I am looking to start a music live show; I need help to obtain a professional LED Stage Lighting for Additive Colour Mixing reflection effect.
I’ve been advised to use a combination of different coloured LEDs to obtain nice light designer with loads of colour choices.
I’ve also been advised to purchase ELATION EmuLATION PRO USB DMX MAC PC LIGHTING SOFTWARE, but I don’t know which hardware goes with it and how much would it cost.
I am quite looking to purchase an out of box solution so that I install on my stage and play with it.
I’ve got a tiny budget somewhere around $500-600.
BUT, I don’t know which gear to buy. I am not too sure if I purchase laser light generators or (MAC) computer software. I’ve got no experience in setting up stage lights at all. I would like to get a stage kind like X Factor or American Idol.
My stage is around 12 meters wide and 5 meter length. I want to be able to diversify lighting effects on each song, which would attract more viewers to watch my music videos.
For basic lighting A lot of people use work lights you can find very cheap in home depot. I'm still shopping around for options. I am doing a similar project, Let me know if you find any great lighting options cheap!
Some one said that lighting is everything, and indeed this is true, which is why it is not easy to find budget lighting. The software and type of lighting that you mentioned would be a great solution, if either your budget were larger or your stage were smaller. Much, much smaller.
The ELATION EmuLATION software goes for between $500 and $700 and the type of lights (also called fixtures) seem to range from around $100 for your basic LED fixture, up to (and easily beyond) $800 for moving head fixtures. So you see, this could blow you budget before you even hang a single light. LED lighting has some great advantages, low heat output, low energy draw being a couple, but these have to weighed against their relatively high cost and surprisingly low light output, which means you need more lights and more money.
There are also other considerations like what will you use to hang thew lights off of? Generally speaking, you local fire department does not like you to hang lights on anything that is not expressly designed for that purpose, so sprinkler/gas/water pipes or electrical conduits are not the way to go.
This leaves you with light stands and trusses and potentially more money.
Just to put this in perspective, the lighting for American Idol cost costs in the millions of dollars.
So the good news is that your heart is in the right place, the bad news is your wallet is the wrong place (you want Bill Gates' wallet!)
So what can you do?
I would start with craigslist.com and see what you can find. You may be pleasantly surprised to find a listing that say "Help! I have too much lighting equipment and need to give away enough for a 12x3 meter stage!". Stranger things have happened. Also you could call local theatre groups or bars/night clubs that may be looking to get rid of some stuff for a reasonable price. Keep in mind that while LEDs are great, your best solution may be good old hot lights with incandescent bulbs. As a side note, with stage lighting, bulbs are called "lamps", so at home you put a bulb in to the lamp, and on stage you put a lamp in to the fixture.
Another thing to consider as you look for your equipment is how much power does it need and where will that power come from? This isn't as much of an issue with LEDs, but it's a big one
with incandescents.
CRungoo
Monday Nov 22, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Kelly
Thursday Nov 11, 2010 at 1:42 pm
The ELATION EmuLATION software goes for between $500 and $700 and the type of lights (also called fixtures) seem to range from around $100 for your basic LED fixture, up to (and easily beyond) $800 for moving head fixtures. So you see, this could blow you budget before you even hang a single light. LED lighting has some great advantages, low heat output, low energy draw being a couple, but these have to weighed against their relatively high cost and surprisingly low light output, which means you need more lights and more money.
There are also other considerations like what will you use to hang thew lights off of? Generally speaking, you local fire department does not like you to hang lights on anything that is not expressly designed for that purpose, so sprinkler/gas/water pipes or electrical conduits are not the way to go.
This leaves you with light stands and trusses and potentially more money.
Just to put this in perspective, the lighting for American Idol cost costs in the millions of dollars.
So the good news is that your heart is in the right place, the bad news is your wallet is the wrong place (you want Bill Gates' wallet!)
So what can you do?
I would start with craigslist.com and see what you can find. You may be pleasantly surprised to find a listing that say "Help! I have too much lighting equipment and need to give away enough for a 12x3 meter stage!". Stranger things have happened. Also you could call local theatre groups or bars/night clubs that may be looking to get rid of some stuff for a reasonable price. Keep in mind that while LEDs are great, your best solution may be good old hot lights with incandescent bulbs. As a side note, with stage lighting, bulbs are called "lamps", so at home you put a bulb in to the lamp, and on stage you put a lamp in to the fixture.
Another thing to consider as you look for your equipment is how much power does it need and where will that power come from? This isn't as much of an issue with LEDs, but it's a big one
with incandescents.
Hope this helps!