Large Hall lighting

[SolDios]

Hey guys, so I was wondering what I would need to light a large hall? e.g. 30m by 15m.

I currently have

8 floodlights with colored globes hooked up to a chaser.

Huge LED moon flower thingy (one jas used to have)

1 generic laser light thingo

1 basic strobe.

what else would I need?

[Jaz]

what you have sounds fine man, the strobe may be a little small for a large venue and might not strobe the whole space but other then that you seem to have enough man

if you want to add anything maybe a UV light, kids love when white shit glows

[SolDios]

just curious, do normal lights cancel out the effects of uv lights?

[andythemusician]

You won't be able to fill the hall with that, but then again I am coming from a production side of things which is usually overkill for DJs lol.

Make sure you space out your floodlights to fill as much floor space as possible, and if you can, set your chaser to have more than one globe on at a time. Some can do this - you can flick from 1-2-3-4 kind of chase to something like 13-24-13-24 or anything in between. It'll give you more light at a time.

Laser won't do much without a hazer or smoke machine. I don't get why people get a laser and no atmos - all you will see is the laser on any obstructions - people or walls. The real effect is laser tunnels and scans above peoples heads that can be seen in mid air.

As DJaz said, the strobe won't be big enough. You'd need to be talking a 1500w strobe to get enough punch.

---

Here's some ideal situations for a 30x15m hall.

Assuming you are using the ENTIRE hall as a dance floor:

- 3 or 4 flown truss lines with maybe 4 moving heads on each

- Grid behind the DJ with a video wall or LED strips / tubes

Assuming you are using say half the hall for dancing and the other half for tables, etc, either:

- One long truss span above the DJ with maybe 6 moving heads and some LED cans for wash

- A few truss uprights dotted around the perimeter of the dance floor with one or two moving lights on each as well as some LED cans

+ hazer for all situations

I know this is above and beyond most, but this will give you the nightclub feel. Anything less and you won't.

Not trying to belittle anyone or anything, but just trying to give an example of the kind of size I would think is acceptable in such a hall to get a nightclub feel.

[SolDios]

haha thanks for the advice man, but I think that it just... a... little... out of my price range, wow 4+ moving heads :S :S

all the other stuff about spacing out lights and that is great though, thank you

[Jaz]

You gotta remember though sol that Andy does lighting for massive production n stage shows as he said, And yeh it wouldn't make much sense for you to spend that much $

I say put money towards better decks (as we've said to you 100 times ) before lighting n shit man

[SolDios]

haha yeh, I was going to apply at a local high school, but there hall is big, and just wanted to know if I had the stuff to do the gig, instead of rocking up on the night with shit all.

anyways now I know I pretty much have enough, so il arrange a meeting soon.

[SolDios]

Also jas, what I was thinking of doing was, as much as the mdex is bread and butter, its fine for what im doing now. So I was planning to save back up the $2500 I spent on my gear and then after that save up for new stuff. That way I haven't lost any money from it, and it doesn't end up as a money pit.

[fackedd]

if you buy anymore lighting/effects or speakers before you upgrade I will kill you lol.

Don't be that guy that tries to persuade people into thinking you're tiesto or trying to compensate your DJ'ing with bulk lighting.

[andythemusician]

Remember you can also hire shit out. You don't have to own it all.

For a hall that big I'd be more concerned about making sure you have enough sound to cover it. Last hall that size I did (it was about 30x16m plus a stage area) I used 2 subs and 4 tops with two of them as delays. In fact, I think I posted a few pics of that gig on here. Let me find it... http://www.ausdjforums.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=5199 - it is the bit about the karaoke function.

That cranked, and if it was recorded music, it would have cranked louder. Go for a rig similar to that size for that kind of hall I reckon - it worked for me! It's a gym your in, so remember there is going to be a shit load of ambience to deal with - too small a system and it will be muddy because you will hear the speakers the same volume as the echoes in the room! If they put down carpet and/or fill the room with people pretty well then this will help you out.

Lights I only brought stage wash so I can't really comment there, but if it a school gig - bring plenty of wash light if it is primary school (not too bright, but bright enough for people to see whats going on) and if its secondary, go closer to a nightclub feel. You might want to think about spacing your gear out on different stands to get more coverage if you dont want to hire more.

[legunner]

Sol think about it this way. You don't do massive gigs every weekend. So you don't need massive amounts of lights. You can hire whatever you need when the time comes. As for now get some decks. You said you wanted the s4 well Dj techtools do good prices on them

[Skank]

theres no need to light the whole venue just the dance floor man, mabey through some chaser up high to track the rear of the room but concentrate on the dancefloor. you want people to pack together not spread out

[hoddi]

tru that that kids like white shit to glow, only good thing about 10 pin bowling

[SourceRaver]

My friend was doing a gig for a local commercial mobile Dj company. They gave him two effect lights for a crowd of 150 people and probably charged top dollar.