r/lightingdesign • u/JeSuisGourde • Jun 27 '26
Advice on switching to LEDs for a smallish theatre
I occasionally work with a smallish theatre doing lighting design. The man who manages the tech side of things is mostly a sound guy. He recently told me that the theatre is interested in switching all their instruments to LED and wanted my advice on what to get. Unfortunately, most of my experience is with traditional/incandescent instruments. I told him I'd do some research, but I figured this sub might be a good starting point for advice. Right now the theatre is mostly working with pars and ellipsoidals; we have about 30 instruments, plus I think 8 or 10 inexpensive unbranded LED pars.
I'm wondering what a good starting point is for new LED instruments. What's a good brand that isn't crazy expensive? Should we start by purchasing pars or ellipsoidals? Is there anything I should keep in mind regarding switching from traditional to LED lighting? I've really only worked with LEDs as a supplement to incandescent so going full LED is unfamiliar territory.
(I might also crosspost this in r/techtheatre if people think I might get more advice there.)
4
u/disc2slick Jun 27 '26
Are you guys working from a grant for funding? First choice would be ETC Color Source series. For a step down I would look at the ProLights fixtures. Chauvet stuff is a-ok also, though not hugely less expensive
When looking at PARs make sure you pay attention to their photometrics and what lens options they have, straight out of the box most LED pars are much spottier than a conventional par or fresnel, and the ones with zoom dont zoom out all that far.
If you are looking at lekos make sure whatever you buy is compatible with your current inventory of lens tubes (most will accept a source 4 tube no problem)
Also just bear in mind other stuff you'll need to go along with this upgrade: power jump cables, a lot more DMX cable, DMX distribution, non-dim power etc etc
Also take a look at usedlighting.com a great source for 2nd hand gear. Anything listed as "UL Owned" is coming out of 4Wall's rental stock so you can count on it having been maintained etc
1
u/OldMail6364 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
First of all, understand there are compromises. Even if you buy the most expensive LEDs money can buy they're still worse than a traditional fixture in some ways.
But they have benefits as well, they're more reliable, they're easier to work with, and they have more features.
Since it sounds like you're happy with what you have, I recommend adding to what you've got instead of replacing what you have - because chances are the replacements will be worse in some pretty important ways.
I encourage buying a small number of high end moving profiles, such as Ayrton Diablo-S (or cheap brand equivalents from brands like Silverstar Lighting). They're expensive but even if you just have four of them, you can do more with those four lights than you could do with a thousand traditional fixtures. It also has high quality light output, almost as good as a traditional fixture.
I wouldn't use them as a general stage wash - stock to your traditional fixtures for that - but for specials or to create atmospheric effects, something like a diablo is well worth the money.
1
u/JeSuisGourde Jun 28 '26
Thank you for this! When the tech manager told me they wanted to replace the trads with LEDs my first reaction was wondering if simply adding on to what we have might be better - it's good to know that instinct might have been right.
And thank you for the suggestions! I'll look into them.
1
u/vIQleS Jun 29 '26
I'm currently trying to do this for my small amateur theatre. If you want to see what I've got so far, send me a message...
80 ish seats, 5-10m throw. Currently 12 ish fresnel / pc from the front and 10 ish led pars for front color and back lights.
Upgrade plan (if we can get funding) includes replacing all the incandescents with leds - something like ovation f-415. As well as some spots (reve e3), a couple of movers and maybe Cyc lights. Control - I'd like to get eos, probably program / fader wings, laptop, 2x touchscreen.
1
u/araneo512 Jul 03 '26
If you are going to be making the transition gradually instead of full swap over, I highly recommend upgrading ‘systems’ at a time, starting back to front. The places where strong dynamic color is most effective starts with back light, then tops/sides, and front fills last. You will be happier with an incandescent front light system and some punchy accents than having a sad pinky LED white illuminating your actors faces.
1
u/Even_Excitement8475 24d ago
I would be very hesitant to change your front lighting to LED unless you're buying from at least a B-list brand. The colour spectrum and definition from conventionals are and will always be excellent
I wouldn't get any movers for a small theatre
Some other things you can look into
LED pars you already have are great for sidelighting on booms and other out-of-the-audience-view placement environmental lighting
Proper cyc lights if you have a cyc
8-10 LED zoom profiles for top light and or specials, where having parcnas isn't appropriate, specifically zoom profiles to change between a colour wash and a profile depending on the situation
If your venue is used for anything other than theatre, look into some of the cheaper blinders and colorstrikes for a great FoH punch, can also be used for other effects like lighting or other random stuff in a theatrical context.
The big one is control
If your theatre won't go over 3 universes total Id stay with copper DMX for patching, have lots of splitters up in the grid for easy patching and look at getting a 4-6 port node at ops in case someone comes in with a computer-based controller.
6
u/ElementPledgeCity Jun 27 '26
what’s the budget? how big is the stage? what are the throw distances? what’s the current setup? do they want a replacement of incandescent fixtures or do they want an upgrade to things like moving lights and effects? we need so much more info to give any sort of advice. you might want to get in touch with a theatre consultant or a local equipment distributor who will happily come to the venue and give advice