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Gobo vs Ligth Gel

HeraHera Posts: 1,958
edited December 1969 in The Commons

Hi!

What's really the difference between a Gobo Light and a Light Gel?

Please enlighten me! ;-)

Comments

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    Basically, from back in my theater days...the Gobo light is the actual fixture...gels are what you put in it. But the gels were also called gobos...to go into the gobo light fixture. In 3d the terms are pretty much synonymous.

  • JonnyRayJonnyRay Posts: 1,744
    edited March 2014

    The theater professor I used to hang/run lights for would make a slight distinction. He normally called it a "gobo" if it had some sort of pattern to cast shadows or create special effects. Gels were just colors.

    According to Wikipedia, that is a correct distinction between a gobo and a gel.

    Like MJC said, since in 3D we can modify the color of the light source directly without resorting to gels, we tend to think only about gobos and ignore the "gel" concept. One big difference in 3D is that our gobos can also add color. Technically in theater / stage lighting they only add patterns of light and shadow.

    So, don't be surprised if you see 3D lighting that "misuses" the term gobo for adding color (especially patterns) without adding shadows.

    Post edited by JonnyRay on
  • StargazeyStargazey Posts: 251
    edited February 2023

    A gel is a piece of coloured, heat resistant, acrylic/plastic used at the front of a spotlight (or other stage light or "lantern") to colour the light. A gobo goes in a slot between the lens and the light source of a spotlight. The gobo alters the shape of the light and/or adds a pattern to it. The spot can be focused so that the gobo cut-out shape is sharp or soft-edged. (A gobo is usually made of metal, due to the heat of the lamp, or, occasionally heat resistant glass with an image on it.)  An important point is that you can use gels in any type of stage lantern, gobos can only be used in focus spotlights, not fresnel spots, floodlights, parcans etc. (This is the traditional usage in the UK, nowadays with some computer controlled spotlights, you don't use physical media to control the colour and shape of the light.)

    Post edited by Stargazey on
  • benniewoodellbenniewoodell Posts: 1,982

    Go on blendermarket and look up Gobos, you'll get a great idea of what a gobo is. That add on is amazing by the way, night and day difference. 

  • apocalypse_cowapocalypse_cow Posts: 53

    In Photography a gobo can mean any object you put between a light and the subject with the intention of controlling the light (either to cast a shadow or to limit what gets lit). this could be an attachment to the light but it could also be a panel you put somewhere in the light path.

    Main difference would be, that a gel is translucent whereas a gobo is generally (though not necessarily) solid.

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