r/lightingdesign

How do you usually power your rigs? Specifically flown rigs

I'm assuming most will send socapex/mulitpin or something similar in the air and use pass through from the fixtures when they can to power as much as possible.

Are there best practices as far as what to use when flying? For our company, we don't fly a ton, but we're starting to more and more. We currently use soca and connect power cables (true1/powercon to Edison) to those circuits, sometimes with triple taps, if necessary . My boss would like to avoid using Edison to Edison connections in the air because they don't lock. Is there a major concern here? If you are against this as well, what do you use to avoid this? Any gear recommendations?

Also of note, our work horse movers, do not have power pass through and we have fixtures that use true1 and fixtures that use powercon. Looking for a solution that can work with both.

Can you jumper out a Dmx like to stay one color without using a program

Hey everyone!

I recently started a new job at a Danish continuation school — a school where the students, aged 15–17, live at the school. They have normal classes, but also a lot of sports, music, and last but not least, theatre!

In general, we have two needs for lights at our school:

1. The students put on concerts every two weeks. Here we just want to have 10–15 presets the students can easily switch between to match the current song.
2. Once a year, we put on quite a big musical where all 120 students are involved in the production. One of the tasks is obviously lighting design. Here's a link to this year's musical. It's in Danish, but you might be able to get an idea of the level we're trying to achieve.

So here comes my question...

Currently, we mix our wash and beam lights through the ChamSys MagicQ software using an older version of the Mini Wing to control presets and cues. While this is an amazing piece of software that can do everything we could ever imagine (and more), it has quite a steep learning curve for the students, who only come to our school for one or maybe two years. I find myself having to program most of the show and just getting the students to run it.

So we're looking for something to make lighting design a bit more accessible to more students. Today I stumbled across the Wolfmix W1. This looks amazing and much easier to use without me having to be there.

What do all you clever, and far more experienced, people on the internet think? Is the Wolfmix W1 a good bit of tech for our use? Do we just bite the bullet and get better at using ChamSys MagicQ, or is there a third, even easier and better option out there for us?

Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to answer me. It really means alot!

Hello lighting nerds and experts!

Hoping for some expertise - I’m in charge of my employers booth at an upcoming trade show at the Javits Center in New York. We have a 20x20 booth, accessible from 2 aisles.

I’d like to get lighting from the Javits to make our booth pop - I’ve heard LED Par Can lamps are the best for that. How many would you recommend I rent for a booth that size? Would 2 be enough, one on either aisle, shining down on the booth?

Thanks all! 😊

So I was chosen to do lighting for a local theater company. The play we're doing is dare to dream( for some contact., I normally do sound during a play that we are distributing.I was just kind of playing around with some lighting stuff, and our tech director said do you want to do lighting for are kids play i see. Yes, because it's easy enough. It's a kid's play, so it's not super high pressure.)

The equipment, I have:

Mac 700: 2

Mac 250 : 4

Disco ball: 1

Colorsource with I Que:2

Spotlight:2

And then, I have like, just the standard middle school/high school ect lighting stuff

And i'm using the ect ion with fader wing

So basically what I'm asking for is just some ideas for the show on what to do like I have some ideas, but considering that I am new to lightning, I wouldn't like a more professional standpoint on some ideas for this show i'm open to pretty much everything. Just as long as I can somewhat easily figure out how to do it.

hello! I’m a lighting designer graduating from college next year, and I’ve done theater since I was a child - mostly in theater clubs and student troupes as the like- tech support bc thats where my art lies. i just closed my last show with my friends, and I’m sad that it’s probably not gonna be the same.

I love theater in all shapes and forms, i listen to musicals, i engage w the online fandom ab the characters, hell, i devoted my time in the pandemic to hunting down lost media from a show that i really like. That kind of annoying theater kid energy. Just on a techie not an actor.

i’m really scared of leaving and kind of scared of the professional world; PLEASE correct me if i’m wrong and I do not mean to offend, but it seems like a lot of tech people are not as ‘theater geek’ as I am. Most of my theater friends are actors, and the tech people i know are much less. “RAAA MUSICALS” than i am - so i’m really curious about how passions manifest in the profession.

