anchor desk’s overall design.

Whatever approach you take, the effect of chin lights should always be subtle; the goal is to softly supplement the main lighting. All added fixtures should have a color temperature that matches your main lights, and the CRI/TLCI/TM-30 numbers should be as close to perfect as possible to ensure skin tones are spot-on.

Even though chin lighting may seem like a small detail, this technique contributes to presenting your people in the best light. 

While change is a constant in the broadcast industry, one element never changes: making your subjects look good. And when it comes to professional productions, perhaps nothing is more important than proper lighting. In our latest guide on lighting, we take a look at how advances in lighting technology are helping broadcasters reduce costs and promote sustainability.  

Download the free guide here. 

LOS ANGELES—The first time I used BB&S lighting was while working as a lighting designer in 2012 for the PAC-12 Network in San Francisco. I took to it immediately and soon used the ForceV along with the Area 48 on projects for the Los Angeles Lakers, TWC Studio in El Segundo, KTTV in Los Angeles, as well as KGO and Al Jazeera America studios in San Francisco.

In March of 2020, I decided to focus on my own company, RE/LIGHT. Great timing, right? As you can imagine, business was extremely slow at first, but in 2021 it picked up. While on a corporate production for a large studio set, I was introduced to the new BB&S Compact Fresnel Lights (CFL), which we used mainly for backlights and scenic highlights. It was enough to give me confidence in the CFLs on my next project.

CFL for KPNX
The challenge was to replace all of the struggling first-generation LED lighting equipment at Tegna’s KPNX in Phoenix and create a new look to air by the end of 2021. The project was originally slated for earlier in the year, but was delayed because of other manufacturers’ inability to deliver equipment due to supply chain issues.

This forced me to rethink my original design and specifications so I called Toby Sali at BB&S, who suggested the new Compact Fresnels. Having used them already, I was confident they’d work, and thankfully they were delivered to the job site on time for installation. BB&S’s ability to deliver when others could not was a life-saver. 

I was impressed again with the output and quality of light from the CFL, especially given its small size. After everything was hung and focused, the talent immediately looked great on camera. The ability to get high output, with adjustable focus from 11 degrees to 52 degrees, in a small lightweight fixture that costs under $1,000 was a game changer. And that is what led me to specify BB&S lighting for talent on my next project. 

New Sets for KXTV
I’ve been lighting new sets for KXTV in Sacramento for the past few months and have specified the Area 48 Studio for soft base light, the CFL for key lights, and CBLs for back lights. Knowing all of the lights are going to color match before I turn anything on helps me stay focused on optimizing the on-camera image.

Ultimately, making the most of every budget is just a reality of the job. Being able to find all the talent light I need in one place, and at a price point that allows me to use what I need makes it much easier for my clients to move forward with their projects.

What I also appreciate about BB&S is their very personal approach to customer service, the eagerness to get feedback on their equipment, and a willingness to work with me and other lighting designers to improve the equipment, or even create new equipment based on new requirements.

I have been on many calls where, if in doubt, we just phone into their Denmark headquarters to solve an issue; I don’t know of any other company I could do that with. It’s fantastic to have that kind of support and relationship with the company that makes the tools I rely on to do the work I love l

Scott Kepley, owner/principal at RE/LIGHT in Charleston, SC, is a broadcast and entertainment lighting designer, lighting director, consultant, and creative problem solver. He can be reached at sdkepley@relightld.com.

More information about BB&S Lighting, which is headquartered in Copenhagen with its U.S. office in Los Angeles, is available at 1-800-820-6610, www.bbslighting.com and info@bbslighting.com.

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Danish lighting specialist BB&S Lighting has announced that it has added the Compact Bicolor Fresnel (CFL) to its family of Compact Beamlight LED studio fixtures. 

The company said it is the smallest footprint (5.5-in/14cm) Fresnel on the market. It draws just 38W and outputs over 2400 lumens at 96 TLCI (tunable from 2700 to 5600°K). 

In addition, the new CFL features a genuine curved glass 90mm Fresnel lens that ensures even field distribution in addition to excellent shadow rendering.

CFL outputs a hard-shadow beam that fades from 100% at center to 50% at the edges, making it exceptional for mixing and overlapping with other lights while eliminating blinding glare, the company said. The 3.5-lb/1.6kg, fit-anywhere fixture has enough output to make it useful as key, fill or backlight from 8 to 18 feet/3 to 6 meters.

The CFL’s zooming capability is operated via BBS’ smart ring-controlled focus system with a range of 11-52 degrees. In addition to a generous focus range, the fixture offers silent operation thanks to a highly efficient heat dissipation rear section that eliminates the usual cooling fan system.

The company said the light may be operated via the BB&S 4-Way Controller that can provide DMX 512/RDM to two fixtures simultaneously. The range of power options includes: 40W Driver/Dimmer with D-Tap cable (battery operation), 65W PSU (any voltage worldwide 110-270V) and locking AC cable.

The new Fresnel is fully compatible with BB&S’ other studio fixtures including Compact Beamlights and Pipelines (same 4-Way Controller), and the Area 48 range, as well as the BB&S Tracklight system which offers adapters for DMX or BTE Mesh control.

