Specifications

“Lighting Systems Made Easy” Page 23
BUMP BUTTONS (a.k.a. MOMENTARY BUTTONS)
Push buttons that, when pressed, bring various lighting full on or to a predetermined dimmed
level. When the bump buttons are released, the lighting levels revert to those preset before
the bump buttons were pressed down. Bump buttons are a very direct way of introducing the
human interface to lightshows – just “play” the bump buttons with your fingers. See touch
sensitive.
BUMP UP
Sudden shift in lighting level(s) to a higher intensity. Usually achieved by pressing the bump
buttons on a lighting control console.
CHANNEL
A path or control through which electricity flows to a specific, chosen destination. A lighting
console or controller has a number of control/power/dimmer channels connected to control its
lights.
CHASE
An array of light sources illuminating sequentially (1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1, etc).
CONDENSER LENS
A thick lens used to direct light from a lamp/reflector assembly through a slide or similar visual
and into an objective (focussing) lens.
CONTROLLER
A device used to control lighting. May be thought of as the “brain” or steering mechanism for
the lighting’s power packs.
CROSSFADE (a.k.a. MIXER FOR AUDIO)
A system designed to dim one lighting channel down while another is faded upward.
Dipless crossfade simply means that the crossfade is made as a smooth transition from one
scene or lighting effect to another with no noticeable ‘dip’ in the lighting levels at the midpoint of
the crossfade, as a constant light level is kept throughout the entire crossfade movement.
CYC. (Abbr. CYCLORAMA)
A large screen on surface, often shallow and horizontally curved, usually erected at the rear of
the stage. A Cyc. is most often used for color-wash lighting effects but may have slides of
scenery or patterns of light projected onto it.
CYC LIGHT (SCOOP)
A lighting fixture with a large, shallow, curved reflector designed to throw a color-wash onto the
Cyc. This is a very wide-angle fixture, so a Cyc Light is capable of throwing a large beam of
light from a relatively short-range.
3D PROJECTION
A technique first developed for disco use by the author consisting of patterns of light projected
through fog so that they appear to be solid, “real” entities existing in the air.