kingpin Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Hi, Just taken on the task of trying to design a light show for a band, got plenty of ideas of what I want to do, just haven't got a great deal of technical knowhow to do want I want to, hope you guys can help me... I want to produce a kind of strobe effect, I'm want to randomly cover the equipment of the band with 50-100 tiny stobes, about the size of an LED, so that when I flick a switch all the lights are producing very short flashes randomly. Is there anything available that will give me this kind of effect of has anyone got any suggestions ? Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Ultra bright white LED's (12 volters maybe) each with a random timer circuit would be expensive, but work. Personally, I think strobing unnecessarily is evil and I would suggest finding another alternative. A better, less strobeish effect would be to focus a zp on each peice of equiptment, and flash them in a semi-random order, for a short (1-2 secs) time each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Sounds like an LED christmas tree light set to me. Some of them have a range of patterns - you may find one that does what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 A random timer circut should work but you can get flashing blue LED's (unsure of there exact flash per sec). Is it possible to have a line of these in paralell.Or adapting this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modge Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I realise it's not quite what you asked for (alright - it's not what you asked for) but would you consider bits of reflective foil in the kit where you want the strobes then leaving it un-lit (at least front the front) then having a mover of some flavour pass along a line at hits all the shiny bits. Take ages to program I realise and frankly not as good, but if you ask me it beets the hell out of making 100's of astable timers and soldering LEDs on them. Another thought I've just had, related to brains idea would be to take a number of strings of blueish mains voltage (un transformed) christmas lights and run them off a switch pack. Put several different strings on each piece of kit, on different sides so you can do some cool twinkly chases. Combing that with by last idea - put foil behind them and they'll be brighter. All the christmas lights I can think of are dimmer than a decent discharge source hitting a shiny surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 A random timer circut should work but you can get flashing blue LED's (unsure of there exact flash per sec). Is it possible to have a line of these in paralell.3Hz, would fit nicely (under that 5Hz "uber-danger" limit, but still strobing), I'd think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingpin Posted February 19, 2006 Author Share Posted February 19, 2006 Thanks for all the responses, I've ordered some flashing LED's and I'm going see what I can do with them. Another question, I want to control 4 moving head lights, is it easier to do this with a DMX controller or with a laptop and can anyone suggest a good software package to start off with. As I said earlier I am lighting a live band so the timing will be different at every gig, what will be the best way to ensure lighing is in sync with the music. (please go easy on technical terms/jargon, I'm very new to this :unsure: ) Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJones Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I personally prefer to have a lighting desk, I like to actually have physical control, but having said that- I have never used any computer software or a show before Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meduza Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Look at the led strobe with 555 timer at this page: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Bill_Bowden/555.htm That is an other way if you dont like the flashing leds If you still want flashing leds you can get them way cheaper from china:http://www.besthongkong.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I think that there are a few topics about on live mover use. If its live music there is no way you can exactly time the lighting if I remember from the other topics the best thing to do is to have several sequences in subs and mix them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingpin Posted February 19, 2006 Author Share Posted February 19, 2006 Finally remebered an example of the kind of flashing I want, The chandlier in Phantom, anyone know what they used to achive the effect and what these kind of lights are called ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.Phillips Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 For your strobe effect, I would recommend something like this:Pulsar-flexi flashProbably easier than buying loads of LED's etc. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I've got a big bag of burglar alarm strobes for just this purpose. They run off 12V, so I generally just string them together with cheap wire and tape for the show. These strobes you can get from B&Q or TLC fairly cheaply. I'm a big fan of computerized lighting, but I think you want a desk with buttons, subs and a joystick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I've got a big bag of burglar alarm strobes for just this purpose.Aren't those usually blue or red? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Aren't those [burglar alarm strobes] usually blue or red?Blue mostly, at least in the UK, but also available in clear. I've got both blue and clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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