Remotely Controlled and Monitored Followspot

Abstract

A remote follow spot system includes a remote controller that has separately movable parts that are movable in two orthogonal directions, and a display attached to one of said two separately movable parts. The display receives a video feed from a controlled light, that is controlled to move in the same directions as remote controller. The display hence shows the field of view where the light is pointing. In this way, an operator of the follow spot can control the light without physically being near the light.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A remote controller system for at least one controlled light, comprising:
 a control part, which accepts movements in multiple orthogonal directions, said movements caused by actions of an operator;   at least one movement encoding device, encoding movement of the control part into electronic signals indicative of the movement; and   an electronic device, receiving an electronic output from a camera pointing at a field of view illuminated by the at least one controlled light, the electronic output representing video showing a field of view of an area of pointing of the at least one controlled light,   the electronic device sending a movement control output to the controlled light, the movement control output being based on the electronic signals indicative of the movement,   said movement control output being in a format to electronically control movement of the controlled light based on the movements caused by actions of the operator.   
     
     
         2 . The system as in  claim 1 , wherein the control part moves in pan and tilt directions as the multiple orthogonal directions, and where the at least one movement encoding device includes a pan encoder and a tilt encoder. 
     
     
         3 . The system as in  claim 1 , wherein the format of the movement control output is in DMX. 
     
     
         4 . The system as in  claim 1 , further comprising a camera producing the video output, where the camera is separate from the at least one controlled light and points at the field of view. 
     
     
         5 . The system as in  claim 4 , further comprising an automatic exposure control in the camera to adjust for varying lighting conditions. 
     
     
         6 . The system as in  claim 4 , further comprising a zoom control in the camera that is electronically controllable by an operator. 
     
     
         7 . The system as in  claim 1 , further comprising at least one dimming control which is controllable from the control part, and which controls dimming of the at least one controlled light. 
     
     
         8 . The system as in  claim 1 , where the at least one controlled light includes multiple lights, and further comprising a lighting controlling selector, which selects said multiple lights to be controlled by the single set of movements on the control part. 
     
     
         9 . The system as in  claim 1 , where the at least one controlled light includes multiple lights, and further comprising a lighting controlling selector, which selects said multiple lights, and further comprising a dimming control which is controllable from the control part, and which controls dimming of each of said multiple lights. 
     
     
         10 . The system as in  claim 1 , wherein the movements comprise movements on a touchscreen, where the operator moves a position of touching on the touchscreen to change a position of the at least one controlled light, and where the video shows light form the at least one controlled light illuminating a different location after the operator moves the position of touching. 
     
     
         11 . A remote controller system that controls multiple controlled lights, comprising:
 a control part, which accepts movements in multiple orthogonal directions, said movements caused by actions of an operator;   at least one movement encoding device, encoding movement of the control part into electronic signals indicative of the movement; and   an electronic device, receiving an electronic output from a camera pointing at a field of view illuminated by the multiple controlled lights, the electronic output representing video showing a field of view of an area of pointing of the multiple controlled lights,   the electronic device sending a movement control output to the multiple controlled lights, the movement control output being based on the electronic signals indicative of the movement,   said movement control output being in a format to electronically control movement of the multiple controlled lights to all move based on the movements caused by actions of the operator.   
     
     
         12 . The system as in  claim 11 , wherein the control part moves in pan and tilt directions as the multiple orthogonal directions, and where the at least one movement encoding device includes a pan encoder and a tilt encoder. 
     
     
         13 . The system as in  claim 11 , wherein the format of the movement control output is in DMX format. 
     
     
         14 . The system as in  claim 11 , further comprising a camera producing the video output, where the camera is separate from the multiple controlled lights and points at the field of view. 
     
     
         15 . The system as in  claim 14 , further comprising an automatic exposure control in the camera to adjust for varying lighting conditions. 
     
     
         16 . The system as in  claim 14 , further comprising a zoom control in the camera that is electronically controllable by an operator. 
     
     
         17 . The system as in  claim 11 , further comprising a dimming control which is controllable from the control part, and which controls dimming of each of said multiple controlled lights. 
     
     
         18 . The system as in  claim 11 , wherein the movements comprise movements on a touchscreen, where the operator moves a position of touching on the touchscreen to change a position of multiple controlled lights, and where the video shows light form the multiple controlled lights illuminating a different location after the operator moves the position of touching. 
     
     
         19 . The system as in  claim 11 , wherein the multiple controlled lights each point parallel to one another.