LONDON – White Light has been named the U.K. dealer for the RSC Lightlock. Created by the Royal Shakespeare Company and manufactured by Total Structures, Lightlock is designed dampen unwanted movement that occur when moving lights are rigged from short bars or trusses. Normally, the centrifugal forces caused by the moving light are transferred to the truss, which continues to oscillate long after the light has completed its movement so causing the light beam to sweep wildly around its target focus position.
Rigged between the light and the truss, Lightlock detects the movement and automatically damps it by moving a weighted mass in the opposite direction to the movement of the truss.
Truss oscillations which would normally continue for 20 seconds or more, depending on how quickly the light was moved, are brought under control quickly.
By allowing moving lights to be rigged on separate short flown bars, the RSC Lightlock opens up new design possibilities – letting individual lights be flown in for maintenance, or allowing a separate height to be set for each fixture, for example.
Lightlock is now on the road with Bon Jovi's The Circle tour, controlling the movement of Syncrolite MX4 fixtures and moving video columns.
The RSC Lightlock was designed by the Royal Shakespeare Company's head of lighting, Vince Herbert, while working on possible lighting rig designs for the RSC's new Royal Shakespeare Theatre, currently under construction in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Herbert was keen to be able to create individually flown clusters of lights, both to allow lighting angles to be varied during productions and to reduce the need for staff to work at height, with moving lights removing the need to get to the rig for focus and the flown modules allowing the rig to be maintained at ground level.
"We are delighted to be able to offer the RSC Lightlock to everyone working in lighting in the UK," comments White Light's technical director, Dave Isherwood. "We've watched Vince's idea evolve from the original concept over the last few years, to the very neat finished package built by Total Solutions.
"It is one of those products that is not needed on every show – but is the only solution available to those who need its special magic, and can even inspire people to go forward with designs that might have been rejected as impractical prior to Lightlock's creation."
The RSC Lightlock measures 515mm x 429mm x 76mm and weighs 4kg. It draws a maximum of 150W, the power input switchable between 220V and 110V. It does not need a data feed.
For more information, please visit www.rsclightlock.com and www.WhiteLight.Ltd.uk
