Real-Life Math
"Math is very important, as you are always dealing with measuring
distances, adding up material costs and working the numbers to
get the job," says lighting designer Andrew Lee.
The type and amount
of math you use will depend on the area of lighting design in which you specialize.
"Math skills are helpful, or at least a comfort level with numbers, because
we do use a lot of numbers," says Linda Essig. She is a professor of lighting
design.
"Architectural lighting design is more math-dependent, so people
interested in pursuing that field need at least a good basis in trigonometry."
In
the theater, you need to light the actors as well as certain parts of the
scenes to capture the mood of the production. If you are lighting an office
building, your goals may be more functional, such as workers needing lighting
that doesn't strain their eyes.
Outdoor lighting may focus on lighting
dark walkways for safety. In any case, there is no guessing allowed. You must
understand the way different lighting materials work, and how they reflect
on various surfaces in conjunction with natural light.
There is an
array of terms particular to the lighting world that you will need to learn.
Illuminance is the density of light striking a surface. It's usually measured
in "footcandles" or "luxes." A footcandle is equal to 1 lumen (a unit of luminous
flux) per square foot. A lux is equal to 1 lumen per square meter.
You
are lighting an outdoor area that is 30 feet x 40 feet.
How many square
feet does that equal? How many footcandles does that translate to? Convert
the square feet to meters. How many lux does it equal?
Remember: 1
square foot = 0.0929 square meters