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Author Topic: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?  (Read 5077 times)

Tim Hite

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Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« on: March 13, 2019, 12:56:02 PM »

https://www.blizzardpro.com/collections/essential-fx/products/weather-system-exa

I'm looking to add a cost effective DOWNSTAGE wash option for smaller gigs. This Blizzard unit seems to tick a lot of boxes. Rigs quick, RGBAW+UV, has DMX, can rig from truss or stand, easy to deploy, don't have to use DMX. . .Anything missing that's glaringly obvious?

Really wasn't feeling the 4 head systems like this but I feel I could get enough coverage with the 8 heads.

Edit to fix stage direction.

« Last Edit: March 13, 2019, 02:30:17 PM by Tim Hite »
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Taylor Hall

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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2019, 01:52:06 PM »

What kind of coverage (stage size) are you looking for? Also you say upstage wash lighting but what exactly are you going for? Washing the back of the performers? Pointing into the crowd? Washing the back wall/curtain?

That's a pretty slick little setup, though. My biggest worry would be about the light pattern being uneven unless you plan on using a pair to balance the coverage of the stage area (note, it should be PLENTY bright enough, that is not a concern). It looks like they just gutted a standard bar light and added some CB connectors to connect the modules in place of emitters directly on the fixture. Pretty smart way to repurpose existing tooling.
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Steve Garris

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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2019, 01:58:21 PM »

https://www.blizzardpro.com/collections/essential-fx/products/weather-system-exa

I'm looking to add a cost effective upstage wash option for smaller gigs. This Blizzard unit seems to tick a lot of boxes. Rigs quick, RGBAW+UV, has DMX, can rig from truss or stand, easy to deploy, don't have to use DMX. . .Anything missing that's glaringly obvious?

Really wasn't feeling the 4 head systems like this but I feel I could get enough coverage with the 8 heads.

Looks like an excellent all-in-one solution. The first 4-light units I saw where disappointing. They used very dim, tri-color led's and the footswitch never worked that well. This looks like a huge improvement. These are much brighter and have amber, so they look quite a bit better IMO.
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Debbie Dunkley

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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2019, 02:00:38 PM »

That looks a lot brighter than the old Chauvet 4 bar thing I used to have - my iPad screen was brighter than that - LOL!!
Those quick set up systems are a great design for ease of deployment but I have found most of the ones I come across are so dim and quite useless for bands. At least the Blizzard would give a decent amount of light. You are paying for convenience though. For 1/4 of the price you could get 4 generic brand Pars, jumper cables and a T bar with everything attached which would give you almost twice the output... just saying...
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Tim Hite

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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2019, 02:34:06 PM »

I edited my stage directions, coffee hadn't kicked in yet. This would be for front lighting for performers on up to a 20' wide stage or thereabouts.

What kind of coverage (stage size) are you looking for? Also you say upstage wash lighting but what exactly are you going for? Washing the back of the performers? Pointing into the crowd? Washing the back wall/curtain?

That's a pretty slick little setup, though. My biggest worry would be about the light pattern being uneven unless you plan on using a pair to balance the coverage of the stage area (note, it should be PLENTY bright enough, that is not a concern). It looks like they just gutted a standard bar light and added some CB connectors to connect the modules in place of emitters directly on the fixture. Pretty smart way to repurpose existing tooling.
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Taylor Hall

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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2019, 03:01:30 PM »

I edited my stage directions, coffee hadn't kicked in yet. This would be for front lighting for performers on up to a 20' wide stage or thereabouts.
Ah yes, that makes more sense now.
If that is the case, I would echo Debbie's suggestion at getting several standalone fixtures and your own t-bars for the same money. The problem with smaller heads like on the blizzard bar is that they have an extremely narrow beam angle, even though they are still considered wash heads. The blizzard kit gets around this by giving you 8 of them to do with as you please. In reality, you're just playing with 8 spot-like fixtures whose combined output mimics that of a couple wash fixtures.
If you truly need something RGBAW, there are numerous wash pars that will do that handily. If you can forego the dedicated white channels, a few standard RGB bars would be more than enough for the purpose you described. You could also mix and match RGB pars and white pars in your setup, allowing you to focus more natural light onto performers with a splash of color when needed. The ADJ TW series are really well priced white pars that output a ton of light for the price. We use 4 of the 12 emitter versions for 40x20ft stages for talking heads coverage (basically evenly covers the audience half of the stage), double that fixture count for full stage coverage.
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Scott Holtzman

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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2019, 03:02:07 PM »

That looks a lot brighter than the old Chauvet 4 bar thing I used to have - my iPad screen was brighter than that - LOL!!
Those quick set up systems are a great design for ease of deployment but I have found most of the ones I come across are so dim and quite useless for bands. At least the Blizzard would give a decent amount of light. You are paying for convenience though. For 1/4 of the price you could get 4 generic brand Pars, jumper cables and a T bar with everything attached which would give you almost twice the output... just saying...

The older Blizzard Weather was off the charts good, much brighter and more even than a 4-Bar.  The new one is awesome and the wireless pedal is convenient.
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Scott AKA "Skyking" Holtzman

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frank kayser

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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2019, 10:31:32 PM »

The older Blizzard Weather was off the charts good, much brighter and more even than a 4-Bar.  The new one is awesome and the wireless pedal is convenient.
Is it me, or is the 6.3' a little short.  Most of these types of bar fixtures all seem to be a bit short.
Do any of these have a standard pole socket for larger taller light stands?  Speaker stands?


Anyone here a Blizzard dealer?
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Scott Holtzman

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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2019, 02:26:24 AM »

Is it me, or is the 6.3' a little short.  Most of these types of bar fixtures all seem to be a bit short.
Do any of these have a standard pole socket for larger taller light stands?  Speaker stands?


Anyone here a Blizzard dealer?
They have the larger pole mount.  We are dealers for Blizzard.   Phone number is on the web site.

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

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Scott AKA "Skyking" Holtzman

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Debbie Dunkley

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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2019, 09:55:08 AM »

Is it me, or is the 6.3' a little short.  Most of these types of bar fixtures all seem to be a bit short.
Do any of these have a standard pole socket for larger taller light stands?  Speaker stands?


Anyone here a Blizzard dealer?

Yeah they do come short - not sure why... I would simply replace the one that comes with the system for a taller one. The Chauvet 4 bar I had used to come with or without a tripod and I chose without for that reason.
You gotta get lights up nice and high if using them for front lighting.
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Re: Is this the ideal cheap par bar?
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2019, 09:55:08 AM »


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