DMX question

[DMXtools]

-8 Par 38 cans
-Chauvet Portable Truss System (w/ tripods on either end)

I'd go with PAR56's - PAR38's handle 150W lamps - put gels in front of them and 8 isn't going to be enough. PAR56's, with 300W lamps, will give you twice the light - and the DMX24, I believe, can handle 500W per channel, so you're safe on power even with the 56's.

As far as the truss is concerned, read the fine print - it's only 8 or 10 feet long. It'll just barely straddle the drum rug - no way is it going to go at the front of the stage. Better off getting yourself an extra tripod and skipping the truss. Four PARs and one intel on one tripod on each side of the stage at the front, the two remaining intels at the outer ends of a crossbar on the third tripod, centerstage rear - it's a good start. Later, add another DMX24 and a few PAR38s. Bolt them to a 1'X4' piece of plywood to sit on the floor, centerstage front, as footlights.

Try to budget for a small fog machine and a fan to disperse the fog into the room - movers, especially the ones at the rear of the stage, pointed toward the audience, always look a little more awesome with a little fog.

John

 

[Mplunket]

heh, one more q:
if you have 4 pars going into a 4 ch. dimmer, then into the controller, can you control the individual lights, or do all the pars get put into one unit because of the dimmer? i'm guessing the first, since they are on separate channels on the dimmer, just not sure exactly ;-)

 

[DMXtools]

If they're plugged into different channels of the dimmer pack, they can be controlled individually. My side PARS are on individual channels, so I can control each one separately. For the footlights, I have four PAR38's on each channel of the dimmer pack, so one fader on the board controls all four reds, one fader controls all four blues, etc.

 

[Mplunket]

thanks for the help, man. we appear to have similar setups! i can't wait to get this stuff and start messing around with it. i'm just hoping i can program some cool stuff for the intel lights! hehe

 

[DMXtools]

I just checked the Chauvet website. There's an Omega I and an Omega II. If you can at all afford it, go with the Omega II. It uses an extra DMX channel to give you independent selection of color and gobo. The gobo forms the beam into a pattern... say a star or a triangle or a hollow circle. With the Omega I, each pattern is set up with a specific color filter - you want a particular color, you have to take the gobo that comes with it. You want to project a specific pattern, you can only have it in one color. On the Omega II, the color selection and gobo selection are on separate controls - you can get any of it's 14 gobo patterns in any of its 11 colors - it makes a world of difference in how close you can get your light show to what you want it to be.

John

 

[ship]

The good old fashioned PAR 38/150w lamp has been IMPACT’ed out of US stocks for about 10 years now. Instead it’s the halogen 90w and 120w PAR 38 lamps that replace them. Still, we use American DJ PAR 38 fixtures and with Q250w lamps just as much and that are no doubt similar to what’s offered. (Osram is the best but we use GE., Philips also makes them.) Osram lists the output on a 30 degree flood as 9,000 Candle Power and 3,600 Lumens, and it is 2,950°K in color temperature. The Q250 is much brighter than any incandescent 150w lamp standard we grew up with.

The PAR 56, 300w incandescent lamp you cite is available in 27°x57° Wide flood which the Q250PAR38 is not available with, as well as Spot and Flood . The Medium is 19°x34° so about similar in beam, just coming from a larger light source. The Color temperature is a lower 2,750°K for the GE basic lamp with 24,000 Center Beam Candlepower and 3,840 Lumens. It’s a brighter lamp, but also a much larger fixture. For me it would depend upon the need for more output and the use however. Par 38 fixtures are good for tight ceilings and short throws, but after that, I would agree that the PAR 56 is a more useful fixture in general.

That and the PAR 56 is available in a halogen 500w, and even a high output 600w version for the Very Narrow Spot. It’s outputs again vary but for the GE lamp we are talking about a 2,950°K color temperature, 4,300 Candle, 8,000 Lumen lamp. That’s not as good as a PAR 64 lamp in lumens but more in candlepower on the PAR 56.

