On February 22nd, during the filming of the second edition of La Curieuse Soirée — a charity event organized this year to benefit Bloom — we used a very special light, the X Effects HO 5500K from Rosco.

This is an effects light, here in its white 5500K version in 90W (HO), composed of a static dichroic glass gobo of colour, 2 dynamic textured glasses decentered from the beam and a 19°, 30°, 50° or 70° optic.

Inside the projector: a fixed gobo and two rotating textured glass wheels

The kit contains 3 engraved gobos — red, blue, green of your choice — and two transparent textured glass wheels, but it is also possible to order other gobos and textured glass.

Example of gobos and lenses to place in the X Effects

The interaction of two rotating textured glass wheels generates a wide range of effects: water, fire, aurora borealis, clouds, and many more, depending on the gobos and colors selected from the Rosco Effect Glass library and the standard gobo catalog. Custom gobos can also be created.

The independent speed and direction adjustments of the wheels offer fairly precise control over the result, despite the lack of optical focus. It’s practically a hybrid tool between a film light and a video projector, controllable via DMX! Here’s a video overview of 14 possible effects with this projector: Rosco X Effects Effect Examples

Example of possible effects

The light is IP65 rated and equipped with DMX and RDM. It is available in 45W or 90W (HO) versions, in white 5500K, RGBW or UV.

Before filming, we carried out tests at Dimatec , who then kindly lent us the projector, in order to take measurements with a lightmeter at different distances with different optics and to see how to handle the light head.

Indeed, with a 90W wattage and a 4.5m high lighting grid, we were worried the X Effects might be a bit underpowered. To our surprise, the light output proved excellent. Of course, it’s still incomparable to alternative solutions using several hundred watts, but it was a pleasant surprise compared to our expectations!

Rosco X Effects in the center of the image

Here are the results of our measurements with a lightmeter:

Projector tests at Dimatec (click to enlarge image)

On the set, we had a large round window of a 1.50m diameter and two small windows of a 50cm diameter.

Originally, we planned to install the X Effects behind the large window, and Dalis 860s behind the small windows.

Finally, instead, to harmonize everything, we put Dalis behind all the windows, with a random effect of different blue shades.

This allowed us to use the X Effects directly on the orchestra, as a backlight. At times, its effect was doubled by a Fuze Profile equipped with a rotating gobo: a significantly less realistic and less aesthetically pleasing result, but more powerful. The two projectors were thus used alternately or simultaneously, depending on the lighting design.

X Effects projection circle on the orchestra, 30° optical angle (in blue)

Rendering of the X Effects on the person in the background of the image

Power is really the only weak point of this projector, aside from a few minor ergonomic improvements. Otherwise, the effects it produces are unique and far more sophisticated than those of existing alternatives; it’s a truly impressive light.

Thanks to Stéphane Samama (Dimatec) and Thomas Servelle (Rosco) for lending us the projector and for their technical and logistical support!