Simple, Inexpensive LED Lighting

#2
Theres a YouTube video comparison of those versus the same thing from Chauvet done by a lighting pro, according to the guys doing the video the inexpensive one's have much more breakable housings, no cooling, some come with through DMX in/out wired backwards etc. Might be serviceable but might not hold up well.
 
#3
The biggest challenge lighting a stage with 2 LED pars is that they tend to have narrow beams so you end up with uneven lighting at best or 2 lighted spots at worst. The specs seem to say say that a 45 degree beam angle is available. If so, that's the version you want. I like my 2 Chauvet WashFX set up because they are bright, wide (90 degree), even, and reasonably cheap. You can even get parts for them if you mistreat them as I have.
 
#4
We use a couple of these as accent lights to compliment a couple of Chauver 4Bars. We use them to light our banner or the back wall. They’re fine for light duty use (1-2x a month). They have cheap plastic housings, they aren’t outdoor rated, and you can’t daisy chain the power so you have to plug each one in. But if you know what you’re getting and you’re ok with it, they’re worth it. At $23 a fixture you can afford to replace them once a year.
 
#5
jad said:
The biggest challenge lighting a stage with 2 LED pars is that they tend to have narrow beams so you end up with uneven lighting at best or 2 lighted spots at worst. The specs seem to say say that a 45 degree beam angle is available. If so, that's the version you want. I like my 2 Chauvet WashFX set up because they are bright, wide (90 degree), even, and reasonably cheap. You can even get parts for them if you mistreat them as I have.
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Yep - go for the widest wash you can. These offshore LED PAR pucks tend to be more on the spot side of the beam. the upside with these ones is the remote control. Don't need the whole DMX controller mess.

I, too, use the WashFX and run a DMX controller with these and my pucks. Works well. The WashFX throws a LOT of light. Here's an example of our stage with the lights in between set "idle" mode.

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#8
DirtDog said:
Yep - one per side, mounted on top of the mains. Kind of deceiving in this pic but when they’re running full out in a bastard amber setting, they’re frigging bright! I usually run them half throttle or less for smaller stages.
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I like that idea. I've been using a 4-Bar system for a couple years now and I've been interested in finding something that'll do a good wash across for color so I can use the 4-Bar to spotlight and run patterns. Looks like I'll be looking into a couple of these.
 
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#9
I just went through this. I bought four Chauvet Q12 lights that were factory refurbs and deeply discounted. These have a higher lux output than most others I compared to .

I bought a used Elation DMX controller for $50. The four Q12s cover the stage bright enough to read by unless they're all set to dark purple. But otherwise pleasantly bright. The lights cast to the opposite side of the stage to spread the beam.

I had a pair of extra speaker stands and took off the top "pin" that fits into the speaker socket. Then I slid in a piece of steel conduit as an extension, drilled and pinned it. I wanted a simple T top mount, and used some Schedule 80 PVC for it. This is heavier PVC than the usual stuff. I ran another piece of conduit pipe through the 1.5" Tee and drilled and pinned that. Each stand carries 2 Q12 lights.

It's the cheapest way out I could manage, and has worked well the two times I've had it out. My DMX board fades the 4 Q12 lights through color changes every 15 seconds or so, I can set fade time and time between steps. A total of about 25 steps in each "chase" sequence is enough that nobody sees a pattern. The band is happy and so am I.

Bright Orange is not a pleasant color for the performers though. Blinding.
 
#10
FutureTense said:
I like that idea. I've been using a 4-Bar system for a couple years now and I've been interested in finding something that'll do a good wash across for color so I can use the 4-Bar to spotlight and run patterns. Looks like I'll be looking into a couple of these.
Click to expand...

Nice thing is if you’ve got something to hitch the mounting brackets to (like a recessed handle), you do away with the massive visual distraction and stage sucking footprint of the 4-bar systems. Those are better at the back of the stage providing back lighting.
 
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#11
DirtDog said:
Nice thing is if you’ve got something to hitch the mounting brackets to (like a recessed handle), you do away with the massive visual distraction and stage sucking footprint of the 4-bar systems. Those are better at the back of the stage providing back lighting.
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That's likely what I'll go to. The downside will be that the singer won't be highlighted as well. But I'm pretty sure I've got a couple single lights that I can set up on the floor and direct toward him.
 
