BTW, I just bought a used American DJ Hazer Generator, so I've yet to see if that thing will be time-tested.

Chauvet and American DJ are basically the Gemini and Numark of lighting. Cheap lighting for people on a budget. I've had great success with Martin lights for club installation but I can't help you if your use is mobile application.

Chauvet is actually very reliable. I haven't had any problems with any of their stuff. Granted, it's not like I do a lot of mobile stuff but the lights that I have, have lasted YEARS and taken abuse.

Depends on what you're looking for I guess...

I HIGHLY recommend the Chauvet Vue III LED lights...they are really cool looking, and as with any LED lights, they don't get hot and last forever.

martin is not only built better, their customer support is pretty awesome too ;)

I'm looking to ditch my American DJ lights as well. I have the Reflex, The Colorpod, The Laser Widow, and a couple of Chauvet lights as well. I think I'm really just looking to upgrade to some LED lights.

i have martin, american dj, mojos, laser all the bells and whistles and i can tell you as long as you move your lights when there cold and treat them like a lady you should be fine. the only time i had problems with ANY of my lights was due to human error. as with anything you get what you pay for. i have 3 different light setups that can all work independently or together with some xlr cables. its pretty much what you need. if your doing basic weddings gigs lik that a few par cans and a light chase controller will be fine. if your doing more party/rave type events then get some sound activated lights with some side to side motion to help file the room with light. if your looking for a great light with big bang look into a MArtin Raptor. its about $200ish depending on where you go but this one light with some smoke added with blow your socks off. i used to use just that a fog machine and a mirror ball for a long time and it worked excellent for me.

I will say... the older and the lower end of the american DJ is SHIT, BUT when you get into there Accu series of lights they are not bad at all, I installed some in one club 3 years ago and they have not had a problem with them at all. Elation is the Higher end of american DJ stuff and if very good and is equal to Martin stuff. Chaevet is not realy good at all in there lower end stuff, but their lasers, LED and higher end stuff is not bad

Elation and American DJ are manufactured by the same company. They are the Lexus and Toyota of lighting. Martin is on another level though.

On the cheap Chauvet can't be beat. If you have bank, Martin is top-notch.

Well I have had and worked with many different lighting systems , Back in the day I had mostly fx lighting Music activated and controlled them with a chase controlers (light co pilots) Lights were american dj Progressor, mystic, carisma,Razz matazz, Propeller,and mega strobe II, also had a martin starflash and 2 MTB police beacon lights, along with 8 par 64 600 watt floods. I bought them all new. over the course of 6-7 years i only had minor problems, Couple of bulbs blew, and i had to tighten a couple of screws, and yes some of them stopped rotation, but i was able to fix them rather easily. There still in use i sold them off to other Djs, I now have american 4 Dj spot 250 moving heads , and 4 Dj scan 250 Hp's they have been good so far, I had them about a year now. Switched to a martin atomic stobe, this thing is no Joke , and 8 American Dj Par 64 LED RGB So far all good. I cant say anything bad about American Dj I have Had good luck in their products, But I can say be Selective in wich ones you buy some of their stuff does look cheap. As far as martin /or elation , both great stuff you just better have deep pockets even their used gear is crazy high. 3-5 K for 1 light is a bit out of my range. and there is another rcompany called high end systems that makes some Crazy Lights But You better not ask how much , Because if you have to ask you cant afford them. They are the Lamborgini of the lighting industry. www.highend.com
check them out

My lighting rig includes two Martin SCX-500s and two Am DJ Accuspot 250s, and some led lights.
The Am DJ lights are not actually mine, however they have been to festivals, bounced around my town, and used every weekend for the last 6 months. They get transported without cases too. (If they were mine I would have a case around those things).

They are great lights though. I have had similar experiences with AmDJ lighting. They just haven't lasted in my experience. I would buy more of these Accu-spots though. They really impress the crowd sitting on top of our speaker stacks. The light output is also incredible. 250 watts can form a beam of light without fog or haze.

