Gobo Projector Rental, Gobo Design, Rent DIY Lighting

Lights were used to project the corporate sponsors for a fundraiser held on a Washington, DC rooftop. Sponsors included Paisano’s pizza, Spinfire, Burger7 and Tedd & The Bully Bar.

This summer our rental gobo lighting was featured at the 2nd annual All White Charity Event for the Boy’s and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington DC hosted by Washington Redskin Pierre Garçon. This year the event was held on the rooftop of the Millennium Building.

Our corporate logo lights were used to showcase some of the food sponsors for the event. Even at twilight the logos were visible to the attendees for a very packed rooftop.

Using rental gobo lighting is a great way to showcase event sponsors in a dynamic and eye catching way that traditional printed signs won’t do.

Corporate clients can offer this type of high visibility signage at a fraction of the cost of having a lighting company come in and do it for them by going directly to the source.

Using two logos per gobo made it possible to keep the costs for the gobo rental lights low while still achieving the same high visibility look the event required.

The lights that we use are custom made to project the most clear image possible making it the perfect choice where brand identity and high level brand standards need to be met.

For this event we were able to combine two logos per gobo to cut down on cost and increase the amount of money this non-profit event was able to raise.

Event Sponsors: 

• Superlative Events
• Paisano’s Pizza
• Spinfire
• Burger7
• Teddy & The Bully Bar

Hechts building after wireless uplighting.

We provided wireless uplights for Douglas Development Corporation’s corporate party this summer. The lights were used to light up the stripped down historic space for one last hurrah before being converted into a mixed use residential and commercial space.

The building had been stripped down completely to the concrete supports and the party was held in the middle of the building. It would have been nearly impossible to safely run power to each of the columns in the space and wireless uplights were the perfect solution for lighting up the space.

Hechts building without lighting.

Over 200 wireless uplights were used to light up the columns throughout the space and created the perfect backdrop to a fantastic party.

Here are the plans for the new Hechts building.

Showcase your logo or your sponsors logo at your event with a gobo light.

Altitude dispensary in Colorado recently used three of our gobo projector rentals to light up their logo at a live concert at the end of April.

They have a great logo to work with featuring a mosaic of greens in the shape of two mountain peaks.The key to their logo was recreating green from their logo in a way that would project well. We did a one color gobo to make sure the light would stand up the the lighting.

Gobo lighting is a cost effective way to display your corporate logo or your sponsors logos at your event in a bright, eye catching and vibrant way.

Client: Altitude Dispensary
Date: April 20th, 2014

5 wireless uplights light up a step and repeat backdrop.

We had the chance to work with Visit Monaco in providing lighting for a step and repeat backdrop they had for an event they were hosting in New York City called “Les Ballets De Monte Carlo”. They rented 5 uplights for a step and repeat backdrop they used as a backdrop for photos as guests arrived.

The lights did a great job of lighting up the backdrop all night. Lighting a step and repeat background with wireless uplights is perfect because you don’t have to run cables to each light. Just set them down, turn them on, and you’re done.

“Lights came in, I tested them and they look great!. So great that some other departments saw them and wished they had them!” – Client Feedback

Side by side differences in gobo sizes.

The gobo size that you need is based on the light fixture that will project that gobo. Many traditional theater style lights like a Source 4 ellipsoidal light or LEKO light will use a size B gobo (about the diameter of a coke can). Cheap DJ effect lights like the Chauvet Zoom or American DJ LED gobo projector use a custom gobo size that is about the size of a dime.

Why different gobo sizes?

It’s based on the the power of the light source.

More powerful light sources use bigger gobo sizes because there is more light to shoot through a larger template and the template needs more surface area to dissipate heat. Stronger light sources result in a brighter, bigger image but often comes at the expense of a larger sized light fixture.

Small cheap effect lights like the Chauvet Zoom, American DJ Gobo Projector LED are not recommended. These lights use teeny-tiny gobo templates to project with limiting detail and brightness. These lights may look good in a small dark bedroom or living room but don’t hold up to real life events of more than 30 people.

Example of a D-sized transparency gobo used at an event results in an extremely clear image.

Smaller gobo sizes mean there is less physical space to print detailed images. Smaller gobos are better suited for blockier, less detailed designs like the cross shape used in the smallest gobo in our example photo. More detailed designs like those used for weddings are better suited to larger gobo sizes (E-size or bigger).

When considering a gobo light this is what we recommend:

• E-Size or bigger gobo
• A light fixture that supports multiple lenses
• At least a 30w (LED) light source

Common gobo sizes

Here is a table of some popular standardized gobo sizes and common light fixtures that use those gobo sizes:

The OD (Outer Diameter) number is the diameter of the actual template itself. The IA (Image Area) number is the useable are that can be used to print the image used for the gobo. It’s important to know these numbers when ordering a gobo, especially the IA. The IA can change from light fixture to light fixture even for commonly used gobo sizes. Make sure you know the OD and the IA of the gobo size for your particular lighting fixture you’ll be using for your event. Also know what types of gobos your light supports.

Gobo sizes compared showing a Chauvet Gobo Zoom 2.0 vs. the LED 40 lights Superlative Events uses.

Bottom Line

When ordering a gobo know the OD and the IA of the light fixture you’re using. Realize that larger gobo sizes can support higher levels of detail in the resulting image. Most corporate gobos are B-size.

Questions, corrections, comments? Let us know in the comments below.

Gobo projection on black pipe and drape from 8ft away.

Many of our clients want to project their logos on to black or white pipe and drape and wonder if it will look good. Yes! The results can look great!

The gobo projector is bright, crisp, and clear enabling it to look great on any surface. Corporate clients like our gobo lights because they are easy to transport and come with accessories offering a simple flexible setup for any space. You typically don’t see your booth space until you get to the tradeshow and the last thing you need to worry about is if your logo will show up correctly.

In this example we wanted to show the gobo light setup projecting in a real world situation. We used one of our client’s logos for the projection right before the light shipped out to their event.

Notice the terrible overhead fluorescent lighting, cramped space and thin black tradeshow banjo fabric. We projected from a distance of around 8ft away from the fabric (what you might typically have in a small booth space) using a narrow 15 degree lens. The resulting image was about 2.5ft across and looked really bright on the black fabric. You can control the size of the image using the included lenses in the light kit so if you need a bigger or smaller image you can change it quickly and easily.

In small tradeshow booths you can also project on the ceiling or the floor in front of your booth space to increase the size and visibility of your booth. Each light features a slow rotation option if you wanted to add a dynamic moving component to your logo.

Whether your fabric or surface you are projecting on is black, white, red, blue, green, yellow, magenta or plaid, your image will look bright, crisp and clear.

Full color transparency gobo for Appomatic product launch.

Omatic software launched a new product called AppOmatic at the BlackBaud conference at the Gaylord Hotel in Washington DC at National Harbor.

They held a product launch party at the nearby Sunset Room at National Harbor with catering provided by Wolfgang Puck.

They rented our full color gobo rental lighting for their AppOmatic launch party to quickly brand a large, white, textured wall in the event space. Each of the squares on the wall are either slightly raised or slightly depressed into the wall and as you can see the gobo floats right over the texture of the wall and comes out clear and vibrant even with daylight in the room.