Mover differences

Before you invest in new lights. You should ask yourself "Will having these lights as a part of my show" actually make me more money? Will I be able to charge more money with these lights added into my show than I would be able to charge without buying and using these new lights?

If the answer is no to both of those questions, then you may want to save your money. ...Unless buying and having new lights is an obsession/addiction for you and you don't care about spending the money at all on them.

DJ Ricky B said:

Before you invest in new lights. You should ask yourself "Will having these lights as a part of my show" actually make me more money? Will I be able to charge more money with these lights added into my show than I would be able to charge without buying and using these new lights?

If the answer is no to both of those questions, then you may want to save your money. ...Unless buying and having new lights is an obsession/addiction for you and you don't care about spending the money at all on them.

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Lighting should be an add on. This is not meant to be an included service. I offer up to 6 moving heads, pixel tubes, and uplighting services. Each year there is maybe only one event that has no lighting. If you know how to showcase it it can easily make you thousands. It’s not the clientele it’s the presentation.

If you don't yet have the gigs how can you know if lighting is even desirable?

Most of the weddings I do have no lighting at all. It's just not part of what they desire. My biggest lighting events in the DJ realm were Bar Mitzvahs, not weddings.

Most of my lighting today has functional requirements in addition to decor, meaning chandeliers and general illumination for tents and other non-conventional event spaces that have no lighting, or gymnasiums or other large spaces that need something different than the space typically uses. I typically don't buy lighting gear anymore, I rent exactly what I need when I need it rather than trying to repeat the same narrow answer to every lighting challenge. Instead, my inventory purchases focus is on the rigging, cabling, and control needed to make it all functional. I own the backbone rather than the actual fixtures, which allows me to rent a much higher grade of equipment and be more versatile than repeating the same thing over and over.

rickryan.com said:

For mobile DJ, pretty much all of the guys in this price bracket are using this same configuration, so I'd like to make it standard

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But it's not a standard - it's the pinnacle of a copy-cat. They simply don't know how to do it any other way. This lack of differentaition is why the lighting would fail to be a driver of more sales. I do a lot of gigs that are JUST lighting. Even when the DJ or band is someone else, and the baseline reason is because I light the event or whetever it is they seek on the basis of the event needs and goals alone - not on the basis of what's easy or commonplace.

DJs by and large suffer from an inferiority complex about just standing there playing music and compensate by surrounding themselves with larger stuff. The better a DJ's emcee and entertainer skills the less of this stuff they tend to use. If "dance floor lighting" was the true intention the stuff wouldn't be cluttered all around the DJ - it would be in a location suitable to the stated application.

Movers on uprights aren't a great light show. The projection angle is quite poor given the position and placement to the dance floor. The light itself has to be constrained to a mere 60-90 deg. of it's full capability. Ultimately, movers on sticks is akin to parking our sports car just outside the front door to make a statement. It's not really about the car - and the movers are not really about lighting.

Will the venue be buying the light , DJ service's or your personal money?

Proformance said:

If you don't yet have the gigs how can you know if lighting is even desirable?

Most of the weddings I do have no lighting at all. It's just not part of what they desire. My biggest lighting events in the DJ realm were Bar Mitzvahs, not weddings.

Most of my lighting today has functional requirements in addition to decor, meaning chandeliers and general illumination for tents and other non-conventional event spaces that have no lighting, or gymnasiums or other large spaces that need something different than the space typically uses. I typically don't buy lighting gear anymore, I rent exactly what I need when I need it rather than trying to repeat the same narrow answer to every lighting challenge. Instead, my inventory purchases focus is on the rigging, cabling, and control needed to make it all functional. I own the backbone rather than the actual fixtures, which allows me to rent a much higher grade of equipment and be more versatile than repeating the same thing over and over.

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I doubt based on his location he has a rental option

They are both short throw narrow spots with a beam angle on average of 3 deg. (2.5 and 2.5-5 respectively.) Their perceived brightness is the result of the 8K lamp color temperature and the short throw distance. At 2.5 deg. from a 7 Ft truss to a wall 40Ft away the image will be about 1.8 feet in diameter. But 40 Ft is probably too long a throw distance for this light before it looks dim. At 20 Ft to the dance floor the image diameter would be about 11". At 5 Deg. (10R) it would be just under 2Ft wide (21"). It's the features that differ, not so much the fixtures overall. One has a prism and the other may not, These also have a high DMX channel count - so there's a lot to be controlled.

In contrast, your average auditorium or theater uses a 750 - 1200w source from up to 30 feet away at 19 Deg. to produce a spot that fully captures a sole actor in profile. If the same effect is desired from the 1st electric (front edge of stage) the beam angle would need to be at least 26 - 36 Deg.

