New to LED lighting...

Hey Scott and welcome to the forums.

LED cans are simply par cans that use more channels of DMX. Any DMX controller can control them, it just comes down to ease of use is all. Basically, you need a controller that can control more channels. What console are you using now? You might be able to use your current one or you may want to upgrade for easier use/control.

As for how they work, you will simply address the LEDs to what channel you want and then respective channels control different functions. For example, the P56 LED uses 6 channels of DMX. So, address your first can to channel 1. Then when you bring up channel 1 on your controller, it brings up the red LEDs. Channel 2 would be green, 3 would be blue, 4 is color macros, 5 is strobe, and 6 is different functions. Then you would address your next P56 LED to channel 7. Channel 7 on your controller would then be red on the second can, 8 would be green, 9 blue, etc etc. You can also over lap these. So you can set all four P56 LEDs to channel 11 let's say and then channel 11 on your controller would control the red for all the P56s, 12 would be green, 13 blue, etc.

The only extra thing you will need so more DMX cable, since LEDs get control from DMX vs a dimmer pack like a normal par can.

The 64P LEDs are great fixtures. I have 10 of them for uplighting applications.

I second what SerraAva mentioned above. But, you need to decide how many regular pars your going to want to use. Regular pars give off a yellowish off-white. While LED give off a bright white. And the 64P led cans mix white using RGB so it's not a very profound white. So depending on your stage and setup, you may need just some white par LED cans.

Serra, I do not currently have a system. The place where we are moving, may or may not leave some of those par cans. I need to figure out what board I need for what I am doing. It is a church stage. We will do color mixing and changing, and we want good stage coverage. The area covered will be about 10x20.

Also, how many of these can you link together? I take it that it is limitless. For example... 1 DMX channel controlling a limitless # of lights on the Red channel #1, same for # 2 on Blue, #3 green, etc. Or is there a limit to the # you can put together on a channel?

1 more question... How do I plan how many DMX cables I need? With regular cans, 1 DMX goes from the board to the dimmer pack and then chain them together. How does that work with LEDs since they do not use dimmer packs?

First question, DMX is limited to 32 units, be it fixtures, dimmer packs/racks, and/or foggers and/or hazers. So you could have 2 dimmer packs and 30 LED pars on a universe. Also be aware that each universe is limited to 512 channels and how many channels your console can control.

Next question, you simply extend the DMX chain to include the LEDs. On each LED par, it will have a DMX In and Out just like the dimmer pack. So if you have 10 LED pars, you need at least 10 more DMX cables.

As for which console, would you like to just run faders up and control the lights that way and/or do you want to make scenes aka looks and/or do you want to program whole shows and simply hit a button to advance through scenes? Obviously, they increase in price with functionality.

A Magic 260 is great for making scenes and shows which are a series of scenes with a set time in between each one. A DMX Operator 192 is a bit more conventional in that it has faders and scenes like the Magic 260 but can't make shows like the Magic can however. Also, to link with the above, a Magic can control 260 channels and an Operator 192 can control 192 channels. Both only have one universe.

Let us know what you are thinking and maybe we can narrow it down a bit more. Also check out the FAQ on the forums, it answers a few of your questions and hopefully a few more.

good,l learn a lot