Any Newbe Tutorials out there on lighting systems??

genebadd,

First, Welcome to the forum!

Second, a dimmer can control lights by dimming them and usually can be controlled from another board or location via a protocol such as the commonly used DMX. It uses a standard 3 pin xlr cable and allows up to 512 channels on each cable "run". A chaser is much more basic and can only flash lights in a pattern. The advantage is that you don�t need all the other things such as a controller to run it, but you are limited by what lights are on, and when they are on.

Third, The FC-400 is a good foot controller, but it only has 4 channels that you can control (i.e. 4 separate lights); Now you can put multiple lights on a single channel, but they must be on at the same time (like putting two lights on one switch)
If your bass player or other band members has a midi foot pedal, that can actually be used to control the lights and will give you many more possibilities (as you can use a different controller that has more controllable channels)

For lights, You need to figure out your budget. If you have $100 you should probably stay with just basic light washes and effects but with $10,000 you could get a few moving heads and many effects for a full blow light show.

You box idea is a common one. I have seen a few ideas like it.

It is defiantly easier, but also restricting as to placement and size. The wedges could be very useful for front lighting, but some higher lighting will be needed too. And Lighting doesn't have to take long even without a box. If you have the room for it, you can keep all the lights on their poles or stands and simply plug them in.

As for a tutorial, I don't have one for you, but you are free to ask more questions.
I hope you understood what I said; I'm not too great at explaining.

genebadd welcome! im no pro at the fc 400 heck i don't even own one but mainly intels and intel controllers are up my alley! but if u don't undrstand what homeboy is tellin u is basically if u want say for example 4 adj pocket scans you are gonna need a bigger controler cause they are at least like 5 channels each so if the fc-400 only controls 4 channels u need a bigger controller. i would go with the elation/adj dmx operator 192 w/h joystick!! it is a nice and easy controller (i have one) and is very simple to program and use and u can use midi to trigger your scenes that you would have to be programming! also is not an expensive controller either! u with me so far? i'll let all this simmer in your head for a while! u can private message me any questions u may have or post em here! peace! happy hunting! jingles out!!

Ha!!...You guys are great....Thanks a bunch... I am going to let this simmer for a bit and get back to ya... You guys are a big help... I would of never known about the midi control thing, that opens up way more options now...Thanks a again, and I'll be back shortly with some more questions...

Gene

i'll be waitin!!

Real quick, what kind of midi pedal board would you suggest?? I noticed some cool ones for guitar amps on musicians friend, would something like that work??

you know actually im not sure about that. but im sure either adj /elation makes a midi switch pedal. u might have to call around or ask around cause it would be an accessory to the op.192 controller i told you about. anything else let me know! jingles!

Thanks Jingles, I'll keep digging...

ok guys....Heres what I am thinking so far...

As for a conroller I am thinking either a

American DJ DMX Operator DMX-512 Controller


or a ******* DMX-40A DMX Controller

******* DMX-40A DMX Controller

as for a pedal board to control either one of these guys I was looking at this guy right here:

Rolls MP128 MIDI Buddy Pedal

I plan on making two 2ft by 2ft boxes to each house something like 4 bright lights in parallel, that way they turn on and off at the same time.. Each box will sit on top of two half stacks facing the crowd. I just want to flood the crowd with bright light every now and then.. Then two wedges up front with two or three different ambiant lights to set the mood and make the stage look kick ass.. Now that I have some sort of controller set up.. What might be required of the lights?? Do they need to plug into some sort of dimmer pack or something then plummed over to the controller via XLR or does each light individually need to be plugged into the controller??? I appreaciate your guys's help and some lighting suggestions would be great.. Im looking at a 1000.00 bucks for the whole kit so if you guys have any ideas please throw them out there..and thanks again fellas...

ok. i will reccommend the adj operator cause if u get the ******* one we can't help u with it if u need help. i don't know anything bout *******. i would go with adj/elation the whole way cause they have it all and for a lower price than most other companies! now if u get par cans you will need a dimmer pack! what that does is it has a certain number of outlets in it and u plug the lights into that and plug the dimmer pack into a power strip or the wall! now u hook the dimmer pack up to the controller via dmx cable or XLR cable. now u address the dimmer pack as acertain number and then each individual light will have a fader on the controller. understand that? u should also look into getting either a adj p36 led can or a p64 led can! i have the 36 and it is bright and can do a million colors plus! and it is only a 6 channel light! but do not ever plug a dmx controllable light into a dimmer board! ok? now i will let this simmer aswell and u can get back to me with any question! peace! jingles out!!!

