As the owner of Soundwave Entertainment Systems in Orlando Florida. We started lighting focal walls 8 years ago for
Weddings using 250 watt par cans and colored gels (requiring expensive power drops from hotels and venues). As
technology improved we invested in RGB LED lighting that still required 120 volt power and lighting controllers
(Lots of time required to set up). With the popularity of TV shows like "Platinum Weddings" uplighting has become a
"must have" for all mid to high end weddings. As our brides say "Lighting changes everything!".
The biggest problem with most of the technology on the market today is the following:
- Time to set up and adjust color
- Light cones going up the wall (not a true color wash)
- The colors mix is up to 3 feet up the wall before becoming the color desired (Example: Purple you see red
and blue on the lower wall before it turns purple).
- RGB (Red, green and blue diodes) still cannot achieve a warm glow color (looks green or orange)
I can honestly say that VividLite has created a product that is by far the best on the market today. I have been using
VividLite for the past year and nothing even compares to what this product can do. Set-up time is minutes, colors are
adjusted in seconds and the entire wall is washed in the color selected. This product is also extremely durable and the
battery life is still (12-14 hours) even after be used 50 or more times.
Another HUGE benefit is the fact that photographers and facilities that would normally recommend other AV vendors for
lighting are using my company almost exclusively because of VividLite. Finally, the VividLite staff stand behind their
product 100% and get your lighting to you packaged professionally and in a very short period of time.
Thank You VividLite Team!
~ DJ SoundWave
The next generation of uplighting is upon us and one of the players in the DJ industry new to us is VividLite (vividlite.com). In the past we have written about battery powered uprights and how they are the next generation of uplighting and how you don't have to spend more time setting up the lighting than your DJ show anymore, you save on extension cords, save on gaffers tape and more. There are many offerings in this area, and we recently had 4 review units of their primary product the VL-2S sent to BC Productions and took them out on a couple events.
The first thing that you will find when you take these out of the box is they are heavy, as any unit with such a strong battery system is, they are very well finished lights available in white or black and have a separate yoke that hooks onto it. The yoke hooks onto the side of them via two twist in screws that I had to twist awfully hard to get the light to stay in place at the angle I was looking for. While most similar lights have a less than 90 degree spread of light emanating from the fixture, these have a 120 degree throw and have 21 pre-programmed colors including all the popular combinations like amber, pink and purple. The wireless controller needs to be within approximately 8-10 feet to change the colors and the remote comes with the unit. From my discussions with Vividlight they hope to have a RF wireless controller that will allow more distance on the remote early in 2012. Great cases for recharging and carrying are available that fit the units perfectly.
They retail for just under $400, and I would recommend that if you are looking at these units that you plan on having at least 12 of them to be able to cover an average event. yes that's quite an investment in lighting, but when you consider you can make around $800-$1000 using this and a couple more tools of the trade with a monogram projector or two and some other lighting, getting your investment back out shouldn't take very long.
You can find out more information at http://www.vividlite.com or see VividLite at MBLV16 and you can compare it against all of the other options in wireless uplighting on or coming to the market.
~ Mobile Beat Magazine
