Hey all, i am new to this forum and using lights. To give you some background i teach in a very small school (300 students from K-12 all in one building) in a real small town. So i decided to buy some lights on my own to try and bring a little excitement to our school dances. The kids love em and cant wait until the next dance. As far as DJ, i just hook my computer into our gym sound system which is very nice for a small gym. The gym we have is small, max cap is 500. It is an old "bandbox" (built in 1929) style gym with balconies about 20 to 25 feet above the floor.

Now my situation is i need some advice on how to set up my lights so my Halloween dance next week goes great for my kids.

This is the equipment i have

Mini Dancer II Effect Light (2 of them)
Max strobe light ST45
Beehive 2
American DJ Electra LED DMX x2 (2 of them)
American DJ B6B LED Beacon
American DJ Dual Gem LED Dual Moonflower
Power Panel (PC-08)
3 "C" Clamps with safety cables
3 old military tripods that will extend about 12 feet high.

SO i am thinking to put the Electras and Bee hive high, mounted with C clamps off the railing
and putting the Gem and two dancers on the tripods.

1. Does this sound ok or would you suggest a change?
2. Any advice on how to hang and aim these lights.
3. Should i keep them grouped together a little or spread them out over the gym (most kids dance together on one half of the floor)
4. Do you have any suggestions on maybe some nice lights that would go great with what i have. I am thinking of maybe getting 2-3 more and that is it.
5. I would love to add a Blacklight or UV wash of some sort, would you all know of a good one that can light up about half a standard basketball court. (Was looking at ADJ HP Panel)

Thanks for any help and have a good week.

Your not running dmx for any of these fixtures are you?

No, right now i am just using the sound active function. Once i learn more i may switch them to DMX mode.

Are you taking these down each time, or leaving them up? If they come down each time...keep things as simple as you can. If you can mount the lights to a stand, and remove the crossbar and keep the lights mounted to it without trashing your lights, then you will have that much less to do next time.
If the kids group up anyway, section off a spot of floor for a designated "dance floor", and concentrate your lights to that area. That will keep your lights from being to thinned out, and you can change up from light to light, to keep the show fresh. ;-)
This is personal opinion, but I dont plan to ever "upgrade" to DMX programming. I have a couple of small ADJ DMX sound controllers, and I run my lights to switch boxes. I have two, 8 circuit relay type boxes for the truss, and two direct plug-in boxes for misc. I might not get as awesome a show as with the DMX programs, but my customers and the kids, really couldnt care less. I'll flip different combinations of lights on and off from song to song, or during the bridge of a song...makes a great effect. The rest of the time, the internal controllers are doing their thing.
I shut my DJ business down about ten years ago, because it was getting out of hand. Bigger isn't always better. ;-) I just recently brought it back up...a little older and a little smarter. We'll see how it goes this time. lol
Bottom line... Use the KISS principal. "Keep It Simple, and Stupid.
Good luck!

9116_1266573782129_1163324898_30812311_5152526_n.jpg (40 KB, 6 downloads) Setting up for party last friday 10-23-09

1. Seems pretty sound to me. Try it out and if you don't like, you can always change it.

2. I clamp to rails a lot, we have a same style gym that my company often does events in. Are the seats blocked off? If they are, it adds more flexibility because you don't have to worry about someone knocking things over/getting into stuff you don't want them in.

3. I would keep them grouped together for better effect. Myself, for these types of events, I normally do room wash/ceiling wash/gobo splash and uplighting. Then I have the 'dance area/floor' for which I concentrate all my effect and movement lighting. Need areas to be able to calm down and cool off. Not everyone is going to want/be dancing the whole time. They will want to take breaks and not have strobes and random light chases going off in their faces all night.

4. Let us know what you think you are lacking or which way you want to go with your light show as well as how much you would like to spend. We can make better suggestions that way. There is a lot out there in the lighting world and a huge price range.

5. To fill that much space, you will need a powerful UV light. Something like a UV Cannon. I once used a 400w UV light to fill a 65'x30' stage from a trim height of 25' or so. The area that you are trying to fill is probably about that size. The other option would be get a series of UV lights like a UV Panel HP and space them out every 30 or so feet. With the signal light, however, getting it up high will be key and don't know if you can do this.