On the other hand, the PAR 64 lamp is also available in a 500w incandescent version, as would the PAR 46 in a lamp very similar to the Q250PAR 38 but cheaper. You could fit say 3 PAR 46 on a dimmer as you could also fit two PAR 38 per dimmer as opposed to one fixture per dimmer channel on the PAR 56 or 64.

In other words, if he wants to have more fixtures per dimmer, he can approach the intensity of a PAR 56 at 500w, with a Q250PAR38. More fixtures per circuit especially will make for more light - almost double both in output and beam spread. Between two PAR 38 fixtures and a single PAR 56 one, the PAR 38 will have about double the beam width and intensity. For short range, I would probably go with the PAR 38. For more standard pro use, at least the PAR 56, but upgraded to 500w. For all intensive purposes, there is no difference between the Q250 PAR 38 and 300PAR56 except that the beam comes from a larger lens and thus will have a more even dispersal of light and wider from that starting width. The Q250 will also allow for a bit of overhead on the dimmer for voltage drop. So for all intensive purposes, on a band, a Q250PAR38 lamp will have about the same effect as a 300PAR56, except the PAR 56 will be a larger lens thus wider beam angle to start and less flair with the longer snout. On the other hand, since the normal PAR 38 has less top hat action, it should be about the same width of beam, and it being 50w less it could be a better lamp. At least for short throws where flair won't be an issue. On the other hand, the Q250 is a much higher color temperature and will thus seem brighter on stage. This will become a more intense beam of light. Perhaps the PAR 38 fixture when lamped properly will be of more use??? Don't know, I don't do those shows.

As for DJ gear truss verses stands, that’s not my field. I wonder what it would cost to buy a second piece of truss however so as to span the stage. This way you can get dynamic down lights etc plus the side boom hang positions.

One channel per dimmer equals individual control per pack unless you soft patch it differently. It’s also possible to assign two dimmer packs to the same channel so as to save on control channels - given you want the same lights to come up at the same time from different sides of the stage. Normally however the dimmer pack will be preset for channel 1-4 no matter what the address. Unless you can tie them together at the light board, there is not group control over them unless you pull them up at the same time on a cue.

 

[Mplunket]

grrr.....thanks for letting me know that DMXtools...now i really want to get the Omega II instead. but thats like $500 more or so. we were hoping to spend about $1000, but maybe it's going to cost us a little more than we thought :-(

 

[DMXtools]

The important thing is getting enough light on the stage for the audience to see you and getting a powerful enough board that you won't have to replace it to add more lights later. If you can't afford four Omega II's, get two and look at simpler, non-intelligent FX to make up the difference. A couple rotating moonflower effects, properly positioned and backlighting the band, look really cool with a little fog. A strobe or two is great during a really intense part of the song. American DJ has a thing they call a "single oscillator" - basically a pinspot on a base like an old electric fan - put one on top of each stack of speakers and let them pan back and forth over the heads of the audience during a slow song (again with a little fog). A little thought and ingenuity can make a pretty cheap light kit into a pretty spectacular show.

John

 

[Mplunket]

thanks for that tip, i guess i need to think of creative ways to use available lights for less money. i'll try to get some ideas going and see if i can cut the cost down, while keeping the display up! ;-)

 

[DMXtools]

Part of getting your show remembered is planning both the set list and the light show as a crescendo - each song (and the lighting to go with it) should be a little more intense than the last. If you start the show with all the lights going at once, by the end of your set it seems pretty mundane.

The first song or two, just pick a color out of the PAR cans. Then for a song or two, chase the PARs during the choruses, holding with a static color for the verses... and get a little fog into the room. Then chase the pars during the verses and add an effect for the choruses. Then a different single effect for the choruses of the next song, then a song with two effects. For the last song, you want your most exciting song - one where the song itself is sort of a crescendo. You want to start the song with simple lighting, then pile on a new effect and/or change the chase sequence with each verse or chorus until by the end of the song you've got everything going at once. If you think there will be an encore, hold something back for that - you want the last thing the audience sees to be the most spectacular thing you can give them.

John