Buying first lighting rig in the near future. Any advice?

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alforra

Member
Hi everyone,

I'm a beginner in concert lighting and I've been donating my time to an established production company as their schedule permits in exchange for lighting knowledge. I'm planning on buying my first rig in the next year and trying to start up my own thing. I will primarily be lighting small to medium concerts in bar/club atmospheres and maybe some small outside festivals to begin with. I have some ideas of what to buy first, but any input would be greatly appreciated. I would like to stay on a budget, but start out with the right equipment to make a name for myself. I would like to stay around $8,000 - $10,000 to begin with.

Here's what I'm thinking:

4 - blizzard lighting Puck 3's
4 - blizzard lighting Rocker panels
4 - led moving heads (see below)

-any suggestions on dmx controllers, fog/haze machines, and mac dmx software would help!

I haven't decided whether to buy $1000 moving heads: Chauvet qpot 260 vs. blizzard g60. Or should I save my money and buy $2000 moving heads: Elation platinum spot 5r vs. blizzard torrent 90. Any comparison on these movers or anyone who has experience with these would help as well. Does this sound like a decent first rig that I could be successful with? Thanks!
 
I would say buy some par 64s, when your first starting out I would prefer to have something more reliable before I started making the money to fix the higher end stuff. Though I would say throw in a few moving heads.

Also will these places have dead hung pipes and power for you to run off of? Cause you may need portable dimmers and truss or pipping as well.
 
Toffee said:
I would say buy some par 64s, when your first starting out I would prefer to have something more reliable before I started making the money to fix the higher end stuff. Though I would say throw in a few moving heads.

Also will these places have dead hung pipes and power for you to run off of? Cause you may need portable dimmers and truss or pipping as well.
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Thanks for the advice. I would definitely need some trusses. Probably some road cases as well. I'm really interested in buying exclusively LED lighting that way the power shouldn't be much of an issue. I would like to be able to get into some of the places that maybe can't power a larger rig, but still have the light output to do bigger shows as well. We have a great music scene around here, but no one pushes any production at all. I think it would be cool to start out doing some cheap paying shows or maybe even put on some free shows just to get the word out and pick up experience. I have a good day job so I'm not extremely worried about making money right away.
 
I would suggest getting more experience before getting the gear. From experience I can say throwing that much money into gear with out proper experience and understanding of the market is a poor idea.

//but if its a hobby, more power to you. Just don't expect to not see much of a return on it.
 
Pie4Weebl said:
I would suggest getting more experience before getting the gear. From experience I can say throwing that much money into gear with out proper experience and understanding of the market is a poor idea.

//but if its a hobby, more power to you. Just don't expect to not see much of a return on it.
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I agree, rent some gear for your first few shows. Figure out exactly where you going to be doing shows, how much room your going to have to hang lights, how much power you'll have, how much area you'll need to cover, etc. If it was me I would start with some par can 6 bars, you could do led if your wanting to save on power needs, and the dimming, cable and console to go with them.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, but I'm not even sure if there's anyone who rents lighting around here. I'll make sure to keep working shows to gain experience while I save for my own set, but I'd really like to hear your input on LED moving heads. Which ones are your favorites?
 
I have heard tons of good and not much bad about the Elation 5r moving heads. I would take a look at those, but the wattage might creep up on you...
 
shiben said:
I have heard tons of good and not much bad about the Elation 5r moving heads. I would take a look at those, but the wattage might creep up on you...
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Yeah, I love them.

Especially the 15R pro with CMY color mixing.
 
shiben said:
Really want the theater I worked for to get some Elation products, really high quality for the price point, and the 5Rs are all we need for a 18' grid... But apparently 2k is "too high"...
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I did not like Elation products for the price until the 5R series. These are truly great units.

Yeah, I work with churches and small resident theaters. That is why I move a lot of the Blizzard gear.

But those Platinums are nice. I thought they were only $1500. But I don't have my price list on this computer.
 
Esoteric said:
But those Platinums are nice. I thought they were only $1500. But I don't have my price list on this computer.
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MAP on the Platinum Spot 5R's is $2199.99, and I would absolutely agree that they are an excellent value for the performance and features they offer.

Best,
John
 
doctrjohn said:
MAP on the Platinum Spot 5R's is $2199.99, and I would absolutely agree that they are an excellent value for the performance and features they offer.

Best,
John
Click to expand...

Do you have any comparative noise information vis-a-vis a Martin Mac 250 Entour in Studio mode? I'm particularly curious about fan, pan/tilt & effects?
 
Thanks. I read that article a while ago. Unfortunately I don't have acoustic information on the Entour so I don't know how to compare the 2. Basically, an Entour is tolerable in our theatre space and I have access to very few other instruments by way of comparison. There are no local dealers for Elation that carry inventory in this end of their product line so getting one in for a demo is a challenge. Maybe somebody in Montreal has some. I'm actually more interested in the 5R Pro but I expect it has similar acoustic specs.
 
sk8rsdad said:
Thanks. I read that article a while ago. Unfortunately I don't have acoustic information on the Entour so I don't know how to compare the 2. Basically, an Entour is tolerable in our theatre space and I have access to very few other instruments by way of comparison. There are no local dealers for Elation that carry inventory in this end of their product line so getting one in for a demo is a challenge. Maybe somebody in Montreal has some. I'm actually more interested in the 5R Pro but I expect it has similar acoustic specs.
Click to expand...

I have never had cause to put the two side by side for comparison, but I could probably arrange to do so if there was enough interest. What I would suggest is contacting Elation, or the regional rep, directly for a demo if your local dealer is unable to assist you. I believe Eric Loader lurks around here, you can try PMing him, or you can use the generic contact links on Elation's site.

Best,
John
 
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