Lighting Info - WellspringChurchNC/prod-team GitHub Wiki

Stage or House Lights

If you are assigned to serve in the (House) Stage Lights & Stage Hand role in planning center, then this section is for you.

  • Pre-set the lower and upper limits of each fader back stage with gaffers tape
  • Typically use the first 3 faders, many times they are labeled house and spots

Basic order of service settings relative to taped/pre-set lower and upper limits (ie, "off" really means lowest pre-set limit).

Service Element House Spots Comments
pre-service, countdown up for safety, visibility off
1st song up for safety, visibility ON
2nd song off ON
communion up for safety, visibility ON
3rd song off ON
message up for visibility ON
ANY VIDEOS off off
prayer at end of message off ON
4th song off ON
announcements up for visibility ON
5th song off ON
dismissal up for safety, visibility ON

LED Lighting - Wellspring Tech Team - LED (DMX) Lighting Overview

Last updated: November 14, 2018

Intended Audience

This guide is to be used by anyone working with LED stage lighting for Sunday worship services (usually assigned the (LED) Lighting Tech role in planning center). Since this document is continually being revised; please insure you have the latest version as procedures, equipment, etc. are always changing. The guide is in two major parts:

  • operational (which is intended for the Lighting Tech to use during or in preparation for Sunday services)
  • programming (which is intended for the person who would design the "light scenes" that go with various motion backgrounds, stills, videos, etc. throughout the service).

The operational and programming lighting techs may or may not be the same person depending on the level of skill and training they have received.

Operational - Lighting Tech - Sunday Services

As lighting tech, you are responsible for:

  • previewing the order of service on Planning Center Online to get a basic understanding of the major elements and flow (ideally you should print your own copy of the order of service to bring with you on Sunday)
  • insuring cabling is properly done for the entire LED lighting / DMX chain during Sunday morning setup (you may delegate this to either the FOH Assistant or Stage Hand or Stage Setup volunteer if they have been adequately trained for this task - but ultimately, it is your role to insure it's done on time & correctly)
  • verifying / testing proper basic operation of the LED lights - ie do the lights change colors for already programmed scenes and are they all set to the same color (test multiple colors to be sure)
    • most problems with the lights can be solved by insuring they are on the correct address (D004 for the color rails and A005 for the pars) AND that each lighting device is set for 4 channel operation
  • reviewing the order of service and working with the CG tech to match appropriate lighting scenes to the major graphic elements of the service (most of the time, the CG tech has pre-programmed the MIDI notes, so this step is optional)

Light Control Board Basic Setup

  • A single, 100' DMX thin cable is run from the stage (either 1st lighting fixture or the DMX splitter on the stage rack)
  • Power and the USB MIDI controller should already be wired within the tech bench rack
  • The other end of the 100' DMX thin cable is plugged into back of control board
  • A rubber safety mat is used to prevent tripping over the DMX and other cables going to the tech bench

Preparation and Operation for Sunday Service

  1. Test that the control board changes light scenes and that all lights are the same color.
  2. Have the CG Tech verify that the CG computer can control the light board and change scenes / colors.
  3. Make sure the slider for fade time (on the Eliminator light control board) is set to approximately 0.5 sec or a bit slower if desired.

Using the Eliminator control board (only necessary if computer control fails)

A operational diagram is found at https://drive.google.com/open?id=12fFzKomAS9hhJIHnxCnz9oJnRAINqttf A detailed user's guide for the controller can be found at https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=2453BC13B55ACD32!10254&authkey=!AFkWJQWXWLPmu34&ithint=file%2cpdf

End of operation section based on today's setup

Programming

  • Use the light scene library (described below) info to audition / determine which scenes need to be programmed into a single bank for operation (typically bank 20) during the service.
  • Once you have determine each scene needed and from what bank, follow the scene copy instructions below to copy each scene needed into bank 20 (or the bank you have decided to use during the service).
  • Exit out of programming mode, turn blackout off (ie lights on).
  • After you have copied over all needed scenes into a single bank for operation, verify that each scene works as intended.

IMPORTANT: Note you must reset the fade time when you exit out of programming mode

SIMPLE Light Scene Library

To allow for quick and "easy" setup on Sunday and possible last minute lighting scene changes ... this may be the "simplest" lighting setup using COLORrails and "PARs."

  • Set rails to D004 and pars to A005 ... this should allow them both to use the same data for RGB with channel 4 being used for the rail brightness and channel 8 being used for the par brightness. The default brightness for all scenes in the "library" is full on=255; however, this can be adjusted by copying a scene and ONLY moving sliders 4 and 8 (insuring that SCANNERS 1 is ON when moving the sliders) and then saving the edited scene IN A NEW BANK/SCENE.
  • The library is continually being updated as new scenes are created. The latest version of the library should be at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uhcqGbNZmN-eeqHqWJvO_gCtC3KiKuzMO1N4Bkaurl0
  • You can audition any scene simply by going to the bank and pressing the corresponding scene number. Use the information in the table in the pdf file linked above to find out what colors are in a bank/scene.

Quick scene editing / copying

  1. Press and hold the Program button - put controller in program mode
  2. Press the BANK up or down buttons to select the desired scene bank. Then press one of the 8 SCENES buttons to select the desired scene you want to copy or edit.
  3. (optional) make changes to the scene using the sliders (usually 4 to 8)
  4. Once all the lights are set as desired, press the Midi/Rec button, then press the BANK up or down buttons to select the desired scene bank you want to save it to.
  5. Then press one of the 8 SCENES buttons to select the desired scene you want to record these light settings to. Once you press a SCENES button, the display should blink / flash to confirm that the scene was saved.
  6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 until all desired scenes are copied and/or edited into the desired SCENES buttons.
  7. To exit program mode, press and hold the Program button a few seconds. The PROG indicator on the display will stop flashing and the Blackout indicator on the display will illuminate / flash indicating the board has entered Blackout mode (all connected lights / fixtures should be off).
  8. Press the Blackout button to exit Blackout mode. Verify your programming, buy selecting the bank you stored your scenes in and by selecting each SCENES button that you programmed.

Additional Info

Fixtures (types of lights)

  • ADJ mega par profile (six)
    • set to 4 channel operation (but could be 3)
    • address set to A005
  • Chauvet COLORrail IRC (two)
    • set to 4 channel operation (but could be 3)
    • address set to D004
  • ADJ (or Elation) DP415 "dimmer pack" - not used, a 4 channel (outlet) DMX controlled AC switch or dimmer
  • Cheap DMX LED pars (10)
    • used for special occasions typically as accent lighting (currently not controlled by DMX)
    • if used in single color (typical mode); address to 004 (switch 3 and 10 ON)
    • if used in dual color mode; address half to 009 (switch 1, 4, and 10 ON), and the other half to 013 (switch 2, 4, and 10 ON)