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ADJ Inno Pocket Spot LZR is a hybrid mini LED Moving Head and green laser in one fixture.
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The Light Source HL Series Pendant LED Fixture is designed for applications requiring up to 10,674 lumens of output with tight beam control.
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Mega-Lite Axis Grid has 36 RGBW LEDs arranged in a grid capable of pixel control for displaying letters, numbers, and shapes.
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Elation Arena Par Zoom has a 10- to 60-degree motorized zoom and variable dimming curves.
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ETC ColorSource Spot offers a precise combination of red, green, blue and lime LED emitters for bright, rich colors
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GLP Impression X4 features a 7- to 50- degree zoom range and a small footprint design.
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Chroma-Q Color Force 12 is just one foot long, making it suitable for floor or truss mounting.
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Elektralite ElektraBar Mini features individual control of each LED pixel for low-resolution pixel mapping and video wall applications.
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Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 Spot is a moving-head LED spotlight with automated movement.
LED Abounds
In the past few years it has been hard not to notice the increase of LED-based luminaires since they have become steadily more efficient—in cost and improved output—and today many HOW designers and specifiers are solely using LEDs for nearly all of their theatrical lighting needs.
In addition, there is the benefit of eased maintenance needs with LED units. If you have a new space or new construction, it is easier, more efficient, and helps future-proof your facility to put in a lighting infrastructure that will accommodate an LED lighting rig, or a heavily LED-based hybrid rig where tungsten lighting is included alongside LED lighting. This isn’t to say that there still isn’t a place for tungsten-based lights. If a standard dimming system already exists with circuits distributed around the space, adding tungsten lights may prove to be more cost-effective, certainly when getting an entirely new system isn’t in the budget. Although it takes a little work to blend the two sources, it is do-able, and the lighting technologies can easily coexist in the same hybrid lighting system.
Since almost all LED luminaires have built-in dimming and color controls, HOW designers and technicians don’t need as much—or any dimming—but they do need to address getting power and data distributed around the worship and performance space, which increasingly includes the congregation’s seating areas. You want to have a flexible infrastructure to put a controllable light almost anywhere for today’s services, as well as what may come down the road in the future as tastes and design styles change. This same consideration is why many are looking at LED luminaires when selecting new units.
“This year I've been moving away from incandescent fixtures altogether,” states Graeme Brown, president of Peoria, Ill.-based Advanced Audio and Lighting Systems. “I'm designing very, very few systems around them. I see that end in sight. With that I've also moved away from dimming in most applications, as well, and our emphasis has been on relay power distribution and data distribution, which is both DMX- and Ethernet-based.”
Shawn Harmon, systems division manager for Barbizon’s Charlotte, N.C., office, concurs. “We are selling a lot more LED-based lights and putting in more power and data distribution locations or using wireless DMX systems for our current installations,” he notes. “For many there's a trend to hybrid systems; it's a budget-driven choice. We are still putting incandescent in front of house because they're cost-effective with distributed dimming out there, but over the stage, it's all LED PARs.”
Front & Key Light
For front lighting onto the altar/presentation area, ellipsoidal reflector spotlights (ERS) are the best choice. This is because they employ shutters to shape the beam and allow you to cut off scenery or projection screens. Until recently, LED ERS fixtures weren’t really bright enough to cut through a lot of stage lighting, house lighting and sunlight, but in the past year or so, many manufacturers have improved the output of LED ERS to be bright enough for most HOW lighting applications. “I’ve found that there are a handful of LED-based ellipsoidals that are bright enough to replace tungsten-based units now,” says Harmon. “I would say that they are good for throws of 35 feet to 40 feet and under. They include the ETC Source Four LED Series 2, the Chauvet Ovation, and the Elation Colour 5 Profile.”
Brown agrees that LED-based ERS units are fully up to the task of replacing comparable tungsten-based units. “I think that the ETC Source Four LED Series 2 luminaire is pretty close to filling all the needs that users have. I also think that ETC will have [a great deal] of success with the new Source 4WRD, its new LED replacement cap for existing Source Four ellipsoidals. It has a nice output and it looks nice; the color temperature is a dead-on match. I'm really looking forward to using them for our existing installations.”
