It’s important to understand the different types of lights and what they are used for when planning your lighting system. Different lights are good for different things, and an experienced lighting systems designer can help you choose what is best for your project. The descriptions below are courtesy of Barbizon Lighting Company.

FRESNELS

The fresnel lighting fixture is a lensed fixture that provides a smooth, even spot-to-flood field. For film, video or theatrical use, fresnels are an ideal choice when precise lighting control is required. Fresnels are a short-throw light that provides a nice, even wash of light across the whole stage. Usually used in television or over stage for front light, fresnels blend together very easily and can cover a very wide area.

ELLIPSOIDALS

Ellipsoidals are focusable spotlights designed for pattern projection and creating sharp beam edges. Its smooth field of light makes it perfect for projecting patterns cleanly and evenly. The current benchmark of the ellipsoidal is the Source 4, by Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC). Ellipsoidals are good for longer throws than fresnels, so they will typically be used on catwalks and for front lighting where there are larger distances (+20′) involved. Ellipsoidals can used a variety of accessories like gobos, gobo rotators, film loops and color scrollers to great effect.

PAR (Parabolic Aluminized Reflector)

PAR fixtures are wash lighted often used for live entertainment applications. These light are available in various beam spreads: WFL (Wide Flood), MFL (Medium Flood), NSP (Narrow Spot), and VNSP (Very Narrow Spot). The ETC Source 4 PAR uses the same type of reflector, but instead of changing the whole bulb, like in a traditional PAR Can, you just change lenses, like in an HMI PAR (usually used in film). The Source 4 PAR, like the Source 4 ellipsoidal, uses a 575W high-efficiency lamp with a high-output reflector to optimize light.

CYC LIGHTS

Cyclorama lights are open, non-lensed fixtures used for lighting backdrops. They usually have a double-ended lamp fixed to the center of the reflector and are available in strips or individual fixtures as ground rows or sky cycs. Cyc lights cover a huge area very smoothly, but use a bunch of power to do it. Selecon, a company out of New Zealand, makes an excellent low-cost, high-efficiency cyc light called the HUI.