'Value for money' light show
Printed From: Speakerplans.com
Category: Other Chat
Forum Name: Lighting Talk
Forum Description: All your lampy, laser and 'other' special FX needs....
URL: https://forum.speakerplans.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=84735
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 7:09pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.08 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: 'Value for money' light show
Posted By: andycw
Subject: 'Value for money' light show
Date Posted: 22 January 2014 at 11:30am
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Now that I've pretty much sorted my sound system out I need some advice on a light show. Obviously I want as much as possible for my money. I have been looking at the Chauvet 4 play and the 6 light version. Music we play is EDM, Dubstep, house, electro etc. So I'm thinking some lasers and strobes as well.... ------------- No Bass No Fun |
Replies:
Posted By: odc04r
Date Posted: 22 January 2014 at 12:53pm
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Can't go wrong with a couple of old-school mirror scans in my opinion rather then cheap rotating heads, and also some of the newer LED boards such as the (now discontinued but many others are available) Chauvet Technostrobe. They offer some quite good set and forget light shows. We used to use static or slow changing pars and washes for the stage setup to make it look interesting. Lasers are ok but beware of potential H&S issues and liabilities, generally not so much of a problem if you ensure to point them places the crowd can't get their eyeballs too. Strobes are also cool but require a human in the loop to be used to full potential and also can suck a silly amount of current. So beware of tripping breakers etc. |
Posted By: jacethebase
Date Posted: 25 January 2014 at 3:54pm
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If I knew what I know now when I first got in to lighting I would have bought. 6 x clay paky minis can HPE £1000 2 x Deathstar strobes £200 6 x meters of trilite £200 2 x American DJ winch stands £250 1 x Avolites Azure £500 2 x 4 way molefays £100 4 x par 64 500w £80 So for under £2500 you will have a lights how that will kick most medium sized club nights arse! ------------- www.wedding-production.co.uk www.stage2sound.com |
Posted By: jacethebase
Date Posted: 25 January 2014 at 3:55pm
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Ohh and a betapack mk2 for around £200 ------------- www.wedding-production.co.uk www.stage2sound.com |
Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 25 January 2014 at 4:20pm
My list wouldn't be far off that, but I'd go for LED pars instead  ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: imageoven
Date Posted: 25 January 2014 at 9:28pm
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You didn't say what your budget was or how big a venue you need to light, if both are small I always recommend a rotating dichroic prism effect, maximum coverage from a single unit. Set and forget! http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=321301796946 ------------- Keep pushing on, things are gonna get better. |
Posted By: njw
Date Posted: 25 January 2014 at 10:55pm
Yep, great lights, I sold a couple of those and some Twister 2s to a local pub for next to nothing when I bought all my led stuff and wished I hadn't after!!
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imageoven wrote:Posted By: James Tengo
Date Posted: 26 January 2014 at 1:01am
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Under a ton budget - Hyper moons and early twisters (Martin rainbows, abstract twisters mk 1 to 3). Many a dirty rave up with just them Under a grand budget, some control, scans and a cheap desk. Few cheap strobes eg. high end Af1k's Over a grand budget - Start to look skyward. Desk, movers, go posh. Atomic 3k strobes. Nowadays cheap lasers are de-rigour, but overused. If you can't do it well... |
Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 26 January 2014 at 1:47pm
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Don't forget some half decent lifts/t-bars/truss, not the cheapest shonky old piece of crap 'Pro-DJ MEgaMix Console' off eBay you can find. Half decent hardware doesn't need to be expensive. Oh, and mounting hardware and cabling infrastructure too. Orange/blue extensions from B&Q won't cut it ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: lgosdset
Date Posted: 26 January 2014 at 11:13pm
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safety wires. |
Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 26 January 2014 at 11:25pm
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creativity!! that's one thing most rigs lack, they build up generic looking lighting rigs as you'd find absolutely everywhere! Same basic layout, same fixtures, boring - much like most festival stage setups - really dull giant tall empty caves with a load of movers on the top etc etc... So if you get the chance, do something unique and fun!! ------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: andycw
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 12:17pm
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Thanks for the advice everyone Budget wise - minimal. Will have to buy a few lights at a time. 4 acme Dynamo lights have come up on the Facebook page, look a bit old - is it worth grabbing them? Size wise - Probably about 150 people so doesn't have to be massive (yet) ------------- No Bass No Fun |
Posted By: mini-mad
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 1:03pm
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..i looked at a couple of them. for 150 peeps 2 is minimal, 4 is good... 6 fully controlled and programmed will be fantastic! ------------- If it sounds like a gorilla is trying to escape, turn it down. |
Posted By: monkeypuzzle
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 2:19pm
Couldn't agree more. Lighting is more than some fast moving colour changing beams in smoke (OP, you'll need a hazer or smokie BTW). It sets the atmosphere, Can't go wrong with 4 martin destroyers and a few megastar strobes for the dirty rave (fast moving beams nonsense!), for a deep house and percussive techno style, bin off the movers, get it as dark as you can and just put in a few leds on red/congo blue around lighting the space, psytrance, fill it with uv and spike everyone with  . In the same way you would think about where you put you stacks, think about and experiment with where you put your LX. It takes a bit of thinking about to not look like a wedding dj with a wobbly goalpost above the decks, where you put the lights in the venue is as important as what lights you have. ------------- blah blah blah blah blah...... |
Posted By: Goodvibetribe
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 4:28pm
