Review: Chauvet Colorstrip

The review:

On the back: The colorstrips have the usual DMX IN/OUT, linking power (but only to other colorstrips!?), mic sensitivity knob and dgital control panel. But what is unique about the colorstrips are that they have a seperate Output connector for Master/Slave. What this allows you to do is split the signal - to have multiple colorstrips act in master/slave while also having them in a DMX chain of other fixtures. Colorstrip programs run from one fixture to the next, creating a very dynamic set of patterns, which only increases with the number of colorstrips that are used.

Brightness: Very bright - I would confirm that they are about twice as bright as an LED par 64. I ran two in a smallish sized venue (40x60) and found them almost too bright. They roughly equalled the brightness of a incandescent par 38.

Color: With all LEDs on, there is a slight bluish color cast - which is most likely due to the blue LEDs being brighter than red or green ones (which seems to be the case visually). Incandescent washes definately create a more natural light, but for applications where natural light doesn't matter, the colorstrips perform wonderfully.
Color separation: In most colored washes, I've found a color shadow cast that exists (such as in a chauvet stage wash 950). I found the colorstrips have much less shadows than the stagewash, which I wasn't expecting.

Patterns: The colorstrips have two different classes of patterns - color changes and color chases. The main distinction between these two are that the changes are mimiced across all master/slave colorstrips while the chases are chased from one fixture to the next. This creates a very unique effect - being able to create a flash tube like effect at various speeds and colors.

Brackets: The colorstrips come with two different sized brackets. A long set that allows you to rotate the fixture 180 degrees without the cords getting in the way, and a short set to minimize space. The brackets are spaced in order to mount them ontop of a t-bar, but they are too long to mount underneath. Naturally, with clamps, they can also be mounted vertically. The brackets can also be modified in order to allow for two strips ontop of each other.

DMX Controllability: The most significant drawback with the colorstrip is that it only has dimmers on the RGB mode, it would be nice to see a global dimmer for all patterns, because some of them can be very bright. Also, the colorstrip can be frustrating to use with Hardware controllers. Due to the fact that Chauvet has decided to offer channels that are conditional based on the setting of Channel 1 and certain programs don't have strobing options, it's easy to forget what options are for what type of pattern. This is made easier with software controllers or controllers that allow you to set labels.

Control Panel: A nice and simple control panel. Found it one of the easier readouts there are. You can select all color changes and color chases from here without DMX.

Sound Active: Due to the number of changes+chases that are in this fixture, sound active mode comes across as being very dynamic. The more fixtures you have, the more dynamic it will appear. The sound responsiveness did not seem to be great, but it was sufficient to be noticeably reacting to the music. I should say that because of the dynamic patterns, it made it difficult to test sound responsiveness, because the patterns change so much anyways.

Beam Angle: I was initially a little worried about the beam angle of the colorstrips. While it is more limited than the 200bs in the vertical beam angle (in horizontal position), I found it didn't matter as in both gigs I used it, it could be angled to include what what needed to be washed

Conclusion: I am thoroughly impressed at the flexibility that the colorstrips have. They worked great for the dance and worked amazingly for live performance. They themselves act as a wash no matter what patterns are currently running, thus fullfilling the wash requirements but it also acted as a light that would suffice as an effect light as well - I found myself mesmorized by some of the patterns - Especially Color Change 5 which responded like a sound frequency graphic, pulsing to the beat.
I found it so easy in a live performance environment to create new lighting patterns, anything from casting each side different colors to setting it up in auto and let the fixtures create dynamic color washes. I really can't expressed how happy I am at the performance of these washes. I'm considering getting 3 more to have 5 in order to suround a stage with light, thus being able to completely control all aspects of the color of the stage. 5 would be overkill for dance only applications.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• chauvet
• colorstrip
• review
• wash
• fill
• lighting
• fullspectrumm
• ellaskins
• briansred

[limelightstar]

how effective would this be in a theatrical production where the backwall 'white' would be require to be lit in different colours?

thanks

[fullspectrumm]

As long as a slight cyan cast (instead of pure white) is ok, it would be fine. I've been experimenting with diffusion gels which further soften the fixtures light. I will be doing a vid on the diffusion experiment soon.

[littlebouzouksis]

is it possible to do the runway effect with no dmx control? like is there a mode i can set it to on the back of the unit to do runway

[fullspectrumm]

Yes, as long as you have the units master/slave linked, all the "color chases" will run through the fixtures. You have to use either the menu for that (Sound mode has both mimicking patterns and runway patterns) or the foot controller.

[littlebouzouksis]

so its not possible to do this effect with just one unit and have it chase from one side of the unit to the other?

[fullspectrumm]

Yes it is possible. by "run through the fixtures" I was talking about chasing from one to the next...the runway effect, sorry if it didn't make sense.

[audibleobsession]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that these are $180 each at B&H right now (you need to add to cart to see that price). Best deal around from a "known" seller!

Unfortunately they don't have the footswitch though, I guess i'll get that from Planet DJ?

[DJJORGEMOJICA]

I JUST ORDER ONE FOR A GREAT PRICE

[techmaster242]

LOL @ the midget at 6:05 !!!!

[roadieric]

Thanks for the rundown on the strips.

From 6:00 to 7:00 you can see why they say white people CAN'T DANCE.

LMAO!

[musicianlocator]

that's alot of light for such a small dance. Oh well. Go big or go home, i guess

[mikey9204]

nice vid...how much would one colour strip cost?

[chauvetlighting]

No, but if you choose a single effect, then you are left with that effect until you choose another one. However, program 23 will play 8-20 (sound activated or manual speed control) in rotating, random order.

Thanks,

Chauvet Lighting

[garbagepants]

Can the control panel choose some of the effects and then immediately go to another effect?

[gr8mtn]

Unfortunately the good lighting doesn't help these dancers. It was kind of you to not video their faces. ;-)

[TwinProductions1961]

I was thinking to use this for a color wash on a wall using DMX control.

Is it a good unit for that?

Basically I want to have perhaps three different colors on the Strip and control that appearance with a DMW controller. Is that doable?

I.e can I assign any color to any part of the strip using DMX??

Looking at the manual it looks like I have to choose a color for the whole strip...