Thanks much for the suggestions. I will try what you suggested. The balconies can be blocked off so any lights i place up there will be safe. As far as lights to come or what i was looking at i am not for sure. I know i want a good UV light and eventually replace the beehive and mini dancers with LEDs. So that would be four lights all together. Money wise, up to 200 or 250 a light would be max i want to spend. So i guess what i was looking at was:
1. A good UV
2. A nice center piece LED light
3. Some type of LEDs to replace the 2 dancers.

Thanks again for any suggestions.

Your gonna need a UV cannon. Depends on how much blacklight you want.
for a center piece i would look at even a revo 4 or a majestic LED. Take a look around our LED section.
Two random LED fixtures? electra led? Revo roll or revo scan?
what i wanna know is what are YOU thinking as far as what light fixtures you want? this is stuff that catches my eye. What catches yours?
Sincerely,

Hey guys, sorry it has been so long since my last post. School has been very busy and we just finished up some of the more furious weeks. I really thank you all for the suggestions you gave. The kids really loved the last dance i gave for them at the beginning of the month for New Years. Another reason i haven't posted lately is lack of funds to get new gear and the fact i am still learning about lighting.

To give an update i have learned a few things about lighting and such.
1. I sectioned off an area of the gym as the dance floor as suggested and focused lights in that area so not to thin them out.

2. The cycle times for the beehive and mini dancers are really lowering the quality in my opinion. I think i need more lights or to replace them to improve the dances.

3. In replacing the beehive (it is my centerpiece) i need a nice center peace around 300 or so dollars. (Open to suggestions since there is new products out.)

4. I figured out where i need to hang each light to get best performance from throw distance (i learned what that was, it is a slow process of learning, but the kids love the dances now. When the school puts on a dance they are always asking if it one of my dances or another teacher's dance)(I told the other teachers they could use my lights for their fundraisers or clubs but none want the responsibility of "if it is broken you are buying"

5. I found i needed a larger strobe so i bought an AMERICAN DJ MEGAFLASH 800W DMX STROBE. i also figured by reading the boards the best way to use it. The kids love when i cut all lights out and use just it for certain songs. I had to mount it high on the balcony railing, about 15 up and aim slightly downwards to avoid a direct into their eyes.

6. i still have not gotten any UV, i want to add it though. I think the kids would love it (i actually bought 100 pairs of bulk cotton gloves to give to the students to dance with once i get the UV i need). But, i have no idea which light would be best. The Cannon has a long warm up from what i understand but the LED is, from what i understand, is not true UV. The LED has a fast turn on though and that is what i need, something powerful, fast to light up and cover about 30 feet out from the DJ table.

I am torn between, the UV wash from elation, Led panel from Cha or the American DJ HP panel.
(any suggestions would be greatly taken)

I know this is a long post (sorry about that)
So i have a few ideas and need help with a few since there is alot of nice new products out right now.

* The dance area is 50' x 44' roughly half a ball court.
* Windows are all covered with black tarp to keep dark.
* Still using same lights except i replaced the lil strobe with the 800w one.
* Not using any DMX, just sound active (am still learning) all plugged into the power panel.
*Using the sound system of the gym (very nice) plugged into my computer. (i am still new to this and am using a free downloaded DJ software, it is doing ok so far.)
*almost forgot, we cant use fog machines due to school policies, i know it sucks i have tried to get it reversed but no luck so far.
* Light alterations run in some of the following patternes (again i can just turn them on and off right now)
1. All on without strobe.
2. Beacon is used when i throw in a siren effect on some songs and such.
3. two electras are usually on all night.
4. 2 electras and duel gem
5. Beehive and minidancers with electras.
6. strobe on by itself (only time electras are off)
7. electras only, scanning to slow music.

This sound ok?
Ok now my questions. I need a new light before feb. 19th (next dance) i will have plenty of time to set up lights and such.

I need either a cool new center piece to replace the beehive or some UV. which do you think the kids would like best. (I have been saving since November and can spare the purchase. This is out of my pocket but if it will give the kids more enjoyment i don't mind volunteering my time and such.) I can spend 400 to 450 dollars on either a centerpiece or i figure two UV panels.

