3 Ways To Use Rosco Image Spot® For Intricate Gobo Projections

Oftentimes, it's the fine details in a lighting design that can enhance or ruin the experience of the lit environment. When these design details need to be created by gobo projections, lighting designers know they can rely on Rosco Image Spot fixtures to achieve their desired visual effect. Whether their projects require subtle, high precision, or razor-sharp image projections – Image Spots are the perfect gobo projector solution. Read below to learn how three designers used Image Spots to create intricate gobo projections that elevated their lighting designs and brought their visions to life.

Balancing Warmth, Intensity & Image Resolution

Brightness and power are not the only factors to consider when integrating gobo projections into a lighting design. For lighting schemes that require subtle image projections, choosing the right color temperature at the proper intensity – without sacrificing the sharpness of the image – becomes a crucial element in a project’s success.

This was one of the aspects that was carefully considered when lighting the Metz Cathedral in France. Designers at Quartiers Lumieres and Nouvelle Étiquette needed to incorporate illuminated text that described the cathedral’s spiritual and artistic heritage in a way that fitted with architectural details and warm lighting of the gothic space.

“The key to the success of this installation was to control the intensity of the projections while preserving the legibility of the texts,” designers explained. The designers met this requirement by using numerous Rosco Image Spot 3000K projectors and Custom Glass Gobos to project warm poetic text onto the walls, floor, and columns that highlighted the beauty and architecture of the historic building.

Matching Gobo Projections To A Painted Surface

Projecting brilliant gobo images onto a building façade can be a challenge, especially when those projections need to accurately match painted images on the wall. Artist and Experiential Designer Craig Winslow is well acquainted with this difficulty. His Light Capsules project seeks to revive old hand-painted “ghost signs” with light in communities around the world.

Craig commented: "When thinking of how I could make my Light Capsules installations permanent, I wanted to find a robust solution that was simple and reliable."  Craig used three Image Spot fixtures with Custom Glass Gobos inside to illuminate a three-layer ad on the historic Stobart Building in Winnipeg, Canada. The fixtures were programmed to project the gobo images sequentially to highlight each of the ads separately, and they produced highly visible gobo projections that perfectly matched each painted layer of the text. 

Projecting Sharp Gobo Images Onto Uneven Surfaces

Most gobo imagery is projected onto flat even surfaces because projecting onto textured and angular surfaces can make the images appear distorted and compromise the fine details in the artwork.

Designers at StudioLouter, OPERA-Amsterdam and Lichtpunt faced this challenge when creating their lighting design for the Tastbaar Verleden (Tangible Past) exhibition inside the De Bastei Museum in Nijmegen, Netherlands. They wanted to project gobo images onto the uneven surfaces of the site's archaeological remains to engage visitors with the town’s ancient history.

Leon van Warmerdam, President and Lighting Consultant at Lichtpunt, explained that they needed a projector that would deliver “a razor-sharp projection – of even the smallest details in the graphic artwork and text – with a convincing light output, in a small, dustproof, track-mountable housing, and a shielded gobo compartment.” They integrated 20 Rosco Image Spot LED fixtures and Custom Glass Gobos into the design that ensured bright and crisp image projections on the rough surfaces of the historic walls and floors throughout the space.