Auditorium Lighting Systems:
  We offer a wide variety of lighting fixtures and control systems for the public Auditorium.
 
House lighting   is normally incandescent lighting at low levels for silhouette and decorative purpose. It's intended to show the room to its best advantage.  It is essential that the house lighting does not light the stage or orchestra pit or areas meant to be out of sight.

Work lighting should be bright.  Work lights are intended for cleaning and maintaining the room.

Aisle lighting is usually mounted on chairs, and can be concealed under the armrests if desired. The old standard design - every third row on alternating sides of the aisle - now looks too dim and uneven, and is inadequate.

Stage Lighting  should be invisible to the audience. Most stage lighting fixtures are located in the auditorium at an out of sight location and controlled remotely by the facility staff. 

Orchestra Lighting  Orchestra pit lighting is usually done with music stand lights.  The orchestra pit of any auditorium always need plenty of power for sound equipment but the lowest possible lighting.

Egress lighting is the required lighting for a quick exit of every person.  Egress passageways must be kept on, by law, at all times the room is occupied. Egress lighting includes aisle lights, lighting on cross aisles, lighting in vestibules, and lighting on all other legal means of egress.

Exit lighting is the required lighting signage in order to direct every persons out of the building.  The red or green exit signs above egress doors. Exit signs near the stage are very objectionable. The only good solution is to not locate exit doors anywhere near the stage.

Emergency lighting is the required lighting for a quick exit of every person in the event of a power outage. These fixtures are normally off, and turn on automatically when utility power fails.  The preference is emergency lighting to be energized by an emergency generator. Where there is no emergency generator an inverter can be used. Where there is no inverter, remote-head battery packs can be used. Do not locate battery packs in the stage or auditorium; the battery chargers are too noisy and need to be located remotely.

Rehearsal lighting is provided in the auditorium so the director can see the actors rehearse in a flattering and revealing light.

Ghost lights are left on all night to help people avoid falling or tripping on the many hazards in the auditorium, such as the orchestra pit. Because ghost lights are left on all night they are chosen to be extremely low wattage, extremely efficient, and extremely long life. The name "ghost light" is a long-standing theater tradition. Outside the theater these would be called night lights or security lights.

Cue lights inform the conductor and stage hands in the auditorium when to "take" their cues. Cue lights can be simple on/off low-wattage bulbs, or can be sophisticated color-coded answer-back systems.

Infrared illuminators are sometimes required for the infrared night-vision video monitor cameras. These allow the stage manager and other staff to see the stage during complete blackouts.

Dance spotting lights are small red bulbs located in precise positions low in the back of the auditorium or on the balcony rail. They are used by dancers for alignment and for keeping their orientation during spins and turns. Each dance company has their own preferences for the quantity, location, and type of spotting lights.

Curtain warmers light the curtain and make it come alive. Curtain warmers can be simple flat washes or can be multicolored textured light designed to enhance some aspect of the curtain or to be part of the image and style of a particular production. Curtain warmers might, for example, be different in the winter than in the summer, or might be different for formal evenings than for informal evenings, or might be different for each production. We have designed curtain warmer installations up to 32,000 watts, though they are usually much smaller.

Stage Announce System Another subsystem is the stage talkback or stage announce (SA) system. This can be loudspeakers on the stage which allow the sound operator or the director to talk to the performers on stage. That can really save the vocal chords during rehearsal. It also provides faster communication, since it can cut through the noise.
Effects System - An important system for drama use is the effects sound system. These loudspeakers may be permanent and/or portable. For instance, when the telephone rings it is much more realistic if the sound appears to come from the stage telephone rather than from the overhead or side loudspeakers. On the other hand, you may need a sound effect that should come from the rear of the auditorium. These sounds need to come from the effects system. This system is usually a part of the large main sound system mixer.