sammedit Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Hey, I am in a band that plays a lot of small shows (250 people average) and have just started to put together a light setup because we have absolutely no lights. We have already got 8 par 64s and a PC lighting program called Sunlite. Besides the par 64s we plan on getting 4 moving heads and a hazer. My questions are on the moving heads...I have been looking at getting 4 elation powerspot 250's or 4 chauvet q spot 250's. But now I'm starting to wonder if I need a couple wash lights instead? What is the difference between a wash and a spot? Will these spot lights provide any kind of bigger wash or are they just for cool spinning effects? Or will the 8 par 64's fully take care of washing the stage with color? Are there any other kind of lights I should be looking at? I want to spend about $800 per moving head and we got the par 64's for like $20 a piece. Let me know if you think the powerspot lights and cans will do just fine or if you think I need to get two spots and two washes. It is hard to see on any video what the wash lights really do. Thank you. Any info would help. I am brand new to this. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodle Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Well first. You will need some sort of widget (converts USB to DMX signal) to operate your light through that program. Another thing to look at before getting anymore ligths would be a dimmer. Size of the dimmer would depend on what power supplies your shows venue has, with PAR 64s you most likely need a 3 phase dimmer with 6 output channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammedit Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 Well first. You will need some sort of widget (converts USB to DMX signal) to operate your light through that program. Another thing to look at before getting anymore ligths would be a dimmer. Size of the dimmer would depend on what power supplies your shows venue has, with PAR 64s you most likely need a 3 phase dimmer with 6 output channels. There was a USB to DMX converter that came with the PC Program. We got some dimmer packs for the cans but I really don't understand anything about phases. The power we use at every show comes from a spiderbox plugged into either a 50 amp plugin or directly from the breaker box so we always have a clean steady flow of power. I don't know if that helps you or not but thank you for replying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodle Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 So do those dimmer packs have a normal 3 pin 10 amp plug on them, and how may do you have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammedit Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 So do those dimmer packs have a normal 3 pin 10 amp plug on them, and how may do you have Yes, I believe they are 10 amp. We have two of them. I have not got to look at them yet, another band member got them. I think they each have 4 plugins. We are going to be using 500 watt bulbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodle Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Okay, you will be able to power 4 Cans per dimmer. Guessing you will use some of them for Front lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammedit Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 Well we were thinking of using all of them for front lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodle Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Ok, now onto the movers. The difference between a spot and a wash is that the spot are used for more of an effect, like a spot usely moves around during a song and switches positions. Whereas a wash is normally used to fill the whole stage or backdrop with colour, usually used on large stages to fill. I think that the spots are the way to go for your size of show. A spot can create alot of dimensions, because they can move quickly, they have iris,strobe and gobos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammedit Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 Ok, now onto the movers. The difference between a spot and a wash is that the spot are used for more of an effect, like a spot usely moves around during a song and switches positions. Whereas a wash is normally used to fill the whole stage or backdrop with colour, usually used on large stages to fill. I think that the spots are the way to go for your size of show. A spot can create alot of dimensions, because they can move quickly, they have iris,strobe and gobos. Alright then. Thank you so much for replying. I will stick to the original plan. Do you think I need more can lighting? Like some for the side of the stage or should 8 in the front be enough? I think we have a couple 1000 watters as well for more of a spotlight on the musicians. Any other lights that are relatively cheap that would add a lot to the show that I should think about getting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodle Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 I think the Cans at the front should ligth up the stage fairly well. If you are looking to expand the rig a bit more, the next thing would probably be blinders. They are not all that expensive and they add another dimension to a show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammedit Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 I think the Cans at the front should ligth up the stage fairly well. If you are looking to expand the rig a bit more, the next thing would probably be blinders. They are not all that expensive and they add another dimension to a show. What is a blinder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodle Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 A blinder is a light which you put at the rear of stage facing through the band and out to the audience. You use either in quite parts, song bridges so you just see an outline of the band or in a built up part of the song you can flash them up. You can buy them as a proper audience blinder or you can put any sort of powerful wide angle light at the rear of stage. If you type in audience blinder in google images you will see what the real thing looks like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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