Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Litepanels Sola LED Fresnel on the Red Carpet

01/03/2013

Litepanels Sola 12 LED Fresnel on the Red Carpet 01 Mar 2013

In one of the first high-profile uses of the new 12 Fresnel LED fixture from Litepanels, a pair of daylight balanced Sola 12 fixtures filled a critical need for red carpet interviews by a major German television station.

The red carpet path along Hollywood Boulevard is surrounded by tall buildings, said Director of Photography Peter Krajewski, who for the past six years has been responsible for a program broadcast live from the red carpet. For a portion of our broadcast, this puts our talent and the stars they interview in shadows, but with a sunlit bleacher section directly in the background.

Krajewski had used HMI parabolic fixtures in the past, with their accompanying box of lenses, heavy stage cables and weighty ballasts. While those HMIs supplied enough light to balance illumination of the talent in the shade with the sunlit bleachers behind them, it meant multiple trips carrying lighting equipment from the parking structure to the street, and a pair of 20A circuits to power the lights.

In tests with the new Sola 12 Fresnels, Krajewski found a number of advantages, including easily balancing the foreground and background illumination while using less than half of a single 20A circuit and transporting all of his lighting equipment in a single trip.

The sun moves through the sky while we're live on the air, to a point where there's a tremendous difference in the amount of available light hitting the background bleachers versus our talent, who are in complete shadow, said Krajewski. Because the LED Fresnels were connected to a small DMX panel, his sound engineer was able to not only add more light by adjusting the intensity, but also focus the light beam a little tighter to overcome the sunlight. That's a feature simply not available on traditional HMI lights, Krajewski noted.

Later in our broadcast, the sun moves so that both talent and the bleachers are in the shade. With the HMIs, we could only dim the lights to something like 70%, and my sound guy would have to fly silks in front of the HMIs to drop the intensity during a commercial break. Because the LED fixtures dim all the way from 100% down to zero, we were able to use the DMX box to quickly achieve the perfect balance.

Krajewski found another feature he liked about the Sola 12 fixtures. I didn't have to use barndoors or add any diffusion in front of the Fresnel lens at all; it was a soft enough light that I was able to light the talent with just the bare light shining through the Fresnel. With the HMIs in years past, I had to bring barn doors to rig diffusion in front of the lenses. We were able to set up and break down much faster than in previous years.

The Litepanels Sola 12 LED Fresnel fixture combines the performance of a large Fresnel with the advantages of LED technology. It supplies powerful and controllable daylight balanced illumination using just a small fraction of the energy required by a traditional tungsten or daylight 2K fixture. The 12 Fresnel lens emits an even, collimated light source that can be focused and controlled for maximum versatility. An integrated DMX module provides the unprecedented control of simultaneous remote dimming and focusing. The same performance can be found in a tungsten balanced sister fixture, Litepanels Inca 12.

For more information on products from Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com
LINK: http://www.theiabm.org/article.php?group_id=7853...
See more stories from iabm

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

08/10/2026

Life Safety, Part 2: From Noise to Nice: The Evolution of Speech Intelligibility in Stadium Sound

Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...

08/10/2026

ESPN's First Super Bowl Adds Disney+ to U.S. Distribution Mix

ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...

08/10/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Addison McGhee, Auburn University

From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments The future of live sports produ...

08/10/2026

Prime Video to Become Exclusive Global Home of Emmy Awards Beginning in 2027

The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...

08/10/2026

Techex to Demonstrate Hybrid Satellite and IP Delivery Platform at NAB Show New York

Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...

08/10/2026

X Games Appoints Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer

X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...

08/10/2026

Fonn Group Appoints Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director, DACH

Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...

08/10/2026

Perfect Game Introduces New Studio Show on the Road With Launch of PG Central

The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms Perfect Game is bringin...

08/10/2026

Uplynk White Paper: The IP Convergence Framework for Distribution

Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...

08/10/2026

Gravity Media Op-Ed: Gravity Media's Next Act - From Service Provider to Strategic Content Partner

For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...

08/10/2026

Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley Publish Satellite-to-IP Distribution Framework

Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...

08/10/2026

NFL Announces Ninth Annual Big Data Bowl Powered by AWS

The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...

08/10/2026

Eutelsat Renews Partnership with Tldiffusion dAlgrie on EUTELSAT 7 West A

Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...

08/10/2026

Disney+ to Stream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027

Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...

08/10/2026

RHStv to Stream Clemson vs. Coastal Carolina Baseball at Myrtle Beach Fall Showdown

RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...

08/10/2026

Gray Media to Simulcast 15 Timberwolves Games Free Over-the-Air in Minnesota and Wisconsin

Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...

08/10/2026

SMPTE Media Technology Summit Returns to Pasadena Nov. 16-19; Get 10% Off With SVG Promo Code

SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...

08/10/2026

PROTON Camera Innovations Named Recipient of 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy for FPV Drone Systems

PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...

08/10/2026

Silver Lining: Sharing Tales From the Trenches of Cloud-Based Production with NBC Sports, MLB, NHL, and Warner Bros. Discovery

Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...

08/10/2026

Dolby Atmos Coming to Formula 1 on Apple TV Beginning with 2026 U.S. Grand Prix

The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...

08/10/2026

Free Leonard Peltier Proves That the Fight for Justice Is Just Beginning

David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...

08/10/2026

Sound Particles update Energy Panner 2 & Brightness Panner 2

Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...

08/10/2026

The DMNO ON from UDO Audio

New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...

08/10/2026

ADAM Audio introduce the Sub8 PRO & Sub10 PRO

Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...

08/10/2026

Clear-Com Powers Critical Communications at Rock in Rio 2026

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

08/10/2026

NAB New York 2026 Preview

Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October. Cal...

08/10/2026

ESPN Unveils First Studio W Refresh

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Pay-TV Operators Ask FCC to Pause TV Station Ownership Cap Rules

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Calrec Brings New Consoles, Software to NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Mediagenix Bows AI Content-Aware Scheduling

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Ikegami to Unveil UHK-X700VN Camera at NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Ed McGivern Joins USSI Global as Chief Revenue Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Globecast Brings Media Orchestration and C-Band Transitio...

Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...

08/10/2026

Clear-Com Powers Critical Communications at Rock in Rio 2...

Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...

08/10/2026

Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Creative Executives

Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...

08/10/2026

NAB Show New York Returns to Javits

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

FCC to Vote on Restrictions for Device Testing, Spectrum for D2D and Drones

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

World First' as DTM Deploys Riedel Private 5G for On-Track Coverage

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

LiveU Cranks Up Connectivity Across Tour de France

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Ikegami to Introduce New UHK-X700VN Camera at NAB New Yor...

Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...

08/10/2026

Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show...

Calrec will be located at Booth 444. Freedom to choose The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...

08/10/2026

LiveU LU900Q with LIQ Brings Unprecedented Connectivity t...

LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...

08/10/2026

Disney+ to Stream Super Bowl LXI Live

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix to Be Carried in Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision on Apple TV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Marshall to Bring Newest PTZ and POV Cameras to NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Marshall Electronics to Showcase Award-winning Camera Sol...

Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...

08/10/2026

UKTV acquires first two series of new Maigret for U and U&DRAMA in deal with Banijay Rights

14-hour package also includes A Remarkable Place to Die season 2 as well as libr...