Right on man...I got it....Thanks again for your help.....

those par 36 and 46 led cans, they are pretty expensive, would two of these guys do the same job as say four par 38b's?? Those are pretty cheap something like 15 bucks a piece and I can buy more of em..The led's of course are more reliable and stay cool but the trade off is the price....If they are bright enough I would consider getting a couple to replace the cheapo Pars I intended on getting..They look pretty f'n cool...

well remember when u see the price on the web site that is the asking price from adj. i can get lower prices from a guy i know. i will pm u his e-maaail addy. im i think the p36 would be the same as a 40 watt flood light as far as output and the 64 would be a 75 watt flood light if i remember correctly from a thread here some time ago. well tell me what all u want to buy and i will tell u what i think u could replace with the leds? ok? your budget is like $1,000 right? that is a really good budget to have! so let me know and i will see how i can help

Right on jingles...Thanks for the hookup...I'll get a list compiled here shortly and get it over to ya..

Gene

cool!! gene did u get the private message i sent you? u have to click on the link at the top of the page it says "my profile" then u can acess ur pm's there! i sent u the dealer info!! check it out!

Gene,
Very good things happening here! You've got a basic idea on what you want and a nice budget!

First controllers- The ones you looked at are good but maybe not so much right for you. The other company's models are good, but not great. If anything you want to get the DMX-50 no the 40 as for a little bit more you get many more channels and a joystick. But in addition to jingles not being able to help you lol I wouldn't recommend those controllers as that other company *cough* has a bad rep. for controllers. They have good quality lighting at a good price but they really messed up their controllers I'd say. The DMX-50 alone has many bugs and some report freezes. So back on topic, I would not get those controllers mentioned but rather the SCENE SETTER from elation. This will give you more chases then the operator 192 and 24 control channels. You see the boards you were looking at are intelligent lighting controllers which have more channels but less faders to control.

Second, Your lights in a box. On this I'm kind of uneasy. Yes I do believe you should have lights lighting up the audience, and yes they can be pars (or lights in a box) but I think it could get boring. "Blinders" are those big things at concerts that "blind" the audience at times of high energy in a song. Although present, they are used sparingly. I'm saying that you can have them but don't plan on using them contently.

Third, your lights in the wedges, sounds like a good idea, I would recommend some of those par 38's with each a different color on it. then a dmx pack for control. This will give you a wash of color on the stage which is a good start for any light show.

With your budget and creative spending I think you could get a nice looking show.I would go a couple of roots.

You will prob want the scene settler for most of these ideas so factor that in...

wedges + 3 or 4 par 38's and a dmx pack. if the wedges are free figure $150 each. you'd prob want at least two. then I'd get two tripod stands with 4 par 38's or 56's (56's are brighter but cost more) and a dmx pack for each.
Figure $350 for that. Then some sort of effect such as non dmx ones and a pack to control them. All this with a scene settler should about hit your budget right on.
Now this is the lowest tech design (not a bad thing) but will give you the most light output (i.e. brighter stage)

If you want to go higher tech you could go for a slightly different board, color changers for color fill (prob 4-6 of them) and scanners (two). This will give you many more effects but less total light on stage.

Personally, I would go for the first or a combination of the two packages b/c you need to start with as much light as possible and not as much effects.

Ideal system in my mind: two color changers, two scanners, wedges with pars and maybe 4 more small (38's) pars on bars with the other color changers and scanners. It might go over a little but it will look good. This way you get selectable color fill and the ability to move the light around the stage (the scanners0 and you can even make up for your blinder boxes by pointing the scanner mirror at the audience for a sec and strobeing

If you would like a more detailed idea I will be glad to help!

Man, thats awesome... Thanks...Im going to research your ideas as soon as I get home. You guys are all a big help..

Thanks again,

Gene

What about foot controls?? IT all sounds good but it also sounds like we're going to need a light guy or I'm going to have to give up the guitar and run a controller...IF this going to work I need pedals to stomp on..The scene setter looks killer but how well does it work with a pedal board? Will it even work with a pedal board? This is the big conundrum.. These controllers all come midi equipped but no one seems to know anything about that incorporated technology..I think I'll take a trip to guitar center this weekend and harass the light guy. I can probably get my hands on a controller or two...Thanks for your help Homeboy, I'm studying your post one section at a time..I was so close to buying a controller, I got out bid on ebay in the last flippen 3 seconds for the dmx 512...Who knows, probably a good thing after reading your post.. Anyway, if you have any ideas or suggestions regarding the foot pedal stuff let me know...I need all the help I can get...

No problem! I'm glad you are benifting from my post!I think the problem your having is not many people know about all the midi functions b/c only band's and select others would benefit from it and most have probably just paused their playing and hit the button. Midi isn't the newest tech either. I'm not 100% sure, but a midi pedal should be able to trigger different scenes and banks or even chases. I don't have time to look into the manual right now, but I think a trip to guitar center would be a very good idea. Its always easier when you have a hands-on demonstration. If they have any sort of controller and midi pedal ask them if you can hook them up. The guitar center near me has a lighting room with dmx fixtures wired into a board for demonstration. At least they can explain how the set up works and what you will need to do it right.

Now this is really prob not a good idea, but you could add in a few 1/4" jacks on the controller for various buttons so you could hit next scene and backout from a regular foot pedal. This would void any warrenty and would take some shop work though so not the best option for sure. I think your better off with midi.

Good Luck!