Acme Lighting - Help Acme Lovers!!!

[alexperrins]

OK

Bit of a long question here guys, but as this is going to be an important purchase, any feedback will really help me out.
As I am buying a whole new setup from scratch (and I’m now on lighting) I wondered if anybody had any setups similar to the picture attached.
My problem is that I have seen most of these lights individually, but I don’t know how they are going to link/work together. I am a big fan of acme, have heard good reports on reliability and so forth so if I can keep to an all acme setup, this would probably work best for me. I have a budget of about £400 - £450 and priority is on weddings and birthday parties.

Also, how big a truss am I going to need, without everything looking very cramped?

I have drawn a basic sketch of four examples I have thought about (see below for link - hope it works). Please feel free to suggest anymore, but do bear in mind my budget.

Thank you to the good people of MDD!


http://wm18.inbox.com/thumbs/6_33538_f3829ed2_oJ.jpg.thumb

[leighinstoke]

Well - I have the Acme smart gobos as you have drawn and they are very effective - nice show from them. Instead of the rover, you could consider the new two barrel light from Chauvet. Sorry can't remember it's name.

I also have the Excercets too.

Instead of truss - use a Tiger stand like I do - plenty wide enough for most jobs.

leigh....

[DMX Will]

Instead of truss - use a Tiger stand like I do - plenty wide enough for most jobs.

What's a Tiger Stand?

Alex,

I like the basis of your rig. I would persoanlly go with the last option in that image....BUT add one extra light, and possible change the order of the fixtures round on the truss.

As your budget is onlt £400-450, your not going to pick up a very good truss system (tri-lite or better), so I suggest you go for the bog standard Maplin lader truss system for £60

Link: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=17792&criteria=PRO%20Lighting&doy=12m9

This truss will easily do the job, and can be used in conjunction with other stand hardware should you wish to upgrade at a later date.

As for the lighting I would do this (in order from RIGHT to LEFT across the truss)

Acme Rover |-| Acme Magic Gobo |-| Center Piece |-| Acme Magic Gobo |-| Acme Rover

for "Center Piece" I suggest you add in a single head light to finish your rrig off and make it something special. (I personally think having this extra light will add something to your rig, and not make it "4 lights and a stand" sort of job)

Types of lanterns I would go for
- Different time of "Moon Flower" lamp (including Acme Puma etc)
- Colour changer, for adding light to the dance floor
- LED or Generic Par can for the reason above

So in conclusion, for a little bit over your budget (£500 ish)you can get:

2x rovers
2x magic gobos
1x truss

but pushing yourself and making your rig that bit better and spending more you can have all the above AND your center peice, creating a super start-up rig.

Hope this helps.

[alexperrins]

Thanks for your advice! Much appreciated. I wondered what a tiger stand was too.

With regards to the budget, fortunately the truss is not included so hopefully that'll leave me room for that centre piece.

What type of colour changer would you go for Will? Any models you can recommend? if you remember I was looking at the icolour 3, but let's not go into that again!

Thanks

[Danno13]

What's a Tiger Stand?

Like a giraffe stand but not as high...

..I'll get my coat.

[Shaun]

Like a giraffe stand but not as high...

..I'll get my coat.


LMAO! :D

[alexperrins]

How wide would I need the t.bar? Is a wind up truss essential? Been looking at the basic prolight ones, but have no idea what models are best. I've heard ultimax are quite good. Any other comments on the lighting?

:teeth:

[leighinstoke]

OOoooohhhhh bugger - one meant 'giraffe' and not 'tiger' stand - oh well - maybe I should copyright the name?

(Simple screw-togther stand - find one of ebay for a photo!)

Leigh...

[DMX Will]

Thanks for your advice! Much appreciated. I wondered what a tiger stand was too.

With regards to the budget, fortunately the truss is not included so hopefully that'll leave me room for that centre piece.

What type of colour changer would you go for Will? Any models you can recommend? if you remember I was looking at the icolour 3, but let's not go into that again!

Thanks

If your going for a colour changer rather than LED par etc, I'd go with one of the following:

Geni - (good kit despite what people say, very solid and will last) - http://www.terralec.co.uk/prod.asp?i=17777&1=MOJO_COLOUR_COLOUR_CHANGER_250_WATT (i think if you look, you'll find a better price). The disadvantage to this unit is that it gives a "spot" rather than a "wash" so you need a good throw on it, to get it to a good size I would have thought.

Acme - to comlete the acme kit! lol bit more expensive, but also has gobos, however everything else seems to be similar (brightness wise). I think you can use this with a CA-8 controller, and you can for the rest of your rig, so that would be an advantage.

Hope this helps :)

[alexperrins]

Thanks, I'll have a look at those. Actually, I could do with a light in the center of my setup that will do a "white only" setting. I'll have to check the Acme one out as I have no idea!

[Ricesnaps]

Alex,

I seem to be somewhat of an Acme fan of late, so hope I can help! The smart gobo's are OK, but I think you would be dissapointed in the long run. I had a set for abut a year and ended up moving on. Problems with them is that the gobo is fixed and only changable manually by opening the cover. They are also quite colourful, but multicoloured, so poor definition. They are also not DMX, just plug and play. I would say you'd be better with a pair of fascinations or similar - 250 watt lamp and nice combined gobo's - or even move away from the Acme stable and get a pair of twister 4's or datamoons. There is no real advantage to going only for Acme gear, as you would need a DMX controller to run them all together anyway - otherwise you can link pairs of effects but they will only talk to each other!

I would suggest that if you are limited for money, keep a close eye on ebay and buy yourself better quality, but 2nd hand?

[alexperrins]

Ebay is always a tricky one for me. I guess you have to be prepared to take the rough with the smooth. Bought my trusty Numark CDN-88s and my Citronic 10:4 from there and they are still holding up well.

