Light Board to Start

Luna1968

Member
Thinking of purchasing this:
Leviton N7016-D00 16/32 Channel Console, 2 Manual Presets, 16 Memory scene, NSI Micro-Plex with DMX
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049MO06U/?tag=controlbooth-20

For controlling this:
LED Wash Lights, LaluceNatz 20” 25W 108LEDs RGB Stage Wash Light Bar DMX Control AutoPlay Strobe Effect Uplighting for Wedding Church DJ Party Stage Lighting(2 pack)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WGY5757/?tag=controlbooth-20

To light up the front of my stage.

I have assorted cables (I think mostly mic. cables), 6 PARS hung from an overhead bar, and something that looks relatively like a dimmer pack, but I'm not sure of the functionality.

My proscenium stage dimensions are 45'9" width x 35'8" depth. About half of the front of the stage is a 26'9" thrust-like section (closed up former orchestra pit.) My control booth is in the rear of the auditorium. Currently, I have 6 dimmer switches (like from a home) on the wall that control about 12 recessed can lights above the stage.

I also have no budget and very little technical theatre know-how!

Will these products work together? HELP!
 
Lots of "gotcha's" here. It is highly unlikely the fixtures you are looking at will be bright enough to do much and depending on where you intend to mount them, may not cover the required area. You will probably have to spend 4 or 5 times that amount per fixture for something suitable. Also how will you control the power to the fixtures? It is normal practice to be able to turn off LED fixtures when not in use to prevent the electronics/fans from wearing out prematurely. Without amber or white LED's in the fixture, it is unlikely you will get accurate human-friendly color balance. For this application, I would suggest a white-only fixture. The controller you are looking at is pretty overkill and expensive for the fixtures and you would have to get adapters to go from the 5-pin DMX out of the Leviton console to the 3-pin input of the fixture. It is also not good practice to use mic cable instead of DMX cable.

Please understand that I know you probably have severe budget limitations, but as usual the wrong product for the right price is not the best use of the funds you do have.
I'm sure people will come along and make appropriate suggestions on how to accomplish your goals!
 
some pix of your venue showing the stage area and the proposed lighting mounting locations would be helpful in guaging distance, angles, etc. You might also consider a temporary "DJ" setup where you place folding light trees at the downstage corners of the stage ... the angles aren't perfect but your throw distances are greatly reduced, which helps with getting things bright enough. Also perhaps using these in tandem with the can lights overhead. In terms of control ... Zigbee, Zwave, or the old standby X-10 might be your friend for a short while while you fund raise to do it right.
 
That light board has only 32 channels of control. Those LED lights would use that up very, very quickly; each of the light bars linked can use at least 18 channels and possibly more--and perhaps has some modes where it uses fewer as well. Basically, that controller is not at all well suited for RGB LED lights; it's designed mainly for a handful of traditional dimmers where each may possibly have a few conventional fixtures patched into them.

That being said, the console will speak DMX512 that the LED bars can receive. It probably would be possible to get some semblance of control working together. You very well might have to settle for all the light bars doing the same thing at the same time (i.e. assign them all to the same starting address) due to the limited number of channels the console supports.

I do agree with the others that the light bars would not give a lot of illumination and would not have very nice color rendering. They might be more useful for atmospheric/architectural sorts of uses--washing walls with color, that sort of thing. They might not be particularly useful or long-lived in any case as they seem to be inexpensive imports sold by a company that may well not be around next year, and probably built to the lowest possible spec they can get away with.
 
My proscenium stage dimensions are 45'9" width x 35'8" depth. About half of the front of the stage is a 26'9" thrust-like section (closed up former orchestra pit.)[\QUOTE]

My opinion, don’t do it. The venue I volunteer in has a stage half that size and we use the 7024 version of that light board. With a lot of headaches, you might get it to work with the lights, but you’d do better with some flashlights.

It’s important to know how high the lights will be from the floor as well as how far out. With a big stage like that, you’re not going to light much with what you showed.

Is rental an option? What are you trying to light?
 
I have operated (and programmed) an NSI, and I can tell you:

You don't want to.

That is all.

[ Looks ] Oh, that's not the preset/stack board; that's probably not as bad, but if you *have* to have two-scene, my next recommendation does that, and still does stack too...

You need a small cheap board, get an ETC SmartFade; 12/48, 24/96 or ML (if you're going to have movers or lots of RGB).

Maybe a ColorSource board, but they don't impress me much.
 
Don't be afraid of a software based control system for your needs. With just those few channels, even one of the "open" class interfaces will work with a refurbished laptop and you could run hundred cue shows. Check the DMX King and Enttec websites. They have listings of both free and paid packages. You could get a system to control your regular pars and your anticipated and future led fixtures for the same money as the Leviton board.
 
As you are a school teacher you would be able to purchase the student Nomad Kit from ETC. They are $250usd (or equivalent GBP) and will give you a great start controlling lights. IT will be a steep learning curve using a PC but there are some great videos and workbooks that are free to use on the ECT website.
As far as the lights go I can't really answer that part but get the best you can afford. Ask around at the local theaters for some help and information so you can make an informed choice.
Regards
Geoff
 
@Luna, for what purpose are you lighting the stage? concert, speaker, theatrical? Each type of event will require (or get by with) different types of lighting set ups. Let's also assume that you have plenty of electrical power available? And that access to hanging positions won't be a problem?

When you say you have no budget do you really mean zero dollars, or just not 100k?

I would concentrate by initial efforts on fixtures and begin with a software controller solution, the Lightfactory starting bundle gives you a lot of control for under $150.00 you just need to provide a laptop from the last 5 years. Short of that check the used equipment web sites, lots of real theatrical/entertainment controllers available.

As the other posts have said, the lighting you're looking at doesn't really have the output to do much for a stage that size. If you have time before your event I would strongly suggest that you have conversations with a few local dealers/consultants and get some input on where best to focus your resources.

Good luck and feel free to continue bringing questions to the forum.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back