Please browse our definitions glossary of Lighting, Audio & Production terms starting with Z. It is constantly being expanded every day. If you would like to add a term to the glossary please send us an email as info@solarisnetwork.com
A high intensity point source arc lamp using a zirconium oxide cathode in an argon-filled bulb. Used in powerful projectors because of its low emanation of long-wavelength light and its concentrated source. Similar to the Drummond light or Limelight, but differing from them chiefly in the employment of cones of zirconium instead of cylinders of lime. It h
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Early device for creating the illusion of continuous motion. A sequence of still pictures was viewed rapidly through slits in a rotating drum so that the images appeared to merge.
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Technique for focusing a lens so that the field depth extends over a predetermined scope of distances making an entire area, or zone, in focus rather than one specific subject.
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A unique method introduced by photographers Ansel Adams and Fred Archer around 1940 for determining the best exposure and correct development for an individual photograph by way of analysiing the subjects luminosities in terms of ten gray tones or “zones” labled 0 to IX or zero to nine and visualizing them as print densities. The zone system gives photograp
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A type of profile spot with two lenses allowing the adjustment of both the size of the beam and whether it is a hard or soft focus. This adjustment of focal length makes for an instrument with many uses around the stage. The flexibility is also vital when working with gobos. Also known (in the US) as a Zoom Ellipsoidal.
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A mechanical assembly of lens elements with the capability to vary its focal length allowing for a closer or farther view of a subject, without changing perspective. Zoom lenses are often described by the ratio of their focal lengths from longest to shortest. A 100mm to 400mm zoom may be described as a 4:1 or 4× zoom.
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