Venue PAR 56 LED DDL?

[Gary-Y]

Just purchased a Venue par56 led from guitar center for 179.00.
It seems bright enough to throw some color up a cyc wall and I'd like to communicate dmx to change color etc. I'm controlling with a Leviton Innovator 96 and am trying to avoid creating a definition from scratch for the 6 channels.

Leviton does not have this particular DDL in their library and I was wondering of there was a comparible configuration from another device/ manufacturer that might work.

[Esoteric]

A PAR56 for $179.99??? WOW.

As far as the Innovator I am pretty sure you aren't going to find anything out there, but you never know. You could just drop it on channels and write down what each channel is on a sheet of paper.
Mike

[RTDesigns]

If you send the dmx/channel info to NSI, they can crete a ddl for you pretty quick. I had them do one for an LED par that I got off ebay, and had it back in a couple of days. This is something they offer for free, and it helps them get new ddl files out to other users.

[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

A PAR56 for $179.99??? WOW.

I know Mike knows this, but for those who don't. It's not really an equivalent to a PAR 56. It is in size, but not output. There are VERY FEW LED fixtures on the market that can truly compete with their incandescent counterparts. The ones that can, cost 8-10 times the price of this fixture. A light like this will throw a little color on a back drop in a dimly lit room, at a short distance but do not expect it to put out the same amount of light as a 500 watt PAR56. The fixture listed above has 75 LED's which consume a total of 15 Watts of power. ETC's Selador line is one of the few products on the market that in a large enough quantity will not get washed out by the surrounding conventional light fixtures. The 11" Vivid has 40 LED's that consume 162 Watts of power. Do the math.

If you want a low budget option there are Chinese made no name brand products available that carry a good kick. These still cost at least $500.

By the way I found the Venue PAR56 LED online for $149.

[Esoteric]

Yup. If you use any LEDs below the $450 price you have to have very good control of your front light (even then I would recommend you have very good front light control). However you should not look at wattage consumed as a measurement of light output. However, if you compare the light output numbers, an LED PAR will not compare with an (ungeled) PAR56. However if you are putting very saturate colors in the PAR56 light outputs can be very similar (especially in my 252 LED fixture which sells for $185).

Mike

[gafftaper]

True Mike. In the end when buying LED's you really need to get a demo or rent the fixture to have any idea what it's going to look like in your space doing the job you want it to do. I've seen demos of LED products that will blow your mind and others that are HUGELY disappointing. There are SO many products being put together and imported with a wide variety of build quality standards. You really need to see the fixture. Most dealers will be happy to help set this up. If they won't... go down the street and talk to a dealer that will.

However there are things to watch for in general: Who makes the LED's? Luxeons are top of the line. If they just come from a big bin in China, who knows what kind of quality or brightness they have as compared to other products. Unfortunately that Luxeon quality comes with a very high price tag. While power consumption is wildly different depending on the fixture's efficiency. I can assure you a 15 watt LED fixture is not going to compete with a 162 watt LED fixture. Generally speaking the higher end fixtures use larger LEDs and less of them. The cheaper fixtures tend to use lots of small LED's. Again small isn't always bad, but you need to ignore the dazzling numbers (a fixture has 40, 80, 150, 200 LEDs... so what. How bright are they?). See the fixtures in person. Do a side by side shoot out if you can.

[Esoteric]

Yup Gaff. I can usually arrange a demo (just ask any of my CMN clients who have asked for them) if required. I have not had a person yet dissatisfied with my WDM LEDs and certainly no one that didn't give Selador an A+ rating.

But yes, beware of "unnamed" LED from Misc Lighting Company in China.

Mike