ABSTRACT
Light fixtures: The HMI arsenal 8 METAL HALIDE ARC LIGHTS: “HMI” Unlike a filament lamp, a metal halide arc lamp, commonly know as an HMI,1 generates light by
creating an electrical discharge between two electrodes held a short distance apart from one another
within a quartz envelope. The lamp produces a color spectrum of daylight-balanced light-5600 or
6000 K, depending on the globe manufacturer. Manufacturers have developed a full range of light
fixtures that use metal halide arcs lamps, including: Fresnel fixtures, pars, beam projectors, follow
spots, open-face lights, softlights, moving lights, ellipsoidal spot lights, lantern lights, underwater
light, and small battery-powered sunguns, as well as other unique fixtures. Tables listing useful spe-
cifications for HMI fixtures are available on the Set Lighting Technician’s Handbook Web site. Daylight-balanced lights are indispensable in a number of scenarios:
1. When shooting daylight exterior scenes, the artificial light needs to mix with natural daylight. This is equally true when shooting an interior scene that has lots of windows.
