Lighting for Performances

[BoB/335]

Originally Posted by mutantrock

Richie Blackmore used to be awesome! Curious Bob, where did you have the puck setup ?

About 10' in front of him off to his right a little and fairly high. I thought it looked great!
My concern with the Puck is the narrow beam. From that distance it wasn't bad but a lot of small place it would probably be closer which would make the beam tighter probably hitting from waiste up to top of head tight circle. I tried holding a piece of flourescent light diffuser in front of it and it seemed a bit wide with little definition of the outer edges of light. I'll have to actually cut a piece and mount it and play with it some more someday.

Meanwhile the Puck seems very well built and compact. Works out great on the mic stand setup.

I see on the "other" forum that you ordered from Bill C. Seems like a nice guy. I ended up buying mine local fro a very good price. I'm surprised you didn't get the RGBA Puck. btw I think a Puck on each performer of a Duo will work great. Trying to get away with one light for a Duo "probably" won't be enough spread.

[Bobby1note]

Originally Posted by BoB/335

I think a Puck on each performer of a Duo will work great. Trying to get away with one light for a Duo "probably" won't be enough spread.

BoB/335,

I use at least two lights,,, one per each side, for facial lighting, otherwise, you'll have shadows on one side of the face.

[BoB/335]

Originally Posted by Bobby1note

BoB/335,

I use at least two lights,,, one per each side, for facial lighting, otherwise, you'll have shadows on one side of the face.

I only like my right profile anyway>

[Brasilian55]

Originally Posted by BoB/335

There is a YouTube video someone threw on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGgfQEi_vdg

In PM this guy also thought 2 Pucks would have done a much better job for me. I had mine high on a mic stand with a boom last night. I had it set for a fairly slow fade where it just fades from color to color constantly. Very smooth transitions. If you link one or more together you would set the first one as "Master" and the others as "Slave" and then they all change together.

Of course the "lighting experts" will tell you that doing that causes intelligent lighting to be dumb. The idea behing intelligent lighting is to use a DMX controller to program scenes. DMX seems to be setup to have a person"working" the lights. Many small guys like us that go this route somehow hook up a midi foot controller to make the changes during a performance without using a designated light person. There seems to be much more to do with lighting through a controller. Fade from one light to the next, strobe effects, scenes for different colors to set moods.

I think anyone going for the expense of lighting should go into it with the idea of expansion into a DMX controlled system. I'm not saying to go that route. I'm saying if you SHOULD decide to go that route that you will have compatible pieces and not have to sell off stuff to buy all over again.

Back to the Puck. They seem very well built and are very compact compared to an LED Par (Like a Chauvet 152b or 200b) And again, it's been discussed many times that amber is the best color for flesh tones and this is the only light in this price range (that "I" have seen) that has amber.

btw the "do-dad" to mount the Puck on a mic stand worked great (even without the quick release from Hercules)

These (2) lights look kind of cool in the video.
What to do about the double shadow though?
(Probably in the Lighting for Dummies book...)

[BoB/335]

Originally Posted by Brasilian55

These (2) lights look kind of cool in the video.
What to do about the double shadow though?
(Probably in the Lighting for Dummies book...)

That's when you would put a wash light on the floor facing up behind the performer maybe aimed slightly at the wall. The light will wash away any shadows.
You need to remember that was a totally dark room. Any general lighting in the establishment will diminish those shadows.

[Brasilian55]

Originally Posted by BoB/335

That's when you would put a wash light on the floor facing up behind the performer maybe aimed slightly at the wall. The light will wash away any shadows.
You need to remember that was a totally dark room. Any general lighting in the establishment will diminish those shadows.

Thanks Bob. Just did not hear that mentioned with the minimal amount of equipment that would be needed being considered. So we just added the wash light in to the mix (on to the cart) or live with shadows in a darker room.

[BoB/335]

Originally Posted by Brasilian55

Thanks Bob. Just did not hear that mentioned with the minimal amount of equipment that would be needed being considered. So we just added the wash light in to the mix (on to the cart) or live with shadows in a darker room.

I would get what you think you need for the front and see how it works out before spending any more money on back lighting.

btw I have barely a clue of what I'm talking about. Please don't use me as any kind of expert opinion!!!


