Par Cans as UpLighting?

[Muzikmania]

Hi all,

This is one for the wedding DJs.

I wondered if anyone knows if it would be possible to use par cans as uplighting, floor standing obviously or whether theyre just not bright enough to give a good pinky coloured effect would be bulb.

Thanks in advance

Connor.

[lazersounds]

I use LED par cans as up lighters with no problems, as with anything the more expensive are better, I also find Par 64s are better than 56's :)

[yourdj]

Are you talking LED or HOT ones?

For the price of them and using them as an optional extra why not buy some decent cheaper flat ones?
for £50 a unit its a no brainer IMO - The big LED ones are still widely used however and work a treat, but take up loads of space. :)

I would not use halogen as kids pick them up and will burn their hands.

[Corabar Steve]

I would not use halogen as kids pick them up and will burn their hands.

They wouldn't do it again though :sj:

[yourdj]

They wouldn't do it again though :sj:

Yes. Annoying then the parents watch and laugh as the kids wander off with a £300 up lighter or try and stand on them. :(

i have thought about attaching it live to the mains and see what happens then :lol:

[Muzikmania]

I use LED par cans as up lighters with no problems, as with anything the more expensive are better, I also find Par 64s are better than 56's :)

I don't know whether you'd know, but would the halogen ones work as well as the LED, or would they perform poorly? If they were 64's?

[lazersounds]

56 or 64 halogens will work fine but id advise against using them with kids about, they get extremely hot and kids love to touch, led are much better and you have loads of colours available with a simple dip switch setting or controller.

[Muzikmania]

56 or 64 halogens will work fine but id advise against using them with kids about, they get extremely hot and kids love to touch, led are much better and you have loads of colours available with a simple dip switch setting or controller.

Anyone have any tips as to how i can get kids to not touch halogen ones?

[Kernow]

Anyone have any tips as to how i can get kids to not touch halogen ones?
Mount them on silver platform shoes and cover with matching spandex skrims and the parents will ensure they go nowhere near them !! ? ;)
Seriously, it will be practicably impossible to stop them, kids are like moths to lighting. As already said by others, the LEDS would be the way to go, both for safety and versatility. :thumbs_up:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Anyone have any tips as to how i can get kids to not touch halogen ones?

Yeah, use LED ones.

[Andy Collins]

Make an announcement that if any kids touch them then you'll play a Justin Bieber song.

Seriously, to avoid problems and a possible legal issue with little burnt fingers - you'll be better off with LED. You can get them for around £30 a can second hand or £50 new for a slim line one.

[DJ Frankie]

To be honest I wouldn't go anywhere near Halogen par cans for up-lighting just too risky. CPC do some 56's for around £30 and as mentioned you can flick a dip switch and change to what ever colour suits.

Plus you will be spending out money on different colour gels with halogen.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I would not use halogen as kids pick them up and will burn their hands.


56 or 64 halogens will work fine but id advise against using them with kids about, they get extremely hot and kids love to touch, led are much better and you have loads of colours available with a simple dip switch setting or controller.


As already said by others, the LEDS would be the way to go, both for safety and versatility. :thumbs_up:




Seriously, to avoid problems and a possible legal issue with little burnt fingers - you'll be better off with LED. You can get them for around £30 a can second hand or £50 new for a slim line one.


To be honest I wouldn't go anywhere near Halogen par cans for up-lighting just too risky. CPC do some 56's for around £30 and as mentioned you can flick a dip switch and change to what ever colour suits.

Plus you will be spending out money on different colour gels with halogen.


I think you have your answer.

Please do take the advise of our esteemed membership and use LED cans.

[SamV]

You need some proper powerful par cans to do uplighting properly. The £30 Pulse ones from CPC don't cut it.

[yourdj]

You need some proper powerful par cans to do uplighting properly. The £30 Pulse ones from CPC don't cut it.

Depends on the room, brightness and ceiling/wall height/colour IMO. :)
I also assume that this person does not have a high budget.

