What is the object of led uplighting ?

[DiscoTed]

Hello

I have been looking at the gallery section and impressed with some set ups on this site (Darrens birimingham chan slang was funny) But looking at darrens uplighting he useds ledj pars which lights up the walls, ceiling and bounces around the room to give it a colour wash feeling.

Wheres

paul uses colourbursts (ledj, prolight) which just covers the uplighting factor.

So my question is what is the object of up lighting, Is to uplight the walls like paul or to double derby and cover like a wash like darrens ?

[spin mobile disco]

Both are valid lighting choices. Sometimes one venue or client would require a type of lighting that can only be done by one type. Uplighting was mainly used for architectural highlighting. Churches, temples, and places of beauty. Some venues have very nice arches pillars etc that can be made very pleasing by use of uplighting etc.
Washes tend to be to set a mood generally.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

They are just different makes of unit. Darrens are more expensive and obviously produce a wider colour spread and yes, they look very good. The LEDJ's that Paul and myself and others use is a cheap unit and you need a few of them to achieve the same kind of output. I always say that the way I do my uplighting is to create columns of colour, that's how I sell it to the customers for large rooms and for medium and smaller rooms, it tends to spread more. That probably doesn't make sense.

I also think (agreeing with Spin) that they can be used for much more than just changing the feel of a room. You can use them to highlight the disco behind you, maybe the area where the wedding cake is (if it's a wedding etc), behind the top table at a wedding etc. You can also use them in the entrance to the venue or outside with trees etc (weather permitting).

I have a wedding next year in a venue and it is in an old re-furbished, medieval type place where the main focal point is a huge fireplace. The couple want me to really focus on uplighting that bit and I know it will look great. There are loads of ways you can use uplighters and obviously, some are better than others (hence why I mentioned Darren's) but at the end of the day, they all do the same thing and it's how you use them and make the most of them.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

To be honest, the reason I went for the more expensive option was because I didn't want to DMX and needed a simple solution which the Visio cans and controller gave me.

However, this was before the little controller came out to control the LEDJ stuff. I probably would have gone for that if it had been available at the time.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Fair comment mate.
I think the next step for me (because unlike others who think it's a waste of time or 'tacky'), because the Uplighting is popular for me, is to maybe go the remote control route with them to cut down on DMX leads etc. If that's the case then I would either keep all of the ones I have and the controller for other stuff or I would sell the lot and get new stuff. Things are moving along so quickly now that new stuff is coming out all of the time so I think I'll bide my time until next year and see what happens. Nearly all of my weddings next year want Uplighting.

[hoops73]

Hi I would like to have the option to offer this kind of service eventually (I have only just started up) if I were to go for the par option, what would the Minimum number of units be needed?

[Spirits High]

To be honest, the reason I went for the more expensive option was because I didn't want to DMX and needed a simple solution which the Visio cans and controller gave me.

However, this was before the little controller came out to control the LEDJ stuff. I probably would have gone for that if it had been available at the time.

That's the main reason I went with the colourbursts and 4 ch ledj cans was the 'lil mix controller, much simpler than full on DMX. I've been quite lucky that the majority of my uplighting gigs the clients goes for a colour which I can set via the dip switches.

Out of interest here's a pic from last night which used 6 colourbursts on dip switch 2&3. Bonus with last night was that there was a socket on each column so no masses of tape from column to column.

Incidentally I posted that pic on my facebook page and a bride already booked that's getting married in that room next year added uplighting to her booking :D

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Hi I would like to have the option to offer this kind of service eventually (I have only just started up) if I were to go for the par option, what would the Minimum number of units be needed?

How long is a piece of string?

I started with 8, but then I was only doing small-ish rooms.

[Spirits High]

How long is a piece of string?

I started with 8, but then I was only doing small-ish rooms.

Indeed :D

I got 6 colourbursts to start , now got 12 also got 8 Traditional led par cans and 2 x 1m long showtec bars.

and 1st shout on Martins 12ish at the end of september ;)

[Paul James Promotions]

The LEDJ Slimline 229 is a fantastic unit as it has amber as well as the red, green and blue. We've just replaced all our LEDJ par 64s for them. Only problem is that although there is an IEC power link in / out, the fuse is wired "pre link" and therefore you can only daisy chain 3 or 4 units before you start popping the fuse in the first unit. I have mentioned this to the manufacturer and I believe the batch will be updated to allow you to successfully connect more units from one supply.

In terms of number of uplighters to use, I find that 16 is a good number, reduced to 8 for smaller events.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

This is weird but I was looking for this thread earlier. I have had a nightmare day today setting up for tonights wedding.
The enquiry came in early last year and at the time I only had 4 weddings with only 1 of them being in July so I was slightly worried. The Bride & Groom for this wedding were on a tight budget and weren't sure about the price so I added in Uplighting free of charge (I know....donut!).

The function tonight is in a school hall. There are hardly any power sockets along the sides of the walls (plenty on stage) so I have had to run extension leads and have daisy chained the LEDJ's with IEC Splitters. It actually looks very nice and I have made it look as tidy as I can but it took me 90 minutes to do 16 units which is much longer than it would normally take. I know the hall well but have never done Uplighting in there before so was very surprised to see hardly any wall sockets.

Another thing aswell... I set up all of the equipment. More or less the same as last night as the caretaker said to me to keep the bass down because it's quite residential so I decided not to take the bass bins again. I plugged everything in and all was well.....apart from the Crown Amp. It wouldn't power on. I tried a number of different kettle leads and still nothing so made the trip home (5 minute drive) to get the active speakers. When I got back to the venue I tried a socket at the front of the stage and the Crown worked!! I decided to set up both the Active and JBL's as the doubt was put in my mind but it's probably something silly. I reckon I have blown a fuse in one of the kettle leads I was using for the Crown.

[hoops73]

Thanks guys for all your advice Am glad I have joined MDD all advice on here is very valuable :)