Control/Dimming LED/Moving Light Integration with Conventionals...

LDDI

Member
The theatre that I have just become the technical director at is going to start doing a bunch of upgrades to the lighting system. We currently have a ETC Express 48/96 controlling 90 Dimmers connected via patchbay to 144 sockets...
This theatre is a historic theatre, and it is now used more as a concert venue. I would like to add RGB or RGBW LED fixtures to our wash lighting, as well as moving head/scanner lights (We currently have four (4) Martin RoboScan 518 fixtures) We are looking into upgrading our lighting desk to either a ETC Ion or an ETC Element; If more moving heads, the encoders on Ion would be nice..
My main question is: does anyone have ideas for what LED's or Movers would work the best for my setup (I will post pictures of the stage). Also I can't spend a fortune, but this can be done over time.
Thanks,
D.I.
Stage (Ele.1 Ele.2).jpgStage (Ele.1).jpgStage Floor.jpg

Left Pic: 1st & 2nd Ele Battens (3rd hidden)
Middle Pic: Proscenium Opening & Ele.1
Right Pic: Stage Floor (sorry about zoomed out image)

-Sorry about poor pictures/kids in pictures..all i had-
 
Your choice of LED fixtures can be pretty highly dependent what you're going to use them for. I'd push for an amber as a fourth color instead of a white. The whites can be nice for pastels, but I like the amber for filling in some of the holes in the spectrum from the other colors. If you're already looking at ETC for control, take a look at their LEDs. They have some of the best color rendering, however they are pretty expensive compared to other fixtures. Do you have anyone nearby up there that you can get some demo fixtures from? It is really nice to do a shootout in your space to see what you like.

It looks like you might have around a 20' trim height. Many LEDs have a pretty narrow beam spread (12-15 degrees), so you'll want to look into diffusion lenses for them.

Personally, I prefer to the Ion over the Element, if you can swing it in your budget. While they run basically the same software, there are some big limitations to how you can save fixtures with complicated parameters, such as moving lights. Coming from an express, you won't feel that difference, because the Element is a pretty big upgrade from the abilities of an Express.

All in all, good luck! Always nice to see an old space getting the love and attention it deserves.
 
Do some searching and browsing in the archieves of this forum. There's been a lot of discussion here about the best options for various budgets and needs, and they combined results will be better than yet another set of the same opinions, at least as a starting point.
 
I will take a look at some ETC LEDs and get demos of the amber if possible (never thought about that) I've worked with both ION and Element, an I prefer Ion, but I don't know how the budget will work out...
Do you know of anywhere I could find out more about diffusion lenses? I don't know much about them..

Thanks!
 
Most manufactures offer at least one lens for each fixture that you can order with it. Don't believe the printed beam values though. Pretty much everyone (including ETC) labels their lenses as wider than they actually are. You have to read the fine print on the spec sheets to see what it really is.

That said, ETC has just about the widest selection of lenses for their fixtures that I've seen, with very little loss of light to the lens.

I've been meaning to sit down with my LEDs and compare their manufacturer spread lenses to some diffusion, and see which comes out on top for spread and light loss, but auto show has been taking all my time.
 

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