I have always been impressed with Martin lights. It used to be at least a grand a piece to get into the intelligent lights with the Roboscans. However the SCX series go as low as $300 each. Two of these on their own is alright, but with atmosphere (fog or haze) they look sick. I am adding two more soon. However, the higher models are much brighter and have rotating gobos. They also are double or triple the price.

This is why I will always buy Martin:
Maybe the second time I used the SCXs I cracked one of my mirrors. Totally my bad. I called Martin to order a new one and they just sent one out. No $$, no questions. The light was new and they just covered it. Right away I knew the value of my purchase. The motors also move smoother than other Am DJ or Chauvet lights.

BUT CHECK THIS OUT:

I am trying to stay away from the cheap stuff now. (I have a garage full of Am DJ lights that all don't work for one reason or another). All my future purchases will be at least Martin or LED lights. But this weekend I added a Haze machine, and now everything is OFF THE HOOK. My DMX lighting rig is like a room full of beams of light.

BUT

There is another guy who brings some lights out to our Sunday weekly that he got from Spencers in the mall. One is an LED light for $40 and the other is a $100 lazer sky that is just bad ass. (throws stars on the ceiling that move slowly). Both of these lights look amazing with the haze. I am over here pricing shit that I have to finance or save up for and the spencer lights are showing me up. So, my advice is that if you are going to go cheap, go real cheap. The lady at Spencers says that all those lights run all day everyday and they rarely burn out. He controls these lights with a $20 remote power strip. He has a remote in his pocket and can turn on/off three different fixtures without ever taking his hand out of his pocket.

I'm going to stick to the intelligent light though. They make such a huge impact when they are going to the music.

I use a Chauvet DMX-55 controller. The next step is adding a Martin Freekie for controlling the scanners and moving heads and using the 55 for controlling all the LED lights. 2 controllers. I am not into the software at this point. $1200 for Martins light jockey, that has to run on a PC?.....no thanks. I used it at one of the clubs I worked at, and didn't like it. Not $1200 like it....

One last thing, before you ask...

Haze VS Fog.


I did a LOT of research on this. First off Haze is better than fog for showing off lights. Fog is meant to be an effect, liking shooting out clouds of smoke at just the right time. It does show off the lights, but Haze is meant to be invisible in full lighting. If fills the air with a reflective particulate that really makes your lights look amazing. Most of those demo videos for lighting are filmed using Haze.

So once you figure out that you want Haze, there is another question: Which Hazer?

Chauvet/Am DJ make some cheap hazers, but these are just fog machines that have been designed to throw out a steady stream rather than bursts of fog. They are shit.

Martin makes a couple Hazers, they start at $750. They are oil based though. Oil based haze fluid will leave a residue over time.
The one I ended up with is the Lemaitre Radiance Hazer. Its a water based hazer, no residue. Its the highest rated hazer for safety. Its designed for theatrical settings and thus is designed for actors to have long term exposure. In this way it the least offensive atmosphere available. Every time that I have used a fog machine I have had people complain. Some people are so allergic to fog that I just have not used them for years. This weekend was the real test for the haze. I did three shows in a row that were all packed. The only complaints I got were about the haze coming out in people's faces rather than having trouble breathing. I got no less than 20 compliment on the lights though. It was the same light show that was there last week, and the week before, and the week before that...it was just the haze that made it look new.

Here is the kicker though. The machine is about $1050 and the haze fluid is about $90 a gallon. After three nights the level in the bottle is almost the same. Three nights filling the room with haze barely used any fluid. Its DMX too so I can start and stop it from my controller. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS HAZE MACHINE.

As if this post wasn't long enough, (I have had this same question and spent months researching this) my feeling is that intelligent lights will all have LEDs in the next few years. Martin just got major funding for developing LED intelligent lights. Chauvet and AM DJ have a few but, as mentioned above they are the Numark and Gemini of the lighting world.