#12
FutureTense said:
That's likely what I'll go to. The downside will be that the singer won't be highlighted as well. But I'm pretty sure I've got a couple single lights that I can set up on the floor and direct toward him.
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That’s how we run it. Two 4Bars at the back of the stage and two Q6 lights up front set to bastard amber to front light the singers. I control the 4Bars via a foot controller to change colors/chases as needed. I throw a couple of cheap pars like the OP mentioned on top of the 4Bars for accent lighting. The 4Bars and Q6s use the D-Fi USB sticks.
 
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#13
EAC46331-8E86-45DD-B682-3AF96DCC9F1E.jpeg
FE5BD395-08AD-4303-87DE-0BEE8266D9E1.jpeg
Monoprice 9x10 watt color mixing RGBW fixtures at $60 a throw.

Bottom pic. Dirty Revival at 2017 OutFound festival.I have 12 of them mounted on bars of 6 for the front and 2 bars of 3 for side fill.

Top pic Chatham County Line, Cor Cellars party 2017. 3 per side arranged vertically about 20 feet out. Another 6 in uplight buckets for some interest on the sides. Notice the skin tones.

Dumped my 4 bars ages ago... top pic, notice the ambient light level and that there is still some color depth in amber. 4 bars can’t even begin...
 
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#14
4Mal said:
View attachment 2964217 View attachment 2964215 Monoprice 9x10 watt color mixing RGBW fixtures at $60 a throw.

Bottom pic. Dirty Revival at 2017 OutFound festival.I have 12 of them mounted on bars of 6 for the front and 2 bars of 3 for side fill.

Top pic Chatham County Line, Cor Cellars party 2017. 3 per side arranged vertically about 20 feet out. Another 6 in uplight buckets for some interest on the sides. Notice the skin tones.

Dumped my 4 bars ages ago... top pic, notice the ambient light level and that there is still some color depth in amber. 4 bars can’t even begin...
Click to expand...
Looks great! Two things to point out to the OP... the number of lights in use, and distance of lights from the stage. You don't get results like this with two pars right on top of the band!
 
#15
4Mal said:
View attachment 2964217 View attachment 2964215 Monoprice 9x10 watt color mixing RGBW fixtures at $60 a throw.

Bottom pic. Dirty Revival at 2017 OutFound festival.I have 12 of them mounted on bars of 6 for the front and 2 bars of 3 for side fill.

Top pic Chatham County Line, Cor Cellars party 2017. 3 per side arranged vertically about 20 feet out. Another 6 in uplight buckets for some interest on the sides. Notice the skin tones.

Dumped my 4 bars ages ago... top pic, notice the ambient light level and that there is still some color depth in amber. 4 bars can’t even begin...
Click to expand...

Looks nice. But I'll take my 4Bar Tri Fixtures any day. These days I'm all about ease of setup and installation. With the 4Bars, I set up the tripod and plug in one power cable for each. Done. The D-Fi USB stick keeps me from having to run any DMX cables and the 4Bars have two power inlets in case I want to throw an extra fixture on top of them.

They're by no means "pro grade" fixtures but for small bars and clubs (which is where we typically play) they do just fine. We had the first gen 4Bars and they were junk. The newer Tri-LED fixtures are nice.

To each their own but I don't want to have to deal with setting up and tearing down that many fixtures. The less loads to my car, the better!
 
#16
Ah... my 6’s are hard mounted to crossbars, 4 down, 2 up, the 3’s are mounted to speaker pole extensions that slide into other speaker ones for height -or into the tripod base for low. DMX and power already wired.

I’m currently cabling daisy chaining each set of fixtures. Headed for a d-fly setup soon as I can afford it. Time is money and stringing RMX cable takes time...
 
#17
DirtDog said:
Yep - go for the widest wash you can. These offshore LED PAR pucks tend to be more on the spot side of the beam. the upside with these ones is the remote control. Don't need the whole DMX controller mess.

I, too, use the WashFX and run a DMX controller with these and my pucks. Works well. The WashFX throws a LOT of light. Here's an example of our stage with the lights in between set "idle" mode.

View attachment 2963297
Click to expand...


I will second the Wash efx is the best bang for the buck for stage coverage of light. but you need to run them with a dmx controller to turn the bightness down they are bright !
 
#20
I currently use the CHAUVET DJ SlimPACK T6 USB Light Pack 4x, along with a small, 3 channel DMX controller, along ith a T-Tree, there pretty versable, in getting light to the stage, the only issue is stringing them up for DMX, takes time, really thinking of getting the USB option, here a view of just 4 lights, in a corner stage, at a local dive bar, during an open mic
40623972571_9515f518e7_b.jpg
IMG_20180304_194451 by Jessica Stacey, on Flickr
 
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