led stage design

I was asked to make a stage design for a Swiss salonquintet.
The director has some very interesting and intriguing ideas about how to convey the feeling and mood he wants.
In half a year we finished the optics and dimensions of the whole phase and I started planning to build.
I just started designing a project where the main element is LEDs and I learned a lot in a very short time.
Since this project happened two years ago, I didn\'t think of taking all the photos for Instructure at the time, so there will be some missing photos --
I apologize for that.
The idea is to build a \"forrest\" stick on it with a light bulb.
Since the audience is located inside the stage, the sticks are intended to convey a feeling of imprisonment and unhappiness, and light bulbs and music will be the opposite of that feeling.
These bulbs will be the only light source (
Finally, we had to install some small spotlights to create more ambient light and color).
The project is in Enshi tatte, trisi (
Concentration camps during World War II)
And focus on music creation and performance during this period.
If you are interested in this very serious but interesting and moving project, please visit this link: Obviously, with the traditional 230 V (
I\'m in Switzerland)lightbulbs.
A large number of light sources require a great amount of power, and few places can meet this requirement.
The next idea is a 12 V bulb.
From the power consumption point of view, this can be achieved.
This was also rejected on the financial front.
The budget for the entire stage design is limited.
It turns out that LED technology is the solution.
The entire stage consists of a large rectangular border with these rods and light sources on it. The audience (
Gray rectangle on the first picture)
And the performers are all within this boundary.
As you can see on the picture, there is (what I call)
There are islands with rods and light sources in the outer boundary.
The 140 light sources on the border are controlled in two groups and are mainly used for lighting when the audience enters the venue.
The 216 light sources within the border are individually controlled and play an important role in the entire production.
Light can be moved from one island to another, it can be accompanied by the movement of musicians, it can create a calm or twitching atmosphere, which is part of the action.
A big challenge is to build the entire stage in a way that can be transported to different locations.
Everything has to be modular so it can be put in the van.
The stage can accommodate locations of different sizes-
Some parts can be omitted or added as needed.
In the early days of the project, I had the idea of using jack plugs and clips to make the connection of all these rods to the floor panel very quick and easy.
I started with two aluminum tubes I installed.
Speaker Cable (
The cheapest cable I can find).
The jack plug sticks to the inside of the tube, so the plug sticks out.
For stability, the rod is inserted into a small foot that is bolted to the floor.
The light source itself consists of LED strips cut into length. The self-
The tape is attached to the aluminum bar and then inserted into the aluminum tube.
Friction connections allow heat transfer from LEDs to rods and tubes.
The LED light strip is attached to the cable inside the tube and can now be plugged in.
\"Bulbs\" is a clear glass ball I made in China.
I can\'t afford these balls in Switzerland so I have to go to AliExpress (
1/11 price! ).
It was produced by a small company.
Everything went well, the order arrived in Switzerland, 500 of the balls were not broken by one ball.
They are sandblasted to spread the light and produce the effect we want.
All feet, sticks and light sources are distributed on 20 wood floorspanels.
The unique shape allows the platform to be built between lights.
The actors walked around and the whole stage was staged.
A huge part of this building is the wiring and control of all individual light sources.
The border design around the stage is a bit different as all the other lights are connected together.
This means that there are only 2 circuits, but each one has about 70 light sources, which consumes quite a bit of energy in terms.
It takes a while to start and run, but it does work in the end. I installed RGB.
LED controller on the lower side of the panel, each controller can control 27 LEDs.
The wiring of each plug takes a lot of time, but in the end it allows the entire stage to be assembled quickly.
In addition to a single LED, there is a lot of wiring for each controller\'s 12 v power supply.
The controller is connected to the DMX (
Industry Standard for Stage Lighting)
From console control, almost anything can be done.
For the programming of lights, I have to involve the professionals.
Here are short films of almost all the work during the first installation of the entire stage: the whole building is very interesting and I love it very much!
At the same time, it\'s very nervous and annoying!
The time I assigned to this project was too short and technical difficulties began to pile up at some point.
Thanks to the hand that reached out and the friend who interjected, everything was ready for the opening night, but just now.
If I were to build this phase again, I would do a lot of small things and details in a different way --
But the main concepts and ideas did work and I won\'t change them.
Thank you for reading this manual.
I know it\'s not as enlightening as it might be, but I \'d really like to show off the project, though it\'s unlikely to trigger a similar build.
Please contact me if you have any questions about this project.