Conventional Fixtures question about proscenium lighting
- Thread starterZJH90
- Start date
Cool idea Grog! Thanks I had never thought of that.
I've used Christmas lights to run a chase up and down a giant set of stairs. Each step had a set of lights just under the lip all the way across. Each step was on a separate circuit. Hook them up to your dimmers and you can dim them and chase them a million different ways. Really cool trick and cheap and easy for that big showstopping dance number.
I've used Christmas lights to run a chase up and down a giant set of stairs. Each step had a set of lights just under the lip all the way across. Each step was on a separate circuit. Hook them up to your dimmers and you can dim them and chase them a million different ways. Really cool trick and cheap and easy for that big showstopping dance number.
Many lighting rental houses carry http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/glossary-l/11705-chaser-strips.html. If you have three or four dimmers available AND your console has chase of effects capability, you won't need a controller, only adapters.
See also these threads: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/6636-rope-light-brand-suggestions.html, http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/6920-proscenium-border.html, http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/11846-chasing-lights.html.
See also these threads: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/6636-rope-light-brand-suggestions.html, http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/6920-proscenium-border.html, http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/11846-chasing-lights.html.
Played this game before. Its kind of a pain, but its doable. I did this proscenium a few years back. I used C7 lamps on christmas light strands. Don't forget to drop a separate circuit to each strand, do not daisy chain them or you are asking for trouble. I did not wire this one to chase, we only had 48 dimmers in the house so we could not afford to waste 3 on the portal. Would not have been that hard though. Also, if you are looking to do the chase thing, I highly suggest you go with a 4 circuit chase, not a 3. 4's tend to look better.
We do this all of the time, and Kyle is correct in that 4 circuit chases are the minimum, if you want the lights to really look like they are going smoothly in one direction. We Buy premade strings of c7 and c9 sockets in thousand foot reels, then all that is required, is to put a connector on the end of each run. We use the fast mount connectors. If I remember correctly, the c9 stings come with a connector every 30" and the c7 every 12. You can lay 4 runs of the c9 side by side, and tie them every so often with short pieces of wire such as the individual strands from cat5. We buy them from a place on the web call Specialty lighting. We also purchase the lamps in boxes of 25 from the same people. We have purchased about ten different styles of lamps over the last five years, and always put them back in the original boxes when not in use. We also use the$69.95 toolbox dimmers from Bulbamerica.com to drive the chases.
All in all, It can be done for not a lot of money. It is a little time consuming putting the strings together, and mounting them in the arches or portals. We have discovered that it can be done in a few hours if you set up an assembly line with a four or five people. It makes it much faster and less troublesome when handling such long runs and so many lamps.
All in all, It can be done for not a lot of money. It is a little time consuming putting the strings together, and mounting them in the arches or portals. We have discovered that it can be done in a few hours if you set up an assembly line with a four or five people. It makes it much faster and less troublesome when handling such long runs and so many lamps.
NevilleLighting
Active Member
I agree with Kyle. His solution is fairly inexpensive and it's true that 4 circuit chases look better than 3, although you can get away with 3 in a pinch. You might also Google "belt lighting". The wiring comes built for 4 circuit, cheaper than individual bases, but you still have to buy all the bulbs. Cheaper still, slap the director on the back of the head and tell them to go away.
P.S.: My lawyer tells me that the above statement does not endorse violence against directors no matter how much they may need it. My advice, work up the costs, take it to whomever controls the money and let them decide. Then they get to whack the director.
P.S.: My lawyer tells me that the above statement does not endorse violence against directors no matter how much they may need it. My advice, work up the costs, take it to whomever controls the money and let them decide. Then they get to whack the director.
Ahhh, Neville, that seems like SUCH a tempting end to very many situations. I got screwed over as Assistant Lighting Designer though because my LD is dating the director and he'd kind of get upset if i slapped her.
I also did a chase with rope lights like Gafftaper suggested around a large box in a set. It was much smaller, so it was inexpensive, but the method will work
I also did a chase with rope lights like Gafftaper suggested around a large box in a set. It was much smaller, so it was inexpensive, but the method will work
Hello to "Stayfree12"
If you are still looking for C7 or C9 socket strings and lamps for your proscenium arch, checkout Action Lighting at Welcome to Action Lighting- Your one stop lighting shop!
