Weekend Warrior Stage Lighting Discussion

[cultrvultr]

This is a great idea!

Have not been bringing our lights to gigs. I think this easy setup could change that.

Update - done a few gigs with the lights mounted to the speaker. working great! we bought a cheap lighting truss on eBay and cut it in half. Plenty of room to mount three lights on each truss. We also mounted velcro onto the side of the speaker for a power strip for the lights.

A great compact setup that lets you point lights at the band and audience. We are using wireless DMX and it is working well. We've also put some uplights at the base of the truss. Add a white scrim and its a cool light show!

 

[EdO.]

Need photos!

 

[DirtDog]

Update - done a few gigs with the lights mounted to the speaker. working great! we bought a cheap lighting truss on eBay and cut it in half. Plenty of room to mount three lights on each truss. We also mounted velcro onto the side of the speaker for a power strip for the lights.

A great compact setup that lets you point lights at the band and audience. We are using wireless DMX and it is working well. We've also put some uplights at the base of the truss. Add a white scrim and its a cool light show!

Cool! Whatcha using for wireless DMX?

 

[SuperK]

Cool! Whatcha using for wireless DMX?

+1 I'm also curious as to what you're using for wireless DMX and how it works.

 

[imnotded]

I just started using these for wireless dmx. Since they are so cheap I am using them as a trial run just to see how long they last. I have 3 or 4 gigs on them so far and they are working perfectly. Hopefully I'll remember to get back here at the end of summer and see how 5 or 6 months of gigging has gone with them.

 

[SuperK]

I just started using these for wireless dmx. Since they are so cheap I am using them as a trial run just to see how long they last. I have 3 or 4 gigs on them so far and they are working perfectly. Hopefully I'll remember to get back here at the end of summer and see how 5 or 6 months of gigging has gone with them.

I'm looking at those exact same units so I am curious to hear how well they work in the long run. Are you using the battery units or the plug in units? If so, how long do the batteries last. Are they good for a 4-5 hour gig?

 

[imnotded]

I'm looking at those exact same units so I am curious to hear how well they work in the long run. Are you using the battery units or the plug in units? If so, how long do the batteries last. Are they good for a 4-5 hour gig?

I have been doing both. I use 2 that are on battery and 1 that I leave plugged in. So far battery operation has been fine getting at least 4 hours. I charge them up until 15-20 min before we start. At under $30 each even if they only last a year or 2 I will have gotten my money out of them and more.

 

[Goatee220]

I finally got to use my 4BARS and fogger at a gig. I linked the 2 together and ran them sound activated - I was being lazy but they looked pretty good anyway. Let me know what you think.

 

[maxmaroon]

I'm also using an Obey 40 controller but with a Behringer FCB1010 foot controller. I programmed in banks of scenes for different moods and change them on the fly with the footswitch. It's not too complicated since I only play bass and don't sing leads or backups. I'll change the lighting 5 or 6 times during a song depending on the song dynamics.

We're at the point now where if we go to a venue and they have existing lights we ask them to turn them off because they just interfere with our own lights.

I run mine similarly and was also using an FCB1010 and the Obey 40; we added some movers recently so I switched to software a few weeks ago. Very happy with the flexibility the software allows and wished I had switched sooner...

Here is a sample of some of the first bunch of scenes with the software...fun stuff!

 

[SuperK]

I run mine similarly and was also using an FCB1010 and the Obey 40; we added some movers recently so I switched to software a few weeks ago. Very happy with the flexibility the software allows and wished I had switched sooner...

Here is a sample of some of the first bunch of scenes with the software...fun stuff!

What software are you using?

 

[maxmaroon]

What software are you using?

Ended up sticking with Chauvet and am running Showxpress.

 

[Goatee220]

Ended up sticking with Chauvet and am running Showxpress.

Does Showxpress come with some standard scenes/chases ? Or is it easy to set up new ones?

 

[maxmaroon]

Does Showxpress come with some standard scenes/chases ? Or is it easy to set up new ones?

They have most every fixture preloaded and there are some sample generator scenes (for moving heads) and a few other things preloaded but from what I have encountered there isn't a ton; I didn't look to far into them because I had a really good idea of what I wanted to do and just jumped into programming it from scratch. To me, the software is easy to understand and program. It can be time consuming depending on how complicated you want it to be. There are some good tutorials on youtube that helped me decide on showxpress (link below).
I also leaned towards showxpress rather than elation or martin because (from what I read) showxpress is better suited for how I run the lights...martin and elation are geared towards the individual who is actively running a light show and not triggering scenes from a foot controller (IIRC, martin and elation have a lot more preloaded material (but I'm only going by other user's opinions).

 

[SuperK]

Ended up sticking with Chauvet and am running Showxpress.

So you're still using the FCB1010 to trigger scenes? How easy was that to setup?

 

[maxmaroon]

So you're still using the FCB1010 to trigger scenes? How easy was that to setup?

Pretty easy...you need a usb cable/interface with midi in/out. You change the midi preferences and then you can have the software learn the midi note for each scene you want. I set up 100 macros/scenes, one for each pedal of the FCB, and then you open the button trigger window, click midi trigger, then click learn, and then activate the pedal you want that scene/macro on...super easy.

 

[SuperK]

Ended up sticking with Chauvet and am running Showxpress.

After looking at DMXIS and Showxpress I'm going with Showxpress. DMXIS has an easy user interface and a shorter learning curve but Showxpress is much more robust and allows for more complex shows once you learn it.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I'm a cheapskate and I've been using QLC+. But what I lack is a way to easily create a 3D representation of a show. Some tools allow you to create a 3D view, add fixtures, and then take external simulated DMX input but the 3D design element is not easy to use. I've been using SweetHome3D, which is nominally a house/room design tool for general set design, although with some substitutions for items, but it still helps check overall placement, cable runs

 

[SuperK]

I'm a cheapskate and I've been using QLC+. But what I lack is a way to easily create a 3D representation of a show. Some tools allow you to create a 3D view, add fixtures, and then take external simulated DMX input but the 3D design element is not easy to use. I've been using SweetHome3D, which is nominally a house/room design tool for general set design, although with some substitutions for items, but it still helps check overall placement, cable runs

Showxpress is free software but you have to buy the hardware to make it work. But that doesn't prevent you from using their 3D modeling feature for experimenting with different lighting scenarios. The software works just fine without the hardware connected. Again, there is a bit of a learning curve to using the 3D modeling but if you spend about 30 minutes watching the videos that maxmaroon mentioned you will get the hang of it.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Showxpress is free software but you have to buy the hardware to make it work. But that doesn't prevent you from using their 3D modeling feature for experimenting with different lighting scenarios. The software works just fine without the hardware connected. Again, there is a bit of a learning curve to using the 3D modeling but if you spend about 30 minutes watching the videos that maxmaroon mentioned you will get the hang of it.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Maureen M]

I've been thinking about picking up some lights to help us stand out a little more live.
I am starting from scratch as I learn about this stuff so this thread has been really helpful...lighting is definitely an art and a science.

2 questions so far:

1. Almost every place we play has lights and a sound system. I want to add some lights but I wouldn't feel right attaching them to someone else's stuff. So I'm thinking tripod-mounted, or sitting them on the floor. Any lighting principles/considerations I should be thinking about for adding lights to what what be a different lighting setup pretty much every night?

2. I've read about using fog or haze machines to help the lights pop. My singer doesn't like fog machines as they cause some throat irritation. Does anyone know if the haze machines are also irritating?