ColorBlasts for overhead

[TechGeek]

Hey all,
I am doing a production of Rock of Ages in September and the theater wants to look at both renting and purchasing lights. I found a steal on ColorBlast TRX fixtures with a PDS and would buy them if they will be a good use for overhead light. I've personally only have used them for uplighting. The package I found comes with 12 Colorblast TRX's.

So basically my question is: Has anyone used ColorBlasts for overhead lighting providing your general down light, and had good success?

I figure these would probably work very nicely with the 23deg. frost lens in them.

I don't have exact measurement on height but I believe trim for hang is around 20ish feet. The stage is 34' 1" wide and about 32' deep. The venue has 3 dedicated electrics. How many would I need to get a nice even wash?

 

[notoriousRBG]

It works, doesn't give you the same smooth falloff and barn door beam control as a par fixture, but definitely works. If I'm not mistaken, I think the beam is somewhat oblong.

 

[TechGeek]

It works, doesn't give you the same smooth falloff and barn door beam control as a par fixture, but definitely works. If I'm not mistaken, I think the beam is somewhat oblong.

I had a feeling the beam shape might be weird.... Are they still punchy under 750w lekos though?

 

[notoriousRBG]

If you're looking for really dramatic color washes with lots of other lights on, you may be disappointed. They can get the job done if you control other light sources carefully, but if you need really punchy, something like a D40 is the way to go.

 

[np18358]

A venue near me has them, and previously only used them for uplighting or other effects, but now has them overhead. The punch is good, not great. I usually use them overheads in very saturate colors, and they do those well, (I would say very well in the Blue) but you may not be totally pleased with the punch if you are looking to do pastels as well as an ETC Led. I think the mixing itself is not bad, but it doesn't compete with incandescents intensity wise in the pastels. The beam is definitely more oblong than circular, but I like that for top/back color washes. I don't think the beam falloff is significantly different than a par. It looks like you may be stretching the spread with that spacing though (assuming you would do 4 per electric).

 

[TechGeek]

I love the blue that ColorKinetics fixtures produce, hands down one of the best. I'm going for full led leko front wash for this show, my power is limited to 200A and I still have a bunch of movers to power besides these leds.

I was thinking of doing 6 to 12 per electric to get a really nice saturated wash. The package I found for sale contains 12 TRX fixtures with a PDS-750. Currently, I can buy at least 2 packages and then still have money for clamps, safety cables, and scroller cable. So, if I do purchase two of the packages I would do 6 on each of the electrics, totaling 18 fixtures permanently hung, and 6 to play around with... how do you guys feel about that?

I figure 6 per electric (3 electrics total) with the 23deg. frosted lens will offer a nice punchy wash. The left over 6 I can toy with, which I may put in the truss towers on either side of the thrust, 2 in each.


Attached is a drawing of the linesets and spacing that I was sent. It's a pdf, so I drew on it for now instead of making a new 2d plot. (I was lazy, Ill make an actual plot once I know the actual rig)

 

[RickR]

Lots of folks love the TRX for good color. Evenness is rarely an issue with LEDs because they are so fuzzy.

I find the TRX and similar stuff very low power. It's a 50W draw and ~1300 lumens with the wider lens. That's not much, if any better than a PAR38. With 6' OC spacing I would settle double that, depending on front wash levels, probably wishing for more even then. You don't say how many 750's so we can't know how bright the wash. You can get DJ gear that will outperform those for a small fraction of the usual price. ColorSource Pars are running $600+, double the output, and not cheap junk either.

 

[TechGeek]

Front wash is 20 Source Four Lekos, 750w. The stage will be split into 10 sections. US Left, US Center Left, US Center, US Center Right, US Right, same thing DS. They will be gel'd with R33 and R68.

I was just looking at the Colorblast TRX as an option. I have a slew of other fixtures as well.... Please feel free to make personal recommendations!