The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage?
- Thread starterRomeoTheatreCompany
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Re: The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage
yeah that light will be horribly underpowered if you want to light..... things...
Rule of thumb, you should be looking for fixtures with 36 or more three watt LEDs, and RGBA.
The pucks will do an okay job lighting pipe and drape, but nothing more.
yeah that light will be horribly underpowered if you want to light..... things...
Rule of thumb, you should be looking for fixtures with 36 or more three watt LEDs, and RGBA.
The pucks will do an okay job lighting pipe and drape, but nothing more.
Re: The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage
Nope. Pucks are just not up to that application.
They are OK value for the price but they have a poor dimming curve and just don't have the punch for top or cyc lighting. The poor dimming means they don't mix well in intermediate shades. They are fine for red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow but subtler shades are meh.
We use ours for chase effects and accents. They were originally acquired to uplight some trivera splats. Here are 16 puck on our 24' cyc blending against 4x3 1000W Altman EC-1 Cyc lights gelled RGB. As you can see, they just don't compete.
Nope. Pucks are just not up to that application.
They are OK value for the price but they have a poor dimming curve and just don't have the punch for top or cyc lighting. The poor dimming means they don't mix well in intermediate shades. They are fine for red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow but subtler shades are meh.
We use ours for chase effects and accents. They were originally acquired to uplight some trivera splats. Here are 16 puck on our 24' cyc blending against 4x3 1000W Altman EC-1 Cyc lights gelled RGB. As you can see, they just don't compete.
Re: The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage
The current "favorite" for LED cyc lighting is the Spectra Cyc from Altman or the ETC LED units.
As noted before, the Puck is great.... if your a bar band who has the drummer that also doubles as your audio engineer.
The current "favorite" for LED cyc lighting is the Spectra Cyc from Altman or the ETC LED units.
As noted before, the Puck is great.... if your a bar band who has the drummer that also doubles as your audio engineer.
Re: The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage
The puck is similar to the slimpars... the 4th photo down on the right shows a cyc uplit with 12 slimpars and a couple of overlapping gobo specials:
Past Shows - LAVA Show Resources
We did this as a last resort when it turned out the cyc cells weren't usable at the venue. It worked better than nothing
. Anyways, I'd choose a batten wash light over pars for that application if you want to go down the cheap route. Irradiant has 1/2W battens that can be had for under $200 (40" long). Blizzard has similar for about the same price. I've personally used the irradiants (but not the blizzard units). They are ok for what they are-- they make colored light. However they do not make theatre quality pastels or dim nicely. Also recently a couple of mine have been lagging a bit in dmx response times.
The puck is similar to the slimpars... the 4th photo down on the right shows a cyc uplit with 12 slimpars and a couple of overlapping gobo specials:
Past Shows - LAVA Show Resources
We did this as a last resort when it turned out the cyc cells weren't usable at the venue. It worked better than nothing
. Anyways, I'd choose a batten wash light over pars for that application if you want to go down the cheap route. Irradiant has 1/2W battens that can be had for under $200 (40" long). Blizzard has similar for about the same price. I've personally used the irradiants (but not the blizzard units). They are ok for what they are-- they make colored light. However they do not make theatre quality pastels or dim nicely. Also recently a couple of mine have been lagging a bit in dmx response times.
soundlight
Well-Known Member
Re: The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage
If you actually get fixtures that will be usable in a theatre setting, this is not going to happen. Bad color mixing, poor dimming curves, lack of intensity, and poor/uneven beamspread are going to be issues you find with most of the products in your price range. To light a cyc with LEDs, you need strip fixtures along the entire length, sometimes two rows of them. For an economy fixture, I'd recommend the Chauvet COLORado Batten 144. It has near and far lensing built in to properly wash the cyc top to bottom. If you have a really short cyc you might be able to get away with the Batten 72. Great color mixing and nice coverage from the 144, I've seen it in person. Also no steps in the dimming curve. As far as downlight goes, with whatever fixtures you look at, make sure that the beam angle is wide enough. A lot of LED PARs do not have a wide enough beam angle to function as downlight. "Oh I'll just add diffusion" is a nice thought, but in practice you lose way too much intensity that way and LEDs don't like to diffuse evenly with regular old diffusion gel - they want lensing.
For any fixture, you should get a demo of it in your space and check if it is able to meet your needs before you commit to buying a large quantity of them.
What it comes down to is that you might be able to do the cyc or the downlight (pick one) for 10 grand. Not both.
If you actually get fixtures that will be usable in a theatre setting, this is not going to happen. Bad color mixing, poor dimming curves, lack of intensity, and poor/uneven beamspread are going to be issues you find with most of the products in your price range. To light a cyc with LEDs, you need strip fixtures along the entire length, sometimes two rows of them. For an economy fixture, I'd recommend the Chauvet COLORado Batten 144. It has near and far lensing built in to properly wash the cyc top to bottom. If you have a really short cyc you might be able to get away with the Batten 72. Great color mixing and nice coverage from the 144, I've seen it in person. Also no steps in the dimming curve. As far as downlight goes, with whatever fixtures you look at, make sure that the beam angle is wide enough. A lot of LED PARs do not have a wide enough beam angle to function as downlight. "Oh I'll just add diffusion" is a nice thought, but in practice you lose way too much intensity that way and LEDs don't like to diffuse evenly with regular old diffusion gel - they want lensing.