I guess you are right with the ACME thing though. I don't intend to DMX just yet as I'm not in the right budget for a decent controller. I'm a bit of a CA-8 lover as well as Scott - as it's so easy to use for so many different lights!

Was going to go for a couple of Datamoons, but didn't know how they compared to the Acme Falcons (see my other thread).

I like the fascinations too, might give them another look.

Thanks!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

There is no real advantage to going only for Acme gear, as you would need a DMX controller to run them all together anyway

Not quite true Rice - the Isolution stuff all links together (Irock, Imove, Ishow and Icolour)

[alexperrins]

Did have a look at the "budget end" of the isolution range IR-4s? Are they worth the money?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Did have a look at the "budget end" of the isolution range IR-4s? Are they worth the money?

I've not seen them working live, but they did look good in the video.

[Ricesnaps]

Not quite true Rice - the Isolution stuff all links together (Irock, Imove, Ishow and Icolour)
True, but I got the impression that this was a thread more about the lower end Acme stuff?

As for ebay, I am a huge fan...

Leo's bought brand new - £150 pair
Scimitars 2nd hand - £120 pair.... both still going strong after 2 years use

Denon DND4000 - £330 slightly 2nd hand, now still going 2 years on

Acme Lynx x 2 - £170 brand new...

and so on....

Got to say I love Ebay!

[alexperrins]

I didn't realise the smart gobos didn't have an automatic gobo wheel so thanks for that. There are so many choices of light effects on the market and without seeing them all I have no idea where to start! Have looked at the starter light package thread so that was quite useful. It's a pity the IR-4C video on prolight is so flippin' fast! Is this actually how fast the light is? I'm wondering if you can slow it down with the CA-8?

[Ricesnaps]

I didn't realise the smart gobos didn't have an automatic gobo wheel so thanks for that. There are so many choices of light effects on the market and without seeing them all I have no idea where to start! Have looked at the starter light package thread so that was quite useful. It's a pity the IR-4C video on prolight is so flippin' fast! Is this actually how fast the light is? I'm wondering if you can slow it down with the CA-8?
You may want to check - there are two variations of the smart gobo, one called "smart" the other "magic". I have a feeling the "magic" has automatic gobo selection. However, these units are still only 100 watt - much better to go for something brighter!

[alexperrins]

Sorry, you are correct! I'll check which ones are which!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I didn't realise the smart gobos didn't have an automatic gobo wheel so thanks for that. There are so many choices of light effects on the market and without seeing them all I have no idea where to start! Have looked at the starter light package thread so that was quite useful. It's a pity the IR-4C video on prolight is so flippin' fast! Is this actually how fast the light is? I'm wondering if you can slow it down with the CA-8?

You can adjust the sensitivity on the lights and there is a slow setting on the CA-8 too.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

You may want to check - there are two variations of the smart gobo, one called "smart" the other "magic". I have a feeling the "magic" has automatic gobo selection. However, these units are still only 100 watt - much better to go for something brighter!

I had a pair of the Magic Gobos and they were very bright indeed. In fact if you look at the video on my site (even though it's old now!), it shows them being projected onto the ceiling from the floor.

[alexperrins]

Thought so. :teeth: thanks. I guess Scott would be the one to talk to on the CA-8! :lightbulb !

[abyssdjhire]

or you could just read the manual ;) usually tells you exactly how the CA8 controller functions with the fixtures

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

or you could just read the manual ;) usually tells you exactly how the CA8 controller functions with the fixtures

Reading the manual is OK, but I've found getting out and using the CA-8 with effects and trying different things is the best way.

Before I bought the Dynatwins, I asked about the slow setting on the CA-8 and someone told me it did work, but to be honest it was rubbish and didn't really slow the lights down at all.

I've found the CA-8 works a lot better with the heads.

[alexperrins]

You don't wanna do that! I'm not a woman you know!

Only jokin.. I read quite a lot of the manuals on the prolight website, kind of gives you an idea of how the light works before you buy it. :)

Or maybe not! (posting at the same time)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Or maybe not! (posting at the same time)

As I was about to say!

For me the Dynatwins were way too manic on fast and slow settings, but maybe that's just me!

[abyssdjhire]

i didnt mean in the literal sense daz :) what i meant was the manual will tell you what each of the buttons will do... obviously you cant know what it does in reality without seeing them.

the ca8 is indeed good with the moving heads though

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Yeah, but sometimes reading the manual makes no sense until you have the controller in your hand and the light in front of you. (in my case anyway!)

[abyssdjhire]

by the way, the reason they are maniacally fast is because they just work off basic scenes, rather than having any particular speed programming in them :) ie -

<beat>
dynatwin - ****, that was a beat! <moves to scene 2>
<beat>
dynatwin - theres another... <instantly to scene 3>

and so on. there isnt any kind of speed sensing, and as you say.. the controllers slow mode aint very clever with them! many of acme's scanners are the same. if you watch for example the acme winners, you will often see them move left and then right again, from a single beat.

what it results in is a slight pause at one side when scanning left to right etc, and also slightly out of time at one side... if that makes any sense at all?

[alexperrins]

I understand. Found that with the dynamos too! Although they are the same as the dynatwins....

[abyssdjhire]

yep dynatwins basically the same unit, just two stuck together :) i find it with a lot of scanners, particularly the lower end but also some aparently "high end" stuff. its something that really makes me furious!

[alexperrins]

What are other people using as centre pieces? I still could do with a light that is suitable for weddings for the "slow dance". White preferably, or a light that can be programmed to stay on white without DMX? Any ideas anybody?


PS the smart gobo is the one with the manual 8-gobo wheel. The magic is 3-channel DMX with two-stepper motors/15 gobos if anybody is bothered!