Light control accessories include optional Rotating Magnetic Barndoors, Magnetic Top Hat and a Magnetic filter ring to easily add items like Magnetic Prismatic Ecliptic filters in 10x20°, 10x40° and 10x60°, as well as Lee 251, Quarter White, 253 Hampshire Frost and 450 3/8 diffusion.

The CFL comes with an adjustable yoke-mounted TVMP and 2-meter cable mounted with a 4pin XLR male connector. MSRP for the Compact Bicolor Fresnel is $650.

For more information about BB&S Lighting in North and South America visit www.bbslighting.com or in Europe, Africa and Asia visit: www.brothers-sons.dk

NEW YORK—As a lighting designer specializing in television news sets, I draw upon parallel careers as cinematographer of narrative films and commercials with a deep past in broadcast television to create the appropriate look for talent and sets following client mandates and budget.

I recently completed a studio for WOIO-TV19, the Gray Television-owned CBS affiliate serving Cleveland. Set design firm Broadcast Design International commissioned me to design and specify a totally new LED lighting rig. They provided 3D CAD model and renderings while WOIO Chief Engineer Bob Kroeger supplied infrastructure details and a stellar crew for the hang and focus. WOIO selected my production company, Block Light Shoot, to provide the fixture and control package.

LIGHTING THE SPACE

The set consists of a four-presenter desk, five-seat talk show area with 12-foot video wall, two-touchscreen stand-up venues and a 12-foot video weather wall in lieu of a chroma-key. Several set elements change color affording show and time-of-day branding opportunities. Six robotic cameras capture it all with presenters moving between areas live on camera—that’s a lot in a 45x45-foot space.

That person in the medium close-up is selling trust so the lighting must be flattering and forgiving, not flat and boring. Presenters with various flesh tones appear close together and in different combinations at different times of day. My solution is a surrounding base light with a soft key light to pick out each face at the desk. In-desk lighting is cosmetically flattering and creates a sparkle in the eye, the “eye catch.” A sharp backlight separates people from the background. It’s fashion photography in a theatrical setting … done live.

My primary fixture solution is by BB&S Lighting, whose passive-cooled (no fans) remote phosphor (last forever) fixtures are the perfect answer. These quality units with 98 TLCI come in various shapes and sizes with smooth flicker-free dimming. Pipeline fixtures utilize linear “pipes,” allowing them to be built in convenient configurations. Their low profile fits well into low grid height studios. I used 3-foot and 4-foot 4-Banks for base lighting and to carry presenter movement.

The Area 48 11x14-inch rectangular fixture makes the perfect soft key. Pipeline Reflect comes in a range of sizes. I used 2x2-foot banks recessed into slots in the set to provide a separation light on presenters standing 1 foot in front of the 10-foot high weather wall. The 1-foot Reflect, (aka “the wedge”) hides in the desk as the all-important chin light. Its flattering cosmetic lighting is magic.

LONG-LASTING GEAR

BB&S lights are amazingly accurate and consistent. It is a must that fixtures last five years without drift or color change. I recently visited a station we installed over four years ago and there was absolutely no color shift—they read the exact same color on the meter.

BB&S fixtures are the heart of the design but modern lighting control consoles can be complex and require unique programming skills—no point and click here. I always wanted to ditch the sliders and buttons for a tablet-like interface easily understood and programmed.

I brought my dilemma to Cleveland-based VLS and their star programmer, Allan Mitsche. Using their CoPilot system, he created a custom touchscreen interface on ETCnomad software that meets control needs and is easily learned by studio staff. It seamlessly interfaces with Ross Overdrive triggering individual settings for all sitting positions and show-specific color branding.

Installation took less than a week and the feedback has been great. The news director appreciates the adjustability and the talent loves the way they look.

Nicholas Hutak is a two-time Emmy Award-winning lighting designer with 130 broadcast news studios on four continents to his credit. He can be reached at nh@nickhutakdp.com, 732-291-3910 or www.newssetlight.com.

For more information, contact BB&S Lighting at 310-491-6250 or visit www.bbslighting.com.

SEATTLE—COVID 19 upset the market for lighting equipment, the same as it did for other broadcast and motion picture gear. But though vendors were unable to push their new offerings in-person at trade shows and traveling road shows, they have been able to introduce products already in the pipeline.

Although the emphasis in recent months has been on remote production—which in the early days of the pandemic forced a number of stations to bypass their studios—the market for studio lighting is still expected to be healthy as broadcasters return to their facilities. Nevertheless, with the lines starting to blur between what defines lighting for studios and remote production, vendors are also stepping up their efforts to add features for IP-based remote control for the professional facility as well as for those broadcasters still working from home.

SET UP AND LEAVE

Last month, ARRI announced that its new Orbiter, a single-point source, six-color light engine, will be shipping soon. The new light is “very versatile,” according to ARRI systems engineer Patrick Schulze.

“The Quick Lighting Mount [QLM] in Orbiter allows for optics with vastly different properties to be connected to the fixture,” he said. “These include open face, 15, 25 and 35 degree projection lenses, fabric sphere for omnidirectional light and softboxes.”

