steel mesh scrim question
- Thread starter J Davis
- Start date
No diffusion. They reduce the intensity.
J Davis
Veteran
werd !
Thats what I thought. So what is the point of my rental company including these with a dimmable HMI?
edit: grads I understand but I've got 3x full stops mesh diffusions !
When you sue the dimmer does it tell you how many stops youve reduced?
Srims will accurately give you a half or full stop and so on. I like scrims for ease of use.
Srims will accurately give you a half or full stop and so on. I like scrims for ease of use.
Flicker from a well-worn rental ballast? I mean, it shouldn't flicker at any value, but...
Scrims won't flicker.
Scrims won't flicker.
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
There are plenty of purposes for lighting scrims on an HMI, even one that has a 'dimmer' (I use the quote because it hardly dims much at all 
).
First of all, they don't dim much. Perhaps a stop and change. They are not like squeezers or variacs where you can go from 0% - 100%. It is dimmable in small amounts... in comparison.
Second, scrims don't change color temperature. Dimming HMI's makes the light more 'blue' in tone. (the opposite of tungsten). I've heard some new modern HMI's don't do this, but I've yet to see one.
Third, the half scrims can still do a job a dimmable HMI's cannot, even if there is no color shift (which there likely is).
Fourth, as mentioned by another poster, the dimmer does not tell you how much the light has been reduced. It's just a fat white line that tapers to a skinny white line. If the DP wants a stop off the light, the gaffer doesn't have to guess or use a light meter. He can just toss in a double.
Fifth, when you kill the light for lunch, take the scrims out and use them to make some grilled cheese. Just don't forget to put them back in or you'll be toast. Trust me on that. :undecided
). First of all, they don't dim much. Perhaps a stop and change. They are not like squeezers or variacs where you can go from 0% - 100%. It is dimmable in small amounts... in comparison.
Second, scrims don't change color temperature. Dimming HMI's makes the light more 'blue' in tone. (the opposite of tungsten). I've heard some new modern HMI's don't do this, but I've yet to see one.
Third, the half scrims can still do a job a dimmable HMI's cannot, even if there is no color shift (which there likely is).
Fourth, as mentioned by another poster, the dimmer does not tell you how much the light has been reduced. It's just a fat white line that tapers to a skinny white line.
If the DP wants a stop off the light, the gaffer doesn't have to guess or use a light meter. He can just toss in a double.Fifth, when you kill the light for lunch, take the scrims out and use them to make some grilled cheese. Just don't forget to put them back in or you'll be toast. Trust me on that. :undecided
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J Davis
Veteran
Hi Ryan, I seldom work as a DP, I write / direct then build websites to pay the bills. DP is usually me doing double duty on small narrative shoots or hired gun on the odd TV spot.
HMI's I've worked with are Arri 2.5k's and the smaller 575's. Basically anything that I could run off household power without additional costs of generators.
Didn't know or notice the hmi color shift when dimming - I thought color shift was a hot light thing. Either way any color temp changes from an HMI dimmer have never shown
up when I've been editing my shots. It must be a subtle shift or vary from brand to brand, I've only ever rented Arri. Anyways thanks for posting your knowledge bro.
HMI's I've worked with are Arri 2.5k's and the smaller 575's. Basically anything that I could run off household power without additional costs of generators.
Didn't know or notice the hmi color shift when dimming - I thought color shift was a hot light thing. Either way any color temp changes from an HMI dimmer have never shown
up when I've been editing my shots. It must be a subtle shift or vary from brand to brand, I've only ever rented Arri. Anyways thanks for posting your knowledge bro.