How about some details of what you are trying to accomplish?

[mutantrock]

Originally Posted by BoB/335

I see on the "other" forum that you ordered from Bill C. Seems like a nice guy. I ended up buying mine local fro a very good price. I'm surprised you didn't get the RGBA Puck. btw I think a Puck on each performer of a Duo will work great. Trying to get away with one light for a Duo "probably" won't be enough spread.

Bill is a nice guy. After thinking about I decided to change my order to one with RGBA since everyone recommended it woiuld be better and Bill did it no problem for a bit more cash. I ordered an Chauvett 0-clamp to put it on my speaker stand. If it is good I will order another one light and clamp . Thought about a small controller just not sure which one since I have 4 colors to mix.
I am probably going to sell my jamman stereo looper to pay for my lighting.

[BoB/335]

Originally Posted by mutantrock

Bill is a nice guy. After thinking about I decided to change my order to one with RGBA since everyone recommended it woiuld be better and Bill did it no problem for a bit more cash. I ordered an Chauvett 0-clamp to put it on my speaker stand. If it is good I will order another one light and clamp . Thought about a small controller just not sure which one since I have 4 colors to mix.
I am probably going to sell my jamman stereo looper to pay for my lighting.

The only way I would sell my JamMan is to buy a VoiceLive2 with a built in looper. I love the looper.

Please let us know how the light looks when you get it.

[mutantrock]

The Jamman is awesome I am just not using it much. After getting used to the Harmony G XT I don't play anywhere without it. I wonder how much better a VL2 could be for what I do. You should get one on these harmonizers to add to your ever growing arsenal!

[BoB/335]

Originally Posted by mutantrock

The Jamman is awesome I am just not using it much. After getting used to the Harmony G XT I don't play anywhere without it. I wonder how much better a VL2 could be for what I do. You should get one on these harmonizers to add to your ever growing arsenal!

For "me" what's better about the VL2 (from what I read) is it's a looper and harmonizer in one pedal (plus a tuner). Less floor clutter. Aside from the fact that it has different gender settings and is supposed to be more realistic harmonies but for "me" those are just bonuses. To have a looper in a harmonizer is too good to be true!

[mutantrock]

[QUOTE=Less floor clutter. [/QUOTE]

Yeah I hear that! I love that I am down to two pedals. The Aura Spectrum and the TC Helicon Harmony G XT. They both have tuners but the AURA has the better one.
For my duo act I find myself just using one harmony a third above for everything ie . just one preset. The VL2 is awesome but "for me" probably overkill . But overkill could be a good thing!

[mutantrock]

I got the Blizzard puck and have been playing with. First it is really well built and very bright. I will never play in the dark again! It is a wide spot and at 10' away it will produce about a 4' diameter full intensity spot. It does light a larger area but at much less intensity. I am glad I got the RGBA because I like the amber light the best with a bit of red mixed in.
I am very close to ordering the second one . I think that will be all I need for my Duo when we are both seated on stools. IMO, the Puck is superior to the other lights I saw at the store in the same price range.

[BoB/335]

Originally Posted by mutantrock

I got the Blizzard puck and have been playing with. First it is really well built and very bright. I will never play in the dark again! It is a wide spot and at 10' away it will produce about a 4' diameter full intensity spot. It does light a larger area but at much less intensity. I am glad I got the RGBA because I like the amber light the best with a bit of red mixed in.
I am very close to ordering the second one . I think that will be all I need for my Duo when we are both seated on stools. IMO, the Puck is superior to the other lights I saw at the store in the same price range.

That's great news! Glad you like it. Yes it is a nice spot if you can get it 10' away. That will certainly not always be the case for me.
I have just used the fade setting. Not sure if I know how to get just one color.
Not sure how my "duo" is doing. I got down on my partner for not putting enough effort into this project. We'll see.

Yes 2 Pucks should do great. It might be nice to set "scenes" and change them with a footswitch but not exactly sure how to do that either.

[mutantrock]

The manual for the Blizzard is poor IMO. Maybe to a person familiar it is informative. I did hack my way to stay on one color and each time I turn it on it goes to my "preset". Don't have a clue how to set these up for a controller or footswitch DMX stuff.