ShadowMagic

A virtual light lab, or Black Box theatre for visualizing lighting, color, shadows, and scenery.


The lab has a 40’ x 30’ stage and a 40 x 20 cyclorama. The theatre space is 80’ wide, 40’ high, and 80’ deep.

Designers can choose up to eight fixtures to light a very basic scene. Two types of lights are available. The Source Four® Spotlight is available with 14°, 26°, 19°, 36°, 50° lens barrels. The The Source Four® 7” Fresnel may also be selected and zooms from full flood at 65° to spot focus with a beam angle of 20°. All of the beam spreads are photometrically correct.

The lamp for both fixtures is a 750 W HPL, and when it is dimmed the color temperature decreases from 3200° K at full down to 2300° when the light is at 4%. Each light can be dimmed individually or the entire scene lowered using a grand master. Intensity has a resolution of 1%.

A theatre lighting simulator would not be complete without gels and we have over 1600 colors to choose from the 4 major manufacturers. The gels can be assembled into a collection called a gel string and any color from the string can be applied to each light.

Each of the lights may be positioned anywhere around the theatre to simulate booms, shinbusters, or the balcony rail. Resolution of the position is 0.1 feet. When focused on the actor, the lights are auto-focused so you can move the light’s position and see the resulting angle. Lights focused on the backdrop are focused manually by touching the cyc.

When you move or rotate the actor, the lights will follow and stay focused right in the center of the body.

Scenes may be saved and organized into projects. Both can be shared as a .pdf report with colleagues and friends to show off your ideas.

While simple in concept and operation, ShadowMagic has subtleties such as reflections from a matte gray stage covering and the coloring of shadows from other light fixtures. From beginners to seasoned professionals, ShadowMagic makes visualizing and lighting a scene much quicker and easier and more fun.