DJ lights as a substitute?

majere

Member
I have a question. My school has given us about $600 for intelligent lighting. This is obviousely not much of a budget and it would be impossible to buy actual intelligent lighting designed for theater use.

Could we use DJ lights as a substitute? I was thinking of chauvet intimidators. Any suggestions or opinions? Any schools out there use DJ lights as substitutes?
 
I don't think hunting from forum to forum is going to give you the answer you want to hear. Get color scrollers.
 
DJ lights will have smaller, dimmer beams than real lights, so they will be basically useless.
 
i honestly think the info you got from prosoundweb is the best.

The only reason i would use dj lights at all would be for sweeping sort of effects in musicals. They just aren't practical for the theater. If they were, wouldn't everyone use them?
 
jbeutt said:
I don't think hunting from forum to forum is going to give you the answer you want to hear. Get color scrollers.

No, I think it is a really good idea in getting a wide pool of information. On say Pro Sound, he got advice primarially from those that use the lower end stuff, here he is asking for advice from fellow students.

Perhaps others will have gone the route he is asking about in their own high school. Perhaps it even worked well for them. As opposed to the trouble we are having with "guests", jbeutt is very much welcome to ask here and anyone with a thought on this matter should post a response.

My response is already noted on the other forum so I won't repeat it.
 
lol, I am just trying to get multiple opinions. I just wanted to see if any other highschools had tried it. Here is my issue: I could buy two color scrollers with the money given me, which would allow me to rotate gels on two lights, OR I could use that same amount of money to buy two whole new lights that can both change color and move.

I realise the lights won't be of the highest quality but for some reason it just seems like a better use of the money. I am definately seeing the logic in your advice and I will most likely go buy the color scrollers in the end just because it's much less risky then buying two lights which may be of no use to me.

But what I want to know is if any other schools have done it. Has anyone found dj lights as an worthwhile investment? What I am saying is that I know the reasons why not to buy the lights, but can anyone tell me any reason why I should buy them?
 
oh, i didn't mean he shouldn't ask around at all, i just didn't think he'd get much different answers. Prove me wrong.

You can definitely go the dj light route, but at this point, you're aware of the problems they present. You can solve the usability issue quite easily by going ahead and renting the devices you're interested in. If they look good, great.
The problem you can't forsee is the quality of the device. It would be a shame to move on from the school and have them break on the company. I think a theater would be asking more out of the dj light than a dj would.
 
I'd take a quick look at Light Broker before you decide. You might find something cheap and useful there.
 
first, what kind of control board do you have?

second, the problem with DJ movers that ive found, its theyre extremely noisy, not to mention poorly built.
 
Whatever you get, the console will be good for it-as long as it is controlled by DMX. That board has the 7-attribute control wheels to control the attributes of moving fixtures.
 
just one advantage to the scanners is that it'll give you more experience w/ intels. they may end up being useless in the shows you're doing but if you teaching technical theater tehn they would ber good to have
 
For $195 a piece, included shipping, you can get ADJ Pocket Scans on eBay. It's got fourteen gobos+blank spot and 16 colors (including white). It's only got a hundred watts, so you'd need to consider this. But still, for less than 600, you can get three DMX addressable scanning lights, which can be controlled with your console. If anything, as said before, you'll have intel experience when you get ready to go for the big ones.

Good luck!
 
The pocket scans also have a built in laser. If you want a cheap light with lots of features for a musical I'd look at them.
 
majere said:
Would i be correct in assuming that the fan in a dj light with a 100w arc lamp is going to be much louder than the fan in a dj light with a 250w halogen lamp?

Logically, your question makes sense, but in reality the answer isn't as clear. DJ lights are made in the hundreds of thousands, and are not always assembled from the same parts. I remember seeing 4 of the exact same model fixture (brand and model withheld) with 4 different brands of motors on them. They were still factory sealed in the original boxes (came from a retailer that when out of business) so for giggles we opened them up to put the lamps in them and try them out. Different motors, different fans, etc. They get whatever parts fit and are the cheapest and away they go.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back