Action has C7 and C9 socket strings with several spacing choices from 6" to 24" and wire colors like white and green. They also carry 5 wire/ 4 circuit chasing rope light by the 150' spool. This stuff is harder to work with than single circuit rope. You need to make your own "Break-in" fan out of the power leaders they supply with the rope light. The supplied leaders are either bare end or have a molded, single, parallel blade 120v plug. Be very careful to figure out which one wire is the neutral vs. the 4 hots!
Good luck with your production.
Dave Horn
The Children's Theatre Company
If you are still looking for C7 or C9 socket strings and lamps for your proscenium arch, checkout Action Lighting at Welcome to Action Lighting- Your one stop lighting shop!
Action has C7 and C9 socket strings with several spacing choices from 6" to 24" and wire colors like white and green. They also carry 5 wire/ 4 circuit chasing rope light by the 150' spool. This stuff is harder to work with than single circuit rope. You need to make your own "Break-in" fan out of the power leaders they supply with the rope light. The supplied leaders are either bare end or have a molded, single, parallel blade 120v plug. Be very careful to figure out which one wire is the neutral vs. the 4 hots!
Good luck with your production.
Dave Horn
The Children's Theatre Company
As the tracks, I've used brown plastic downspouts (look in the eavestrough section), ripped them in half lengthwise on a bandsaw, drilled the holes for the lights and you're away to the races. They're a little bendy when you're putting them in place, but a lot lighter than some other solutions.
TechGeek
Active Member
Proscenium Marquee Lights
My high school has a very big event in April and I was thinking of lining our false proscenium with marquee lights.
I am thinking of using some sort of 30 - 60 watt light bulb, Im trying to find some light bulb that is like a globe shape and clear, Ideas??
Also Im not sure what lamp bases and cable to use. I know how to do the wiring, just not sure what to use.
My high school has a very big event in April and I was thinking of lining our false proscenium with marquee lights.
I am thinking of using some sort of 30 - 60 watt light bulb, Im trying to find some light bulb that is like a globe shape and clear, Ideas??
Also Im not sure what lamp bases and cable to use. I know how to do the wiring, just not sure what to use.
Les
Well-Known Member
Re: Proscenium Marquee Lights
You could use bathroom vanity light bulbs. I'll let others chime in on the wiring and sockets since I'm about to head out. Come to think of it, those strips of 8 or so lights (also for bathroom vanities) would probably also work well. You'd just need a bunch of them.
You could use bathroom vanity light bulbs. I'll let others chime in on the wiring and sockets since I'm about to head out. Come to think of it, those strips of 8 or so lights (also for bathroom vanities) would probably also work well. You'd just need a bunch of them.
Last edited:
TechGeek
Active Member
Re: Proscenium Marquee Lights
Good idea Les, Im gonna look online at homedepot or lowes and see what they have
Good idea Les, Im gonna look online at homedepot or lowes and see what they have
dmx
Active Member
Re: Proscenium Marquee Lights
Is this what you are talking about? (Forgive us, the set and lighting still weren't finished when the photos were taken)
DROWSY CHAPERONE 2011
Larger version:
DROWSY CHAPERONE 2011
Is this what you are talking about? (Forgive us, the set and lighting still weren't finished when the photos were taken)
DROWSY CHAPERONE 2011
Larger version:
DROWSY CHAPERONE 2011
Re: Proscenium Marquee Lights
Belt Lighting is kind of a standard, but I'm not really impressed with it's construction, and I don't know if it's UL listed. Standard E27 base, pick whatever lamps you want (1000bulbs.com is a good source for a variety of bulbs). Not the cheapest, but quick and effective. You could also buy lots of sockets and wire it yourself, if you were motivated.
Belt Lighting is kind of a standard, but I'm not really impressed with it's construction, and I don't know if it's UL listed. Standard E27 base, pick whatever lamps you want (1000bulbs.com is a good source for a variety of bulbs). Not the cheapest, but quick and effective. You could also buy lots of sockets and wire it yourself, if you were motivated.
