Megapixel LED

Hey, and no worries about starting too many threads here. Unless Jingles says otherwise, I say keep them coming! That's great that your installs are going well too. If the trailer you're talking about is the type of mobile stage I think it is, you might have to source in some heavier duty lights for that application. Don't get me wrong - ADJ gear is great and all, but it's designed and built to suit a specific market. The Megapixel, DOTZ, Flat Par Series, etc. are intended to be used in applications for bars, clubs, DJs, and small to medium-sized stages. Once you get on a larger stage and/or lose control of your ambient light, the performance of these fixtures drops off very quickly. Keep in mind that for outdoor applications, you can't control the sun, moon, streetlights, carnival lights, and such. You also need to take into account the weather and the fact that these light may be exposed to moisture, so an IP65 or similar rating is a must. It all depends on what you're looking for and what your customer has in mind, but I think you'll need fixtures with much higher output than what you've been using thus far.

When I light similar sized outdoor stages, I usually put up 16-32 250w PAR 38s, 8-12 500w PAR 64s, and any effect lighting that the customer requests (movers, strobes, etc.). I don't use LED in my rigs because I personally feel it looks too cold and dark on the performers, plus to get fixtures with reasonable output I'd be spending in the $500 to $800+ range per unit. I have a hard time justifying the expense of a few dozen of those when the halogen fits the needs of my customers at a fraction of the cost. What kind of power capacity does your stage have? LED is obviously superior when it comes to power consumption, but if you're on a tight budget the units you'll be able to afford will look very dim (and thus cheap) on a large stage. Most large stages have the power supply to match it, so you can often work around that.

I guess to bring my rant back on topic, I'd suggest testing out the Megapixel you have on the stage (if possible) and see how it looks. If it's too dim, you'll have to decide if you want to spend the big cash for higher output LED units or go for the cheaper but power hungry halogen fixtures. Your choice, and the nice thing about lighting is that there's more than one right way to do something! Hope this helps!

HUGE help! I share a lot of your concerns about how powerful something like the Megabar would be in that situation. My biggest issue is that there would be no people/time for focusing the fixtures, so I worry that using incandescent cans would be prohibitively complicated. Power is no issue though, so the world is open to me in terms of options. They want a few moving lights for effect, but mostly they just want a stage wash that doesn't leave the entire upstage area in the dark.

Thanks so much for the perspective! Incredibly helpful!

Not a problem - happy to help! I can see why you'd be concerned about the aiming/focusing issue. I had just mentioned PAR 38s and 64s because that's what I use on these stages, but I also have to be in and out in one day. That's good that power isn't a concern. So it seems to me that you have really two factors to address - weather exposure and lack of time and skilled techs for aiming, in addition to the usual suspects like brightness, beam spread, etc. Since that's the case, self-contained LED is probably the best way to go so long as you and your customer are okay with the 'cooler' appearance of them. Being an American DJ forum (and that Elation is a related company), I'd take a look at the Elation ELAR series. They're RGBW LED-based and IP65 rated, which will handle the weather with no problem. A unit like the ELAR 108 will be very bright and have good color mixing, but will cost money as I eluded to in my first post. They come with a 40 degree diffusion filter so I think you'll get some reasonable spread from it, but you'll need probably 8 - 12 to do the job right, mounted to shoot from all the correct angles. Take a good look at the Elation ELAR EXTQW Flood HP too. It's IP65 rated as well and about half the price of the 108 unit. With again, 8 - 12 units spaced even across the front of your stage with the outer few aimed inwards I think you'll get a nice, even fill with reasonable brightness. If you bolt these down tight enough and add a little secondary support I can't imagine them moving much during transportation.

If you're set on going with actual strip lights, check out the ELAR QUAD Strip and ELAR EXTQW Bar HP. Same as above applies with these, except you can probably get away with a few less (but watch your brightness). Since LED lights don't scale in the same way as conventional lights, try to demo a unit from a dealer to make sure it'll be bright enough for you before you buy a dozen! Hope this helps and good luck!

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ELAR EXTQW Bar HP

Yeah the price jumps for sure, but I think you are right that I can't veer from the IP65 rating. And having the rgbW might make it so that the colors aren't so saturated. My biggest issue with club installations is that the color is so rich, there has to be something there, preferably an incandescent PAR, to cut through the LED's. I would hope that the W LED in this would serve that purpose. I definitely want to experiment with one!

Thanks so much!

Yeah, you definitely start paying more per unit, but the ELAR Series is in a whole different ballpark than the Megapixel Series. You get what you pay for, and with the ELAR product will give you much brighter output in a weatherproof housing. As you mentioned, you also get a channel of white LEDs too. While I'll warn that the white will be a crisp, cool white (and not the halogen/incandescent warm), it's a huge improvement from the 'mixed' white you get from the RGB units like your Megapixel.

I'm still a fan of halogen myself because of the color temperature (warmness) of the light, but there's definitely a need and an application for both halogen and LED. You could always hang a few halogen Pars to offset the coolness of LED, but that gets back into the extra dimmers and wiring that you weren't too fond of for it's lack of 'plug and play'. Definitely try to rent a fixture if you can and see what you think! Good luck!