Orbiter features ARRI’s new Lighting Operating System (LiOS) programmed into the fixtures. LiOS includes features from ARRI’s Skypanel and other lights.

Schulze added, “We’ve been working on ways to control fixtures remotely through the internet. Our Skypanel series and Orbiter have a lot of IT-based technology in them. Basically they’re computers that put out light.”

Schulze says COVID-19 has really driven development for new features for its fixtures.

“All of our new lights are going to be IP-controllable,” he said. “They’ll have DMX control, local control, but we’re really working more toward IP connectivity.” In the pandemic workflow television production and motion picture studios are forced to work under, “you can’t have 12 people in the studio at once. The lighting people will set it up and then go somewhere else to control it.”

IN THE PIPELINE

BB&S Lighting’s co-owner Tobi Sali said the company is finding a lot of customers for its Pipeline Reflect System lighting fixtures in studios that are putting in video walls.

“When people put in video walls, they have to go to daylight,” he said. “Then you get your true blacks out of it, and you get real good color separation. That gives you real usable wall. If you use tungsten, you don’t get good color separation.”

The original Pipelines were 1-inch diameter tubes that used remote phosphor technology to provide high-quality 95 TLCI color rendering, according to Sali.

“The Reflect Series is the Pipeline in a wedge with a special reflective aluminum material on both sides,” he said. “This allows a Reflect fixture to provide 150% the output of the original Pipeline for the same power draw.” The Reflects are available in 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 6- and 8-foot lengths, and a choice of 3200-degree K, 4300-degree K or 5600-degree K color temperatures.

When the anchor from home revolution hit the television industry, BB&S had a ready solution in its “Reporter Kit,” a ready-to-go two Pipeline arrangement complete with stands and a dimmer that had been developed for webcam correspondents.

A VARIETY OF USES

After virus-caused delays, Cineo Lighting has started delivering its R15 1500W hard LED lighting fixture, according to Rich Pierceall, vice president of operations for NBC Universal, parent company of Cineo.

“We’ve explored a lot of new and patented a lot of new technologies with the Reflex series, specifically with immersion cooling,” he said.

The R15 is a high-output, focusable-beam, fully dimmable hard light. The beam angle adjustment from 15 to 75 degrees is accomplished without mechanical movement, making it remotely adjustable. The reflector can be easily removed and replaced with a variety of soft accessories. A 500W R5 “little brother” is in the works.

Being part of NBC Universal has given Pierceall a perch with quite a view.

“There’s such a diversity of different productions going on, broadcast and streaming, and feature film, what new techniques are being considered to help production get underway,” he said. “And ‘virtual’ is top of mind for just about everybody.

“To be honest with you, we don’t see any dividing line between lighting and virtual lighting, between LED light sources and LED walls,” Pierceall added. “It’s all kind of one environment for us.”

COLOR TEMPERATURE

As far as color temperature is concerned, Ing. Jose Maria Noriega C.A.S, chief revenue and marketing officer at Fluotec in Laredo, Texas, said the studios they’re lighting are falling more or less equally between fixed daylight, fixed tungsten and tunable.

“Though there are customers who want the color temperature tunable feature for their studio lighting, there are studios around the United States that are specifically designed for either tungsten or daylight,” he said. “We have sold thousands of daylight fixtures, and thousands of tungsten.”

Noriega adds that they’re finding a lot of demand for sky lighting, as well.

“We have met that demand with the CineLight line,” he said. “That’s the kind of light they need to light the whole studio.”

But there’s still a healthy market for Fresnel fixtures. Fluotec’s Fresnels avoid color shift between the center and the edge of the beam utilizes the company’s NEBULA technology to emit powerful, high-quality, full-spectrum white light beams, according to Noriega.

TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION 

Kino-Flo has just activated the RDM (remote device management) control communication protocol to enable two-way communication in their lighting fixtures.

“Existing DMX lighting control is one-way,” said Scott Stueckle, Kino-Flo sales manager. “DMX only allows sending instructions to the light, but you can’t see all the settings on the light. With RDM you have two-way communication between the fixture and the control board, which is important.

“With DMX, if you want to change a setting for, say, ‘special effects,’ you have to go to ‘special effects’ on the fixture and adjust the ‘special effects’ setting,” Stoeckle added. “But with RDM, through the control board you can just hit a button on the control board and change the menu setting to whatever you want. That’s really a big deal for board operators.”

The computer chip that runs RDM is built into existing Kino-Flo LED fixtures, but if you just turn it on, “chaos” could ensue, he said.

“So what we did was spend all this time reconfiguring all of our software so that when RDM did come out it’s very intuitive, user-friendly, and with as few bugs as possible. And it will work with our older software as well.”

MORE PUNCH

Pete Challenger, who manages U.S. business development for Italian light maker Lupo says he’s spoken with a number of customers who want a full color panel light that’s also got some “punch” to it. In response, last year Lupo launched the Superpanel Soft Full Color 60 RGBW LED Panel.