Thanks for any help and suggestions. All are welcomed.
Ya all have a nice day and stay outta the snow.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: roymwr,

If you want the true UV look, you are going to have to stay away from UV filters (cold mirror, wood glass, etc) and LEDs. The Elation UV Wash and the American DJ HP Panel are basically the same, just the AMDJ version is larger and more powerful. They both also have instant on times unlike the UV cannon.

Now, will one HP Panel or couple of UV Washes fill a 50'x 44' area? No. Maybe one HP Panel at each end or something like 4 UV Washes spread around the area.

Cool, thanks so much for the fast reply. I am out of school today due to weather so i am doing some research for Feb 19th. I see what you are saying with one.
how about this. The balconies are about 15 feet high. The gym is what you call an old band box style. with the wooden bleachers right next to the court. I mean if you have to go from one side to the other during a game you are walking on the court and have to time it when you move lol. So it is about 54 feet from one balcony to the other (two balconies run the length of the floor on each side.)
What if i clamped one 15 feet up aimed slightly down into the dance area on each side. would two Hp panels from American DJ do the trick? So two would be used. Thanks again.

Also i was looking and reading on some centerpieces. I found the Sunray II and Starball II. In the description it says the starball can be placed on a table. Can the Sunray as well? I kinda like it better and was wondering if i secured it to a table if it would look ok. Anyone have seen this or done this? Thanks again i will check back in few hours. Thanks for advice SerraAva

I think two should do it or be real close to doing it. They are fairly powerful, just not as powerful as the UV Cannon. The UV Cannon doesn't cover as large an area as the HP Panel does either. I use Wildfires a lot, but the production is timed so that they are used beginning of shows or acts. Or we turn them on and time it so that they are fully on by the time the lights need to be turned off. I have also been thinking about getting a DMX Iris for them, but they are really costly.

Hey guys i think i have narrowed it down abit. I think i am going to wait on the black light for this next dance and do more research. I want to replace the beehive due to its cycle time.

i have come to two possibilities. Tell me which you think the kids would like best.

Majestic LED or the Dekker LED (it will be mounted 12-15 feet up on balcony)

Secondly i am going to get a centerpiece to spice it up some. But it needs to be able to mount to a table until i can get away to mount higher.
So do you think a Sunray II or a American DJ Roto Balls VS MK2 will be ok mounted on a table temp wise?

Lastly will i need a haze machine to make the beams pop abit? (is it really needed cause if so I can sneak one in. I may be in admins office Monday lol) Their main concern is setting off fire alarms but i have read that a haze machine can be used a little without doing this.

So Majestic or Dekker $200.00 +/-
Sunray II or Rotoballs $150.00 +/-
_____________________
$350.00 +/- Total
If needed can i get a decent hazer for 150 or so that could maybe show the light beams 10 or so feet out from fixtures?

I can squeeze 500 spent total if needed.
Tell me what ya ll think. If i can get the lights to pop some like in the videos the kids would love it.

(Thanks again SerraAva. I am sorry that i responded before reading your post. I thankya for the info on the UV panels. (I have looked at wildfires, AWESOME, but too much for me lol)
I may wait on the UV though and get them for last dance in April. Maybe by then i can put maybe 4 up, just to make sure.
Or would you wait on the centerpiece and possible hazer to go ahead and try two UV panels? I am knew and not for sure which the kids would like best.
Thanks again

Well, a hazer will give much more of a club feel. I think that would be the best effect you can get for the money. Makes all lighting look better all around. So I would defiantly look into that. Just make sure you don't have laser sensors in the gym in which the party takes place so as to not set off any alarms.

UV is cool, but not sure how effective it will be. Since you say they really like the strobe effects however, the might also really like the UV effects as well. You can even use strobe and UV at the same time for some cool effects.

roy i would like to ask you to refrain from posting prices on gear on these forums. your prices above are ok however we have a VERY Strict MAP policy (minimum advertised price) that we adhere too. So in the future please just post retail or slightly lower or combined total and not individual fixture prices. Thanks.
Sinceely,

Thanks SerraAva...sorry bout that jingles i forgot. will watch it from now on.

So Serra would ya look into...

1. A hazer and possible majestic or dekker or...
2. Hazer with two UV panels (and use hazer to improve the lights i already have?)
3. Sunray II or rotoball with majestic or dekker? (waiting on UV panels and hazer for month or so.)

Or would you go a totally different route?