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[Steve Ferreira]

That's an extremely narrow beam, and very bright. For a front wash in a typical club setting, those would not work for me.

I'm in a different boat then the OP. I don't do club/bar gigs. I do about 8-10 events a year where my stage is 40' wide x 20-25' deep. Right now I have first gen led pars, bright as hell, no amber or white in them. I have to reduce the blue to make them not look like a character from the Knight Kings army on GoT. I have 4 bars with 4 pars on each. It works but videographers and photographers have been complaining about the "blue" tint and they also cause flicker.

I have been looking around and have also found these. https://www.blizzardlighting.com/collections/washlights/products/propar-z19-rgbw-black

Yes, they are expensive but offer a white led in the light, they are bright and also zoom via DMX.

[Gordon Brinton]

OP here.

I ended up getting something altogether different than my original post referred to. After more research, I ordered 4 of Chauvet SlimPar Pro H. Their final street price was just under $1000 US. Right on budget and they are plenty bright enough for my use.

I didn't really want my front lighting to be general wash lights. Instead, I wanted them to appear more like spots for the performers and not interfere with the stage wash coming from the rear lights. However, real spots would be too narrow at close range.

Most of my rear stage wash hits the floor right behind the front line of performers. (Except for the center-most ones are on the drummer.) Two guys stand front and center, two stand slightly behind and off to each side, and drummer is rear-center. I wanted the 4 standing performers to be lit up amber-white so they stand out above and separated from the stage wash behind them. These new cans work really well for that on small stages and I can always add barn doors to tighten the beam if needed.

I already had 4 Dotz Pars on the front two guys, (two for each guy,) but I have moved those to spot duty for the secondary front players who stand slightly behind the front guys. Now I have eight front lights for 4 standing performers and each man gets two-point lighting from opposite sides to reduce shadows. The Pro H's are on the front guys and the Dotz Pars are on the other two guys.

My front lighting spends most of the show as amber-white, but do become different colors in a few scenes for special effect. So far I have had them out for one show and I am extremely happy with them. The performers look so much better than before, (brighter and bigger than life,) and I can solo spot each of the band members more effectively. My rear wash lights are bright as hell too, so now everything really sparkles like I wanted. I can't stand dim stages unless the song calls for it.

Thanks for the help and ideas. I am happy.

[Dave Garoutte]

When you're lighting a performer from both sides, use a (slightly or not) different 'color' from each side.
This will get your shadow reduction, but still give depth to the performer.

[Steve Garris]

OP here.

I ended up getting something altogether different than my original post referred to. After more research, I ordered 4 of Chauvet SlimPar Pro H. Their final street price was just under $1000 US. Right on budget and they are plenty bright enough for my use.

I didn't really want my front lighting to be general wash lights. Instead, I wanted them to appear more like spots for the performers and not interfere with the stage wash coming from the rear lights. However, real spots would be too narrow at close range.

Most of my rear stage wash hits the floor right behind the front line of performers. (Except for the center-most ones are on the drummer.) Two guys stand front and center, two stand slightly behind and off to each side, and drummer is rear-center. I wanted the 4 standing performers to be lit up amber-white so they stand out above and separated from the stage wash behind them. These new cans work really well for that on small stages and I can always add barn doors to tighten the beam if needed.

I already had 4 Dotz Pars on the front two guys, (two for each guy,) but I have moved those to spot duty for the secondary front players who stand slightly behind the front guys. Now I have eight front lights for 4 standing performers and each man gets two-point lighting from opposite sides to reduce shadows. The Pro H's are on the front guys and the Dotz Pars are on the other two guys.

My front lighting spends most of the show as amber-white, but do become different colors in a few scenes for special effect. So far I have had them out for one show and I am extremely happy with them. The performers look so much better than before, (brighter and bigger than life,) and I can solo spot each of the band members more effectively. My rear wash lights are bright as hell too, so now everything really sparkles like I wanted. I can't stand dim stages unless the song calls for it.

Thanks for the help and ideas. I am happy.

Nice job. Sounds like you got it panned out perfectly. All we need now is a pic of the band performing!

[Jeremy Young]

To the OP:


How would you compare the relative output of your Dotz Pars with the SlimPar Pro H? 


I own 8 of the Dotz pars for my "still experimenting with lighting" rig.  I finally purged all my old lights out of inventory, so I'm looking for something up-front with some white and amber so I can keep the Dotz Pars in the back on a pair of t-bars.  At 36w each (Dotz Pars), I'm concerned I might overpower them if I get something too bright up front (like the 100w SlimPar Pro H, or some other fixtures I've been looking into).  I know I can always dim something that's too bright, but there's also the issue of spending money I didn't need to spend on higher output fixtures, and I have a pretty good idea what I can do with a Dotz Par.


I don't have a lot of experience in lighting yet, but those SlimPars are on my short list so I thought I'd ask you what you thought of using those with your Dotz Pars.


Sorry for the slight swerve.  Thanks in advance for anything you can share.

[Gordon Brinton]

To the OP:


How would you compare the relative output of your Dotz Pars with the SlimPar Pro H? 


