Using pars as wash lighting?

[DJ Higgumz]

How do I use my led pars to wash a crowd? I've heard just pointing them at the crowd is bad because of how it blinds them. How else can I aim them? I will be using haze so the beams will be seen, and maybe diffuse the beam a bit?

[DJ M&M]

you can do two things; defuse, or take the laser approach and make it so its just above the head or point them at the floor

[Mystic]

Never heard of that one. You can always get some diffusion gel I guess but you will lose the hard edge.

[DJzrule]

I never blind my audience with my Chauvet Slimpar's when used as wash, and they're pretty narrow all considering...

[Sween]

I never heard of a par can blinding anyone... That is why it is called "wash" lighting... you point them out there. Try to locate them high enough so that people don't stare at them...

The sun can blind people too, but does that prevent people from going outside? No... Put the par cans high and point them at the crowd.

[fueledbymusic]

Placing them high above head level, then facing down washes the floor decently well without the tendency for people to look at them directly. I have 4 cans, they can get bright, but not as bright as the colorstrip minis I have. They are not as bright as the minis, but bright enough to wash the floor.

[Synaxis]

Get the lights up high. That is why lighting T-bars have an extra inner sliding tube inside, because they are meant to be taller than speaker stands. I believe a regular T-bar can go up to around 9 feet. If they are high enough, they won't be as noticeable/in people's faces.

There really isn't another way to "wash" the crowd without pointing the lighting directly at them. That is the whole point of wash lighting.

Why not dim them if they are LED and you feel they are too bright?

Also, not exactly diffusion gel, but wax paper should work on the fast/cheap route.

http://dontblamethekitchen.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/wax-paper.jpg

[Coronaoperator]

Also, not exactly diffusion gel, but wax paper should work on the fast/cheap route.

Parchment paper (purchase right next to wax paper) does the same thing as wax paper but without the wax and can withstand high temperatures.

[DJ Higgumz]

The problem is the next gig has low (9ft) ceilings. I may mount them on the top of the truss, but if I do that, the rest of my lights will have to be dropped a foot down. they are 10mm led par 64s with 180 rgbw. I've never washed before, so i don't know how much of an issue it is when it is 9ft in the air.

[Sween]

The problem is the next gig has low (9ft) ceilings. I may mount them on the top of the truss, but if I do that, the rest of my lights will have to be dropped a foot down. they are 10mm led par 64s with 180 rgbw. I've never washed before, so i don't know how much of an issue it is when it is 9ft in the air.

9 feet is still better than 7 feet... Get em all the way up.

When I'm that low I tend to point them up at the ceiling... If the ceiling is white, most of the light will be reflected back down anyway.

[disbjohn]

just point the pars slightly upward towards the ceiling. with 9ft ceilings, that's pretty low and the light will reflect back down into the room and provide more than enough wash light

[DJ Higgumz]

That was one thing I was gonna try