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Plan_G

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Hi all,

I'm completely new at running stage lighting. I'm hoping you can give me some advice as to equipment and where to put it at small venues. Our budget is rather low, and I'd like to start with LED so I can build on it as money becomes available. I can control the setup from off stage, as I'm basically a competent roadie who has been asked to do this. There are 2 rock bands that I'll be lighting for - one is a 6-piece, and mostly plays weddings, parties, and sometimes bars to fill in the gaps. The other is a newly formed band that will be playing bars and clubs.

 

Anything is better than what we have now, which is a guy being paid to run lights who is setting his par64s on stands on auto-pilot and leaving them for the entire show. I'd at least like to control the lights for some more dramatic effects such as fading and color changing at integral parts in the songs and setlist!

 

I'm considering MyDMX, mostly because I've never run a controller board before and I have a lot of computer experience. I don't know much about intelligent lighting, but I'm excited to get to the point of having an all-out light show... but for now I need to focus on simply lighting the band, simply washing the stages for now, and build on that equipment as I can. I need to make sure my fixtures are bright enough and that I can position them to get the most out of the lights I get.

 

If some of you could offer suggestions I'd be really grateful. Thanks

 

 

-g

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Chaff - $500-$800 with hopefully room to add in a few months.

 

Bill- like a Profile Panel, 4Bar or the par cans? I don't see any cans that are flat-

any software recommendations? I'm not as familiar with Mac, but we have one, I'd personally rather use a PC.

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I use Freestyler and the Enttec interface works really well,but as with any software based control there is a learning curve.

JW here uses DMXis too and he's had good success with it.But he's controlling from the stage most of the time I believe.

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You can get the ENTTEC usb DMX interface for $60. Freestyler software I hear works well with it. I haven't tried these myself, but this is what I plan to use when I do finally get around to it.

 

 

Get the Enttec Pro. It's worth the little bit of extra money as it's more stable. You'll wish you had, if you start experiencing flaky lighting with the base version of the Enttec. I feel the little bit of extra cost in trade for stability is well worth it to have less to worry about during a show.

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Not really. The point is that if you have a drop out from your laptop or what ever the pro version will carry on as long as it has power from the usb connection,it will still transmit the last incoming data. AND the Pro version has some isolation built into it if you ever get feedback from an electircal source in your DMX chain you won't kill your PC.

I've used the open version for years no problems. Only drop out I have ever had was when power was interupted from a dead battery in my Laptop.But if your doing bigger shows then the Pro is worth looking at. I'm a weekend warrior.

 

I hadn't heard about the stability problems. Is this a common issue?

 

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Hi all,

I'm completely new at running stage lighting. I'm hoping you can give me some advice as to equipment and where to put it at small venues. Our budget is rather low, and I'd like to start with LED so I can build on it as money becomes available. I can control the setup from off stage, as I'm basically a competent roadie who has been asked to do this. There are 2 rock bands that I'll be lighting for - one is a 6-piece, and mostly plays weddings, parties, and sometimes bars to fill in the gaps. The other is a newly formed band that will be playing bars and clubs.


Anything is better than what we have now, which is a guy being paid to run lights who is setting his par64s on stands on auto-pilot and leaving them for the entire show. I'd at least like to control the lights for some more dramatic effects such as fading and color changing at integral parts in the songs and setlist!


I'm considering MyDMX, mostly because I've never run a controller board before and I have a lot of computer experience. I don't know much about intelligent lighting, but I'm excited to get to the point of having an all-out light show... but for now I need to focus on simply lighting the band, simply washing the stages for now, and build on that equipment as I can. I need to make sure my fixtures are bright enough and that I can position them to get the most out of the lights I get.


If some of you could offer suggestions I'd be really grateful. Thanks



-g

 

 

Just saw this link in another thread here. Maybe it will help. (I didn't read it)

 

http://www.box.net/shared/hl7oxy4bd6

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I'm sorry, I didn't get any notices that my post was answered-

 

I don't have any lighting right now. Just a lot of tabs open on my browser, and a trip to Guitar Center to talk to a DJ who didn't really have any info.

 

I will look at the freestyler software, thank you. And the Entec USB-DMX interface. I'm assuming that programs like MyDMX have proprietary controllers, but I see Entec has a list of compatible software.

 

The Puck flat par - does it cast multiple colors? or does it use gels? I'm looking a bit at the Chauvet 4-Bar because of the colors and the ability to aim them. I've seen some that are just 4 colored lights on a flat panel, but without being able to aim them it seemed kind of pointless and you'd be better off with the PARs.

 

Geez the PARs are expensive compared to the 4Bar, I would imagine it's a quality thing. Too many options!! I'll be back later and thank you to everyone for your help with this project.

