help with equipment pull for lighting a 55'X60' stage.

[salsa88]

I'm in charge of ordering some lighting equipment for a color wash on a 55' X 60' stage that will be used as a dance floor. I already plan on flying a U shape rig above the stage. My questions is what would be the best way to shoot a color wash onto the stage? I was thinking about doing 9 par bars with 3 bars on each side of the U shape. Would that be enough light to cover the 55' X 60' stage? Also I can't get anything bigger then a 48 dimmer rack, but can get two 48's or a few smaller racks. What lighting board would I need in order to link multiple dimmer racks together and have enough channels to run the 54 Pars?

Please let me know if I should add or remove some lights or if you have a better way to light this stage. LED's and movers are out of the question for budget reasons.

Thanks for any help.

[len]

Not enough info. We'd need to know the trim height of the lights, what type of lens would be in them, if there will be gels used, and what size lamp.

If you're using a S4 par (I think that's what you mentioned) all the photometric data is on the ETC website. You just have to look for it. Whether it will be bright enough depends on who is looking at it and what you want them to see.

[MNicolai]

Tell us a little more about what you're looking for.

What role do you play in this purchase? Are you suggesting equipment, or are you doing a design/build?

What is your budget?

What do you want to be able to do with the lighting console?

Are you buying or renting?

Etc, etc.

[shiben]

I think its also a decent question as to what kind of dance floor it will be. If its a club style show, all your PARs are going to be way to hot for most people's enjoyment. However, if its more of a performance dance, your probably going to want a ton of side light, from as high as the trim to as low as 6" off the deck. A lot of your gear decisions are going to be based on what exactly you want to accomplish. Another issue that comes to mind is wether or not you intend you use scrollers on the PARs, or if your trying to build 3 main color systems, or some other plan altogether. As len mentioned, the "lighting the stage well" part is a totally relative question. I have gotten great lighting out of 2 Source 4s, and terrible lighting out of 150. It all depends on how bright you want it, how you want to reveal the people on the stage, how you want to add color, the audience, etc.