"Lantern optics have improved considerably over the years," explains Goboland's exclusive consultant, Wyatt Enever, "but the basic nature of the gobo has remained the same - until now. Goboland is known for the work it does on glass gobos, now we are extending our development to our steel range as well."
Goboland gave some 'M' size black steel gobos to ETC to try out in the ETC Source Four Revolution fixtures at PLASA 07, where they were in use for the full duration of the show.
"We like to use black gobos in our Revolutions to cut down on internal reflection and sharpen the projection," explains ETC's European marketing manager, Erik Larsen. "Our trials with black gobos in the past have resulted in a lot of smoke with the painted coating being reduced to powder. The Goboland coating, so far, shows only a slight discolouration in the heat but certainly no distortion of the image. They do exactly what I expected them to do - I can honestly say I like the new black gobos."
Martin Professional also recognised the potential of the new gobos as innovation manager, Claus Hansen, explains: "There is no question of our interest in the black gobos. We already use black gobos in our units but have to coat them with heat resistant paint after the etching process. If Goboland can produce a black gobo at no extra cost, our processing time and our costs will be significantly reduced. We are currently testing the gobos to see how they perform both optically and in heat tests and will be very interested to see the outcome."
The black gobos will gradually supersede the uncoated steel gobos and customers have already received the first custom designs in the new material.
Also launched at PLASA 07 was the Goboland Black Hole. This high-tech donut sharpens gobo projection by removing excess light and lengthening depth of field. It also has a blackened surface which helps reduce unacceptable reflections in front of the luminaire. Black Holes are available in four sizes to cater for most lanterns on the market.
(Jim Evans)
