Product Details
Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Light in Theatre, Live Performance, Broadcast, and Entertainment

Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Light in Theatre, Live Performance, Broadcast, and Entertainment
By Richard Cadena

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Product Description

"Automated Lighting-Technology, Applications, and Design" is a comprehensive text covering everything you will need to know as a working or aspiring lighting professional about automated lighting fixtures, systems, how they are used and design issues you will face. It is written in clear, easy-to-understand language but includes enough detailed information that the most experienced technician and engineer will appreciate and benefit from reading. Subjects covered include the history of automated lighting, DC and AC electricity, basic electronics, power supplies, digital electronics, electro-mechanical systems, optical systems (including dichroic filters, reflectors, lenses, and more), lamp technology, lighting effects (including color mixing, glass gobos, and more), data distribution systems, DMX, RDM, and ACN. State-of-the-art automated lighting fixtures in various applications including theatre, television, concert/touring, and permanent installations are discussed and special design issues are addressed.

The text is amply illustrated with drawings and pictures. The newest technology in automated lighting--"digital" lighting or pixel-based automated lighting projection--is also covered in detail. This book is the antithesis of a reference manual or user manual. It is entertaining and educational with lots of graphic illustrations and easy-to-understand concepts. It's the most fun you can have without sitting behind a console.

* Numerous examples and illustrations
* Easy to read with little "tech-talk"
* Contains information on the newest lighting technology
* Minimal amount of math reduces the drudgery!


Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #141887 in Books
  • Published on: 2006-09-06
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 496 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Automated Lighting features detailed design and operating information on automated light fixtures and systems used in live performances, TV broadcasts, and other entertainment arenas." - Studio Photography, October 2006

"In all this is a throughly recommended book - even as a reference for the more seasoned practitioner. To have such a wealth of information in one place is rare.." Lighting and Sound, December 2006

About the Author
Richard Cadena is the author of "Focus on Lighting Technology," editor of Pro Lights and Staging News magazine, an Authorized WYSIWYG Trainer, and 20 year veteran of the entertainment lighting industry including stints with two of the world's largest automated lighting manufacturers. He has a background in electrical engineering and electronics, and he is a freelance lighting designer with a portfolio of several major lighting designs and installations and is proficient in WYSIWYG, LD Assistant, and Vectorworks. He has been an instructor of classes in automated lighting technology with the Show Training Network, and a moderator of several lighting panels and seminars at Pro Production and Inspiration trade shows.


Customer Reviews

This is it!5
Richard Cadena does it again (enjoyed his first book "Focus on Lighting Technology" and still use it in my Lighting Tech '101' class) with a text that takes the dry and technical, and makes it fresh, even palatable. I've used Richard Cadena's "Automated Lighting" for the last two semesters in my moving lighting class. Students in both semesters have remarked that it is a comprehensive view of "how things work" with the movers; past, present and future. It is also on my must-read book list for graduate students in the MFA lighting program.

Specifically, the chapters on "basic" electricity and datacomm are quite thorough. Whether it was DMX-512/512A, RDM or ACN, Cadena's writing covers them well.

Couple this book with a good hands-on class and you have an excellent initial experience into a much bigger, sometimes complicated world.

I'm grateful to the author for his book and his work in the industry.

Save your money2
The book is somewhat well written, but it is more of a history and it has very limted info on how to rig or set up a lighting show, has really no info on what to buy or what to get for a light show, has more info on how the writer played a part of the development of some products, I'd say that this is a waste of money, if one is looking for info on setting up a light show

A Great Resource5
This book is an outstanding resource for anyone involved with Automated Lighting. It covers a wide range of lighting topics, but each with detail and accuracy. A must for anyone just starting to work with autoamtion (especially repairs), but has some great information for old pros as well. While this book has more for technicians than designers, any automation designer may find most of the content useful.