“Most panel lights have a kind of ‘soft, wraparound’ type of light output to them,” he said. “If you are needing to use the light particularly close in, it can be quite attractive. The problem with it is getting that level of softness with massive amounts of light.

“So what we’ve done with the Superpanel Full Color 60 is to put a lens over each cluster of LEDs,” he continued. “That gives you a powerful, color flat panel with a 40-degree beam angle.

“If the light is working close to the subject, the effect can be harsh unless diffusion is applied,” Challenger added. “But in most cases in a really big studio, you want some throw. And in that case, having more raw power to start with gives you more flexibility.”

WASHINGTON—Like almost every other part of our industry, suppliers of professional lighting have seen the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on manufacturing to customer support. And with industry trade shows cancelled for the foreseeable future, vendors are having to improvise the way they market, support and sell to their customers. 

BB&S

Tobi Sali with BB&S Lighting said that his company moved operations to employees’ homes and worked hard to maintain a consistent and reliable point of contact and support for their customers.

“I kept my office open two or three days a week. I was always available 24/7 on the phone and on the website,” he said. “And we were handling orders. Our warehouse in Las Vegas stayed open the whole time.”

Since BB&S products are manufactured in Denmark, Sali said they took extra precautions when taking deliveries.

“When we got a shipment in from Copenhagen, we would isolate it for four or five days before it ever got opened,” he said. “We added an additional week of it sitting there sprayed with alcohol to make sure that we didn’t have any problems.”

For the NAB Show, BB&S was going to debut its Compact Beamlight BiColor (CBL), a lighting unit that offers a range of 2,700–5,700 degrees K and 98 TLCI. The company has also upgraded its Area 96, adding a fan and upping the output, according to Sali.

“It’s about 10–15% more output than an ARRI 360 Sky Panel at less money,” he said.

CINEO

Cineo had planned on launching the ReFlex, a production-oriented 15A, 125,000 lumen LED-based hard light, according to Rich Pierceall, vice president of LED operations for the NBCUniversal-owned company.

“All productions have gone on hiatus so we’ve delayed the launch and instead we’ve been doing a series of beta tests to customers to basically try to get a more refined product,” he said. “So, that’s how we’ve been spending the time in terms of that product that we were going to release at the NAB Show. And so we’re anticipating releasing that product probably by the end of July when production comes back.”

Although production may be on the way back, many installation projects have been put off for now, he added.

“We found that most capital relighting projects have been postponed,” he said. “So, we anticipate fewer projects that were scheduled to be green-lit, even in the second half of 2020, to be pushed into 2021.”

With trade shows cancelled for the foreseeable future, Pierceall said he personally thinks the dynamic of the events will be changed.

“This is an interesting test period, how can we effectively market products without relying on trade shows, which is something that lighting people really rely on to bring out new products and to show people how things work,” he said.

In terms of future product development, Pierceall says R&D continues to be an important focus for the company.

“We’ve spent a considerable amount of time looking at things like VR, which is going to be a bigger thing in production than we’ve ever seen before,” he said. “And we’re looking at how can we do more with less in terms of smaller crew sizes and automation and control.”

ARRI

Business has been steady for ARRI despite current events, according to Jason Inouye, technical sales representative for the company.

When the lockdown started, “a lot of marketing executives reached out, telling me they needed to get cameras for marketing TV shows, commercials, but couldn’t have anyone in front of talent because of social distancing,” he said. “So we developed this remote solution where we can bring in our ALEXA mini LF camera system, or any of our ALEXA AMIRA camera systems, and be allowed to use cellular network bonding to send a stream out from the camera and it could be recorded offsite somewhere. A remote start would trigger the camera as well from anywhere in the world.

“Then people wanted to remotely control the lighting. And so you can use our camera through this box as an access point to actually put your SkyPanels through there as well, and then control the lighting system via IP,” he added.

Integrating IP control capabilities to its cameras and lighting equipment has been standard for ARRI for a while now, according to Patrick Schulze, lighting systems application engineer.

What products are now most in demand for home studios? According to Schulze, it’s ARRI’s SkyPanel series. “The S30 and the S60 would be the most popular version for home studios and remote locations where you don’t want to have somebody in the space,” he said. “If it’s in the talent’s home, it could be something that could just be set up and all controlled remotely through IP.”

KINO FLO

Kino Flo, which has a large presence in both film and television has had an “up and down” spring, according to Scott Stueckle, sales manager for the Los Angeles-based lighting provider.

“More people are lighting themselves as they have migrated back to their homes or to office spaces that are depleted of crew people or lighting people,” he said. “We’re still doing a number of two- and three-light kits for those markets. We’re also doing a lot of work with CNN, QVC, HSN, all those types of companies, broadcast news, small web studios. We’re still doing a fair amount of those in two ways, fulfilling old orders that were in the system, but also quoting a lot.”

Stueckle says they’ve seen increased interest in the company’s diva light series.

“The diva light 21 is an LED version of our older, more established legacy diva light fluorescent systems. And it’s being used quite a bit for studio, location and interviews,” he said.

After the NAB Show was cancelled, Stueckle said it gave the company the opportunity to review its new products rather than launching them outright.

