Advice on first lights

[bAd]

Seems there are a few experts here on lights so I thought I would throw this question out there. What should I do for a first set up that will last me for awhile? I am going to be doing mobile gigs usually in VFW Halls, High School Gyms, Bars, and maybe a few outdoor and house parties. I like the DMX lights that james has on his set-ups but that's a lil outta the budget right now. My biz is just starting out, so after my name get's recognized, I'll start getting the bigger and better gear. Here are a couple links to some things I found.

http://www.123dj.com/packages/light/minimaxsplash.html

http://www.idjnow.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=zxpropack&SRCH_DESCRIPTION=&SRCH_MANUFACTURER=&SRCH_ID=&SRCH_CATEGORY=&PageNo=+2&RowCount=5

Tell me what you think of these. I know that almost all of these have a duty cycle, so for fill, I will get 2 Par Can stands with 4 cans on each with a sound activated chase and pattern device and a blackout when I want them off.

[DJNaviss]

When I first got my lighting, I didn't know what to get at all, And I found myself getting all my light's but two, With duty cyle's.

If you ask me, I would stay as far away from duty cyle's as you can.
Let me tell you, When you have more then 2 light's on duty cyle's, And trying to DJ and remember when to turn them off and on, It about make's you go crazy, And take's aim away from your spinning..


Plus, They aren't that great...

I still have a few light's on a duty cyle, But don't use them much at all..

One I do use, Because it give's a cool effect on the dance floor, Which is a ZX-15.
But, I would trade it in for something better any day!

If anything, Go with like a MushRoom or a Kinta.. I own both of these, And they are GREAT! No duty cyle, And they are really bright..

They may not be the coolest effect, But they get the job done..

[Designer]

I'll second Naviss on that, go for a 'mushroom' type effect to give a good fill of light, something with around a 200 watt lamp. I would'nt bother with par can's as without a large quantity they become boring very rapidly and their usage is pretty limited especially with a stand alone controller. Try to aim for things without the duty-cycle and aim for stuff you can leave switched on all the time. You could get a couple of Martin MX1's and a controller for only around $150 more, personally i'd wait a little while and go for a pair of MX1's and a controller. That way as you add lighting you'll already have the controller for it and the MX1's are very sturdy and reliable lights with no duty cycle plus the light output will be fairly high and will easily fill out a small/medium hall.

Hope this helps :)

D

[bAd]

I figured with the 8 par's for now (they can expand to 16) I will be ok. Eventually filling the stands with more. As far as those MX-1's go, aren't they a lil pricey and hard to program?? Don't get me wrong, I've seen video on these lights, but, with my current budget, I think I would maybe be able to afford 2 MX-1's. Actually, I am talking about spending around $1000 right off the bat for lights, maybe more, but I gotta see if I can get the price down on this lappy I am looking at. With that budget, I figured I could get cheaper lights, having a better array of effects. Still more than willing to accept advice.

[jamesnet]

Save up for the Martins, they last, and run non stop. I used mine for 4 years all the time and only replaced 1 bulb. Pars are good in quantity as Designer said. The brighter the better on bulb size, and STAY AWAY FROM THE DUTY CYCLE! :)
My 14 cents

[bAd]

James, this is what I am looking at: 16 cams w/300watt bulbs and then I would feel that I need more than just the 2 MX-1's...but right there I am talking about ohh just an estimate, but $ 1300. Or am I way high/low?? Also, to me, it would seem kinda boring just having the cams and the martins...that's why I like the mulitple effects packages...yet again, duty cycle is coming into play though.

[bAd]

let me clarify that, I would love to go all MX-1's but it just seems that I would need more for effects..the martins do some crazy sh!t but I mean, as an audience member, would you feel that is adequate?

[jamesnet]

Our smaller setup was:
4 MX-1's, 4 Double Blacklights, 4 big shot strobes, and that five ball rotating thingie that I broke (See other thread, duty cycle lol)
We were able to make it work in even the largest schools and hotels.

Now it is alot bigger, but you have to start somewhere, and you can't expect to wow everyone from the first gig.

[bAd]

ok, so and estimate on those mx-1's?? for four of them?

[Designer]

From www.pssl.com the Martin MX1's cost $499 each and a suitable controlller like the chauvet DMX50 costs $240. That controller will support up to 12 fixtures and will be suitable for programming smaller lightshows.

Here's a couple of links

MX1's
http://www.pssl.com/bitemdetail.tpl?eqint_KeyIDdata=14035&UID=2004072620465015

Chauvet DMX50
http://www.pssl.com/bitemdetail.tpl?eqint_KeyIDdata=35623&UID=2004072620465015

From what i've heard PSSL are pretty good and if you E-mail them explaining what your looking at buying you might be able to get a discount on it.

Hope this helps :)

[bAd]

ok thanks. Any more advice is welcome.

[Designer]

I've seen American DJ pocket scans mentioned a few times, never tried them personally but here's a link:

http://www.americandj.com/product.asp?ProductIDNumber=851&cat=Intelligent_Lighting

They only appear to have a 100watt lamp, but i'm not quite sure waht type of lamp it is by the code, could be halogen/dichroic but it looks like it may be an arc discharge type from the brightness of the photo, probably worth emailing them to find out :)

[bAd]

Thanks Designer...I'm gonna keep an eye on those too

[Designer]

Here's some more for you to check out bAd,

http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=277165#post277165

I bought the three for £810, that works out approximately $1400. Well worth the money, they've got extensive internal programs and can be linked by DMX cables and will auto-synchronise thorugh the link and can be sound activated by an internal mic in the master fixture, comes supplied with a simple CA-6 controller which controls the internal lightshows or you can control the fixtures from a DMX controller.