I really. really love this work, im ready and willing to put in whatever, you don’t have to scare me straight or temper my expectations.

I just want to know what the good parts of the profession are, whether theres a sense of community or palpable sense of love like i see from my actor friends, how i can keep that tight knit feeling within me, and whether that outward passion i have is present in this world.

thank you!

Hi everyone, I’m currently using Vectorworks to create a stage and lighting plot, and I’d like to import that file into Blender for better rendering and more realistic lighting visuals. I’m completely new to Blender and at the moment I can only manage to move the default cube, so I’m definitely starting from zero. Could anyone guide me on the best workflow for exporting from Vectorworks and importing into Blender, plus any beginner tips for setting up stage lighting there? Any help would be hugely appreciated!

A number of years ago my previous band used Wireless DMX transmitters with our lights that we used for our set, which helped with changeover time but on occasion we would have misfire issues where the wireless (I suspect) was conflicting with the 2.4ghz signals in the area.

In our current setup I’m still running DMX lines to our rack and while that works, I’m curious if there are any wireless DMX solutions that either use signals other than 2.4ghz signal or see close enough to the wired DMX experience with minimal issues. The lights would be too far from the rack where the DMX transmitter would be, I would guess 50ft at most.

Wired will always be king but if there is something out there that can do the job wirelessly I’d love to explore that even if it’s an investment!

Once again, I have lost my patience with the console that was purchased for my school. My complaints mostly boil down to “this was incredibly easy to do on the ancient board they replaced, wtf?”

My most important question is this: I’m doing a show that requires multiple flashes of lighting throughout. I thought I could hit a bump to make it happen, but either my brain or the board is not capable. Has anyone done this on a Colorsource? I’m absolutely not willing to program a cue for each — I may get a crew member to use a flashlight. (In fact, that may just be a better design idea anyway.)

If anyone has a passion for explaining this ridiculous console, I’m also wondering if I should be programming looks rather than cues. There’s one main area that’s a wash, and two others that are isolated. All of them have multiple looks, and are used together or alone at various times. I’m so frustrated that I’m probably overlooking simple thing. I also know that the helpline is fantastic, but I don’t have time for a call while I’m at work in front of the board.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

What are some causes of spazzing lights? I manage lights for a church (among other things) and this is the first time I've had lights spazzing out during a service. The lights in question are Laluce Natz 32RGBW pars. Until last week I had some generic single channels on a Chauvet DJ DMX pack and 4 units of DMX control for LED Strips (4 channels RGBW). The whole cabled signal flow is on physical 3-pin, XLR cables, I do not know if the cables are rated for DMX data or not. Before last sunday I had to pull the generic dimmers off of the DMX pack for a fire inspection and until we can have a proper solution they aren't going to plugged into the DJ unit. I currently have two Chauvet DJ packs plugged into the signal flow that don't have lights plugged into them. I know the DMX address are not the same, I just addressed them the other day. Now the flickering and lights color changes were happening during live music, I didn't see the lights consistently changing with the music/rhythm. I changed light preset and that didn't help. When the music stopped and we just had a speaker, the lights stopped spazzing.

Now I've tried introducing multiple mini DMX racks before and it caused similar issues, but I was hoping it was old packs, different brands or pre-owned. One of the two mini racks is brand new, just plugged in this last week with no lights plugged in but wasn't causing issues the first night it was plugged in. But today, the second time it was used in the current set-up, the pars started acting up, the LED strips were fine and it was only half the lights.

Any advice or things to try?

Ok so we have two cam lights we want to set constant white but everytime we chnage them in the show and hit save they wont save of we chnage the show and back to it. We have multiple shows and want to keep thoes white on each show.

