Show dictionary · Lighting
Gobo
Also: pattern · template
A gobo is a stencil or template inserted at the focal point of a profile fixture to shape its beam into a projected pattern: window frames, foliage breakups, logos, or texture. Steel gobos are cut silhouettes; glass gobos carry detail and color.
In practice
The name is old theatre shorthand of disputed origin ("goes before optics" is folk etymology, cheerfully repeated). What matters is the mechanics: the pattern sits where the fixture can focus it sharply, and the fixture’s gate size (A, B, M, E sizes) determines which gobo physically fits.
Corporate shows buy custom logo gobos as a cheap, high-impact brand moment; designers use breakup gobos to texture light itself, making a flat wash into dappled forest or broken concrete. Moving lights carry gobo wheels, putting a catalog of patterns on every fixture in the rig.
How you’ll hear it
"Load the client logo gobo in the two box booms and center it on the entrance doors."
Related resources
Part of the eventools.io Show Dictionary, a free glossary of live event production terminology.