Suzette Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 OK - have started thinking about next years panto set .... Cinderella and the dreaded ballroom/finale treads. I will be building these from scratch, they will be about 3' high and about 6' to 8' wide and curved out at the bottom. I want to make them with lights in the risers - but am wondering about any other ways of doing it other than the usual perspex fronts and light fittings behind ...As it is a charity pantomime I don't want to spend a fortune but would like to make something a bit different. Would I would be able to do something with LED's? Are they very expensive? As I'm making the treads from new, I can build whatever electric circuits that are needed into the inital build. The plan is that we would want to control the circuits through the LX desk (ETC Congo) and (probably) have each step controlled independently so chases etc. can be programmed. Usual panto finale - lots of flashing lights and effects required!! I've thought about rope lights but they are not so easy to programme through the desk (AFAIK) Does anyone have any great (& cheap-ish) ideas that I can use that will look good and be controlled through the LX desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 We've used a lot of 'non-neon' rope light in our set this year - comes in a roll, can be cut to length in multiples of 1m, and will conform happily to whatever curve you want to attach it to as long as it's not too severe. It looks really nice. Not sure exactly where we sourced it from - but I have a feeling it might've been someone on Ebay. Will find out for you if you're interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 I have seen somewhere ( not sure on how cheap but still) LED strips, some one has mentioned them before. They are flat panel LED's that come on meter length strips. Possible working there. ( thinking back I believe the link was a car supup site) Is something like glow wire too much ? I guess the other thing to look at is GU10 or p16 fittings recessed in to the steps in series. Gareth With the rope light stuff I have seen it not used yet, but I have seen it, especialy around this christmas time, in almost any garden center (for £££ of course) and most electrical places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Wavicle has some nice looking LED rope. I've not used it myself, but it does look pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul K. McEwan Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Hi Suzette Take a look at this I have seen it used in the states on shows. http://www.beingseen.com/flatlite.html don't know the cost but it should also be available in the UK. this stuff also dims. comes in many widths and colours and can be cut to lenght. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 I can't see you getting close to the light output of a row of 100 watt lamps without spending a fortune on leds, because they are not cheap, the neon style strips will not give you the intensity you want and they are not all that cheap.Sorry to be negative but realistically nothing will come close to the lamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 I am doing a musical in the middle of next year and will be using rope light for the stair treads so I can use chases and the rope lights are cheap and bright enough. They will need dummy loads or ghost lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzette Posted December 19, 2006 Author Share Posted December 19, 2006 Thanks for all the replies ... one pm suggested chroma strips.. any thoughts on them?Keep the ideas flowing ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimWebber Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 ...They will need dummy loads or ghost lights. Not always, I have just finished running some rope lights directly from the dimmer (Z88 Betapack) I do appreciate that some circumstances will require a dummy load though. You may be lucky... Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I may be wrong, but I assume from the way you're talking about tungsten stuff, you have only considered point sources. We're currently illuminating a staircase for Copacabana and we're using linear tungsten sources, the same as the ones used in some bathroom and picture lights. Something like this for example:http://www.thelightingsuperstore.co.uk/images/tn/14/s15.jpg You can get them relatively cheaply, up to a foot long each, with holders from places such as CPC. You may want a bit of frost or similar to cover the small dark patch between two fixtures, but other than that they look good, and they are of course directly dimmable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMC Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I'm a fan of the archtectural tungstens! They come in legnths longer than 1ft too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Thirded. And they dont need the "proper" holders for some applications, solder wires onto end, heat shrink over (or totally enclose) and terry clips. I did a load of them once in a long perspex tube, mounted to a bunch of unwound coathangers brazed together <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 They come in legnths longer than 1ft too..Too late for us now, but do you have any links for the future? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMC Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 They come in legnths longer than 1ft too..Too late for us now, but do you have any links for the future? Not to hand.. Will send some emails and find out who bought them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelightbulb Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 ...They will need dummy loads or ghost lights. Not always, I have just finished running some rope lights directly from the dimmer (Z88 Betapack) I do appreciate that some circumstances will require a dummy load though. You may be lucky... Jim yes I've found that they do work without dummies shorter lengths of rope light seem to be brighter and so long as you have them on separate circuits they are very easy to program Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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