“We were going to introduce a new ribbon light line of products; they’re the only five-color ribbon lights in the market,” he said. “They’re designed with the same firmware and LED emitter technology that we have in our other fixtures, so it allows you full compatibility. You don’t have any drop off in colors or any drop off in white light quality when you’re using our ribbons and they all have individual control.

“We also have a new individual controller for our tubes that allows you to run up to eight tubes individually in different kinds of pixelation sequences and so forth,” Strueckle added. “But I’m not showing that until people come out and start doing business again. So in the process, we’re refining those, improving those, adding features, just trying to time it for when business comes back into play. We’ll go ahead and probably have a new version, compared to the one we would have shown at NAB—we’ll probably have a more evolved version and that will probably show starting July or August.”

As TV and film production begins to resume, Stueckle said the process will be similar to what is being seen in public health efforts as well.

“When the stay-at-home orders and essential business orders were passed down, it was like a light switch essentially went from ‘everything on’ to ‘everything off,” he said. “Coming back into it, from what I can see here in Hollywood, it’s like they’re ‘dialing it up’ a little bit and then they ‘dial it back.’

“It’s going to be a slow incline, I think, as we return to the set.”

COPENHAGEN, Denmark—BB&S Lighting has announced the launch of the Compact Beamlight BiColor (CBL), a lighting unit that offers a range of 2,700-5,700 degrees K and 98 TLCI.

A single fixture CBL produces up to 2,700 lumens. The beam fades from 100% at center to 50% at the edges. A single unit features a 40W power draw, a 5.5-inch footprint, a 10-degree beam angle. The CBL BiColor 2x2 fixture, meanwhile, draws up to 160W and can output 11,000 lumens.

In addition, CBL BiColors comes with four-pin XLR, 2m cable, TVMP and adjustable yoke. Each CBL also has a proprietary 126mm diameter collimator lens that converts up to 90% of the LED light output. Optional accessories include a magnetic filter frame range of diffusers, magnetic barndoor and a magnetic top hat/snoot. 

There are multiple ways to operate CBLs. Single fixtures work with a BB&S four-way controller or dual channel driver/dimmer. The 2x2 fixture can be operated and dimmed with the new eight-way controller. Third-party battery packs are available to be used with the fixtures.

For more information, visit www.bbslighting.com.  

ONTARIO—TV engineers in charge of older broadcast studios know that they have to replace their aging incandescent (e.g. tungsten) lighting some day, and that the popular choice is LED (light-emitting diode) fixtures.

That said, LEDs are so technologically different from incandescent lamps, developing a transition plan can be daunting for engineers schooled in the older tech. To ease the task, TV Technology has compiled this list of “must-knows” and myths about LED studio lighting.

COOLER AND CHEAPER

When the AT&T Entertainment Group decided to move their syndicated Dan Patrick sports radio/TV show into a new 20,000 square foot facility, they opted to illuminate using Litepanels’ Gemini and Astra soft LED panel fixtures instead of incandescent lamps.

“The decision came down to the temperature of the lights,” said Eric Jones, associate director of creative operations for AT&T Mobility & Entertainment Group. “The talent always complained about the heat of the old incandescent lights and how hot the studio was. In contrast, the Litepanels run cool, which keeps the talent comfortable and saves us money on air conditioning.”

The reason tungsten lights are so hot is because up to 94% of the electricity they consume is released as heat rather than visible light, according to Pat Grosswendt, co-founder of Litepanels (now owned by The Vitec Group).

“LED lights don’t emit this kind of heat; they use their power to generate visible light,” he said. “This is why LEDs need much less power to generate the same amount of illumination as incandescent lamps.”

SAVING MONEY

The cost savings from using LEDs in-studio, rather than incandescent lamps, are significant. “You can count on cutting your lighting power consumption by two-thirds, and your air conditioning costs by two-thirds as well,” said Randy Read, specifications lighting sales manager for ARRI. “You’ll also save money not having to change burnt-out bulbs or gels, because the LED lights are color-adjustable.”

“In fact, the ROI from installing LEDs is three years or less, based on money saved due to reduced operating costs,” said Grosswendt.

In the early days of LED lighting, there were some issues associated with color stability.

“As the LEDs aged, the color temperature would sometimes drift towards the green end of the spectrum,” said Rich Pierceall, vice president of Cineo Lighting. “This shift was due to manufacturing issues that have since been resolved. Today’s LEDs hold their color temperatures reliably year in, year out; allowing stations to ‘set it and forget it’ once they get their new LED lamps and lighting boards installed and calibrated.

ADVANTAGES FOR MULTISTATION BROADCAST STUDIOS

In a bid to cut operating costs, TV group owners are using one common studio to produce newscasts for two or more of their stations. This is why Emmy-award-winning lighting designer Nicholas Hutak—who has designed more than 130 news sets since 1995—chose LED lighting for these multinewscast studios.

“In Florida, I designed a news set that was shared by three different stations,” said Hutak. “Thanks to our multicolor LED light fixtures, I was able to preset three distinct lighting looks for each of these broadcasts. Going from one station newscast to the next is as easy as pushing a button; covering for the lack of lighting directors in today’s lean TV operations.”

Hutak uses the same approach to differentiate programs shot in one of his other client’s studios. “This degree of color control could not be achieved with conventional lighting,” he said.

In theory, it is possible to swap LED lamps for incandescents on a one-to-one basis. But doing so is inefficient because A) one LED can often do the work of two or more incandescents, and B) using LEDs effectively requires installing a lighting panel tailored to work with this technology.

This is why broadcast engineers who are new to LEDs would be wise to hire a qualified lighting designer to design and install this new technology.

“In reality you should do this, because LEDs and incandescents are two totally different kinds of light,” said Toby Sali, co-owner of BB&S Lighting. “If you personally don’t know LEDs, you need to use someone who does.”

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

In the old days of “hard” incandescent lighting, it could be difficult to make anchor people look good on air. The hard lights generated shadows in anchors’ eye sockets and under their chins; accentuating the appearance of aging over the years.

“The ‘soft light’ generated by LEDs can smooth out these shadows, creating a more subtle and youthful look for on-air talent,” said Frieder Hochheim, president of Kino Flo Lighting Systems. “This is a particular benefit in HD today and going forward as broadcasters move to 4K, where every pore is visible on camera.”

SEATTLE—When a news photographer jumps out of a vehicle to cover a breaking news story, the last thing they need is a science project when putting together the video gear. Makers of camera support, portable lighting and battery packs go to great lengths to make their gear on the go quick and easy to deploy.

CAMERA SUPPORT

Tripods have always been important for steadying the camera shot, but they’re even more important now to support the camera while the video journalist also reports the liveshot.

Miller Camera Support addressed the need for one-handed tripod deployment with its Sprinter tripod. “We have a dual, independent locking system with two levers that are side-by-side at the top,” said Miller Regional Manager Gus Harilaou. “That allows opening the tripod with one flip of the lever, and it deploys both the bottom and the top stages of the tripod. The tripod is opened in a few seconds.”

The Sprinter tripod is paired with Miller’s Compass X18 fluid head. “This is basically for any newsgathering where guys have little cameras, whether that would be handheld or full-blown shoulder-mount cameras,” Harilaou said. “CX18 has a capacity range to take any payload from zero to 35 pounds.”

Vitec brands Vinten and Sachtler co-developed the flowtech tripod family designed for fast moving news coverage. “What makes it so appealing to the news folks is the speed of deployment, which can determine whether you get a shot or not on a breaking news story,” said Tobias Keuthen, director of global product marketing management.

Keuthen noted that the flowtech’s unique clamping mechanism was placed on top of the tripod where the head fits, helping news photogs deploy more quickly. “You don’t have to bend over; you can open the braking clamps for all three legs from the top of the tripod and extend the legs easily,” he said. “You can close the clamps also without bending over, and you can adjust the legs for working on stairs or uneven ground.” The company just added a 100mm bowl version of the flowtech for larger payloads.

Several years ago, Libec launched its Hands Free Monopod (HFMP) designed for free stand operation, according to Jose Larios, manager of sales and marketing for the company. “Our monopod is different by the fact that the base is wide, and it allows the user to put it into a vertical position just by simply stepping on the base,” he said.

The HFMP can stand on its own on the wide base to allow a oneman- band photojournalist to securely position the monopod then step in front of the camera for a liveshot standup. Libec conducted some focus groups to determine what users wanted from a monopod, Larios said. “And when we found out what were the best features, applications and benefits that are going to our product, we put that into place when designing the Hands Free Monopod.” This included placing a fluid head on the top.

Shotoku found that stringers and news departments at smaller stations were turning to lower cost camcorders and even DSLRs to capture video, which opened its market to lower cost, simpler tripod systems. “Our tripods for these customers vary from the SD 20 with really basic level features like fixed drag and counterbalance,” said Graham Ramsey sales director, manual and robotic products for Shotoku.

Two slightly higher level versions—SD 80 and SD 150—can handle higher payloads of 8 kilos and 15 kilos, respectively, and feature a step counterbalance system, and step drag system. To keep things simple for working faster, “with the SD 20 you can leave the balance and drag settings exactly where they are,” Ramsey added. “You don’t have to change anything, take off tensions or lower drag settings, or anything like that.”

LIGHTING

Lighting equipment has come a long way since the introduction of LED fixtures, with time-saving features like dimming without color shifts and the ability to dial in a desired color temperature.

Video journalists are not necessarily lighting experts, according to Kevin Crawford, vice president of engineering at Frezzi in Hawthorne, N.J. “A lot of these people don’t really know about how to light up a scene, so our Skylight product provides a wide, flat, optical field,” he said. “This thing is brain-dead simple to use, and throws a lot of light.”

For working fast in the field, the Skylight can be powered by a broadcast brick battery pack or off AC. It provides high CRI single source 5600K daylight light without pixelation or color fringing.

Fluotec’s StarMaker color-tunable panel fixture has found a home in ENG vans for a number of years, and the company’s upgrade to the StarMaker HP model will make it even more desirable to news crews said Fluotec Chief Marketing Officer Jose Maria Noriega.

“The StarMaker HP now has the same technology as our Cine Light, so it has a much better CRI of 97.7, and it now delivers an output of 37 percent more light than the previous version,” he said. “Incorporating our NEBULA Diffusion Chamber Technology makes a 70 degree throw and softer light than when it’s used without this attachment. And this allows you to use barn doors. Although most panel manufacturers put the barn doors on the light, but they throw a multi-shadow on the background. Our diffusor attachment behaves as a single source point of light, which is very controllable by barn doors.”

With the built-in battery attachment, there’s no need to run cables.

Litepanel’s most popular ENG light is its Astra Bi-Color, according to Byron Brown, program product manager for parent company Vitec Videocom. “It can be easily hand held or put on a stand, it can be installed with a battery adapter, you slip the battery on it and you’re ready to go.”

The color agility of the Astra Bi-Color is another feature that allows for working fast, Brown added. “What we find oftentimes is that guys out in the field will start off with the light dialed in to daylight, and then warm it up to taste,” he said. “The color temperature dial on the Astra also has color temperature readings, so if you know your favorite reading is 4500K, you just dial it to that number and you’re there.”

For situations where a photographer needs a longer throw of light, Litepanels also has the Astra Bi-Focus, with lenses to narrow and intensify the light.

Tama Berkeljon, managing director at Outsight in Australia, said its most popular light for ENG shooters is the bicolor Creamsource Micro. “It’s punchier, and you’ve got more options for diffusing it or softening it back,” he said. “It’s extremely flexible and can be deployed in seconds with a battery attached.”

Accessories include diffusion and lensing, Berkeljon added. “Dropping in lenses changes the beam angle from 30 to 60 to 100 degrees,” he said. “Unlike most bi-color fixtures, the Micro maintains constant power output across the whole CCT range, so users always get the unit’s full potential. There is no reason to have to choose between a bi-color or daylight system. And because of the Micro’s wide 10-32V operating voltage, users can power the fixture from a single 90WH battery, or directly from a car.”

Zylight spotlights its F8 200 LED Fresnel as its most popular with ENG camera crews for its durability and outdoor IP protection. Charlie Collias, director of fixture sales for the Cypress, Calif.-based company.

It’s also very quick to deploy when breaking news is happening. “Its 5 inches thick and packs into a milk crate, pelican case or in padded travel cases we sell,” Collias said. “In other words, the F8 200 is easy to find space for in a van to bring it along, and doesn’t take up much room. The camera person can pull it right out of the bag, place it on a stand and throw a camera battery on the rear and it’s good to go.”

BB&S Lighting recommends a pair of fixtures for speedy ENG work, one for closer work and a second when some throw is needed. “Our Reflect 1-foot or 2-foot wedge-shaped LED fixtures feature an internal reflector system that spreads a 160 degree beam angle,” said Toby Sali, partner in BB&S. “They can be used singly or ganged up in banks. They give you instant and soft lighting.”

Where the subject is some distance away, he points to their Compact Beam Light. “the front is 6 inches, and it’s 5 inches across. It is a 40W draw, like the other one, and it is a 7 degree, 11 degree, 14 degree or 17 degree beam light. So it isn’t a hard light. It doesn’t give you a ridge like a LEKO ellipsoidal profile light. It’s got 15 percent roll-off on the edges.”

During the fluorescent lighting era, Kino Flo sold a lot of its Diva lighting fixtures to news shooters who liked the soft modeling light it produced. “As LEDs took over, we developed a fixture called the Diva Light 21, which is the latest version of our LED Diva Light,” said Scott Stueckle, who handles sales and public relations for the Burbank, Calif.-based company. “It’s lighter weight from any other Diva Light we’ve had. It still has all the functionality. You can pull it out of the case and you can run full daylight and tungsten.”

One high-end feature of the latest firmware for the Diva 21 is the ability to color match the light to a particular camera. “Cameras have different sensors, different spectral curves that they use to see light—they don’t all see light the same way,” Stueckle said. “We’ve pulled out all those spectral sensitivity curves of those cameras, and we’ve downloaded them onto our software profiles. You can also go in and pull up a Panavision or Panasonic or Sony or Canon camera, and lock those color profiles in.” If a news shooter has to change cameras, it’s easy to change the Kino Flo fixture’s color properties to match, Stueckle added.

POWER SUPPLIES

A news shooter can have everything else going fine, and when the power runs out the shoot rudely and quickly comes to an end. Battery makers have gone to great lengths to provide high-capacity battery packs that are also feature rich.

Anton/Bauer unveiled its Dionic XT battery family last year and it’s found a quick market for news photographers, according to Chris Gaughan, product manager for Vitec Videocom’s Anton/ Bauer brand, who said Dionic battery packs are designed to live on the back of a camcorder “and you’re ready to go at a moment’s notice. You pick up your camera, push a button, and it’s running.”

Another feature that assures the shooter isn’t chasing a news story with a nearly empty battery pack is a fuel gauge display. “When the battery’s not under load it tells you how much battery is left, gives you a percentage,” Gaughan said. “When the camera’s running, it gives you the run time you have left, based on the load. And by touching the back of the battery you can cycle through and see what kind of current you’re drawing and temperature of the cell pack.”

