Stage Lighting 101

TomCat

Hi All

Here is a link to a website that is very informative regarding stage and theater lighting. It gets a bit technical so it is a good one for the technocrats out there as well.

http://www.mts.net/~william5/sld.htm

Cheers

Riaan-Combrink

Nice link, Tomcat. Bookmarked for later consumption!

I've spent enough money on PA, peripherals and instruments. Can't do a massive outlay on lights just for our duo. I've, however, for a while now been trying to figure out a way of making two simple coloured stage lights (big enough to just throw a glow or atmospheric hue (is that the right word? perhaps 'aura') on us at a wedding or a function. Maybe a nice red/purple and a lighter blue/green/yellow - emanating from opposite sides). Some venues (booked halls, etc) don't have dimmer switches, so its Sahara noon or Reijkavik midnight - either or. Can kill the atmosphere at a party or wedding.

Is there a kind of a spotlight, or globe-set I could literally mount on a piece of plyboard or something to create two units this way? I know nothing about voltages, etc, so any SPECIFIC advice would be cool! I suppose each unit would have to have its own link (by extension lead?) back to my multiplug running the PA (if there are not separate plugs in proximity to where the lights would be set up). Am I likely to get interference or hum on my PA? Is the entire idea crazy? Should I stop being so cheap?

Any ideas would be welcome!

Keira-WitherKay

Riaan just buy some par cans that most stages use...they cheap only R600 or so a unit and they look professional.... so if you in a pro duo rather take money from one gig and buy a pair of pro lights

the surprise is the bulbs cost as much as the cans so after they expire...since they only have limited number of hours of use you pay almost R300 or more to replace the bulbs...alone heheheh

but well worth it and looks good see the colour in my profile pic ...well i carry just one such par can with me to gigs and it lights a whole stage..... and just on or off... no dimmers ect or sound to light .... but effective....

peace and light
Keira

TomCat

Well...as in anything,money talks.

For a really simple system go for two or four PAR 56 short cans with medium flood lamps. These are 300W fixtures so they can easily be run off a multiplug along with the PA.

You will not have a hum problems as there is no dimmer to create any noise. You can mount these on a simple plywood stand (What is called a duck stand). The disadvantage is the heat of the lamps if they are positioned close to you and colour gels are required for any coloured effects.

Alternative is to go for LED Strip Bar type of light. More expensive but allows for far more colour options.

http://www.chauvetlighting.com/colorstrip.html

I have used these to light up a drum kit from below with stunning results. They can run on their own or be controlled using any DMX controller.

Riaan-Combrink

@ Tom & Keira: Thanks for the solid advice, guys. I just assumed those cans would be much more expensive than that!

What does the difference between eg. par 56 and 64 denote?

These JB systems ones look budget enough! - I see the black 64 is only a bit more - is it a more durable light or stronger beam? I must say I like the little grill on the short 56, though!

http://www.soundz.co.za/c89/Par-Cans.aspx

Tom, this guy talks about LED pars not needing dimmers (implying conventional ones do?). Could you explain?

http://starfieldbackdrops.co.za/blog/par-cans-led-or-conventional/

Sorry for all the questions, but you have my interest now!

TomCat

Riaan C wrote: @ Tom & Keira: Thanks for the solid advice, guys. I just assumed those cans would be much more expensive than that!

What does the difference between eg. par 56 and 64 denote?

These JB systems ones look budget enough! - I see the black 64 is only a bit more - is it a more durable light or stronger beam? I must say I like the little grill on the short 56, though!

http://www.soundz.co.za/c89/Par-Cans.aspx

Tom, this guy talks about LED pars not needing dimmers (implying conventional ones do?). Could you explain?

http://starfieldbackdrops.co.za/blog/par-cans-led-or-conventional/

Sorry for all the questions, but you have my interest now!

Par 56 is a 300W tungsten fixture. Light output is "relatively low", but would be perfect for your type of application. Normally these are run on dimmers to control the light intensity. In your case plugging these into a multi-plug and using them at full intensity would be OK. One can always get a combined Controller/dimmer later.

A nice little controller/dimmer is the Pulsar Lighting Zero 4001. You could easily run two Par 56 lights off each channel, giving you eight lights off a single 15A plug with full dimming and chase facilities.
http://www.pulsarlight.com/Products/EffectsControl/Zero4001/tabid/136/Default.aspx

A Par 64 is a halogen 1000W fixture. Very powerful and you don't want to be any closer than about 4 meters to these baby's. They also produce an intense amount of heat and can actually cause sunburn over an extended period of time from their UV content if you are too close to them. These thing suck big power.

LED Par cans work in the same way as the colourstrip fixture i mentioned earlier. These include simple DMX control and internal control to control the light without the need for an external dimmer pack or controller.

Cheers

The standard Par can is basically a "dumb" fixture where the LED Par can is a little more "Intelligent".

Riaan-Combrink

Thanks, Tom.

That's crystal clear!

TomCat

Riaan C wrote: Thanks, Tom.

That's crystal clear!

Riaan...No Prob......Just thought I would throw some light on the subject for you there. ? ?

Riaan-Combrink

TomCat wrote:

Riaan...No Prob......Just thought I would throw some light on the subject for you there. ? ?
[/quote]

Very nice, sir ?