I own 8 of the Dotz pars for my "still experimenting with lighting" rig.  I finally purged all my old lights out of inventory, so I'm looking for something up-front with some white and amber so I can keep the Dotz Pars in the back on a pair of t-bars.  At 36w each (Dotz Pars), I'm concerned I might overpower them if I get something too bright up front (like the 100w SlimPar Pro H, or some other fixtures I've been looking into).  I know I can always dim something that's too bright, but there's also the issue of spending money I didn't need to spend on higher output fixtures, and I have a pretty good idea what I can do with a Dotz Par.


I don't have a lot of experience in lighting yet, but those SlimPars are on my short list so I thought I'd ask you what you thought of using those with your Dotz Pars.


Sorry for the slight swerve.  Thanks in advance for anything you can share.

Well, those are not easy to compare. The Pro H's are definitely brighter than the Dotz and have what I would call a wider beam angle. I know the H's advertise a Beam Angle of 24 and a Field Angle of 41, but there is a blur between the two measurements. That is, the edge of the Beam Angle is not district enough to clearly define and measure. However, on the Dotz Pars, (with the beam lens on,) I can clearly see the edges of the beam.

I measured the Beam Width of both lights side-by-side in my basement using their brightest settings...

Dotz Par: At 12 feet out from the wall, (with lens installed,) the beam edge is fairly distinct at 5 feet wide.

SlimPar Pro H: At 12 feet out from the wall, the beam edge and field edge are a total blur somewhere between 5 and 10 feet wide. If I had to pick a beam angle edge, that is, a well-lit usable area, I would say then roughly 8 feet wide.

One other notable difference is at the edges of the beam, the Dotz has edges that are reddish or bluish and then it blends into white as you move inward. However, on the H's, the edges have no rainbow effect at all. The color is the same tone and even the entire way across the beam.

As far as brightness. The Pro H's are way brighter by about 2000 more LUX, also proportioned evenly across the entire beam. I've noticed an improvement in overall brightness and sparkle up there. Although, I may soon add barn doors for more controlled focus.

Both are silent with no fans.
Both have DMX in/out and AC in/out.
The Pro H's have amber light to produce a golden color for improved skin tone. On the Dotz, I had to simulate the amber tone by reducing the blues and greens a bit which sacrifices some brightness.
The Pro H's have UV light as an added bonus.
The Pro H's are very well built, sturdy, and heavy.

I wasn't worried about the front lights overpowering the stage wash from the rear because, well, for one thing, my rear lights are 150 Watts each and I have 8 of them. But also because my wash lights aim directly down to the stage floor. Where as my front lights are more aimed at head, shoulders, and instruments and not so much on floors. The lighted performers really stand out above the wash with almost a 3D look. You may get similar results with careful/prudent positioning. If I were you, I would perhaps keep the lens attachments on all of the Dotz Pars because they will appear brighter and more focused even thought they are on wash duty. With a bit of fog, the more narrow wash beams will look good.

I hope this helps.

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

I've noticed an improvement in overall brightness and sparkle up there. Although, I may soon add barn doors for more controlled focus.

Experiment with some pieces of cardboard to see how barn doors would actually work with that product.  You may find that you need very large barn doors to make any difference to the beam spread.

[Gordon Brinton]

Experiment with some pieces of cardboard to see how barn doors would actually work with that product.  You may find that you need very large barn doors to make any difference to the beam spread.

Ok. Thank you for that advice. Will do.

[Mark Cadwallader]

Experiment with some pieces of cardboard to see how barn doors would actually work with that product.  You may find that you need very large barn doors to make any difference to the beam spread.

A "snoot" (a/k/a a "top hat") might also help with beam control, used alone or in addition to barn doors.

[Jeremy Young]

Gord, thank you!   That was much more info than I was expecting.  I appreciate your time.

I’ve never used the Dotz Pars WITHOUT the 25 degree lense so far.  It just loses intensity too drastically.   A larger wash area would be nice for my use, which sounds like the Slimpar can do. I’ve been eyeing up the Elation Sixpar series as well for their 6 in 1 LEDs and IP rating, but the beam is a little tight for what I need (15 degrees). 


What annoys me about the Dotz Par is the side outlet of the power and data connectors. They use IEC in and thru, maybe it’s just the cables I’m using but there isn’t much flexibility in them between the bracket and the fixture. A molded IEC doesn’t like to turn that tightly. It’s great for uplighting having everything out the same side, but on a t-bar I want the cables facing the bar to keep it neat, and that means I mount them on the top of the bar in order to allow them to point downward to the stage floor. They won’t point upward due to the cables getting in the way, unless I mount them under the bar, but then they won’t go down. It’s a minor thing, but it’s something I never thought of before.

Good point about the rear lights washing the stage floor versus the front lights being head height. Maybe I’m making something out of nothing. I sure have a lot to learn when it comes to lighting. I thought I was close to picking some fixtures then I opened the rabbit hole of “what controller will I use for all this, when I outgrow my Luminair software”.  Another conversation for another time... 

Thanks again eh!

[ProSoundWeb Community]