Design Upgrade from Altman (or similar) r40 border lights

Hi! I'm a LD for a church and we're considering upgrading one of our spaces, and of course, we're on a budget. Is there any light that would be a good replacement for some of our older border lights (or is it best to just upgrade them to dimmable led bulbs)

Some considerations we're having is
  1. Are they going to look good on a camera. We plan on hosting smaller streams from here so preferably the lights would be able to nail down some of the color temperatures (like 3400K)
  2. Will they create a nice even wash across a 32' stage with a decently small throw
I know I'm asking for a lot here but if anyone knows some pretty niche brands or fixtures let me know :)
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Hi! I'm a LD for a church and we're considering upgrading one of our spaces, and of course, we're on a budget. Is there any light that would be a good replacement for some of our older border lights (or is it best to just upgrade them to dimmable led bulbs)

Some considerations we're having is
  1. Are they going to look good on a camera. We plan on hosting smaller streams from here so preferably the lights would be able to nail down some of the color temperatures (like 3400K)
  2. Will they create a nice even wash across a 32' stage with a decently small throw
I know I'm asking for a lot here but if anyone knows some pretty niche brands or fixtures let me know :)View attachment 22270
Are your Altman's dead hung or on counter-weighted fly pipes?
What type of dimmers: Autotransformer, early SCR, newer TRIAC's??
Should we assume you're lighting a pale blue sky cloth from the front rather than a plastic rear screen from the back???
Calling @Amiers @Footer @Ford and @rsmentele
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
Dimmable LED light bulbs just aren’t there yet and you will definitely not like what they do on that 0-15ish% snap.

Your top dollar budget per fixture would help immensely to help us recommend anything.

But just to give you an idea 6 of these will do what you need with either a spare or all if you can fit 36’ and will cost 20k. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...GE8ekShJM1RioQaAuDSEALw_wcB&lsft=BI:514&smp=y

I feel ChromaQ is middle of the road price wise so if you can handle 20-30k range you can get something decent. If not you could look at DJ grade gear and maybe cut it by 10k and go even lower and get Chinese gear and deal with that but at a wicked low price.

Of course the best thing you can do is call a local lighting dealer and get a demo without knowing where specifically you are we also can’t recommend places that do that.
 
Frequently border lights can be replaced with a well thought out set of LED pars. You'll want to coordinate with a local vendor to get the best options that meet your needs.

The Color Forces are a great "drop in" replacement that will get you a very similar look, but be improved in every way.
 
The ChromaQ ColorForce II is a great choice but there is also the Chauvet Pro Ovation B-2805FC which is also very popular and quite a bit cheaper.
 
Demos are definitely worthwhile here, there's no replacement for seeing the lights in your space. Check out the Chauvet Colorado Solo Batten and Ovation Battens, Elation Seven Battens, or if you want the best go for the Color Force 2 as mentioned above. If you don't need as much gas, check out the Colorado Batten Q15. The Colorsource Linear may also be worth checking out if you can get a demo, they have a lot of beam shaping options.
 
At the top end (I think) there is also the Robert Juliat Dalis series. No idea on price or availability but it did win an award at PLASA 2015.
 
One other thing you might want to consider, in addition to the option to replace your existing borderlights with the newer units you might look at the other option.
Border lights are usually used in close proximity of what you are lighting, for a cyc or drop it is hung near what it is lighting. The other way to do it is using "scoop" type fixtures, which are hung further away. They are also spaced further apart so fewer units may be required. Some examples are the Altman SpectraCyc units and also the Phillips (or whatever it's called now!) PL cyc. They have both been around for a while. The most talked about units now would be the ETC ColorSource Cyc and the Chauvet Pro Ovation Cyc-1FC. This might be an option to consider. As long as your are getting a demo in your space you might also take a look at some of these. Good luck in your search.
 
I attended a cyc light shootout at a local PAC last week. Altman Spectra-Cycs, ColorForce IIs, GLP Fusions, and ETC ColorSource Cycs. IMO, the ColorSource Cycs were the clear winner, and are the direction the PAC is strongly leaning in. But, as John D mentioned, how far off the cyc your lights are absolutely plays into what lights you should select. For example, this summer I designed in a space where the cyc electric pipe was really close to the cyc itself (maybe 1' off), and their ColorForce 72 IIs were just great.
 
Looking at your application, (12-15’ to the deck), most of the solutions mentioned are going to be way overpowered.

If your application is just top wash, most modern LED batten fixtures are going to be too tight.

You could look at LED Fresnels. I would look at the Ovation F415-FC or VW (Full color, or variable white). These are good 6” fresnel replacements.

The alternative is to use Cyc Lights as general wash units. This is a little harder to control spill with, but can be an effective and price competitive option. The Ovation Cyc1 was designed to also act as a foot light, and is silent. I’d recommend looking at those or Colorsource Cycs, as they’re are probably your best bet.

I would get a dealer (or 2) to bring as much of the above gear into your space for a shootout and make a decision based on that.
 
Of course there is one other option- Keep the existing boarders in place and operational and then add newer fixtures as the budget become available. You will probably find you need far fewer fixtures in the long run, especially if you are just doing video. The boarders only use power when they are turned on and if they and the dimmers controling them work, why trash them? They give you a solid fall-back should any newer tests fail. Speaking of which, renting test fixtures and trying them out before purchasing is always the best path forward.
 
If you are in the Gloria Dei Az chapter we could gladly rent our colorblaze 72s. PM me if so I can get you in touch with the correct people.
 
Dimmable LED light bulbs just aren’t there yet and you will definitely not like what they do on that 0-15ish% snap
As someone with several dozen feet of A-lamp strip with beautiful glass installed, I hope they "get there" someday! It's definitely an engineering challenge, but I remember when we were all talking about the incompatibilities between LEDs and Gobos, so I have a little faith... There's nothing quite like the warm and fuzzy wash of light through roundels.
 

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