Led Lighting for churches…yes or no?

I was talking to a friend of mine recently about the Led lighting trend and how it took off much faster than expected. I do have to say at our annual conference last year we had about 10 led movers and I did not expect them to be as bright as they were. So the question that was presented was how can I use LED lighting technology effectively without forking out a huge chunk of cash for the very expensive moving versions. Well, I will do my best to answer this.

This is a pretty broad question. There are so many ways you can use LED’s that looking at the fixtures strictly as stage washes doesn’t do them any justice. LED lighting effects can cover anything from basic accent lighting all the way to massive LED screens and panels. For this article I’m going to come at it from the angle of the small church that is just getting into the technolgy. With this in mind the most versatile of the LED lighting genre and I believe the most useful are the led par64 and the LED color Palet.

You can accent any stage effectively and quite cheaply with led par64 from american DJ.

• LED Par Can with RGB Color mixing
• DMX-512 protocol
• Very smooth projection on walls with rich palates of color created by mixing the Red, Green and Blue LEDs
• Emits extremely low heat or UV – great for performance stages where traditional par cans emit a lot of heat onto performers
• Smooth color scrolling
• Includes hanging bracket

The LED pars emit a very soft edged wash that looks really nice when placed on a wall or drum set or to accent amps or other things on stage. They also work well for accent lighting off stage for lobby walls, product tables, youth areas etc. I’ll be posting a video soon to give you some more ideas on what situations to use these handy fixtures. There are many brands out there with quality LED products so do your research but I would say the american dj LED are the most popular. I have a few on our stage and they have held up very well!

The color palet LED from chauvet is very similar to the par64 LED except it is housed in a very thin rectangular box. It produces the same color effects with some added features like static and chasing colors within the unit itself. I’ve seen these put behind the musicians on a stage as back lighting facing the audience. This is a really cool effect!

Stay tuned for the video with ideas on where to use these cool lighting fixtures and remember Think BIG!

Moving Head Lights on a budget…Post Update

I posted a few days ago about some good options for intelligent moving head fixtures on a tight budget. Well I have some breaking news! Elation is discountinuing the power spot 250. So why am I bothering to tell you this? Well they have placed all these units on sale some as low as 30% off the original price. I saw these babies at guitar center for $1199.99 that is an incredible price for these versatile lights! So go see what you can find and remember think BIG!

Moving Head Lights on a budget!!

In today’s economy it’s nearly impossible for us all to have the lighting we really want. It’s no exception when it comes to smaller congregations trying to meet creative expectations on a small or sometimes nonexistent budget. More and more churches are wanting to add a little flair to their services with moving head intelligent lighting. but it can be a little daunting when you start shopping around and the price for some of these units would buy a small economy car!

I was faced with the same problem a few months ago when asked to equip our new auditorium with a full arsenal of  moving head lights on a VERY small budget! but in my research I stumbled upon a few products that I just had to share with you.

Chauvet Intimidator Spot 250

These babies come in at $999.99 unheard of for the quality and features that are packed into these units! So if you want to get into some great moving head fixtures at a budget price check them out! I posted the specs below.

The Chauvet Intimidator Spot 250 is the moving fixture effect light of choice for mobile applications and a staple in small permanent installations. The Intimidator Spot 250 moving yoke fixture comes with a gas discharge lamp, affording a large and extremely bright throw. Chauvet includes a pan and tilt lock for safe transport and slot-n-lock gobos and colors for customized effects. Ease of use coupled with a wide variety of effects at an affordable price make the Chauvet Intimidator Spot 250 light a worldwide favorite.

10- or 14-channel DMX-512 moving yoke
Pan: 540°
Tilt: 270°
Color wheel:
7 interchangeable, slot-n-lock colors + white
Split colors
Rainbow color spin at variable speeds
Indexed rotating gobo wheel with gobo shake:
7 interchangeable, slot-n-lock gobos + open
5 metal, 2 glass installed
Rotating gobo wheel spin at variable speeds
3-facet, high-speed rotating prism at variable speeds
Variable motorized shutter (for strobing)
Variable motorized focus
Variable motorized dimmer (0–100%)
Remote fixture reset, lamp on/off & vector speed channel
Individual reset of pan/tilt, color, gobo, shutter, prism, focus
Move-in-black for pan/tilt, color, gobo
Built-in effect macros via DMX (gobo, gobo rotation, color, strobe, prism)
Built-in automated programs via master/slave or DMX
Built-in sound-active programs via master/slave or DMX
Pan/tilt lock during transportation
3-pin and 5-pin DMX connections
User-selectable pan/tilt ranges:
Pan: 540°, 360°, 180°
Tilt: 270°, 180°, 90°
Automatic pan & tilt correction
User-selectable basic or advanced operating modes
Weight: 58 lb
Size: 16-3/10″ W x 20-2/5″ H x 13-3/10″ D

Elation Design Spot 250

The Elation Design Spot 250 is another great option. It is a little more expensive than the Chauvet version, coming in at around $1799.99 but it does have a few key features that the intimidator does not. Two notable differences are the frosting capabilities of the design spot, which allows you to shape the edge of your beam from hard to soft, and the iris feature which allows you to shape your beam from narrow to wide (this feature can come in very handy in small applications when stage space is at a minimum).

So, I hope this helps! Go have fun and think BIG!