Yo Dub Cowboy , Question for you on the hazer, Many (almost All) of the places i play Have Fire alarm systems in them that if you use fog , you will be seeing the fire dept show up. So my Qustion to you is Have you tried them in a room or place that has smoke detectors? If so What result did you have? I have 2 american DJ f1700 machines they crank out the fog, great for huge rooms and outdoor Events but cant use them in places with smoke detection.

so far so good
I don't know what their alarm is like, but this is really un-intrusive. It just kind of sits there and no one seems to mind it. In fact, many people said they preferred it because it kept the light from blinding them. It doesn't seem to be HOT either. The machine stays real cool. The fluid is water based, so its not oil being heated up until it vaporizes. I don't know what it IS doing, but the inside looks like the flux capacitor.

www.lemaitrefx.com

that was at three different venues. One of which is brand new, and therefore probably has an up to date alarm.

don't believe the hype, hazers CAN set off smoke alarms. i even had a couple of dealers tell me that.

but yea, +1 with dub cowboy on hazers being much better than fog machines. especially that lemaitre. in the long run, the lemaitre will save you money because it's so efficient with haze fluid.

good to know

I actually went a checked out a bunch of lights this past weekend.I wanted to check out the new LED stuff.
Martin used to have a huge advantage because their parts were a little better but mainly because they used a good fan and they didn't require a duty cycle. Now LED's have leveled the playing field. No duty cycle, no fan required, don't have to worry about your bulb going out during a show. I usually would stay away from Chauvet but their LED's are nice. I ordered 2 of their lx-5's and 2 lx-10's. All four lights cost just a bit more than my Martin Raptor did a few years ago. They are compact, light weight and they are bright too. Their Vue lights are nice too but a little too bulky for me.

All about the Martin Wizards!! I carry two to all my gigs...

Check your PM...

martin wizards are heavy.....

Well worth it.. Martin makes stands for them and they just sit on top of my speakers. Just do a couple of push ups!!!!

Looking at those....I have a few questions

how do you run them? Auto, Music, DMX, Master/Slave...
is that all you use?
do you run them all night?

i tried. i'm still skinny. and they're still heavy.

I run a Martin Wizard also. One of the best lights I ever purchased. I acutally just sell that as a lighting package by itself.

I run mine on a DMX operator. It set to control everything, color, speed, rotation, gobo, etc.. What is good is that you can set it set it to run by itself if you need to. So its great to change effects for slow songs and let it go crazy for a dance set.

I run it all night long, it gets hot at the end of the night but I let it cool a few mins before packing away.

Martin Wizard FTW!

You're like the fourth (or fifth, but who's counting) DJ I have seen to praise the Martin Wizard. Now you got my wheels turning, hmmm...

For $900, that's not too bad. And it's a Martin.

i have put the Wizards in 3 of the last 4 clubs that i designed the lighting systems for. GREAT LIGHTS!!!!!!

LOL... funny shit. Great fixture but bench press one before you make a decision. =P

Lights....uhhhhh how I hate lights. Such a pain in the balls to drag out for mobiles.

Kase are you looking for moving heads or general effect lights? If you're going for moving heads, go elation or above. I have 4 design spots and they are money in the bank.

I'm basically looking for reliable lighting, general effects for now until I build up my budget for moving heads. I've been sprung on moving heads since I saw the Accu Spot 250s at DM two years ago.

eder is right, the elation designspot 250's are great, and , if you want to run them in auto mode you can, You do not need a controller for them all the time

auto mode doesn't do these babies justice...not going to lie. I love the fact that I can program trait changes (color, gobo, etc) while keeping the same patterns going.

Basic effects that look cool would be the Chauvet Vue III's. They cover A LOT of space, are LED so they last forever and are only around 8lbs each, and are cheap (you can get 4 on ebay for under $500).

One word of advice is that when you decided to go into the moving heads, don't go cheap. Pay the extra couple hundred which will net you a far greater product and far greater support. Also, elation is located in LA, which is real nice for us.

I just sync them together with an XLR and plug them into a power strip that I run right behind me so I can turn them off and on quickly if I need to. Even if you only have 1 it will light up a room, top and bottom.

hey all.

I have 2 basic martins; EF 1 & DC 1, for about 1 year, and have been excellent in my constant mobile operations. ( Once a week) Love the brightness / Wattage, love the Focus / blur.

