Lighting for Worship

I had the opportunity to see the RSC LightLock by Total Structures live and in person a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say, this thing could be a game-changer. If you haven’t seen anything about it, it’s an attachment that you put onto the base of a moving head fixture between the light and the truss or lighting pipe. By use of some type of space-age technology (or maybe gnomes, I like gnomes) when the moving light swings around and does its wiggly thing, the LightLock counteracts the motion to keep the light from moving unnecessarily. There are couple of killer YouTube videos on it, including one hosted by Sir Captain Picard, which is cool and of itself, but the one below is perhaps the best example of how the unit cuts down on sway. And now, having seen it in real life, I can vouch for the video below not being doctored, the Lightlock is this good in real life!

Now how does this come into play in a church setting, you might ask? Well, moving lights are often hung on trusses. And trusses are often hung by chain. And chain swings when outside forces act upon it, and that makes your truss swing, and makes all your lights go wooga-wooga in a somber moment in the service, because you’ve blacked out all your fixtures, but you’re moving them into place for the next song. With the LightLock that doesn’t happen. Very, very cool. And moderately priced as well, with a list price that I can’t remember right off hand, but it was significantly less than the cost of the moving lights, so that’s okay, then.

So now for the other great news – this marks the re-re-relaunch of Lightingforworship.com! I now promise to make time to do at least one new product review each week. So manufacturers, please send me your press releases! Coming soon, I’ll talk about more LED products, the ETC Element console, the Altman Spectra-Cyc and whatever else strikes my fancy. If there’s something you particularly want to see, let me know!

So at the WFX show a couple weeks ago in Charlotte I got a chance to check out the new Wybron Cygnus, and it’s a BRIGHT fixture. It’s not cheap, at around $2,500, but boy does it have some punch!

The unit uses 23 5w Cree LEDs, and is a 4-color LED unit. Instead of using independently lensed Red, Green, Blue and White LEDs, the Cygnus uses all four LEDs in a single optical element, which allows for smoother color mixing.

It’s a good-looking unit, with a longer throw than most other LED fixtures (except for the Vari-Lite VLX, which is just sick!). The price is commensurate with the output, and the color mixing is very nice. Preliminary video testing looks pretty good, too.

LEDs. It seems like that’s all anyone ever talks about anymore at lighting shows. It’s gotten so that it’s not even a new joke to refer to the Lighting Dimension trade show each fall as “LEDI.” But what do LEDs mean to you and your worship service? Are they ready for prime time? Can they replace traditional fixtures? Should they?

The answer, which I’m sure you’re aware of, is “it depends.” LEDs have some great things going for them, but they’re not right for every application. This will be the first in a series of ongoing articles on LED fixtures and their place in your worship lighting rig. LEDs aren’t right for every situation or every application, but hopefully with the information we give you here, you can make a more informed decision so that you won’t be disappointed when you do put these low-energy, highly flexible instruments into your system.

First off, let’s look at some of the major manufacturers of LED fixtures and where they fit in the world. Then later on we’ll talk about how to use LEDs and where they are most effective.

You can’t really talk about LEDs for entertainment without talking about Color Kinetics. Now owned by Phillips, Color Kinetics has for years been one of the leaders in the market for LED equipment and color-changing technology. Most of their equipment is designed for permanent architectural installations, so it’s sometimes difficult to integrate it into a performance application. But they also have some fixtures like the ColorBlast TR and ColorBlaze that are designed for the theatrical world, with built-in XLR connectors and tour-worthy housings that can handle the beating that fixtures take on a daily basis on the road. The ColorBlast TR fixtures are very durable, with a lot of punch out of a very small fixture. I’ve used them on a show before and was very impressed.

Altman has been one of the leaders in theatrical lighting for decades, and after several years of flirting with LED technology, have come out with two products that are pretty impressive. Their Spectra-Cyc and Spectra Par are both 100W RGBA fixtures, meaning they use Red, Green, Blue and Amber LEDs to mix to a better white. The Spectra Par is built around the Star Par body, which gives the user a full range of standard PAR56 lenses to adjust the beam with. This is very useful to folks who are accustomed to working with PAR cans, as the beam shape is identical to what they’re used to. The Spectra Cyc is the only true LED cyc light on the market right now, as it uses an asymmetrical reflector to give more even illumination across a broad flat surface than anything else I’ve seen. These units aren’t right for every single application, but they’re good as a beginning to LED integration into a facility.

Next time around I’ll talk about Selador and Chauvet, and what those units bring to the table. Until then, stay bright.

