Portable Lighting Setup

[dilbert3000]

I am looking for comments and suggestions regarding portable light setups.

We borrowed a set of eight PAR cans, with NSI dimmer and NSI controller for the youth band to setup at different locations during a conference last year. We were very pleased with the lighting.

We want to purchase one for regular use in our youth building and occasional location use. Please share your experiences with an eight light setup.

Should we consider LED package or sealed beam lighting with RGBY gels?

Are LED systems more durable than the sealed beam lighting systems?

Cheaper to replace a damaged bulb and the LED fixture?

Foot switch preferable or works as well as the DMX controller chases?

Are LED less robust and bright as sealed beam lighting?

[Esoteric]

I would certainly consider LED with only 8 lights.

If you go with traditional PARs you are looking at only 2 lights per color and only in the order that you hang them in (for example if you get them RGBYYGBR they are stuck that way until you regel them).

Both systems have about the same durability.

It will always be cheaper to replace a lamp than an entire fixture, but (I am not being rude) what are you planning on doing to these lights? It takes a LOT of abuse to make an LED light malfunction.

You can use any DMX controller, it just has to have enough channels.

As far as what puts out more light? It depends on the lamp, the gel, and the LED unit.

But in a multi-unit rig, lets look at this this way. If a conventional light puts out 2x as much light as the LED light (and that is a BIG if) then I can still out power your two blue gelled conventionals with 4 (only 1/2 the rig) LEDs.

That is why I go for LED rigs in situations like this.

[ptechie]

I have never used LED lights unfortunately, but have set up a lot of portable conventional. LEDs are very appealing to me as they 1. Require less power for each light (you could lamp a single conventional at 500 watts, but the LED lights I see are all under 100 watts each). That makes it much easier to power a portable system without popping a breaker 2. Less equipment. No dimmer pack to contend with trying to hang on a pipe and run power to each light.

[dilbert3000]

We decided upon the conventional lighting afterall. The cost difference was one of the driving factors. We were able to setup eight PAR56 and PAR64s, 32 channel light controller, and two lighting trees for half the cost of the LEDs alone.

We have Martin and Chauvet LEDs in the main auditorium and I have to admit the lighting is simpler, cheaper to operate, cooler, etc, but to me they don't have the same robust, rich color as conventional.

Although, recently I tested a Luminair light controller setup that runs off the Ipad.
The app is less than a $100.00, but works great through a wireless router and DMX interface. Even if you add in the cost of the Ipad, a very cost effective alternative.