Which color system is used to mix colors in moving lights?

• A. Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta (CMY)
• B. Red, Green, and Blue (RGB)
• C. Magenta and Cyan only
• D. Yellow, Blue, and Green

Answer: (A)

Color mixing in moving lights is often done with CMY—the cyan, magenta, and yellow filters—because these are subtractive primaries. Start with white light and pass it through combinations of these filters. Each filter removes (subtracts) a portion of the spectrum: cyan blocks red, magenta blocks green, and yellow blocks blue. By adjusting how much of each filter is in the beam, you subtract different amounts of red, green, and blue and create a wide range of colors. This subtractive approach is common in moving lights that use color filters or dichroic elements.

RGB is another system you’ll hear about, but it’s additive—blending red, green, and blue light to make colors—and is typical of LED-based fixtures or displays rather than the CMY-filtered method described here. The other options don’t represent the standard CMY triad used for subtractive color mixing in moving lights.