Any reason why they wont stay white when i hit save?

What are your best warehouse tips for making sure load in goes smoothly?

Hey hive mind,

I’m starting my first tour. Mainly as a a L2. What are some of the things that I should absolutely pack? I know the usuals tape, wrench, multitool, tape, ear plugs and some cable testers. What are some things that would be overlooked or have helped you on the road?

I have two questions about 5 pin dmx cables.

after finishing writing this I came up with and remembered quite a few other questions I had, so apologies and thank you all in advance. going to leave that cause I think its funny.

first, I've been looking at these cables, and they only have three of five pins wired. So this is actually multiple questions just about the same thing. What are the purposes of the five pins (looking at some wiring diagrams it seems to be ground, data 1 +/-, and data 2 +/- (how does two lines of data work and what does it mean/why is there a data + and -)), do all of the five pins need to be wired? If so, where the hell would I find those? Is there somewhere that I could potentially get them cheaper?

Second, what do we think about the afformentioned cables? the reviews seem good, but are they any good and what do you all think? any reccomendations?

Third, how do you all reccomend marking your cables? I am between (colored) gaff and electrical tape, but I can't decide if i should go with gaff + clear shrink wrap/tape, or electrical tape. The reason I am considering gaff over electrical is because of the residue electrical tape leaves. Which, if either should I use and should I put something clear over either?

any and all responses, follow ups, and general comments/suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks everyone!

Hi everyone,

I’m completely new to working with LEDs and could really use some expert advice for a project I'm putting together.

I need to run about 30 meters of LED strips. I’m currently planning to use standard DC voltage strips that come in 5-meter rolls and are about 10mm wide.

The Problem:

When I asked a local shopkeeper for advice, he mentioned that a single 5m strip draws about 6 amps. His solution was to sell me 6 separate plug-in adapters (one for each strip).

That really doesn't work for my setup. I need this to look clean and act as one continuous 30-meter piece. Having 6 bulky power bricks plugged in along the run completely defeats the purpose and will look incredibly messy.

My Questions:

1. Single Power Supply: What is the best way to power all 30 meters from a single, hidden power supply? What specs (Voltage/Amperage) should I be looking for to handle a load this size safely?

2. Voltage Drop: I’ve heard that if I just solder 30 meters of strips end-to-end, the lights at the end will be super dim. How do I actually wire this to keep the brightness even across the entire run without ruining the seamless look?

3. 12V vs 24V: Would it make my life significantly easier to use 24V strips instead of 12V for a run this long?

I'd appreciate any beginner-friendly explanations, wiring tips, or specific product recommendations you might have. Thanks in advance!

I wanna get clarification If I am doing this right or not.
We have 24v pixel tape, RGBW running along a platform.
We are running it on Advatek Pixlite Mk2 Decoder.
It has terrible dimming curves running at 8bit.

We would love to try changing the Tape to 16bit
With research it seems we need to change the pixel protocol.
The only two protocols I have found that are supported by the Mk2, 16bit and RGBW were MY9291 and USC8904. When we change the decoder to either of these protocols the tape seems to not work or works in strange fashion.
WS2814 is the protocol we currently have them in that works correctly.

We are running the Pixel tape with and EOS Console. Each pixel is patched as an individual RGBW Channel.
But even when we pull up each pixel by address it acts strangely. mostly pull up White and red Together and Blue and green together, etc.

Is there something else I need to be aware of, to research in our set up or change in settings to make this work. If anyone knows pixel tape well enough. Please let me know if there is anymore info I need to provide to help clarify this question.

Hello my lovely designers, I am just finishing up my first full dance show as a senior in college. And I found it rather enjoyable, and realized that I did some of my best work here. I was wondering if any of you have advice on who to talk to, how to get out into the world of dance. Because this was very exciting to realize that this is what I wanted to focus on. I would accept any help, thank you all for your advice and work in this crazy industry!