It’s typical for a concert venue to have giant blinders to really add emphasis to certain parts of a song (especially any sort of climax). Blinders are usually a bit bulky and they get pretty hot. They aren’t really too useful as a portable solution that you want to haul around.
Part of my philosophy when building lights is to have things as portable as possible. While I have a van that I bring around when I have a lot of equipment to bring, I appreciate that I also can haul around a 13×8 foot structure in my Mitsubishi Lancer (small car). It fits because I’ve designed the structure to fold up and be portable,somewhat similar to a tent that breaks down to get stored in a bag.
The next project is to develop some blinders that follow that same philosophy. Ideally they can be mounted directly to the LED structures, which can hold a little weight but not a lot (it would probably be sturdy if I keep them under 10lbs.).
While I’m evaluating this, I always like to look at which products are already on the market. If I can find a blinder product that already does what I need, I’d rather spend my time evaluating other interesting things to add to a show.
The criteria for such a product:
-lightweight
-inexpensive
-not going to light on fire easily (hopefully an LED product)
We’ll see what I end up with after the search and creative thought. Wish me luck!