Gear needed for uplighting

Previously, lighting companies would used a Par Can to light any venue, up or down. These par cans are heavy, they get hot and they can even start fires. Placing a par can inside of a table, under fabric or against a wall on the floor will certainly start a fire. These fixtures were also famous of consuming kilowatts of electricity, often not available at many venues. This resulted in needing a generator outside to provide the extra power. Also, these fixtures needed to be “Gelled” with a sheet of plastic to produce a color. In order to change the color, one must replace the Gel or place multiple par cans with different colors in each can. As you can see, this can become expensive fast.

With the invention of the LED, par cans have begun their conversion. Now, companies are producing LED par cans the don’t have the draw backs of previous modes. There is little to no heat, no chance of fire, they don’t spark and they can produce millions of colors. The options with an LED par can are almost limit less. Now, these can even be wirelessly controlled, resulting in no cords or wires.

A critical piece in controlling the lighting and design is the board. These boards operate on a protocol of DMX512. For lighting designers, this is a familiar language and process. For amateurs, this can easily become overwhelming and frustrating. Many designers will use a board like the one pictured below.

Having a board give the designer the options of color, fade, intensity, blends, movement, strobe, pulsing, and much more. Programming these fixtures takes experience and knowledge. You won’t want a strobe affect during your first dance! Hiring a professional will help to ensure the effects you want are programmed correctly and reviewed before your event.

Aside from this basic equipment, a DJ or you will also need electrical cables. It seems simple to think one could purchase a bunch of cables and plug a series of lights in, but you’ll want to be sure that you don’t overload a curicut. Drawing too much wattage can trip a breaker and leave you and your guest in the dark until the breaker is reset. Amateurs are not good at calculating draw, wattage or amperage of complied fixtures.

Finally, you’ll need dozens DMX cables. These cables are specifically designed for this language and these fixtures. Failure to use a DMX cable (often confused with an XLR or Stereo Mic Cable) will result in erract fixture behavior. Amateurs make this mistake often. The cost is of DMX cables are considerably higher than that of microphone cables. If your lighting designer decides to cut corners, it could produce unwanted effects like, blinking lights, strobing, odd colors or no light at all.