I have an American DJ Elektra II, which has been thrashed for ages and is still fine, a solid unit! If it was brighter (more wattage) I would snapped up more.

Heard on LightEmotion? I have one from that brand, mid priced. Loved that one. 3 Years, no globe change, Lights dont move anymore, don't know why.

So I have had excellent experiences with Lights.

Smoke machines, a different story;

bought a excellent little machine from Dicksmiths (Radio Shack equivalent ?) for AUD$100. Lasted 2 good years. Since then have continually sent in more expensive machines on warranty.

Run all my lights all night then put them in plastic tubs, good to go.

bump

Thanks Mike... it's a timely bump...

I have used a LOT of different lights over the years - from cheap to expensive.

Something to keep in mind, almost every company makes a turd evert once in a while. Even Martin had a hazer that was marginal and got a bad rap. However, when looking that the entire line of lights there only one deal - you want the best? Get Martin or comparable THEATRE QUALITY lighting. Period. Hands down. These people are JUST NOW breaking into LED lighting because they do it RIGHT. But they do NOT do it cheap.

I've used a full MX-4 setup with the Showtime controller and it's one of the easiest and nicest setups I've EVER used. 30 pre-programmed shows, blackout, and strobe right at my finger tips.

I have a new Martin PR-1 for gobos, and a DC-2 on the way. Both are great lights - heavy, but well worth the $$$. The drawback is this is all traditional lighting that draws some SERIOUS power and gets HOT. REAL HOT. That PR-1 said the outside could get as hot as 95*C!

And if you need bright, skip the halogen lights and go straight to the HID based stuff, SCX-700/800. Trust me on this, Martin lights are HEAVY, expensive, draw a lot of power, and get HOT - but they are designed for commerical use. They can take the abuse year after year after year and should be considered an INVESTMENT in lighting.



There are other companies that have some gems but they also have some really crappy lights that don't stand up. Chauvet and American DJ have some lights that are manufactured by the same people or are knock offs of one another. The ADJ Wave and the Chauvet Oceana are both very great effects. But they're 800watt halogen fixtures. And the ADJ lights are known to have problems with the light circuitry going out and the gearing for the rotating bulb to die or break. I have the Chauvet version and it's not broken on me - yet. But that overall design isn't the best in the world.

On the flip side, the lights that have very basic moving parts, like the ADJ LED Reflex (a dual Moonflower LED effect) is pretty good. I have one of these and it's a decent little light and inexpensive. While it's not DMX based it's a decent sound responsive effect.


I do recommend that if you're interested in lighting effects you purchase DMX lighting that you can also run sound active or master/slave. This allows you a lot more flexibility in the overall setup as time goes on.

Do some research, get GOOD lights or as Dub Cowboy said, go REAL cheap. Either you're getting something to 'get you by' or you're making an investment in lighting.

And just as an FYI, if you pick up an American DJ or Chavet fixture it's made from flimsy stamped steel. That Martin fixture? It's anodized aluminum. If one of those bad boys fell on someone they're dead.

Which brings me to SAFETY. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, run safety cables for your lights. Even if you think you don't need them - GET THEM AND USE THEM.

it was the week when I really asked if the cables were necessary that the light fell of the truss. The safety cable saved my light and the DJ's head.

Yes, use them. They are so cheap, there are no excuses.

*off

MM, I've been meaning to say thanks for your wisdom in the lighting posts. It helped me out ALOT when I was putting my lighting system together.

Then after spending $2500 or so, I've only had 2 mobile gigs to use them at. lol.

hang in there, times are tough all over. They will pay themselves back.

can someone point me in the right direction? I want 2 great lights that are reliable, will last forever, have great effects, and can be controlled with mac software.
Money is no object
Thanks.

mac software? You're looking for dmx controllable then? All I can find is PC-Only USB dongle/software combos. However, a lot of them say you can use Virtual PC/Parallels to get it to work.

And when you say money is no object, I'd recommend the X Spot (www.highend.com), however I don't think 10k a light is in your budget. What type of lighting/effect re you looking for?

