Decide the light by looking at it.
A number in a catalogue won't tell you how it will look on the day. Run the rail, add the spots, and turn the lights down.
Run a lighting rail
Run a lighting rail across the ceiling and mount spots on it. You can slide them along the rail afterwards, so you can work out how many you need and where they go.
- Set the length and position of the rail
- Mount spots on the rail
- Slide them along the rail
- Know the number of fittings in advance
Beam angle and brightness
Beam angles run from 6° (narrow) to 80° (wide), so you can compare picking out a single work against washing a whole wall. Brightness is set per fitting.
- Beam angle from 6° to 80°
- Narrow to pick out one work
- Wide to wash a wall
- Brightness per fitting
Light color, and the room gone dark
Set the color from warm to daylight. Darken the room and the result is what you'll see on the day, down to the light on the work and the shadows it casts.
- From warm white to daylight
- Darken the room and check
- See the light landing on the work
- See how the shadows fall
Place a projector
For moving image, place a projector and see the projection. Position and size appear together, so you can settle a ceiling mount and how it sits relative to where people stand.
- Position and projection size together
- Work out a ceiling mount
- Project onto a wall or the floor
- Darken the room and check
When it helps
- You need to decide how many rails and where
- You want to know how many spots you need
- You're choosing between narrow and wide beams
- You want to compare warm and daylight on the actual work
- You want the projection size and position settled first
FAQ
What beam angles are available?
From 6° to 80°. Narrow beams pick out a single work; wide beams cover a wall.
How far can the light color be changed?
Continuously, from warm white through to daylight. You compare them with the light on the actual work, where paintings and photographs often want different things.
Can I run the lighting rail where I like?
Yes. Set its length and position on the ceiling, then mount spots on it and slide them along.
Will it match a real fitting?
No. It is a guide for how beam angle, brightness and color relate to each other. It does not model specific fittings or give illuminance figures.