Small rig lighting options.

[Plan-B]

Hi all, I'm very new to stage lighting and I'm looking for suggestions and advice on the subject. I'm in a small band a we recently have played a few gigs where no lighting was available. We would like to invest in some portable stage lighting for such situations.

 

My thoughts are to use DMX LED par cans and washes, a couple DMX effect lights and a control board. My issue is that we will not have a tech to control these light and it will be left up to busy band members. What I think we need is a foot switch system that will allow us to access a few different things on the control board; blackout, full up, a few different sound activated chases for the par cans, a few chases for the effect lights and maybe control a fog machine ect.

 

I've been eyeballing the Chauvet Obey 70 and the Behringer FCB1010 foot switch. It looks like the two would be cheap, compatible and fairly easy to set up. After reading both manuals I have yet to determine if the pedal will let me run scenes and chases in sound mode or if I would have to scroll through them, stomp stomp stomp, in manual mode. If I can't run in sound mode, using the pedal not so much for timing but for changing chases and effects, I think this would be a deal breaker for this type of set up. Another problem I have is there seems to be no audio in or sound sensitivity dial on the board so I'm wondering how well I can get it to match up with the music.

 

Our current budget is very limited so I'm looking for cost effective but with the ability to expand. I'll be buying this rig a piece at a time a money permits so some tips on order of importance would be great. One route I was considering was to purchase 2 Chauvet 4Bars right out of the gate. We could use these as front lighting with the simple pedal and audio control as we save up some cash. Later, as money permits, we could add the controller and pedal mentioned above and some led wash cans for the front lighting, moving the 4Bars to DMX controlled rear lighting. Any thoughts and ideas on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Chris

[BillESC]

Hi Chris,

 

Welcome to Harmony.

 

I think your last idea - the 4Bars - would be a great place to start. Then add as able.

[dbrown]

+1 on the 4Bars. They're a great starting point for building a new lighting rig, and you can make good use of them as you expand later.

 

Where are you based? If you're in the USA, this thread might interest you...

 

Here in the UK, the same fixture is available from KAM, called the LED Parbar. KAM are now selling the "MK2" version which is apparently 20% brighter. Don't know if that little confusion also applies with the Chauvet fixture...

 

Dave.

[Plan-B]

Thanks for the reply guys and thanks for the link D. It looks like cheaplights does not ship to Canada so those fab 4's wouldn't be an option but the price is definitely right. I've also seen the KAM version but again being in Canada makes getting them an issue.

 

I bit the bullet a found a good deal on 2 of the 4bars. They should be here in a few weeks. I also used a credit at a local store and picked up two colorsplash 200b's. It's not gonna be enough but it's a good start on our front end lighting. Unfortunately one of the units has a loose blue LED and all the blue led's down stream from it will flicker and shut off at times. I'm sure the store I bought it from will replace it but it's 100km away. Makes me nervous about having a similar issues with one of the 4 bars and having to mail it back!!!

 

I think my next step will be a couple more colorsplashes and a controller. I still really like the looks of the Obey controllers but still have the questions posted above about them. Mainly I'm wondering if the pedal will let me run scenes and chases in sound mode or if I would have to scroll through them, stomp stomp stomp, in manual mode. And there seems to be no audio in or sound sensitivity dial on the board so I'm wondering how well I can get it to match up with the music. If I plan to use this set up mostly in sound mode should I consider the older DMX55/70 models with the audio in? Or maybe the Stage designer 50 controller?

 

If anyone has any experience with the Chauvet controllers especially used with a midi pedal and wants to shed some light on the subject for me it would be greatly appreciated.

[Plan-B]

Well I took back the broken CS 200B and replaced it with a fully functioning one. I also picked up an extra two while I was at the store and we now have 4 of them for front lighting. I finally got my custom front stands build and had a chance to set it all up. Unfortunately one of the CS 200B's has striped threads on both sides where the yoke attaches. Has anyone else had similar problems with striped threads on these lights? I think I'll be taking it back for yet another replacement.

 

With the front end all set up I was able to test it all out and see where we stand. I'm really happy with the wash these lights produce and think it will be sufficient for our needs. One problem we did have is that the sound active mode is a little too sensitive and our volume levels have the lights changing erratically and far to frequently. Auto mode fixes the erratic changes but they still switch color too frequently and not in time with the music. I think the best way to correct this will be to run them with a DMX controller.

 

I'm looking for some advice on the best controlled to fit our needs. I really like the features and price on the Obey controllers but worry that without a direct audio in I might run into the same problem I'm having with the sound active mode on the CS 200B's. A direct input from our drummers kick would fix this problem.

 

I'd like the controller to have a wide range of midi accessible functions, have lots of channels for future expansion (The 4 bars I'm still waiting on have 15 channels each), be priced under $300 and be fairly easy to program. If someone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

 

Cheers and thanks,

Chris

[Plan-B]

Hi again all,

 

I figured I'd post an update on our lighting endeavors for anyone who may be interested. I decided on and ordered an Elation DMX operator 192 controller. The midi functions of this controller seem to be perfect for our needs and it has an audio in which should solve some syncing problems for us. I'm still looking for an alternative midi footswitch to the FCB1010 but it's really starting to look like dispite it's size it's the best option out there.

 

One of the 4Bars I ordered finally showed up and I got a chance to play with it the other night. I'm happy with the product but did notice a few shortcomings. In sound mode our stage volume is overwhelming for them and they tend to change erratically and to quickly like the 200b's. I'm thinking once I get our controller hooked up to the kick or snare channel this should be fixed. The plastic front housing of the lights is very thin and like another poster on this site I've noticed small cracks from the screw holes to the outside of the housing. I'm gonna have to find that post and see what he did for a fix. Lastly, when in color fade mode (the last setting using the first pedal on the included footswitch), I've noticed that the fourth light from the left will not sync perfectly with the other lights. Sometimes it's late, sometimes early and sometimes it will flicker when the other lights are not. In other settings the light seems to react fine. I'm hoping this is an issue with the programming and not the hardware and will not be an issue once controlled by DMX. Has anyone else here seen this issue?

 

I think my next and final step for now, other then the midi footswitch, will be a couple of scanners. I'd like them to be light enough to hang vertically on the 4bar stands. I'd also like them to be bright enough to cut through the light of the 4bars. Lastly and almost most important is I'd like them to be cheap as I've pretty much blown the lighting budget. I'm currently strongly considering the Chauvet Intimidator 1.0 due to it's price and output.

 

If anyone has any comments or suggestions regarding scanners, midi footswitches or anything else I'd love to hear them. This site has been very helpful in setting up our lighting package and I truly appreciate it.

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

Edited to add: I've read that when using a low end controller like the one we are it is advisable to have scanners that have built in movement macros. This would definitely be a plus for any scanners I'll be considering.