Members EA Systems Posted March 1, 2008 Members Share Posted March 1, 2008 When I do shows in the bars, where I sometimes like to get a light in an obscure spot, the Manfrotto 'super-clamp' is probably the best - all purpose clamp Ive used, it will secure to almost anything. Much more versatile than a c clamp if you're not going onto 1.9" pipe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wvuviv30 Posted March 7, 2008 Members Share Posted March 7, 2008 I'll also mention that I bought some industrial-strength velcro at Wal-Mart, used the rigid side, and covered two of my Colorstrips (on one side, obviously) with it. This allows me to use one on each of my stands (at the back of the stage), and velcro the front ones to the tops of our PA cabinets. I velcro them right on the edge since there's a lip on the Colorstrips (the lip hangs over the edge of the cabinet), and while it looks scary, they're not going anywhere. Way easier than having to set up two more stands. Can you take some pictures of this set-up? What tops are you running? Does it mess up the carpeting on the cabs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted March 7, 2008 Members Share Posted March 7, 2008 I'll try but for the next two shows I'm going to have both mounted on each tree, not velcro'ed, due to where the PA needs to be at these shows. It doesn't mess up the carpeting at all, it's not THAT strong. It scares me to see 'em up there but so far no problems. I'm using JBL 1x15 JRX top cabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EA Systems Posted March 7, 2008 Members Share Posted March 7, 2008 Really.. Velcro? Zip ties are pretty handy. You could somehow 'safety' it to the handle on the side of the cab. I'm more concerned about the light, really. Drunkens can do much unexpected harm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted March 7, 2008 Members Share Posted March 7, 2008 It's above the drunk's heads, so that's not a big deal. Our tops are sitting on 1x18 subs, pole mounted, and thus there's no real way they're ever gonna be at risk of toppling. I thought about using zip ties to secure it down but they really don't move, period, with just the velcro on 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mddittman Posted March 12, 2008 Members Share Posted March 12, 2008 I'm thinking about making my own mounting bracket instead of using the ones that come with it... make it thick enough that it doesn't flex, and make it all one piece. Drill a hole in the center, or even drill several across to allow off-center mounting. I am mounting ours on a truss and sometimes the crossmembers get into the way of the clamps, no matter which way they are turned. It should make for faster setup, too. And you couldn't twist it like you could if you don't mount the clamps exactly the same. Like this: |____________| instead of this on each side: |_ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rich4Once Posted March 14, 2008 Members Share Posted March 14, 2008 I had trouble with crossmembers interfering, too. What I did was turn a mounting bracket the other way, so the light could be over a bit more. I only needed to do that to one bracket in order to get what I wanted. I'm using 3 ColorStrips on a 10ft truss. I'm missing inserts for a couple of the clamps (they're on the way...thanks, Bill!) so I just had them hanging, to get the positioning right. When the inserts get here, I'll be able to mount them correctly. The first show where we'll use them is the first weekend in April, so I'll try and get some pictures then. I was having a bit of trouble deciding how to efficiently break down and transport the truss and lights. What I think I'm going to do is leave the clamps locked in place, and just remove the ColorStrips from the brackets. That way, everything is already positioned, and all that is needed is to mount the lights and plug them in. What I've done so far is put them back into the boxes they came in, but I may look into a case like the one linked to in here the other day. I had so much trouble getting the two 5ft sections of truss together that I am going to leave it connected. I hauled it upstairs and loaded it into my van, and it fit perfectly...the end of it sits on top of the front passenger seat, which is just fine. I'll secure it with a bungee, just to keep it from sliding around. It's a good thing it's so lightweight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted March 14, 2008 Members Share Posted March 14, 2008 I've got one of those flat trusses and yeah, they're a pain to get the two 5-ft pieces together. I've got a roof rack on my car and I'm just gonna bungee it to the top of the car when I need to take it with me! Haven't needed it yet but that day is coming fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mddittman Posted March 16, 2008 Members Share Posted March 16, 2008 OK, our first band gig with them last night. They look phenomenal and everyone loved them. Setting up and tearing down is a PITA though. To remedy this, I'm going to get a steel bar that will be semipermanently mounted between the two mounting brackets. One clamp will hold each colorstrip rather than two. There, I've cut my setup time down to half right there. I'm going to 'machine' a 6-8" slot in the center of the slot so I can move the clamp from side to side, to allow some off-center mounting if necessary to avoid truss crossbar interference. My only complaint about them, and I should have tested this before I took them out, is that if you run several of them in Master/Slave mode, you can only use the DMX OUT to go to other fixtures (like PAR cans) from the Master colorstrip. Luckily I made some extra DMX cables to allow me to get the extra length needed, because DMX out will NOT work on the slave colorstrips. What a waste of cable... it would be so nice if the dmx out worked on the slave strips so I could send the DMX to the master strip, daisy chain them down the length of the truss with 5' jumpers, then use the DMX OUT of the last slave colorstrip to control the cans on the other side of the stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rich4Once Posted March 17, 2008 Members Share Posted March 17, 2008 I discovered that too....DMX out doesn't work if you've been using master/slave. What I had to do is run to every other fixture, and go to the ColorStrips last. BTW I left the brackets attached to the clamps, and left them attached to the truss, so all we have to do is attach the ColorStrips to the brackets and we're done. I wired them up as master/slave, but didn't have them functioning as a single fixture. I couldn't figure out how to do that before...then I spotted it in the manual. I hooked them up again today in the basement and got them together as one unit. It's way cool, just like Chauvet's video on YouTube! I ended up using them this weekend...the bar has house lights that buzz like hell through his house PA, so we brought in our own PA...but the buzz was still there. We're not about to re-wire the guys crap for him...it's a mess, truly! Anyway, we usually bring in our 200Bs as front lights, and on Friday night we used those alone, since I didn't bring the ColorStrips and truss. Saturday, I brought the truss and ColorStrips, and it was damn cool! I was worried about what the band would think, since they'd been on me a little bit about spending so much money. They were having doubts about the fact that we're spending all this money, we're up to 2k now, BTW, and we have a grand total of 7 fixtures. Well, they were mightily impressed, and all gave me props for being the "man on a mission" for the light show. There were some pictures taken, but the person taking them used flash, so the effect of them can't be seen at all. I'm a bit disappointed about that, but I'm happy with the performance of our new lights. LEDs are the wave of the future, and I'm proud to be a part of it! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rich4Once Posted March 17, 2008 Members Share Posted March 17, 2008 I forgot to mention in my previous post that Saturday's show was a multi-band affair...a benefit for a local charity. Anyway, that gave me the opportunity to run the lights for the other bands, and gave my guys a chance to watch them in action as audience members, as opposed to looking up at them occasionally and wondering how they look from out front. It was great to hear kudos from them, (and the rest of the audience) about how cool the new lights are. Every single comment was positive. A representative from one of the other band even complimented me on my light-running skills! I just thanked him...I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wasn't doing anything...the ColorStrips were doing it all by themselves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mddittman Posted March 17, 2008 Members Share Posted March 17, 2008 Don't tell everyone; or they'll soon be everywhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted March 17, 2008 Members Share Posted March 17, 2008 I certainly hope so.... LOL Great to hear Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rich4Once Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Okay...here's a pic from Saturday's show. I'm the long-haired hippie-type on the right, BTW. Anyway, because the camera's flash was used, the ColorStrips' lighting cannot be seen well. Hopefully, at the next show some better pictures will be taken.http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p146/one4rich/Doctor%20Bombay/?action=view¤t=l_d9f8cca23403ebef1bdfd48eb654716b.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brywool Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Good morning- I'm noticing that most of the photos I've seen of these have them pointing out at the audience. If they're above the drummer in the back, and used for back lighting, wouldn't you want to have them facing down or at a 45 degree angle between the drummer and the audience? I got mine last night and they are holycrap bright, so I'd think that pointing them directly at the audience might not sit that well with them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Yeah, we don't point ours at the audience, they'd run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rich4Once Posted July 9, 2008 Members Share Posted July 9, 2008 Good morning- I'm noticing that most of the photos I've seen of these have them pointing out at the audience. If they're above the drummer in the back, and used for back lighting, wouldn't you want to have them facing down or at a 45 degree angle between the drummer and the audience? I got mine last night and they are holycrap bright, so I'd think that pointing them directly at the audience might not sit that well with them... We don't point ours at the audience, but down towards center stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brywool Posted July 9, 2008 Members Share Posted July 9, 2008 Cool. I think I was confusing live photos with just photos of folks setting the stuff up. Pretty cool looking stuff. I've almost got everything now I have to figure out how to run cables to them and how many I need, etc.. I'm a complete novice, so if there are any 'hookup primers' out there that you guys could forward me to, that'd be great. I'll be running the CStrips, 4 Led64s, and 2 Intimidators. These'll be hooked to a DMX70 board that's controlled by the Behringer midi foot pedal. Forgive my ignorance here, but is EVERYTHING chained together when you do this? For example, after the midi board's connected to the light board, is it just ONE dmx cable out to the first fixture and then all of them just connected in series? That's how it looks and then I guess you'd set the DMX addresses on each fixture and then probably set each fader on the dmx70 to a particular dmx address..... ok, am I totally lost, or is that the basic idea? Sorry to come in as green as I am... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Manford Posted July 9, 2008 Members Share Posted July 9, 2008 Forgive my ignorance here, but is EVERYTHING chained together when you do this? For example, after the midi board's connected to the light board, is it just ONE dmx cable out to the first fixture and then all of them just connected in series? That's how it looks and then I guess you'd set the DMX addresses on each fixture and then probably set each fader on the dmx70 to a particular dmx address..... ok, am I totally lost, or is that the basic idea? Sorry to come in as green as I am... You are on the right track... I'll be glad to help with the FCB1010 when you get ready, there are some "tricks" that are not very clear in the manual to help you along. Once you figure it out, it makes perfect sense. Come back and post a thread or PM me when you are ready to roll. From your board, you'll run a single DMX line to the first fixture, then come out of that fixture with a line to the next fixture, and so on. You can set the addressess of the fixtures in different ways, depending on what you want to do. If you know two or more fixtures are going to be doing the EXACT same thing, just on a different part of the stage (i.e. color washes) then set those fixtures to the same DMX address. The faders on the board will control the abilities of each fixture, once you have the addresses set. Manford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brywool Posted July 9, 2008 Members Share Posted July 9, 2008 Awesome Manford. Thank you very much for the help. In fact thanks to everyone here. I came in here a few weeks in a bind because the guy with the lights in my band was bailing and I was faced with replacing them, knowing NOTHING about lighting at all. I've learned a lot here. Now if I can just figure out how to haul this crap and set it up in under a day.... along with my guitars/mics/etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted July 9, 2008 Members Share Posted July 9, 2008 The Colorstrips tend to work best when they're run in master-slave mode. If you just chain the DMX together, they'll function independently, whereas in MS mode they'll work together with the patterns/etc. Run the DMX/XLR cable from your board, to whatever units you want, then to the FIRST Colorstrip, then to the rest of the DMX lights you have. Run a separate cable from the "master out" of the first Colorstrip to the input of the next Colorstrip, etc. Essentially they'll be on their own little chain with only the first one connected to your main DMX chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brywool Posted July 9, 2008 Members Share Posted July 9, 2008 will do. I'll be getting cables probably this evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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