Actually, Dub nailed it on this thread earlier. And he's also right in that they'll pay themselves back if you bought good stuff and know how to use them.

If they're not 'selling' for your events try taking some good pictures of a room without the lights and then again with them. Makes selling the lights a LOT easier.

Yeah the 10,000$ a light is probably the best but I don't dj enough to make that investment back. What I want is two lights controllable with software (preferably with global hot keys). I mostly dj in bars and I'm looking for simplicity.

One light I highly recommend is the American Dj Revo III. Check it out on youtube. There's a bunch of videos from different users in party situations. This is my favorite light that I've purchased. It runs $250 new. Sometimes you can get them for $200 from ebay (centerstagelighting).

mac software isn't happening right now, believe me I have looked.

There are a few open source options, but nothing intuitive yet. I caved into a Chauvet DMX-55 controller. Once I had the programs set up, I can rock cues. Its limited, but I have control over color, movement, and blackouts. I can also control my DMX hazer from the board. I recently purchased an Entec DMX-Pro interface for $140 that will allow me to use some PC software, but its all PC based. I really do not want to deal with PC software anymore, but it looks like this is what I am doing. There is a free software package called Freestyler, which maybe Julls can (please) shed some light on. At the high end of the software spectrum is Martin's light Jockey, which is like Serato in the way that the program is free, but you need a $1000 dongle to make it work. Many people swear by light jockey.

As for lights. Two moving heads will probably bring you the most bang for your buck. People like to see something moving, where as scanners are best tucked away or up on a truss.

To throw out lots of light with little effort- go Wizards
Expandable system with distinct light beams- go scanners and moving heads

Martin will make you happy all the way around. Elation makes good lights, skip all the chauvet and AM DJ light unless they are LED based.

I still wonder if I jump on some moving heads by American DJ, like the Accu Spots, if they'll actually be durable considering they have lots of moving parts and like someone else here mentioned, American DJ lights with moving parts/motors tend to go bad pretty quickly.

the Am DJ Accu Spot 250 IIs that I wrote about above are still rockin'. No cases, same bulbs for days. I would buy two more for the right price. I would rather have some smartMACs or design spots, but they are at least double the price each

All of my lighting equipment is American DJ and I've never had a problem with most of them. 2 Pocket Scans, Vertigo, Hyperbeam, Laser Widow, Powershot (Strobe), and a Shadow II fogger. Over 5-8 years of service with most of them (2 for the Hyperbeam) and I've only had to have one of them serviced (the Hyperbeam quit on me, but was fixed rather quickly under warranty).

I'm not saying other brands don't make good equipment, but to compare ADJ lighting to Gemini like some people are doing is a f*cking joke. I bought 3 Gemini CDJ-1200's when they first came out that didn't work (I kept trying to make a working pair with the one functional one I had and ended up giving up). I had a Gemini turntable once that was WAY off pitch-wise. I'll never buy Gemini equipment again. But I will continue to buy American DJ lights.

I wonder why so many people choose the Martin SCX 500's over the other brands considering the Martins are only 150w.

Would it be worthwhile to get the SCX600's?

AMEN! I can't stressed that enough. A couple of years ago, a light fell off the truss at Montage nightclub in San Diego. Guess what? It fell on top of some girl and it killed her. Not a good thing. :(

At my Sat night spot, the fog machine is just dangling there from the top of the ceiling. It looks like it's gonna fall down. I keep telling the manager that it's gonna fall on someone's head and he's says "I KNOW, WE'RE GONNA FIX IT." hmmm :/

In a dark nightclub 150watts is a lot of light. The SCX600's are only 250 watts.

But remember those aren't incandascent - they're halogen fixtures.

If light output is important I'd jump to the SCX700 which is also a 150watt fixture but that light is HID (High Intensity Discharge). The SCX800 is actually a 250watt HID fixture.

In other words, if you want light you can get it - but unless you have a lot of light in the bar/club the SCX500's are good enough.