You'll need to decide if what you really want is spots or washes based on beam angle and throw distance. A wash light typically does not have gobos or a prism.

IF i was to buy from this company, it would only be this unit: https://shehds.com/products/bulb-38...ssional-stage-dj-light?variant=42996799733813

rickryan.com said:

Okay, so who would you buy from? Also, Bob makes a good point about distance. Would you use a regular mover or a moving head wash? I'm just looking for a nice, clean, standard DJ presentation.

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That's why I mentioned these. They offer beam, spot, and wash capabilities. They're quite similiar to my platinum spot 5r pro's but seem to be brighter. They also have different color temperature whites which for videography is a big deal on spotlighting. Being only $850 (after their promo discount) for this type of capability is a steal. A moving head of comparable capability from a larger brand, is the chauvet hybrid 251sr which is $1900 each, and I'm pretty sure these on paper are brighter.

You're also looking at fixtures with an excess of 20 channels. Are you prepared with a sufficient DMX controller and proficiency to actually make the best use of these?

Proformance said:

You're also looking at fixtures with an excess of 20 channels. Are you prepared with a sufficient DMX controller and proficiency to actually make the best use of these?

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I’d agree with this, it would be a complete waste of money to buy these and run them in some auto mode

rickryan.com said:

what is the difference between a 235 watt, 7R fixture and a 275 watt, 10R? Are these going to be too bright, close up to the dance floor?

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One is 235 watt 7R, and the other is 275 watt 10R. Duh.
(Thanks. I'll be here all week)

Seriously, though...
I'm sure you HAVE lights you can use for now.
Do a few gigs with what you have.
Wait and see if there is an actual need to spend the money.

My logic on lighting has evolved a bit, and may still be plenty flawed. But here are a couple of my thoughts:

• At 7' tall, your lights are going to be just above eye level for your guests unless you're setting them up on a stage of some kind. I don't think guests want super bright lights hitting them directly in the eyes. So just based on that, I would go with the less-bright fixture unless you're playing really big rooms (like Taso is).
  
  Most of us are trying to add some fun and ambiance to a fairly small area, not light a concert.
  
  
• Spot and tight beam style fixtures seem to be incredibly ineffective unless you have haze/fog so you can see the definition on the beams.
  
  
• If you're not utilizing those items, you're just shining a concentrated amount of light into a small part of your dance floor at any given time. Which going back to my first point is probably annoying the person you're hitting, and leaving the rest of the room bare and un-lit.

Looking at the brand you're considering... I'd personally buy something more like this: https://shehds.com/products/led-mov...e-dmx512-led-zoom-beam?variant=42968693997621

I want a wash of color so I can actually cover the dance floor. It's got the ability to do some eye candy effects to look a bit more interesting than a typical wash light. And the movement can create more interest and energy when you need it.

For reference, the lights I use are 5r brightness and they're plenty bright. A couple of rooms I wish I had brighter lights, but those are 500+ capacity rooms. Wash lights are cool, but find them boring after a while, Unless you have a bunch of them. It's personally why I like the combination of pixel tubes/wash effects with moving heads. It's also why I chose moving heads that have spot/wash/beam capabilities to mix up the look/coverage/intensity etc. It also creates a much more impressive presentation when you combine lights.

Albatross said:

Looking at the brand you're considering... I'd personally buy something more like this: https://shehds.com/products/led-mov...e-dmx512-led-zoom-beam?variant=42968693997621

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A student just picked up a couple of those for a summer theater show. They're a lot of bang for the buck in that kind of low-budget setting; but theatrically the audience is not the target and the lighting instrument itself is not typically visible. This is an instance where the lighting is truly aimed at discreetly enhancing and framing the action on stage.

The thing that really stands out about most DJ lighting is that the fixtures are almost always in the wrong place. That owes largely to the DJs desire to give him/her self a larger than life presence, and to have the actual moving fixtures visible while doing their thing. You're right about the "light in the eyes" annoyance, but when the lighting completely surrounds the DJ rather than the dance floor it's obvious that lighting the floor was never the true intention. Much like the stage lights, the DJ is most interested in how he/she looks - not what the experience on the dance floor is.

Likewise, when you see bands performing at events - their own lighting is also aimed at themselves rather than the dancefloor. Moving heads may scan the whole room during these wedding and other mobiles events, but that's not really the way dance floor lighting is designed for club spaces. In that setting, the dance floor BECOMES the stage and that's where the lights are focused. Other areas in the club have their own unique lighting to match the respective uses of those spaces.

The thing to keep in mind with respect to DJ lighting is that what WE see from the booth - is very different from what the audience sees. When we present our light show as side-lighting it's only the DJ that gets the prime view - everyone else is viewing the dark side of the moon - the shadow side of people on the floor.