TechGeek
Active Member
FatherMurphy
Active Member
Re: Proscenium Marquee Lights
Try Christmas Lights : Rope Light : LED Christmas Lighting : Novelty Lights Inc and look for G50 bulbs and stringers....
It's a cheap way to get chaser lights fast, just use three stringers and keep leapfrogging in pattern. I've had good luck with cutting holes in 1/4" luan and simply screwing the bulb through the luan into the socket, although I've sometimes had to belt sand a bit off the end of the socket to get a good fit that also made electrical contact.
Try Christmas Lights : Rope Light : LED Christmas Lighting : Novelty Lights Inc and look for G50 bulbs and stringers....
It's a cheap way to get chaser lights fast, just use three stringers and keep leapfrogging in pattern. I've had good luck with cutting holes in 1/4" luan and simply screwing the bulb through the luan into the socket, although I've sometimes had to belt sand a bit off the end of the socket to get a good fit that also made electrical contact.
dmx
Active Member
Re: Proscenium Marquee Lights
We accomplished ours with luan backing and front with 1x2 completing the top and bottom sides to create a box. Leaving the back of the luan wider than the light portion of the box allowed us to create a hanging system. We used 3 strands of C-7 'Christmas' lights, to create a 3-circuit marquee. For bulbs, we used ones like these :
Shop SYLVANIA 2-Pack 25-Watt G16.5 Candelabra Base Soft White Decorative Incandescent Light Bulb at Lowes.com
Experimenting with different hole drill sizes allowed us to find the right size so the socket was supported by screwing the bulb into the outer face.
Other lessons learned included programming the 'chase' effect. The first option that came to mind was:
Step 1
Channel A 100%
Channel B 0%
Channel C 0%
Step 2
Channel A 0%
Channel B 100%
Channel C 0%
Step 3
Channel A 0%
Channel B 0%
Channel C 100%
Step 4 - Goto Step 1.
This turned out to look jumpy, so instead try the following:
Step 1:
Channel A: 100%
Channel B: 0%
Channel C: 25%
Step 2:
Channel A: 100%
Channel B: 0%
Channel C: 0%
Step 3:
Channel A: 25%
Channel B: 100%
Channel C: 0%
Step 4:
Channel A: 0%
Channel B: 100%
Channel C: 0%
Step 5:
Channel A: 0%
Channel B: 25%
Channel C: 100%
Step 6:
Channel A: 0%
Channel B: 0%
Channel C: 100%
Step 7 - Goto Step 1
We accomplished ours with luan backing and front with 1x2 completing the top and bottom sides to create a box. Leaving the back of the luan wider than the light portion of the box allowed us to create a hanging system. We used 3 strands of C-7 'Christmas' lights, to create a 3-circuit marquee. For bulbs, we used ones like these :
Shop SYLVANIA 2-Pack 25-Watt G16.5 Candelabra Base Soft White Decorative Incandescent Light Bulb at Lowes.com
Experimenting with different hole drill sizes allowed us to find the right size so the socket was supported by screwing the bulb into the outer face.
Other lessons learned included programming the 'chase' effect. The first option that came to mind was:
Step 1
Channel A 100%
Channel B 0%
Channel C 0%
Step 2
Channel A 0%
Channel B 100%
Channel C 0%
Step 3
Channel A 0%
Channel B 0%
Channel C 100%
Step 4 - Goto Step 1.
This turned out to look jumpy, so instead try the following:
Step 1:
Channel A: 100%
Channel B: 0%
Channel C: 25%
Step 2:
Channel A: 100%
Channel B: 0%
Channel C: 0%
Step 3:
Channel A: 25%
Channel B: 100%
Channel C: 0%
Step 4:
Channel A: 0%
Channel B: 100%
Channel C: 0%
Step 5:
Channel A: 0%
Channel B: 25%
Channel C: 100%
Step 6:
Channel A: 0%
Channel B: 0%
Channel C: 100%
Step 7 - Goto Step 1
TechGeek
Active Member
Re: Proscenium Marquee Lights
I'll check both of those out!
We have so much extra Luan so I'm gonna check out my mounting options. I might have to build something really small to add on to our false proscenium flats.
I'll check both of those out!
We have so much extra Luan so I'm gonna check out my mounting options. I might have to build something really small to add on to our false proscenium flats.
