4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For those in the trade, August 26, 2010
This review is from: Automated Lighting, Second Edition: The Art and Science of Moving Light in Theatre, Live Performance, and Entertainment (Paperback)
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'Automated Lighting' appealed to me because although I like to shoot video (interviews, documentaries, cats playing with the keyboard) I don't know enough about lighting other than what three-point lighting arrangement is. I thought I might gain some solid knowledge about video and film lighting in this book.
Well, I got that, but this book more; it is chock full of information that is particular to the professional lighting person. The picture on the cover of the book kind of tells it all: it shows a rock band hitting a crescendo, with pyrotechnics, mad guitar playing, and a ceiling full of lights.
Well, gosh, I have about as much chance at being hired to do the lighting at Kiss' next concert as Tiger Woods has at getting a marriage counseling gig. There are chapters entitled 'DMX512 and DMX512-A', and 'V-Rated Tools'. Er, no, I don't think so. But wait! There it is! Chapter 22! 'Three-Point Lighting'!
This book isn't useless for totally ignorant (about lighting) people such as me. It's just WAY more than that. There are chapters on the physics of lighting, electromechanical systems, overcurrent protection, electricity and magnetism and the like. So it is a hugely in-depth look at lighting for pretty much all venues, live, theater, and film and video.
I don't need to know how to find the capacitive reactance of a load (p 108), but some people do; those would be the professional whose business it is to light up large, or small, performances in a safe, effective way.
And yes, I did learn more about what I was interested in, the lighting of video productions. But that's a small part of the book.
This is a wonderful and hugely valuable book for those in the trade. For them, I'd give this a solid '5'. For those of us who pick it up hoping to learn a bit more about effective lighting techniques on a small scale, it's a '4'. Recommended.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enlightening, But Might Make You Feel that You're Not Too Bright, July 1, 2011
This review is from: Automated Lighting, Second Edition: The Art and Science of Moving Light in Theatre, Live Performance, and Entertainment (Paperback)
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This is a beautifully produced book that includes a lot of clear, informative photos and graphs, and that covers a wide range of topics associated with the field of stage lighting. However, it doesn't live up to its subtitle, "The Art and Science of Moving Light..." This book is actually almost all science and very little "Art."
The author doesn't even broach the subject of lighting esthetics until Page 357, which starts a brief section including advice on such subjects as how to sculpt figures on stage with side and back lighting, how to make them stand out in 3-D, how to give the stage a central point of focus, and what colors provide maximum contrast. But even these few pages of basic artistic counsel soon plummet you back into some highly technical science. There are lengthy, complicated equations on how to calculate "illuminance," trim height, and throw distance. And you'll run afoul of sentences such as, "A `cosine distribution' or `mixing distribution' has a peaked beam profile, which, where overlapped at the 50% drop-off with a like fixture, produces the most uniform wash between the beams."
So many branches of science and so many fields of technology come into play in the job of stage lighting. This book attempts to give you a marathon run through each of these fields, and it's just too much to encompass in one text.
So, for example, the author attempts to present you with a whole course in electricity and electronics. He starts off on a basic level, giving the fundamentals of voltage, ohms, and amps. (Although even here, his explanation of the already universally perplexing subject of what convention to apply when trying to determine the direction of electron flow is made even more baffling than usual.) But in general, you feel you are progressing up the incline of knowledge on sure footing - for a while. Then before you know it, you'll be confronted with what might strike you as a brick wall, unless you are already well on your way to becoming an electronics engineer. You'll read, "The next stage is a high-frequency power switch typically operating in the range of 20 to 200 kHz using a high-current MOSFET transistor or an insulated gate bi-polar transistor (IGBT). The switch typically operates at a fixed frequency with a variable pulse width controlled by a logic circuit." Um, come again?
It's the same with computer programming. Since so many aspects of modern stage lighting now involve programming lighting consoles, using pre-programmed computer software, or synchronizing digital signals along their many and varied paths - the author attempts to give you a course in computer science. He starts you clearly enough with the basics of binary. But again, before you know it, you might be in over your head with, "The job of the PIA or PPI is to act as a buffer between the I/O signals and the processor, affording protection to the CPU and ensuring the proper voltage levels to operate reliably. On the other hand, a typical uC might have a variety of built-in I/O devices such as DACs, universal asynchronous receiver transmitters (UARTs), and a serial peripheral interface."
The chapter that outlines the working principles of the different kinds of lights - incandescent, arc, halogen, LED, etc. - comes the closest to staying on a basically helpful level. Even a novice will be able to follow along learning about the materials used in the manufacture of these various kinds of "luminaires," and how to maintain and troubleshoot them.
But there's not enough of that sort of entry level information. The book often goes from the delightfully comprehensible, such as how to tighten a screw using the "Lefty loosey, righty tighty" mnemonic) - to really abstruse considerations. In this 400-page book, there isn't room for enough of a bridge in between the two levels. A beginner might wish there would have been more space devoted to easy practicalities, something the equivalent of the aspiring chef's "How to Boil Water."
A glossary is essential in this kind of book and would help bridge the gap, especially since this field is rife with acronyms and technical terms. What's an SMPS again? What do MOSFET, LED, CAD, and DMX, stand for? What's the difference between an "open circuit" and a "short circuit?"
As it is, this book is an ambitious, very professionally written and produced text that presents material from every branch of knowledge touching on stage lighting. In its rich, glossy format, it's a pleasure to page through and own as reference. Even though the material often gets deep, beginners will probably find that they can understand more than they would initially think possible if they devote themselves to it and give it a chance.
However, you will probably want to supplement this material with additional course material from each of the individual fields of electronics, computer programming, optics, and stage design. And as is the case in so many fields, nothing can substitute for a practical, hands-on apprenticeship. Actual experience will probably free you from having to constantly calculate all the complexities presented here.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolute Perfection!, September 21, 2010
This review is from: Automated Lighting, Second Edition: The Art and Science of Moving Light in Theatre, Live Performance, and Entertainment (Paperback)
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This is exactly what I expect from Focal Press (well-known for its superior film/entertainment-industry texts) ... a genuinely thoughtful text with helpful, aesthetically appealing illustrations/charts/examples.
Yes, the price is a bit intimidating, but know that this is an essential text for those in the entertainment industrial. It literally contains everything you could possibly need or want to know. It is (without hyperbole) all-encompassing. In fact, I would not hesitate to say that Cadena's text could easily replace the three texts I currently use as references.
What's more: this is a sturdy book. The covers are created from exceptional thick stock. Likewise, the actual pages are printed on glossy, sturdy stock. Does this matter? Absolutely! This book will be around for years and years. (And it will endure endless exploration and abuse).
If you're looking at this review (or page), you need this text! Buy it!
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