As for why Martin over the others? Martin is a great fixture. They are one of the top names in lights... in other words, they're worth it. ;-)

I'd tell him and put it in writing. Ask him when the maintenance guy will be available to fix it. Or hell, ask for a ladder and fix it yourself (charge him to fix it though).

SCX-800 is 150 watts too, www.martin.com

The wizard is 250 watt HID.

When I sit right below the SCX-500s I can barely see the beam (with haze). From across the room, I am chopping peoples heads off with beams of color. I.E. >> They look good to the crowd, with fog or haze.

I can buy two 500s for the price of one 600. I think I may end up with 4 500s and 2 800s along with some LEDs and moving heads.

Are you saying the 500s are weak? Is haze a must with these scanners? Would it be better to get Chauvet Intimidator 2.0s? I like the fact that they have spinning gobos. The 500s don't spin but the 6, 7 and 800s do.

What's your opinion?

I have a set of the scx500s. They definitely are not weak. If you're doing 200-300 person events (maybe more), these are perfectly fine. I haven't used them with a hazer yet, but with fog they are nice.

Whoops, sorry about that, the 800 is indeed only a 150 watt HID.

The SCX 500 comes with a 500 hour 150 watt halogen bulb. 15 colors, 5 multi colors, 15 gobos + blackout. Strobe effect w/ gobo wheel. Uses flat mirror.

The SCX 600 comes with a 1000 hour 250 watt halogen bulb. 9 colors plus open, 7 interchangeable gobos plus open (2 glass/5 metal). Sepereate shutter for strobe effect. Uses flat mirror.

The SCX 700 has a 6000 hour 150watt HID lamp. 9 interchangable colors plus open. 7 interchangeable rotating gobos plus open (3 glass/4 metal). Seperate shutter for strobe effect. Uses flat mirror.

So.... the 500 has more colors and gobos but you can't change them. The strobe effect isn't as effect as the 600 either. The 700 has more gobo options.


Let's look at the 800/T-Rex/MX-10 Extreme.

The SCX 800 has a 6000 hour 150watt HID lamp. 8 interchangeable gobos w indexing, rotation, shake, and music trigger. Seperate shutter for strobe effect. Uses a mirror drum w/ pan and tilt.

So, the 800 is similar to the others but uses a drum mirror instead of a flat mirror and has more effects.

The T-Rex uses a 250 watt halogen lamp (1000 hour). Has 19 pattern gobos plus open and uses a parabolic mirror. NOT DMX controlled.

The MX-10 Extreme. This is the BAD BOY of this series. 250 watt HID lamp w/ 3000 hour life. 12 interchangeable gobos plus open. 8 interchangeable indexable rotating gobos plus open. Seperate shutter for strobe effect.

All in all, the MX-10 is one kick ass fixture. But since they're well over $1000 EACH, and most installs use 4 of them.... (or more).

The T-Rex is just over $200 at most locations if you just need some scanners and don't mind being just sound active.

The SCX500 is just over $350.

The SCX600 is about $650.

The SCX700 is about $950.

The SCX800 is $900.

The MX-10 Extreme runs about $1900 EACH.

The Roboscan 918 runs about $2500+ EACH. (Which BTW, uses a 575 watt HID Lamp). You could probably run this in full daylight and STILL do a decent light show!

You can drop some serious coin on lights if you want - and it's generally a good idea to get something that's more than you need, if just a little so you can 'grow' into it.


As for fog/haze - using it in moderation means being able to see the lights as they pass through the air instead of just the light on the people/dancefloor.

I was happy with the SCX-500 before haze. After Haze, I love em

I've been trying to find an MBT hazer (hz100), but I can't find a used one. I guess I'll spring for a new one soon.

Watchwww.youtube.com

when it comes to light fixture/chandelier, i always preferred buying from [url=www.hinkleylightinggallery.com]Hinkley Lighting[/url]. for me, they are the trusted ones compared to others.

hahahahaha what a joke of a spambot. Begone, casper!