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[/QUOTE] It sets the atmosphere, Can't go wrong with 4 martin destroyers and a few megastar strobes for the dirty rave (fast moving beams nonsense!), for a deep house and percussive techno style, bin off the movers, get it as dark as you can and just put in a few leds on red/congo blue around lighting the space, psytrance, fill it with uv and spike everyone with . . [/QUOTE] +1 ------------- George c - www.gorilla-audio.co.uk facebook.com/gorillaaudiohire |
Posted By: andycw
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 4:32pm
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Yep, smoke is on the list as well. I hired one a few years ago, ran off a canister rather than fluid. Thing was bleddy brilliant ------------- No Bass No Fun |
Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 4:39pm
those refills aren't cheap though! We have a few handheld canister machines on the paintball site! Love it when you have a load of people in a bunker and you smoke em out... trying to pursuade the owner to let us put some strobes around the place too but is a H&S hazard it would seem  ------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: imageoven
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 5:28pm
If they are the ones I'm thinking of they came in a variety of versions. Early ones used a conventional transformer for a filament lamp and were quite reliable, later they changed to a SMPS which was les reliable and then they went to LED instead of filament lamps. Moving mirror lights really need to be positioned on stands or such like so that you can get them high up and symetrical (or not, but set up in a way that the movement of the beams compliments each other when moving together, rather than appearing unsychronised). ------------- Keep pushing on, things are gonna get better. |
Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 5:44pm
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for cheap scanners, i can't recommend abstract VR8's [or better,
VR8R's - R=rotating gobo] enough, very good output for the unit, and also has some
brilliant chases built in, 150w HMI... you can make on a master, chain the DMX, then assign the slaves a number of 1-4, allowing a straight line of 1-4, or if you have multiples you could do 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 etc etc. heres an old vid of my old Vr8r units, picked up £200 for the four with cases clamps and lamps!! Set sound/light left-right 4-3-2-1. Oldschool martin flower thing in middle, and pair of random lasers. ------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: njw
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 5:54pm
| I have four of the led dynamos and for the price you can't go wrong, if the ones on facebook look older they could be the 250w version which are very bright but will eat replacement lamps if you use them a lot or the cheaper 100w versions which are still a great effect but I never found them particularly bright. A bit of smoke or haze to highlight the beams is a must though as said. |
Posted By: imageoven
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 8:12pm
Horrible to service though! ------------- Keep pushing on, things are gonna get better. |
Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 8:25pm
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just don't break them nah i found the few faults easy enough to fix, had a stepper go, easy swap out, and another one needed fairly major surgery but nothing a few hours and a replacement main board couldn't fix [that's one i dropped anyway!  ].------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: mini-mad
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 8:45pm
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There is the odd company that will knockmout batchs of 25 boards or so for a fair price. Is there any ic on board that need programming or is it all off the shelf componants? Im asking as if you like them that much it might be worth banging a few boards together yourself. ------------- If it sounds like a gorilla is trying to escape, turn it down. |
Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 8:53pm
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i found spare [often used] parts readily available, often on ebay or on first page of google searches. the main board does contain much of the fixtures electronics, including their custom programs! Either way i got up to earning 8x units, and the only problem i had was a dead stepper motor, and a ballast [and the main board when i dropped one off a truss!]. Like most things, get ones that are in reasonable condition and look after them will be fine. Remember using the set heathrow bought many years back - absolutely shagged condition!! ------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: imageoven
Date Posted: 27 January 2014 at 11:33pm
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The issue is with getting the things apart. Most scanners you undo about 6 bolts and lift off a cover plate and you're in. Those things you have to take off both ends before you can separate the two halves, something like 16 bolts, the mirror assembly doesn't readily disconnect so is flailing around loose while you do this, and then you've still got a metal cover plate to remove before your into the optical path. It's not difficult, it's just annoying. A case of aesthetics over function I think. ------------- Keep pushing on, things are gonna get better. |
Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 28 January 2014 at 12:21am
now that i'll agree with, just on that kind of budget it never bothered me, a lot of light for ~£50! I love sitting down and tinkering with tech! To others, especially if on a time limit/busy, i can see that being a massive pain in the arse ------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: andycw
Date Posted: 30 January 2014 at 12:35pm
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I've got a couple of laser's headed my way from GAZ on here. Just need a couple of scanners and I think that will do for now. Just need a fogger/smoke, and a decent T-bar/truss ------------- No Bass No Fun |
Posted By: mini-mad
Date Posted: 30 January 2014 at 1:31pm
Aim for a goal post type truss... the t-bar looks amature. I should know i own a t-bar!  ------------- If it sounds like a gorilla is trying to escape, turn it down. |
Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 30 January 2014 at 5:14pm
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Depends what sort of t-bar you get. I use couplers and ally scaff bar these days, and it means placement can be more specific, without having a big piece of truss across the middle of a stage, obscuring decor/projection screens. IMO you need to be a bit flexible with rigging, be able to use t-bars OR truss lengths depending on the demands of the situation. I have some 30cm bars with a coupler on the end which can be easily whacked onto an upright truss/scaff and provide a handy rigging point in novel places. ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |