Unilux Strobe Lighting System

Posted on: Tuesday, December 1st, 1992
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Poster image credit: Flickr user ralledo

What is the Unilux Strobe Lighting System?
Unilux is a company that has been around for over 40 years providing its strobe lighting solution for the film, and now HD, commercial business. Unilux lighting systems make it possible to shoot subjects in motion with incredible clarity. Each frame is a clear, sharp photograph. Unilux lights are effective for shooting objects that pour, spritz, pop or splash. The lights flash for fractions of seconds, providing a cool atmosphere for shooting icy or perishable objects. Unilux lights can synchronize with cameras like Arri, Panavision, Aaton, Photosonics 4ER and Mitchell and the Phantom HD digital camera. The Unilux Strobe Lighting System won an Academy Award for technical achievement in 1993.

Unilux Tech Deets

Color: The lights’ color temperature is 6000°K. Unilux strobe lights can be color corrected by using an 85 or 85-B gel, or the lab can be advised to color correct.

Operation: In the preview mode, Unilux lights flash at a consistent rate that appear to your eye as constant light. Exposure reading is taken while lights are in preview mode. When the camera starts running, the lights flash in sync with the camera shutter, exposing each frame for 1/100,000 of a second. For rotating mirror reflex cameras, the lights flash at twice the rate of the camera speed, one flash for your eye and the other for the film, so you can see what you’re shooting.

Unilux lighting exposes each frame separately. So whether you’re at normal speed or high speed you can be sure that every splash, crunch and bubble is crystal clear.

Exposure: This ensures a crisp, sharp picture at all camera speeds. Exposure time of each flash is 1/100,000 of a second.

History of Unilux

UNILUX, Inc was formed from the innovation and imagination of two professionals—a photographer and an engineer—who wanted to create a flash system that could operate at the speed of motion picture cameras. In 1962, the two worked together to create such a strobe light system. The Unilux System 500 was developed and introduced into the photography industry. As a result of its sophisticated design, photographers chose to rent the system rather than buy.
Unilux management realized that rental systems alone would not produce a strong operating base and quickly sought out other commercial applications. Unilux first targeted the metals industry for surface inspection lighting. The System 700 was developed to help machine operators inspect metal strip for defects while it was moving at high speeds for visual inspection. The System 700 captured the attention of the Japanese steel producers and later the U.S. and European markets. Eventually, Unilux expanded into the paper, printing, converting, textiles, plastics and other industries, which would require specially designed lights for their unique applications. Unilux products have gone through several revisions and product additions to become the total inspection product line recognized worldwide today for their leadership and innovative design technologies.

In 1979, the interest in stroboscopic lighting for the photography industry grew. Its greatest contribution was for special effects and the reduction of motion blur in television commercials for food. As a result of the high cost for air time, advertisers needed to create crisper images in less time. Their solution came from Unilux lighting.
The following are examples of some commercials that were significant in Unilux’s involvement in the film industry:

• Milk — drop showing the crown pattern
• Sunkist — juice squirting from the orange sections
• Kellogg — cereal flake falling into bowl
• Red Lobster — lemon squirting from the sections
• Master Lock — the bullet passing through the lock

As time passed, Unilux was becoming involved in commercial film market all over the world. This encouraged the company to set-up a leasing program with international companies that would rent the equipment in their respective area. In 1994, Unilux was recognized with a technical achievement award from the Academy of Arts and Sciences for its work with the H3000: the latest lighting system used for film work today.

Unilux