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I'm sorry, I didn't get any notices that my post was answered-


I don't have any lighting right now. Just a lot of tabs open on my browser, and a trip to Guitar Center to talk to a DJ who didn't really have any info.


I will look at the freestyler software, thank you. And the Entec USB-DMX interface. I'm assuming that programs like MyDMX have proprietary controllers, but I see Entec has a list of compatible software.


The Puck flat par - does it cast multiple colors? or does it use gels? I'm looking a bit at the Chauvet 4-Bar because of the colors and the ability to aim them. I've seen some that are just 4 colored lights on a flat panel, but without being able to aim them it seemed kind of pointless and you'd be better off with the PARs.


Geez the PARs are expensive compared to the 4Bar, I would imagine it's a quality thing. Too many options!! I'll be back later and thank you to everyone for your help with this project.

 

 

Lots of tabs open on your browser but not this one???

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=1&oq=blizzard+puck&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS410US410&q=blizzard+puck+rgba

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wow, those look pretty awesome! 3920 lux@1m. Durability is good? What would be pros/cons over the can-style?

 

The 4Bar is 980 lux@ 1m / per light = 3920 for the whole unit, taking up a stand by itself - and cost more than twice as much.

 

Could I wash a stage area with 4 of these, 2 on each side of the stage? (just for start-up). Normal stages not very big - 12'x14' is a 'nice size', maybe 20'x30' on a good night. I could double check that, but I'm not talking auditorium stages :)

 

-g

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Super. I'll then check into the software and interface. Looks like that will be the least expensive way to start this... Then I'll watch for a good price on a truss and probably used effects lights once the stage is washed and I know more of what I'm doing :) I get the impression some of the guys think they're gonna get 2 trusses, goodies, and an instant lighting pro right out of the gate. Hell, I'm still hesitant to put in my order until I get some confirmation that I'm going to get paid. I'm likely gonna come out of this getting less than $100 a show at first o.0 For approx $700 initial just so they aren't in the dark, I want some guarantees that I'm not just doing them a favor. argh. Seems every time I'm close to pulling the trigger somebody says something that slows me down.

 

Opinions on decent stands? I don't want to buy stuff that's gonna end up sitting in the corner after upgrades. Will I have to bring a ladder to shows, or can you hoist these suckers 12' in the air loaded with lights and not drop them? -g

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I like the Global ST-132 stands. Very sturdy, and crank-up. Our stuff is permanently mounted on two 2.5m sections and we join them together before the show. It's no problem for 3 guys to lift the whole completed truss onto the stands, even 2 people can do it with a little effort.

 

Crank-up stands are WELL worth the money when working with truss.

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I think I want to go with the Puck lights, when I compare the amount of light they give off compared to other things of the same range.

 

I'm attempting to learn how to use freestyler (in demo mode, b/c I don't have the interface yet) - I figured it would be rather simple only having 4 lights :)

 

Can anyone help me? I found the download from Blizzard to put in the lights, but it appears you have to put them in again in the 3d mode - and they aren't there. I don't understand why they're not in the giant list of fixtures already in there :( I'm sorry if it's a dumb question, just a bit fearful that if I buy all the stuff and can't make sense of how to run them... I thought I'd 'get' the program a bit more. Maybe I should look for more tutorials, I'm normally good at this stuff. I've just never controlled outside peripherals like this before.

 

There's a guy selling an Ultimate stand with 4 par56 cans on it for $125... but I can't really justify a 3 hour drive - he said he could come down to $110 to make the trip worthwhile - :rolleyes:

 

-g

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OK, I guess I'm just one of those really paranoid people who want to have it 'all figured out' before I pay for anything!!!!!!!! Is Blizzard just not as well known as the others? I had the impression that it was a kick-ass company. I suppose if GC and all it's subsidiaries don't stock it in the US, then it's at a disadvantage...

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Still fairly recent entries into the LED market so there may not be a fixture profile for them yet as nobody really has alot of them.

If you want shoot me a PM with their DMX data and it only takes me a few to create a fixture file and send it to you,but I really suggest learning to do it your self.

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Still fairly recent entries into the LED market so there may not be a fixture profile for them yet as nobody really has alot of them.

If you want shoot me a PM with their DMX data and it only takes me a few to create a fixture file and send it to you,but I really suggest learning to do it your self.

 

I didn't order them yet... I'm having trouble pulling the trigger on the setup. I downloaded the Freestyler profile, but there isn't one for the 3d viewer.

 

I know you're right though, I'm not going to have complete understanding till I have the 4 puck lights in my living room and an interface hooked up to my pc... call me a chicken :)

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