Blaize110 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hi, I am aware this topic has been discussed in similar threads before, however most have been along the lines of "LED or incandescent". I am currently doing some research into the necessary costs and equipment to give our school lighting system a revamp. The main chance being from 0-10V analogue to DMX. At the moment we have a cyc at the back of the stage which is illuminated by 12 floods (look similar to Strand Codas), 4 of each colour. While this is all very well for single colours, it gets very messy when mixing colours due to the gap between the lights. As we are upgrading to DMX, LEDs jumped to mind. I have had a google and can only find a limited number of LED floods (most for DJ use so including sound to light). however many LED PARs appeared. So my question is, do LED floods exist in a similar way to the LED PARs, if so, where is th best place to buy them? Or do you think that 12 PARs would be just as effective? My only reservation regarding PARs is the fact that they may create beams of light down the cyc rather than a block of colour due to their close proximity. All advice appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChazHS Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 LED PARs probably wouldnt suit the job, I reccomend Thomann for some floods, but how much of a budget do you have before I go looking for bits and pieces? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I think Paulears has mentioned using LED parcans as a Cyc wash before now but I cant seem to find it at the moment. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanhill Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You could try lighting the cyc by using a bounce cloth on the back wall of the theatre, then the flood bar downstage of that pointing straight down and quite high, with the cyc downstage of that. Bang a border downstage of the cyc to make it neat. A gauze inbetween the cyc and the border will neaten up the whole as well, if you have the bars. Ministrips at the top and S4 PAR's at the bottom work quite well in a limited space. The bonus of back lighting a cyc is the tight silhouettes you get. I would just buy more floods to widen the image. LED floods and PAR's do not yet have the punch for this sort of thing yet. A used lighting (dot com) supplier has single 500W codas for 58 notes. Cheap as .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 The difficulty with budget LEDs at the moment is their limited throw.A decent 500w flood, such as a Coda, will throw light a fair way down a decent sized cyc - probably a good 8 or 10 feet with a nice even coverage depending on position. For example we have 4 x Coda 4 battens on our cyc and I'm fairly happy they do the job nicely thanks. LEDs however won't have the punch to cover the throw, nor to colour the cyc if you have a lot coming from FoH or indeed on stage.That will go for Pars or floods. The more expensive pro kit may be better (don't know as I've not yet tried - haven't had the need) but that'll be the kicker - the huge additional cost. We're not talking just twice the cost of a Thomann LED par here - likely several times the money. If you DID buy some pro LEDs though, the statement about using Pars for cloth washes does stand - in that you'll get a patchy look at the top - scalloped if you will. That's because that's the way a par can is designed be it LED or tungsten. Decent quality LED floods would of course be better, but no guarantees from me on the throw. So if you already have the Codas (or similar) I'd stick with them for now. Maybe add another bank to give you 4 colour choices and change gels to suit the show. How often will you NEED more than 4 colour washes at the cyc is the question you should be asking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lee Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You could just use a silk gel to spread the horizontal throw of the units. This, with pulling the units away from the cyc a bit should do the job. Certainly done the job for many years before LEDS were common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Beesley Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 There are a number of LED floods now available on the market - at the budget end have a peek for LEDJ Blockbuster 6 or Stratos Wash... up to the pro end of Thomas Pixeline 1044 and Martin Stagebar54. It all comes down to the spec required and then budget to afford the spec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'll second what David said. Stick some diffusion in the LED pars and you'll be surprised what you can get away with. Despite what others have suggested, even the cheapest have a surprising amount of power. This is, after all, only for a school. The only things I would be concerned about are the difficultly in getting nice warm colours and how you control them. If they don't have overall intensity channels or your desk doesn't have 'virtual dimmer' then things can get a bit awkward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'll second what David said. Stick some diffusion in the LED pars ......I may be wrong but I think David was referring to silk in the Codas...Silk in front of the LEDs will reduce even further the low output of those units (even if it IS only for a school...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Yes, he may have been. But the principle remains the same and also helps remove artifacts from the unrefined nature of the cheaper LED units. I see no reason why these would not do a perfectly good job on a cyc. They are brighter than you think. The only problems I would consider are those I listed above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Jules Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'd add to your existing flood stock. another 4 would probably do it. I personally like the various Selecon floods - you get a lot of bang for your buck. Cyc lighting can be a real art, especially with low powered units. You might want to double up some of the colours with groundrows if you've got the space. It's always worth spending a few hours working on making the most of what you've got, and once it's right you can more or less forget about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazBlackpool Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Hi. New to all this but please bear with me and excuse my ignorance. I am a member of a small am-dram group and was wondering if the American DJ Mega Bars would be any use as overhead general floods for small stage? (Approx 8m wide by 5m depth). OOps - height available about 4m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lee Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Ynot - you are right. I was talking about silk in the codas, though of course it can be done with decent LED battens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Ynot - you are right. I was talking about silk in the codas, though of course it can be done with decent LED battensThought so.But whilst I'll grant Nic the fact that you could put silks in front of LEDs, I wouldn't expect to get a huge amount out of the cheap & cheerful models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I wash a cyc with a bar full of PAR56 LEDs, and the diffuser is fine - stops the patterns, makes colour mixing look much better and isn't a problem brightness wise at all - I'd not want to run them without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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