Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jacob Coakley on February 9, 2015 at 1:13pm

Christine -

I've been doing some research on this as well. The distributors I know about for LED tape are:

City Theatrical
Bulbtronics (they distribute FlexAray LED tape)
Lightgear
EntTec
Elation
GLP

Prices vary, and all have different levels of resolution. Let me know who you choose and your experience with them!

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Permalink Reply by Christine G. Dougherty on February 10, 2015 at 4:29am

Thanks I am ordering a kit off amazon to see how it works out and experiment a bit.. will let you know how it goes...

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Permalink Reply by Todd Koeppl on February 9, 2015 at 3:30pm

Christine -
The type of tape you use depends on what you want it to do - do you need it to uniformly turn on in a single color or do you want it to change from one end to the other, pixel by pixel through the color spectrum? There are a lot of different tapes and different ways to control them so contact your trusted lighting vendor and discuss it with them.
As for the plexiglass - if it is going on the stair rise, I have used the plastic inserts for fluorescent troffer fixtures ( like you find in office buildings) they are 2'x4' and cheap - just not as durable as plexiglass - but you can cut them into strips and they work well.

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Permalink Reply by Christine G. Dougherty on February 10, 2015 at 4:28am

wow.. thanks great info.. going to try some diff things.. just nervous about the reliability of the the LED's.. thanks will post my final results.

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Permalink Reply by Erich Friend on February 9, 2015 at 5:14pm

Is this for an artistic look that the audience sees? Or for some behind-the-set Run-of-Show illumination for safety?

If it is for audience viewing, then you need to consider how brightly lit the steps will be due to the stage lights, as a dim LED product will just be washed-out.

If it is for backstage illumination of a some set access stairs, then you should consider hanging a shuttered-down fresnel or leko above the stairs and mute the light with a dark blue gel to minimize the bleed. Most importantly - mark the top leading edge of each step nose with a contrasting color strip of tape or paint so they are visible to the actors under low light conditions (dark color strip if light colored stairs, or light colored strip if dark colored stairs).

For consistent light you could power them from a computer UPS to ensure they stay on if the power fails. Or if you mean 'consistent' to be 'uniform' then yes, a diffusive plexiglass or gel in front of the LED strip will blend the dots a bit - it depends upon how far the face of the LEDs are to the surface of the diffuser media. For a VERY diffuse / uniform light strip you can use a electroluminescent tape or an end driven light pipe with a frosted surface.

Also, 'Strip Lights' / 'Tape Lights' tend to project light across 170 degrees or so, where 'rope lights' tend to glow 360 degrees.

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Permalink Reply by Christine G. Dougherty on February 10, 2015 at 4:30am

I am using them for illuminating set pieces and steps from underneath/inside.. I am going to experiment a bit and see how we do.. thanks so much. all of your info was very useful. will let you know how it goes..

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Permalink Reply by David Horn on February 11, 2015 at 8:31am

Hi Christine,

Checkout the website: superbrightleds.com

They carry rigid and flexible RGB led strips and DMX interfaces. You want 60 LEDs per meter or denser for one row of strip behind every riser or better yet 2 or 3 rows of 30 LEDs per meter behind every riser. I prefer 12 volt DC strips or tape and you can get 3,4,12,or24 channel dimmer boxes that accept DMX control from your lighting console. Most of the DC voltage dimmer boxes do require an external power supply.

You will want milk white plexi for the best diffusion of the LED dots on the tape or strips. However the diamond pattern of a fluorescent troffer diffuser can create vary cool starburst effects that might be appropriate for a 'Jukebox' look!

I use Superbright LEDs site for small quantities of LEDs for props or practicals, but I purchase large quantities through: dhgate.com which is a web portal like Alibaba.com to purchase directly from China. I prefer DHGate because they always have real-time pricing and available stock quantities listed right on the product pages. Do pay attention to the # of sales made by each seller of the products you want, I always choose a company with high sales quantities and good customer reviews, as most LED products will have dozens or hundreds of suppliers on the web portal. The pricing is amazing for large quantities direct from China, but you must allow double or triple the number of shipping days that the web site quotes! I've had overnight delivery take up to 5 days and 2-3 day express air option can take up to 2 weeks to arrive! Most of the 'Free' shipping options take 4 to 8 weeks to arrive.

Good Luck!

David Horn

Master Electrician

Children's Theatre Company

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Permalink Reply by Christine G. Dougherty on February 24, 2015 at 5:44am

wow great info.. running a bit late for LED's from china.. but all good info for future.. that buying site DHGate is like the Amazon of china? so cool. Question... I purchased one roll of LED's that change colors from amazon.. about 16 feet. I want to link several together. do you think this is okay? will it hold up with remote? the antena for the remote access is sooo small.

Also. I have some steps I want to light up.. they move through out the show.. do you think the battery operated LED (on wire) is worth it.. I read they give off a lot of light.. but all seem so flimsy.. my 12 year old wanna be techie son said maybe I can hook up the traditional LED tape up to a battery with some kind of adapter to make the changable ones work (then I don't have to worry about extension chords as I move sets.) Thoughts.. I am new at all this LED stuff.

One more thing.. my light board is so old.. about 20 years.. I am begging for a new one.. but I am guessing it isn't an option to hook up the LED's to the board. it is so old it uses DOS programing.. LOL

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Permalink Reply by Tristan Decker on March 2, 2015 at 11:35am

This response is late to the game, but might be useful for someone down the road...

To your question about linking strands together is a multi-fold issue. #1, can your power supply handle the overall current draw? and #2 How many strings can your controller drive and #3, albeit the least likely to be an issue first, how many strings in series will work despite voltage drop and current flow.

If (and these numbers are merely hypothetical) your LED tape is rated to draw 75w at 12V at full intensity in white (red, blue, and green leds on at the same time), the tape would need 6.25 Amps supplied to be fully effective in "white" so you need a power supply with at least that much capability. (A Radioshack plugin transformer by contrast may only supply .5 to 1 amp.) When you start adding strings, the Amp requirement goes up proportionately. There are LED power supplies that are readily available that can provide the amperage for multiple RGB strings that aren't too expensive.

Your controller is also only rated for so many amps at a given voltage, so that will also be a limiting factor on how many you can run in a series (or parallel for that matter.)

There is also the issue as to how many strings (on their own) can be tied to each other. Very cheaply made led tapes may (or may not) have low grade traces (printed wires) in them which can produce high levels of resistance. The excess resistance is a problem in that it will reduce the amount of power making it to subsequent strips, and the heat generated from the excess resistance could be detrimental to individual leds. I've seen some LED tapes where the LEDs at the end of a single tape are dimmer than the ones at the beginning because the trace quality was so bad. However, as I said earlier, you have to overcome the first two challenges before the third even comes into play.

The "antenna" write about is likely an infrared sensor, so its length is irrelevant. However, you will need direct line of sight from the remote to the sensor to control the LEDs remotely. (Distance will also be a factor with IR which is true of any wireless control.)

Battery power is an excellent wireless solution with LEDs. Just make sure you use the right voltage and a battery that can provide the amp draw you're looking for. (On a note regarding safety, be aware that while AA batteries get hot and can leak if shorted out, batteries capable of higher amp draw (like 12v car batteries and Li-Ion batteries) can create catastrophic results if shorted. USE CAUTION!)

As to the lightboard controlled LEDs, assuming your lightboard outputs DMX protocol there are a few DMX led controllers out there. SuperBrightLEDs, for instance, has one that is about $40. If your board doesn't output DMX, there are converters that can change your board's output to DMX, but those are pricey to buy; rental would be the way to go on that...

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