Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Oliver Giving]

I run a small sound co in Vancouver, Canada covering mostly weddings, small concerts and dance performances.  I want to get my own lighting rig for these three applications for up to 300 audience members. 

$3-$4K is the budget and ease of portability is also a factor.  I have minimal lighting experience and will be operating it from FOH along with the sound for my bookings.  Mostly nothing fancy will be needed in terms of control as the primary objective will be to provide enough light to see the performers.

I'm thinking of going with the following and am hoping a few knowledgeable lighting folks out there can tell me if this will make for a good rig for the money or if I'm heading for trouble?

- 2X Chauvet 4BAR Tri
- 2X Chauvet COLORband Tri (for sitting on the floor at the front of the stage)
- Elation Magic 260 controller
- USB light for controller
- Case for controller
- DMX cables (100', 50', 2X 25')
- Sandbags

I'm also hoping someone can recommend good quality DMX cables that would make sense for this little rig plus a hard case for the controller?

Much Thanks,

Oliver

-
-

[Randall Hyde]

- 2X Chauvet 4BAR Tri
- 2X Chauvet COLORband Tri (for sitting on the floor at the front of the stage)
- Elation Magic 260 controller
- USB light for controller
- Case for controller
- DMX cables (100', 50', 2X 25')
- Sandbags

Truss, stands?
That's not much light, btw.

Might take a look at Blizzard lighting for that price range.
Cheers,
Randy Hyde

[duane massey]

Don't waste your $$ on the Magic 260, buy a Show Designer 1. The Chauvet 4BAR package comes with stands, which is a plus. Personally I really dislike the  DMX channel layout on these fixtures, as well as a lot of Chauvet fixtures, but that's just my opinion. The COLORband TRI has been discontinued, but you might still find them available. Oddly enough these fixtures actually have a DMX channel layout that is user-friendly. For the $$ the ADJ Accucable DMX series has always worked for me, but everyone has their favorites.
Personally I would buy more single fixtures and stands, and just set a few on the floor when you really need them for dance recitals. You will need all the overhead/front lighting you can get for you budget, especially for live bands.
And (again) please don't buy the 260 I(or any of the other BS controllers under $600), you will really hate it. Even a used SD 1 from eBay would be a better choice, and you can buy them new for less than $ 750.

[James Feenstra]

for 4k your best bet looks like this:

8x Microh LED Par 2 ($1520 retail)
8x Microh LED Bar 2 ($1760 retail)
Cable (16x 25' DMX 5, 1x 100' DMX 5)
Chamsys MagicQ on PC w/ Enttec Dongle ($63 retail provided you already have a laptop)

total: $3343 retail plus tax/cable/cases

way more lights, way more versatile, and you can probably knock $500 off that price if you go through a distributor...this is based off the first price I found online

4 lights is going to not be enough for any stage bigger than about 10', and this package would give you the option of adding in some eye candy stuff. Also it'll allow you to charge more as it's an actual lighting package.

[Jerome Malsack]

The small par 38 LED systems would work well for up lighting along the walls if the wedding would like. 

If you have a balcony available you might want to look into a theater follow spot.  You need to be above the crowd to use this on the first dance and other dances in the reception.  Also great for the cake cutting. 

If the band has a wireless mic and singer that travels the floor you can use the spot to track the singer or the person giving the toast. 

Down sides are that there are few locations that will support this and it requires a sharp second person to assist. 

A second dmx with a smart led spot light might work if mounted and located well.  If the dmx controller is joystick it would help ??   cost???   By having the follow white lites on seperate control you will have the option to easily follow with out shutting down the other lighting functions. 

With some band jobs we are starting to run two DMX runs to make things easier to manage in the show.  Stage area ,  Dance area with room control. 


 

[duane massey]

James, are you referring to the Microh LED stage par v2? Cheapest price I saw on these was $ 385. Maybe a different model?

[James Feenstra]

James, are you referring to the Microh LED stage par v2? Cheapest price I saw on these was $ 385. Maybe a different model?

im talking about these:
http://www.avshop.ca/lighting-amp-effects/wash-lights-amp-par-cans/par-cans/microh-ledp64kdii-led-par-64-washdigital-display-black

not great for large shows, but would work perfectly for the op's intended use

with what I suggested you could easily uplight the walls with LED bars to add color to the room on those more 'corporate' shows while keeping the stage lit. Only real problem is you'll have some difficulty getting a really good quality white out of an rgb light

[Oliver Giving]

Thanks for your help everyone - much appreciated!

[ProSoundWeb Community]