For any fixture, you should get a demo of it in your space and check if it is able to meet your needs before you commit to buying a large quantity of them.
What it comes down to is that you might be able to do the cyc or the downlight (pick one) for 10 grand. Not both.
Re: The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage
[HIJACK]
Do you have a recommendation for a 24' cyc if you want to have the option of 2 or 3 horizon lines? I'm finding the tradeoffs between convection and fan cooling, lensing, cabling, and yoking somewhat daunting given the hope of getting 10 years out of the investment. Buy strips for a dedicated cyc application or buy a lot of smaller units with flexible lensing that can be used elsewhere? Decisions, decisions.
[/HIJACK]
[HIJACK]
Do you have a recommendation for a 24' cyc if you want to have the option of 2 or 3 horizon lines? I'm finding the tradeoffs between convection and fan cooling, lensing, cabling, and yoking somewhat daunting given the hope of getting 10 years out of the investment. Buy strips for a dedicated cyc application or buy a lot of smaller units with flexible lensing that can be used elsewhere? Decisions, decisions.
[/HIJACK]
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Re: The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage
Ok, I have to point out that lighting a CYC with LED's really isn't so different than using conventional units. First off, one has to consider the output and beamspread of the units they have. This is regardless of what generates the output. Then, one has to consider the PLACEMENT of their units. When the scenic designer hasn't left you any room to *properly* place your cyc lights, and they have to be right on top of the Cyc, then yeah, you are going to want a top and a bottom row of contiguous units. How many shows use a bottom full row of MR16 strips and a top row of Sky Cyc's or the similar? Basically, very rarely are you going to get away using LESS LED units that you would using incandescent units. The idea is that using LED 1) Gives you far greater color and saturation choices and 2) LED's will use far less power to light a cyc then incandescent units.
So, anyway, to the OP. With that $10,000 you should consider what application LED lighting would be more beneficial to you in. Dedicated cyc lights? Dedicated down lights? Or an inventory of units with which to do both with but not both at the same time. Let me be honest, $10,000 isn't going to get you very far. Even your best cheap option, the Chauvet ColorADO 144, still goes for around $1,500. There is no way you will be able to get enough SpectraCyc's, Seladors or ColorForce's for that money.
OP, consider this. How many units are you using right now to light your cyc and do down light? You will have to replace each one of those units with an LED light of comparable beam spread and output. This can be done but not with a one time of $10,000. So, if I had the $10,000, I'd either add to and update my current inventory of conventionals, OR understand that the LEDs I get for that money are really only going to be good for kind of "flash n trash" (pardon the term) that sk8rsdad discussed.
Ok, I have to point out that lighting a CYC with LED's really isn't so different than using conventional units. First off, one has to consider the output and beamspread of the units they have. This is regardless of what generates the output. Then, one has to consider the PLACEMENT of their units. When the scenic designer hasn't left you any room to *properly* place your cyc lights, and they have to be right on top of the Cyc, then yeah, you are going to want a top and a bottom row of contiguous units. How many shows use a bottom full row of MR16 strips and a top row of Sky Cyc's or the similar? Basically, very rarely are you going to get away using LESS LED units that you would using incandescent units. The idea is that using LED 1) Gives you far greater color and saturation choices and 2) LED's will use far less power to light a cyc then incandescent units.
So, anyway, to the OP. With that $10,000 you should consider what application LED lighting would be more beneficial to you in. Dedicated cyc lights? Dedicated down lights? Or an inventory of units with which to do both with but not both at the same time. Let me be honest, $10,000 isn't going to get you very far. Even your best cheap option, the Chauvet ColorADO 144, still goes for around $1,500. There is no way you will be able to get enough SpectraCyc's, Seladors or ColorForce's for that money.
OP, consider this. How many units are you using right now to light your cyc and do down light? You will have to replace each one of those units with an LED light of comparable beam spread and output. This can be done but not with a one time of $10,000. So, if I had the $10,000, I'd either add to and update my current inventory of conventionals, OR understand that the LEDs I get for that money are really only going to be good for kind of "flash n trash" (pardon the term) that sk8rsdad discussed.
Re: The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage
I recently demo-ed a puck.... not really all that impressed. we decided it might be good as a 12x12 truss warmer... and that's about all....
I recently demo-ed a puck.... not really all that impressed. we decided it might be good as a 12x12 truss warmer... and that's about all....
Synchronize
Active Member
Re: The Puck, by Blizzard Lighting. Good source for down light, color mixing on stage
Pucks, and other slim PARs, are designed more for uplighting in a non-traditional venue. They were created to be small, out of the way, and hardly visable. For that application, they don't need to be bright. The only time I've used them in an actual theatre is to wash part of a ceiling (actually focusing the show today).
If it is the form factor you like, and you want to stay with something flat-ish, look at the PUCK Q12 or Q6. 12 (or 6) 10w RGBA or RGBW LEDs. Quite impressive in all honesty.
Pucks, and other slim PARs, are designed more for uplighting in a non-traditional venue. They were created to be small, out of the way, and hardly visable. For that application, they don't need to be bright. The only time I've used them in an actual theatre is to wash part of a ceiling (actually focusing the show today).
If it is the form factor you like, and you want to stay with something flat-ish, look at the PUCK Q12 or Q6. 12 (or 6) 10w RGBA or RGBW LEDs. Quite impressive in all honesty.
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