LED Lighting

nmccoart5

Member
I have been looking around for some LED lighing rentals near Rhode Island. Everything i have been able to get my hands on has been rather on the expensive side. I need like 20 Chroma Q color blocks or similar. I have some pretty good connections, but everything has been expensive. Anyone have any ideas? Its for a high school event fyi.

thanks
 
Buy ColorSplash Jr. for about $49/each, or Solaris ParCans for $119/each. Ebay has awesome cheap crap.
 
As most shows go, you'll have to find it cheaper somewhere else or compromise. What do you need them for?
 
Is there any particular reason you need LED's? They are cool but in most cases are not bright enough for theater use unless you pay a LOT of money.

So what are you trying to do with them?
 
Its not for a theater application. I was going to use them as uplights on a cyc backdrop. As far as buying goes, we are definatley renting. There isn't a schance the school is going to but fixtures, as we have tried multiple times.
 
Its not for a theater application. I was going to use them as uplights on a cyc backdrop. As far as buying goes, we are definatley renting. There isn't a schance the school is going to but fixtures, as we have tried multiple times.

Do you have any other lights on stage anywhere near this Cyc? Most LED's do not have the power to punch through and be seen if there is other lighting on stage. They simply get washed out by other lighting on stage.

As cool as they are, LED's still have quite limited use on stage. Typical concert and Broadway/Vegas applications of LED's are:
-aimed at the audience
-aimed on parts of the set not lit by conventional lights
-only used when things are relatively dark and no conventional fixtures are used
-used in MASSIVE quantities to light everything

There are a few products from CK, Pixelrange, and Selador that do have the power to be seen on a cyc over other stage lights but they have to be used in massive quantities. I was told by a Selador rep about a year ago you need about 75% coverage top AND bottom to light a cyc bright enough that it will not be washed out by other stage lights. In other words you put a 3' wide strip, leave a 1' gap, put another 3' strip. That may not be true with the latest generation of fixture from them but it will get you started. I don't think any LED's in existence are powerful enough to light an entire cyc with only a ground row you will need top light too. I'm not the expert on Chroma Q color blocks but they don't seem to have nearly enough punch to be used as a wash light. Compare them to a CK colorblaze or a Selador X7-xtra, or one of the Pixelrange wash lights.

Again, is there a reason you NEED LED's? We would all LIKE to have them them but for most theater applications they are still too expensive and just not bright enough to be practical. While they are very cool. It's my opinion no one in their right mind should be buying LED's just yet. Sure if you are doing a rock tour and they give you the look you want go for it. But for the vast majority of us they make no sense just yet. Give them a few more years to get the intensity up and the price down. Then the rest of us can start thinking about using them.
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back