House lighting control

[bik]

The village hall we use for productions is being fitted out with LED lighting to replace the previous fluorescent fixtures. We had conventional filament lamps alongside the fluorescent fittings, wired back to a channel on the dimmer packs, to allow independent control of house lighting during productions but these have also been stripped out as part of the refurbishment. So the problem now is whether there is a means of interfacing a single DMX channel from the lighting desk to allow it to control the new LED hall lighting in parallel with the switch/dimmer panels used by general users of the hall, or do we just rig our own "house lights" independently (I'd rather not)?

 

(I'm aware that there are control systems such as analogue, DSI, DALI and switch dimming for commercial LED lighting and as far as I'm aware the architects haven't yet decided which system is to be used.)

 

Any advice, please!?

[electronicsuk]

I had a similar quandary a couple of years back (in fact, I think I asked about it on the BR!). Went with Anytronics in the end. For what you want to do, an Anyscene wall mount controller would be ideal. IIRC, they act as a transceiver on the DMX line and will automatically stop transmitting and hand control to an external DMX source when they detect other data on the line. This is assuming, of course, that your LED house lights already support DMX. If nothing has been installed yet then now seems like the time to specify this, rather than bodging something together afterwards!

 

Another option I looked at was the Interactive Technologies Cueserver Mini, mostly because I found one cheap on eBay. It has far more features than you need for your application, but one of the nice things is that is has an IO connector with various inputs and outputs, so you can potentially use a standard retractive grid switch to recall scenes.

[timsabre]

Well the first question to ask is, can you actually control / dim the new lights at all using an external control system? Most commercial led fixtures use their own proprietary control systems for energy saving purposes (architects will be all over that). Probably the best you can hope for is DALI but that will significantly push their cost up.

[bik]

Many thanks for the ideas. I'm in discussions with the electrical contractor as the architects have said that alternative fixtures can be offered, subject to their approval, so I need to confirm whether anything's changed from the original plans using "switch dim" control (or even if the fixtures have already been purchased!) and review options.

[timsabre]

I would just be asking for dimmable fixtures, with a control point near your usual lighting control area. Trying to get DMX control will be expensive and difficult and is probably not necessary.

[adam2]

Be wary of anything described as "switch dim" This term may have different meanings to different people, but CAN mean a basic type of d0m3stic semi dimmable lamp or fixture. These have a few preset lighting levels such as 100%, 50% 25% and 10% and can be toggled through these levels by briefly switching on/off until the required level is reached.

 

One might hope that nothing so crude and already obsolete is being specified for house lights, but best to confirm, just in case.

 

 

 

[Stuart91]

One might hope that nothing so crude and already obsolete is being specified for house lights, but best to confirm, just in case.

 

I am regularly irritated by the dreadful house light controls put into hotel function suites, even quite recent builds. I imagine they are put in by the lowest bidder, but even then it'd be nice if a little common sense were applied to the process.

[cedd]

A local venue has a real mix of uses and needs house light control as well as your standard wall switches. They have a changeover switch before the wall switches (I think 8 ish grid switches) with one side being a permanent supply and the other being from the dimmer. Means the place can be in normal mode with the dimmers shut down and then switch in to show mode and allow for proper house light dimming.

If your fittings end up just being dimmable LED's without any kind of control then this might be an easier way to go.

[Barreller]

I've rigged eight Strand Minim PCs as houselights in our Town Hall. Minim Fs are probably better. 300watt lamps would be even better but I haven't located a cheap source yet!!

[alistermorton]

I've seen 300W old skool work lights (the sort you used to pick up in B&Q for less than a fiver) with linear halogen lamps used as house lights.

[Tomo]

Ask for DMX controlled ones.

 

DALI doesn't dim to off, it dims to around 10-20% - despite that not being difficult to do. It also specifies an odd curve.

 

There are a lot of DMX-controlled LED fittings that "go to full" (play an internal preset) when there's no DMX control signal, which makes it pretty easy to have a cheap switch to turn them on and off as well as proper DMX control.

[musht]

I've seen 300W old skool work lights (the sort you used to pick up in B&Q for less than a fiver) with linear halogen lamps used as house lights.

 

and linear halogen lamps have an exemption from the proposed 2020 EU ban ;-)

[Dave m]

I've seen loads of schools use halogen work lights on a single dimmer Channel as house lights - simple and can be included into the show as a preset or run off a separate system . We use birdie's hung vertically on their own dimmer with several presets. Can't remember the interface maker but it's the stainless square panel with about 5 preset buttons.

Rako systems

[alistermorton]

Exactly so.

[richard]

It's worth talking to GDS - their LED stuff gives a nice quality of light and can be used in places other than theatres - it's also not too costly