I know this is an OLD thread by now, but I have been using my set of (4) Martin SCX600 scanners for YEARS and they have been AWESOME! When I first got them, I also purchased the Martin 2510 Controller and downloaded the pre-programmed shows from Martin's website and loaded them up. The .b25 file I downloaded has 90 scenes - 30 slow, 30 medium and 30 fast. That combination is extremely simple to setup and use. I primarily DJ weddings and corporate holiday parties, high school proms and homecomings, etc... A year or so ago I finally purchased the Enttec USB DMX Pro dongle (www.enttec.com) and use it along with FreeStyler DMX software to take more control of the fixtures, which is handy when I need to send my beams over to the cake table or do something that requires control over the individual lights - something you DO NOT have when you simply use the 2510 controller. Sometimes I go back and forth between the 2510 and FreeStyler DMX, which is controlling other lights as well (Blizzard Flurry Washes, COLORStorms, PUCKS, etc...) that have nothing to do with the 2510. I just got the American DJ Royal 3D laser to throw onto my DMX Chain, which is ridonkulous! I use the Chauvet D-Fi Plus transceivers when I need to get DMX signal to lights wirelessly if cable would be too difficult to run. That being said, if I can run cable, I prefer that over wireless to eliminate the possibility of RF dropout that could lead to lights acting up... But now this incredibly long post is taking a tangent... "Practice & Enjoy!"

Wow! About $6k in lighting? Do you get a decent amount of up-lighting events throughout the year to justify the expense? Good, smart choices as well.

I purchased the Pucks to handle a couple of up-lighting events that I knew would cover the cost of the fixtures... Since then, up-lighting gigs are "off and on, hit or miss." Some clients are all about the "investment" - others don't want to justify the "extra expense." All that being said, if I am about to do an event at a venue where I haven't setup up-lighting before, I might setup a few "complimentary" up-lights so I can take pictures and really WOW the client, and show them off to the guests who might be looking into my services for future events. So in answer to your question, in my little world, YES I do just enough to justify the expense... I also think I bring way more sound and lighting equipment than necessary to my events, but I'll tell you this - I like my massive setup and my clients are ALWAYS impressed and feel like they got their money's worth!

Good attitude to have. If you always go over and beyond what's expected then that is a good way to keep customer's satisfied and spreading the word. Not to mention, people at your events most likely don't know that you didn't charge for that lighting or that massive set up and if they liked what they saw and heard then they would most likely want the same at whatever your normal price is.

Three years later and I could give a fuck about lighting! Haha.

LOL!

somebody mind telling me what the key differences are between the Martin EFX & SCX series are? and which of the 2 they would recommend..
much appreciated

Resurrecting this old tread. Looking at picking up a couple of Martin SCX500's. Given they're non-LED, are there heat issues to consider, would the unit be hot to touch after a few hours of use?

The Martin SCX series scanners were designed for continuous operation, meaning you can use the unit at full intensity without having to let it "rest" from time to time. I have gone 6 or 7 hours at at time with my original SCX600 bulbs without fail (knock on wood!) My SCX600's use a 250W Halogen bulb, and they definitely produce some heat that you can feel the fans pushing out of the units while the bulb is on at full power. When I am finished with a show at the end of the night, I have FreeStyler DMX programmed to apply shutdown values to all of my fixtures telling the lamps to turn off (not just close the shutter) so that the bulbs can cool off while the fans continue to blow before I power down the units. With ALL of that being said, I wouldn't say my units ever get too "hot" to the touch, but I definitely try to let the bulbs cool down before I just unplug the unit from electrical power. Your SCX500's use a 150W Halogen bulb, so I would imagine they would not get as hot as the 250W bulbs, but they will still generate some heat. While the SCX500 does not have rotating gobos, it does have a good number of gobos and colors - I think you will enjoy the reliability of those units. My 600's have been bullet-proof for the past 5 years or so!

you honestly shouldn't have any problems with halogen bulbs and striking the lamp before turning off. That really doesn't need to be done until you get into the 1200w+ discharge range. I never strike the bulbs on my design spot 250s or active scan 250s (250w discharge) and I've only had to replace one bulb in the 5 years I've had them.

I just sold my moving heads. Good riddance lol.