Yoga lighting

[yeletah]

A friend of mine needs advice on ambient lighting for a yoga centre - having not lit many yoga centres I'm a bit stumped! He basically needs something that will run a sequence of states unattended ie, a colour change say every 10 mins. He'd like to run it all from a laptop so I'm guessing he'd need some kind of controller software with a loop function, and a DMX dongle. As for the actual lights, I'm pretty sure the total budget is only about £1000 so movers are out of the question here! Ideally some kind of colour changing washlight would do. Maybe LED pars? I've not used them before - can they slowly morph from one colour to the next or are they not able to do this? If not does anyone have any other suggestions?

This isn't within my usual lighting remit so if anyone can help me out I'd be very grateful!

[Brian]

You can get colour changing MR16 LED units from most electrical wholesalers. They don't run from a laptop though.

[back_ache]

As you guess by my username I have reason to visit a few different yoga places.

 

I am also going to say something that isn't often heard here, "LED might be the perfect solution"

 

Yoga sessions usual end with a meditation in a total black out and the return to a normally lit state is best done slowy.

 

Yoga is also quite a peaceful thing so not have dimmer buzz would be a good thing.

 

Yoga is not something that requires detail so I would look at bouncing LED strips off the ceiling to give a very soft light.

[benweblight]

Something from this range may be useful:

http://www.terralec.co.uk/architectural_li...g/11846_0c.html

It needs to be subtle really so I'd think about using diffusion filters for LED (though this makes them even dimmer...)

 

Rather than the laptop....which has the added expense of the laptop itself, how about a cheap DMX recorder with some replayable scenes/chases (and just hire/borrow a controller to do the programming).

[tommulliner]

If its something say to wash a wall, then LEDs would be your best answer probably. All you need are some relatively cheap cans mounted to the ceiling facing the walls, and you can either use the can's built in functions (I know some of the showtec led pars have this), or run DMX through every can and link to a laptop maybe even using the magic DMX basic!! (look for recent lighting posts)

 

Good luck in your search.

[back_ache]

Another reason bouncing light off something is glare, if people are lying on their back they can staring straight into a downlighter or fixture, in fact there probally isn't a single angle people won't bend into!

 

A quick google came up with http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/solutions-c-90....e=2&sort=2a where as well as the strips they have combined controller/power supplies that will do what you want out the box and controlled by infrared.

 

It may be also worth looking at using LED bars (as wall mounted uplighters) to wash the ceiling as if it was a cyc'

[Judge]

My wife runs a yoga and Pilates studio, and we have a few friends who are yoga teachers so I have a bit of an idea about what works best in a yoga space and my initial reaction would be that the last thing you need is any kind of distraction such as changing colours, especially the kind of supersaturated colours you get from LEDs. I reckon that all you need is a nice warm glow from the lights, so look for lights with the right colour temperature first, and make absolutely sure that there is no flicker of any kind - this can be more noticable when one is in a subdued and relaxed state. You will need a workout level, and a lower chillout level.

Reflected light is a must, so use bounce - the light sources should be invisible preferably.

Keep it simple and subtle.

[dmxtothemax]

I would instal some recessed downlights and bounce the light off the walls,

This would defuse the light, to give a softer effect.

You could try different types of lamps, or even colored lamps,

to see which work best,

 

Yes LED type pars can morph slowly from one color to another,

depending on the controler you use,

But if money is limited, this option might not be possible.

 

 

I think the downlights, and some dimmers,

would be the economical solution.

 

A friend of mine needs advice on ambient lighting for a yoga centre - having not lit many yoga centres I'm a bit stumped! He basically needs something that will run a sequence of states unattended ie, a colour change say every 10 mins. He'd like to run it all from a laptop so I'm guessing he'd need some kind of controller software with a loop function, and a DMX dongle. As for the actual lights, I'm pretty sure the total budget is only about £1000 so movers are out of the question here! Ideally some kind of colour changing washlight would do. Maybe LED pars? I've not used them before - can they slowly morph from one colour to the next or are they not able to do this? If not does anyone have any other suggestions?

This isn't within my usual lighting remit so if anyone can help me out I'd be very grateful!

[AndyJones]

One thing is that LEDs don't generally dim all the the way. The final 5% or so will either flicker or just snap off.

 

AndyJones

[lxhipster]

Might be a bit tacky but these stuff from IKEA works really well.

I've installed them in ceiling coves, behind plasma screens,

under bar counters in ad-hoc event and trade shows before. They

just keep changing color gradually and they work just fine.

 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/30119408

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00119933