Options for LED striplights

[manuallyfocused]

Hi all,

I'm looking for recommendations on LED striplight options to look at. We would be looking for units that could function well in multiple capacities- wall washing for scenery, cyc lighting for dance and other purposes, and audience blinding backlight/effects for band concerts.

We have never had a cyc in our space, for the past year and a half I've been throwing a couple pars on an angle against our black pipe and drape to get a bit of color behind our events. At the moment I have 8 11'-6" x 4'-0" steel frames covered with white muslin that I built for our last musical production. I will be putting these together as a faux cyc approximately 32' wide for our dance concert in May. Any permanent cyc will end up being about the same size (11'-6" x 32') as the roof slopes down at the back of our stage and we only have that much height to work with. I would be planning to light the cyc from units mounted on the floor as we don't have any upstage hanging positions.

So we don't need a ton of horsepower, but good color mixing and good dimming would be our primarily concerns. Our stage is 32' x 22'. Our current color-mixing fixtures are 12 ETC Colorsource Pars (not deep blue) and 4 Chauvet Rogue R2 Wash fixtures, so it'd be nice if whatever we get plays well with those. Budget-wise it'd be great to stay under $1000 per 6' fixture, but if the right one is more I can re-evaluate.

One of the reps we've worked with in the past recommended that we look at these five models:

-Elation Colour Chorus 72

-Elation Sixbar 1000

-Elation ACL Curtain

-Chauvet Ovation B-2805FC

-Chauvet Colorado Batten 72

I've also been looking at the ETC Colorsource Linear fixtures, which look good but don't seem to be available yet.

I've reached out to our local Chauvet rep to see if we can get a demo of the Chauvet fixtures, but would appreciate any experience you all may have with regards to any of the above fixtures or other ones we should look at.

Thanks!

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I will only mention that folks here and on another board have commented on the Philips Showline. Might want to check it out.

 

[JohnD]

For bidding purposes, are you required to only buy new? If you can buy used equipment how about this:
https://www.usedlighting.com/16050/chroma-q-color-force-72
Since the Color Force II came out it is likely that the larger rental houses will want to reduce their stock of the older model. Granted, it's probably overkill for a >12' drop, but then you can always turn it down. Since you are near a 4 wall it might be worth dropping in, getting their opinion.

 

[manuallyfocused]

I'm not required to buy new, but the moment I buy something used and it breaks, I get told never to buy used again . I think for these I'd prefer to stick with new, for conventionals and dimmers I have had no problems getting used. I'll check out the Philips Showline, thanks for the suggestion!

 

[MRW Lights]

If you can buy new buy new, but if you need more flash for your buck most rental houses that sell used gear will also back them with a 1 year warranty, if it doesn't break within a year from something that's not clearly user liable, then you're pretty solid. I got a set of Color Force 72's on a great deal and they work great.

I would also ask how you plan on using them most, some fixtures lend themselves to being more friendly to effects, fanning, color or fading. I like the fade of my Color Force's and do primarily theater and some dance so they work great in my space, but on the rare occasion that we do music or want to get fancy with them the smallest DMX set they can take up is 32 addresses to start really using fanning/effects well and with a mostly intelligent rig that's dimmer doubled I'm pretty tapped, even for a small space. If it's a concern be sure to consider your DMX footprint along with the physical aspects of the fixture.

You can also always rent/demo a unit. See what works best in your space and sometimes a rental house will apply some of that cost to your purchase if you have to rent them. It's not suggested to buy a car without a test drive, I apply the same logic to fixtures.

 

[JJBerman]

The ETC ColorSource Linear 1 (.5 meter) and Linear 2 (1 meter) are available now.
The Linear 4 (2 meter), as can be seen on the ETC website is on its way, hopefully soon.

 

[Van]

We've been installing a lot of the Phillips Showline lately.
SL Bar
Their WEBSITE SUCKS !

 

[cbrandt]

For that purpose, I'd stay away from the ACL Curtains. They are fantastic effects lights, but if you use them to scrape a cyc, you're going to see a lot of rainbows near the fixture. The nature of those types of COB fixtures is that a lot of the color mixing happens in the air, not inside the lens.

 

[RickR]

I'm surprised not to see the Altman Spectra Cyc fixture on the list. Sure, it's at the top of your price range but it has fantastic side to side coverage and blending, as well as a true asymmetric throw for good height at a close range. IMHO bar fixtures can't touch it for evenness.

 

[manuallyfocused]

Cbrandt- thanks for the warning about the ACL Curtain, that is definitely a concern. Would any of the other fixtures on the list exhibit that behavior? Which ones would give the most even wash with a short throw distance?

RickR- Thanks for the recommendation on the Spectra Cyc fixtures . Unfortunately, I don't think it's a great option for us as we need a low profile fixture. We don't have the ceiling height for a traditional cyc light position (the ceiling on our stage slopes down from 16' at the front of the stage to about 10' all the way at the back) and also have no way to mask one if we did manage to put up a pipe. Our only real option is floor-mounting most of the time, and because we only have 11'-6" of cyc height to work with I'd rather not lose more than a foot to mask the Spectra Cycs. Hence the focus on the LED strips. Perhaps one day they'll let me tear out the pointless angled ceiling and put in a real grid, and then I could make all of our lighting dreams come true .

Thanks for all the input!

 

[cbrandt]

With the sixbar you'll see a little of it, but not nearly as much as with the ACL. You probably won't notice it past 18-24" outside of the fixture. You won't have that problem with the colour chorus, as this is exactly the application they were designed for. I can't weigh in on the Chauvet fixtures, as I haven't seen those in person.

 

[Ford]

I think you'll find the Ovation Battens to be WAY more than you need for an 11' throw. I'd stick with the COLORado Batten 72.
You will like the RGBWA color mixing, they are low profile, power linking, and versatile.

 

[JChenault]

Re the spectra cyc. The fixture is just over 11 inches tall. We have a 1 foot deep cyc pit and get very even washes at 3 feet from the cyc. If you have three feet of depth to play with I think you will find that a 1 foot ground row will work fine

 

[RickR]

Sometimes 6" extra makes all the difference and sometimes it hardly matters.

I think the batten wins on price too!

 

[Duncan Milne]

I've got 4x Showline Bar 620's in our house rig. I love them! They have a wide pattern (about 60 degrees) but I think you can get lenses to vary the angles. I often use them as a cyc light but they are not as even as a dedicated cyc (I like the Philips Selecon PLCyc which has the same LED engine). I particularly like that they do great colour mixing with no fringing, and they do great pastel colours not just the traditional saturated RGB. And they dim perfectly in a theatrical setting - no visible stepping at the lower end of a long fade out.

They're great as a wash light and come in several formats - we have the 6x2 layout. Worth looking at!