If you have a long throw for your front lights, at the moment you may still want to stay with tungsten-based ERS lights. To save some money though, consider using distributed dimming that is mounted right next to the lights. This cuts down on the long runs of electrical wiring and a large power drop that centralized dimming requires.
Side, Back, Wash, & Fill Lighting
While in the past, many lighting designers used Fresnels and/or PAR lights for side, back, wash, and fill lighting applications, LED PARs and LED wash fixtures options are plentiful and well suited to this role. By using a color-mixing LED unit, many now with Red, Green, Blue, and White (or Amber) LEDs you can now get a near infinite range of color choices.
“In the HOW market, the biggest demand is the LED PAR,” Harmon reports. “There are a lot of choices. Chauvet's got some great stuff. I love all of their Chip-On-Board (COB) lights, especially their COB CorePAR series. I think that COB technology is significantly better than the individual diode products. ETC's really made a lot of headway with the ColorSource PAR; that’s certainly something we're getting asked about a lot. I think the SixPAR series from Elation is also just stellar, especially with its UV. There are a lot of cool effects in that light. So a mix of those three is where we see a lot of demand recently.”
Brown is also using ETC and Elation products. “They've both got some very nice products that I like,” he says. “The Elation Arena PAR Zoom, for example, is one we particularly like. We’ve sold a lot of Blizzard fixtures for tighter-budget projects, [as well].”
In addition to the round PAR-style lights, there are also a number of rectangular-shaped wash and striplight versions that employ LEDs with good success. They have a lot of punch and do a great job of washing walls, scenery, and cycloramas or back drapes to add more color to your service. There are many to choose from in this product segment, including AC Lighting’s Chroma-Q ColorForce 12 and ColorForce 48/72; the Philips Color Kinetics ColorBlast TRX and ColorBlaze; and GLP’s impression X-Bar 10/20.
Automated Lights
Although Brown isn’t seeing much demand to specify automated lighting, he does report that it is important to prepare for the inevitable rentals, and even purchase, as price points go down. “It's definitely price-driven, so I'm not doing a whole lot of moving lights in HOW applications yet. But what we've done in all of our recent projects is adjusted the infrastructure to be able to add them later. If you have included the necessary infrastructure, their later addition to your system is all very easy: plug and play when movers are brought in.”
If you’re considering automated lighting, there is a wide range to choose from, including spot and beam wash units, depending upon your application. In addition to the discharge versions like the Elation Platinum FLX line, there are LED-based light engine units that have a very good output. “In fact, I've sold a number of Chauvet moving heads, all LED; they are a strong choice” Harmon notes. “I’m also a big, big fan of the whole Robe line; I am selling a lot of their Viva and the MiniMes.”
Specialty Lighting
A number of HOW today want to encompass the whole congregation in their productions and lighting is an easy way to do that during the worship services. Merging your architectural lighting into your more theatrical lighting is not out of reach.
“Where in the past it was mostly just white light illumination, now people definitely want some color control throughout the space,” Brown says. “It’s really about creating one experience. Recently I’ve been doing some houselighting with color-changing fixtures and our number one choice right now is Light Source’s HL series. It's a pendant that's available with white or RGBW LEDs and the colors you can get are so saturated it's ridiculous. They have performed just incredibly well.”
Conclusion
As you look for new lighting options, take the time to visit other HOWs; talk with other designers and technicians about what works for them. Don’t just read a data sheet to make a decision, but try to get your hands on the products. Sometimes even local schools or colleges will have the gear you are looking to see in action. Definitely speak with your theatrical dealer and manufacturers to arrange a demonstration.
Finally, Brown strongly urges people, “… look at the nature of their service and goals that they’re actually trying to accomplish. There are a lot of cool lighting fixtures, but they aren’t always the right fixtures for a particular project.” Harmon echoes that thought, stating, “It’s all about the message; it’s not about the lighting. You don’t want to be doing something that takes away from the message. Done right, with the right equipment, lighting is a great way to support that message.”