Jet-hopping news crews were the focus of IDX System Technology when it designed its Dual C 98 battery packs. “Because it’s at 98W—under 100W—you could carry 15, 20, 25 on the plane,” said Jun lshizekai, associate manager of marketing & regional west sales. “It features two D-taps and one for USB, so it has enough accessory ports to fill all of a camera guy’s needs.”

Dual Cs have a five LED fuel gauge on the side, and because the individual LED is either fully lit, blinking or dark, it actually indicates battery power remaining in 10 percent increments, lshizekai added. “There’s also an LED on the Vmount side, and if you’re in total dark and it’s hard to see to change batteries, you can turn this LED on. It stays on for 30 seconds to let you maneuver around when remounting a battery pack on the camera.”

PAG’s PAGlink batteries provide the ability to gang several battery packs together on the back of a camcorder, creating a number of advantages, according to John O’Keefe, marketing consultant for PAG. “Unlike the conventional Gold Mount batteries, a single battery with a single capacity, PAG makes 90Wh and 150Wh battery packs that can be linked together,” he said. “For most guys who are shooting news, they would probably want just two, and that would let them shoot for eight hours without having to change batteries.”

PAG’s Power Hub sandwiches between two battery packs, and will let the shooter power a light, wireless microphone, small monitor and similar accessories off the camera when both batteries are linked. “The battery closest to the camera acts as your hot swap and the camera drains from the rear battery,” O’Keefe added. “That power hub is in the middle, and you can remove the rear battery without interrupting power to the camera and accessories.”

Frezzi’s FLD 100 battery packs are 100 Wh capacity, the company’s largest legally transportable battery. “It’s got a push to test fuel gauge, so it doesn’t drain the battery when it’s not being used,” said Crawford.

“It’s weatherproof, fully sealed. It can be charged with our existing desktop chargers; and it has a small port that’s used with a portable power supply to charge it, like a small desktop charger, a single channel. So if you have a little go bag and you don’t want to bring a desktop charger, like a four position station, you could use this little power supply to charge it that way.”

NEW YORK— For the past 20 years I have designed and consulted on more than 120 international and national news sets.

Lighting for television news studios can be challenging. Although the environments are often small, clients demand that major market-network look.

I recently completed lighting two studios for the MNC Group in Jakarta, Indonesia, primarily using BB&S LED remote phosphor fixtures. The main reason I chose BB&S Pipelines is the shape of the light’s aperture.

FITTING THE NEED
State of the art news sets are visually dazzling venues dense with flat-screens and reflective branding signage. The presenters however, are often the main reason a viewer tunes in. The creative team at MNC wanted to be sure their on-screen talent stood out and were the main point of interest. This calls for large areas of controllable soft light that makes the talent look great and does not create unwanted reflections or spill light onto the background.

The BB&S Pipeline fixtures offer 16,000 lumens, allowing for the lights to be placed against the ceiling and still provide the proper intensity. (Set by Broadcast Design International) BB&S Pipeline fixtures are long and narrow with several choices from individual pipes to light banks in various lengths with a number of light shaping accessories. I went mainly with the 4-foot 4-banks that are 10 inches tall and just under 50 inches long. They put out a great deal of light—16,000 lumens. I can wrap the set, creating a base light with the big long fixtures, and then use the BB&S Area 48 fixtures to pick out faces. Plus, going with BB&S meant no chasing color differences between lights. The pipelines are rated at 98 TLCI so there was no need to worry about green/magenta shifts between fixtures. I mainly light studios with daylight color temperature, but if bicolor is required, I can lamp half the fixture with 3200-degree K and half with 5600-degree K and dim between them.

I need to be resourceful with small studios, so we often go into places that are just a cement slab with 10-foot ceilings that need to look like massive studios. MNC wanted to be able to put a 4.3mm lens on a jib and fly around and look like the majors. With the Pipelines, I can tuck them right against the ceiling, pull them back a bit and still get the soft quality that I want with the intensity that I need, even in compact spaces.

DESKTOP SOLUTION
The MNC anchor desk presented another tight space issue. In news broadcast I need lights within the desk to up-light presenters for cosmetic purposes. It opens up the eyes and under the bangs, so the talent looks younger and more energetic. Finding a fixture that’s small and lightweight was the challenge; I used to make them myself or had them custom built because every desk is different.

This time I used 1-foot 5600-degree K Pipeline Raws, off the shelf. At 1-inch in diameter and 1-foot long they worked perfectly. We simply ran them in fours, connected to their own DMX controller inside the clear glass desk. They match the overhead lighting perfectly without tweaking and the talent loved them.

When you do what I do, you’re attached to the success—or the failure—of the fixture that you recommend. You’re telling people to spend several hundred thousand dollars on your recommendations and if there are problems, it’s on you. The BB&S fixtures are reliable workhorses. I have never had a failure after installation.

Nicholas Hutak is a lighting designer and director of photography with more than 40 years experience working in television, commercials and feature films. He can be reached atnh@nickhutakdp.com.

For more information, please visitwww.bbslighting.comor call 1-800-820-6610.