# Church House and Stage Lighting



## BrandonM (Jul 16, 2011)

Hey guys,

We started to do some remodeling and the next major thing is changing the lighting and putting it on an affordable dimming system. We have a master electrician in the family, so we just need suggestions on types of light and equipment we need to get the job done. We want everything to be very modern, so we have no strings attached to the traditional look. We'll have a large sound booth built in the back, and eventually running Jands Vista software with a basic JV M1 lighting board to control future LEDs , intelligents, etc. (Can the house lights and future stage lights run off that board, or will it need a separate board?) We would like everything controlled from the booth.

The sanctuary is 100x50 with high ceilings that start at 20 feet and slant up to 40. We would also like all of the house lighting pointed down to hide the high ceiling and take away from the size (maybe some type of suspended cylinder down lighting). LED house lights are ouf of the question because of the cost...and as of right now he top consideration has been hanging some type of lights from a kindorf framing system. With the amount of energy those old fixtures are pulling, the electrician said we would be pulling a lot less.

I know just enough about DMX to get me by, but still learning a lot, so you might have to break it down for me. I understand the importance of a lighting professional, but I have no say in bringing one in, and were on a shoestring budget. Is it possible to be creative and get this done for around $4000-$6000?


Church Pictures Below:
Church Remodel pictures by BJMcIver - Photobucket


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## BillESC (Jul 16, 2011)

You'll be hard pressed to achieve proper house lighting w/dimming control with the budget given. Sorry.


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## JChenault (Jul 17, 2011)

Looked at the photos, and I would question the plan to remove the current fixtures. Unless you are going to do an extreme remodel of the space ( and if so your budget limitations of $4000 - $6000 would be moot) you are going to be living with the ornate wooden arch supports. You have a lot of beautiful wood and mill-work in there. I would urge you not to 'Clean it up' - but to find a way to use your existing fixtures. They look beautiful in that space ( at least to my eye). 

Now you might very well want to do some restoration on the existing pendant lamps ( I could not see them clearly in the photos). You might want to change the light source inside of them to something more efficient. On the other hand, you might just clean them, and continue to use the incandescent lamps that are in there.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'house lighting down'. Are you trying to keep the ceiling dimmer than the pastor? Looking at the current pendant fixtures they don't seem to have too much spill up. You might want to consider adding some fixtures to light the nave. This way you can keep the level in the house low, and boost up your pastor as desired.

I'm not sure what you have behind the arch and movie screen. Doesn't really matter what it is, but you need some intensity control on it.

Re the question of running house lights. Sure you could just run them from the control console, but you don't want to. You come into a dark house. How do you turn on the lights. Well first you have to turn on the console. But the janitor does not know how to do this. You want some kind of extremely simple system that will let you control the house lights from the house, but that can be cut out when the board is on. This is not hard to do.


Are the current pendant lighting ( and the fixtures in the arch ) on any kind of dimmer? If so, and the dimmer is more than a home depot special , then your best bet would be to find a way to control the existing dimmer(s). If there is not, then you will need to install dimmers to power the pendant lights. Where those go, and how much it will cost will be very dependent on the physical and electrical layout of the space. ( This is assuming you stay with incandescent units, which is what I would probably recommend at this time ).


As to bringing in a professional - I would see if there is a theatrical distributor anywhere near you. They are usually willing to come into your space and make recommendations ( with the expectation that they get a strong shot at doing the work ). Have your electrician etc there to talk with him and see what he recommends. You may not agree, but you will probably get some valuable ideas. If my guess is right, it could be that all you need to do is to put install some dimming for the existing house lights, and add some units to bring up the intensity on the pastor just a bit. Your budget feels possible if that is all you need to do. 

Sounds like a fun project. Good luck.


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## JD (Jul 17, 2011)

I first read that as $40,000 to $60,000 and was thinking something should be able to be put together. 

On re-read, the best suggestion would be to put off the work and start on a capital campaign to raise the needed funding to do the job correctly. 

Even based on the idea of free labor, reasonable dimmers would be hard to obtain, let alone the lighting fixtures and materials needed for install.


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## Esoteric (Jul 17, 2011)

Hey man, good to see you over here.

I am glad that we might be able to help you out.

Without labor I did a 40x80 room on under $6000. Hanging pendant lights and ETC Smartpack dimmers can work wonders.

Then for a couple of hundred you can add a button station in the house for cleaning crew/etc.

Mike


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## cmac (Jul 17, 2011)

Esoteric said:


> Hanging pendant lights and ETC Smartpack dimmers can work wonders.
> 
> Then for a couple of hundred you can add a button station in the house for cleaning crew/etc.


 
I was actually going to suggest doing exactly that as well, until I got to the bottom and saw you already posted it!


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