Thomann do some decent slim lines - I had a set of these no complaints.
http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_led_flood_panel_150_40.htm?sid=66c05c6f b17db145a2b3bd26c6dd04bb

You can also choose the brighter tri led ones:
http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_led_flood_tri_panel_7x3w_rgb.htm

I bought a load of super bright (and super expensive) quad LED battery/wireless DMX ones and found them too bright.
With decent dimming its not too bad but I have gone back to using my older multiple LED battery ones now.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

You need some proper powerful par cans to do uplighting properly. The £30 Pulse ones from CPC don't cut it.

I am restraining myself from posting 'what nonsense' having used these cans amongst others successfully for years.

Perhaps you can justify why you think they don't work?

I suspect most gigs people do on here are up to 150 people rather than massive rooms with thousands of people?

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I use KAM LED RGB 192's for both Uplighting and also Stage Lighting and they are great.
Discontinued now which is a pain. I have 10 of them but would like another 2. They are mega bright but can be dimmed.

[yourdj]

I am restraining myself from posting 'what nonsense' having used these cans amongst others successfully for years.

Perhaps you can justify why you think they don't work?

I suspect most gigs people do on here are up to 150 people rather than massive rooms with thousands of people?

He hires kit commercially out so probably has a different viewpoint and application to the average venue and gig. :)

[SamV]

I own 20 of them, so know exactly how they perform. I've used them at my own place, house dos, stage lighting etc countless times. They great for house parties but anywhere bigger and their not that great other than for accent lighting. Using them as proper uplighters doesn't quite cut it. They need to be at least twice as bright IMHO.

[Rikki's MobileDisco]

Thomann do some decent slim lines - I had a set of these no complaints.
http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_led_flood_panel_150_40.htm?sid=66c05c6f b17db145a2b3bd26c6dd04bb


Nice find Toby, I have just ordered a few!
;-)

[Corabar Steve]

I own 20 of them, so know exactly how they perform. I've used them at my own place, house dos, stage lighting etc countless times. They great for house parties but anywhere bigger and their not that great other than for accent lighting. Using them as proper uplighters doesn't quite cut it. They need to be at least twice as bright IMHO.

Most uplighting jobs we (& AFAIK Solitaire Events) do are accent lighting as opposed to colouring the entire room (when TBH bars are usually more suitable)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I own 20 of them, so know exactly how they perform. I've used them at my own place, house dos, stage lighting etc countless times. They great for house parties but anywhere bigger and their not that great other than for accent lighting. Using them as proper uplighters doesn't quite cut it. They need to be at least twice as bright IMHO.

Why in your opinion do they need to be twice as bright? I have been doing uplighting using Pulse and Visio pars for over 5 years and they have always been effective and bright enough.

Can you explain the difference between uplighting and accent lighting?

[yourdj]

Nice find Toby, I have just ordered a few!
;-)

Great - they are super slim and you can fit loads in to a small bag.



Can you explain the difference between uplighting and accent lighting?

I was wondering what that is. Every DJ I know has similar fixtures to me and they have no problems with most large venues?
When the walls are not white then a brighter fixture can come into its own.

I actually find venues that are too bright put people off dancing so a dimmer fixture is preferable.
In the rare situation i have a large marquee that want just uplighting then a brighter bar wash fixture (s) combined works well.

[SamV]

The difference to me is that accent lighting is about highlighting the finer details of a rooms decor. Uplighting is about having more ambient usable light bounced off the walls from below.

Why what do you see as the differences?

[yourdj]

The difference to me is that accent lighting is about highlighting the finer details of a rooms decor. Uplighting is about having more ambient usable light bounced off the walls from below.

Why what do you see as the differences?

Right well in that case thats reasonable as often the light will be some distance away too due to logistics, or the object large.
my 40 degree one would be perfect as it blasts out the light big time!! I have to turn it off at times :lol:

This thread was about uplighting hence the confusion :)