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Example Lighting Setups

Introduction

The light setups that are possible are limited only by ones imagination and budget.  The following examples show some minimalist setups for those who want a quick show assembly and disassembly or are on a tight budget, and also some advanced setups for those who wish to give maximum impact to their show.

The Setup/Tear Down Minimalist

This setup consists of:

The intent of this light setup is to make equipment setup and teardown as quick as possible, while still yielding a high-impact visual show.  The two color changing lights allow for a multitude of different light scenes to be produced, as each light may, depending on the exact model of the lights chosen, have 16 or more possible colors.  Most color changer lights even have "automatic modes", where they change colors either continuously or via a sound-activated trigger.  Usually, these automatic modes can be set by sending a DMX512 command to the fixtures.

The Budget Setup

This setup consists of:

The purpose of this setup is to create a light show without spending a great deal of money.  To accomplish this, non-DMX512 lights are used.  Standard par 38 lighting is used in conjunction with a relay box to turn the lights on and off when appropriate.  The color gels can be chosen so that each of the lights has its own color, or so that two lights have one color and two have another.  The second method is probably the better, as it would give greater color fill at the expense of versatility.  The gels can be changed during set breaks to give more variety.

This setup can be added to later by including an inexpensive non-DMX512 moving effects light.  The spare channel of the relay box can be used to turn this on whenever needed.

Alternatively, a dimmer pack may be used instead of the relay switch box to control the brightness of each fixture, rather than only turning the fixtures on and off.  The next example illustrates this.

Another item that may be added is a DMX512 controllable chase controller.  A chase controller typically "listens" to the music and turns lights on and off to the beat.  With the DMX512 control, the chase sequences may be altered during the show or turned off to display static light scenes when appropriate.

The Dimmer Setup

This setup consists of:

This setup allows for the light brightness to be controlled, as well as some scene switching.  Note that the lights used are inexpensive non-DMX512 lights.

An Advanced Setup Example

This setup consists of:

This setup is using all 16 DMX512 channels of the Solo Performer Show Controller to capacity!  In fact, if we were to use separate addresses for each of the components, we wouldn't have enough channels to use.  Notice how the channel sharing is done.  The eight color changers have their addresses shared so that they are divided into four pairs.  Each group of two has its own set of addresses.  Each light fixture within one pair therefore reacts in synchronization with the other light in its pair to a DMX512 command.  Similarly, the two gobo projectors share the same address, so that when a DMX512 command is sent to the gobo address, both gobos do the same thing.  Finally, the fog machines share a common address so that when a fog command is given, more fog is spread out over the stage by virtue of two fog machines working in synchronization.