So we’ve been in hibernation for a little too long here at Lighting for Worship, and for that, I apologize. I have a job, and that keeps me pretty busy, so writing here has fallen by the wayside over the past year or so. So here’s the new plan – I’ll provide you with a minimum of one post each week with a review of a product, event or concept in church lighting. In return, you stop by once in a while to see what’s new. Sound fair? I thought so. I’m also welcoming ideas for upcoming product reviews, so if there’s something in particular you’d like to see us write about, leave a comment and let me know. In upcoming weeks we’re going to talk about things like Selador LED fixtures, SeaChanger Color Mixers, the new ETC Element lighting board, the Jands Vista console, and new ways to look at lighting systems that will cut down on energy consumption and put your facility in a better place for the long run.

So hang with me, we’re gonna do some interesting things around here.

So we’re gonna try to do a few new things here at LFW, and one things I’m going to try to do is bring you information on new products in the lighting world. And there’s really no better place to start than with one of the most highly-anticipated product launches of 2008 – the ETC Ion control console.

ETC’s Express line of consoles was perhaps the biggest selling line of light boards in history, and with good reason. The ease of operation coupled with expansive feature set, brief learning curve and ezceptional brand loyalty on the part of ETC customers all came together to create a sensation in lighting control like nothing I’d ever seen before. So it was with some trepidation that I took a look at the Ion, the console that was going to eventually replace the Express. I hated to see the Express go, it’s like an old dependable buddy for a lighting designer and a lighting system designer. But the fact of the matter is, you can’t buy parts for a 10-year-old computer anymore, and that’s what the Express was – a 10-year-old computer.

So I took a look at the Ion at last year’s LDI, and was happily surprised at what I saw. My initial concerns that the board would be too high-tech for the everyday end user were obviously unfounded, as for the basic theatrical application, the Ion programs very similarly to the Express. The only real difference is that the Ion, as a command-line console, adds a couple of keystrokes to some standard applications, but the differences are small enough that it only took me a few minutes to adapt.

But it’s not in the similarities where the Ion shines. It would have been easy to make another Express with new hardware, but that would have ignored the changes in the lighting world that we’ve seen in the last few years. When the Express debuted, moving lights were still limited to rock tours and Broadway shows. But as the years have moved along, moving lights, LED lights and color changers have become the rule rather than the exception in lighting systems. The Express got a couple of software updates through the years, but the Ion takes the platform of the Express and builds on it to handle moving lights and LED fixtures simply.

With a base model of 1024 channels, the Ion is designed for the complex systems that we’re installing todays. The Ion is also a Net-resident console, so it doesn’t require an old-school DMX cable network to function. But it also has two DMX outputs to fit seamlessly into existing installations. The dual monitors on the Ion provide a level of feedback that the Express couldn’t match, and with the multiple configurations available for the submaster/playback wings the Ion can be set up to meet the needs of any type of installation.

One of my favorite things on the Ion is the color picker, which uses a color wheel and a mouse to create any color you can imagine from your LED fixtures or color changers. The mouse and dual screens also allow for better control and programming of moving lights. If it sounds like I’m a fan, it’s because I am. The Ion from ETC is a low-cost, high-octane solution for churches that are looking to control conventional fixtures in a flexible fashion, or moving lights and LED fixtures with ease.

Welcome to Lighting for Worship, your internet resource guide to the best in Church Lighting techniques and equipment. With our vast experience in church lighting design for live events and television, we’ll give you the best in tips and equipment recommendations to make your shows the best they can be. From new construction information to production-specific tips, we’ll help you make the best decisions in equipment purchases and use!

There are lots of things to consider when going into a church lighting project, from the type of lights that will work best for you to how to choose a lighting vendor you can trust. My goal for this site is to make it easy to use and to give you the information you need to make your next church lighting project a success. As technology has advanced, so have the needs of your worship service. From television lighting to moving lights, we’ll provide you with tips and advice on selecting the best equipment for your renovation or new construction project.

So whether you’re a 300-seat church on the lane or a budding mega-church with ambitions toward being the next Willow Creek, let us help you determing the best stage lighting equipment for your church.

Wondering how to get started buying a lighting system? Check out our Lighting Questions Page.

Thinking of Buying Used Lighting Equipment? Take our advice on the Used or New Page.

Just getting started with Church Lighting? Take a look at the different types of lights and what they do.

Getting more advanced in your lighting? Check out our primer on moving lights.

Who can you trust these days? Find out on our vendors page.

Which Light Board is right for me? We can help!