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Brent Wernsing from New Walk Church in Zephyrhills, Florida brings us these great modular light bulb wall panels.
Each week they meet in a YMCA (portable church) and setup Saturdays from 2pm-5pm then tear down Sunday nights at 8pm-10pm. They have 2 sheds on site and 2 portables for kids classes where they can store stuff.
They averaging about 1400 people each weekend, between four services.
To satisfy their portability needs, they decided to do walls in sections that they could attach to their truss. They truss is 12 feet high and 22 feet wide. So they made ten, 2×8′ panels out of plywood that they painted black. They made the panels out of 2×4 plywood – sturdy enough and as light as possible for setup and tear down ($250 on wood/paints/screws/etc). Then they added two, Crown Bolt 25 lb. Handy Hooks($1.27ea) from Home Depot to each panel to hang them to their trussing. They bent the hooks to help them hold more securely.
Once they had the panels done they drilled twelve 2.3 inch holes – evenly separated so the holes would span the entire panel. And those holes were duplicated in every panel so that it would line up all the way across the wall once it was all put together.
They bought five 48′ (56′ with 8ft of lead cord) strings from Party Lights.com. Each string holds 24 bulbs each. Since they only had 12 bulbs per panel, they ended up cutting the strings in half to have 24′ strings with 12 bulbs per string. They capped off the ends.
They had 10 panels total so they needed 120 bulbs and the string they purchased used 25watt A-19 Bulbs. They bought 130 bulbs to be safe. They bought their bulbs at Party Lights.com too.
They hooked each panel individually to a 4-channel DMX dimmer pack (five dimmer packs total).
To finish off the design they added nine par56 cans above the truss.
Versatility
For each series/event they simply add a logo in front of the light bulb wall panels.
I write and speak about the creative process – especially for churches. Call me a resource for the church creative wanting to make their ministry better.
I go to this church! These guys are awesome, they are so creative and put a lot of thought in to what they do! I help with the tear down team and have lots of fun knowing that what we do brings life change to our community!
D you have any video of this set design? I’d love to see the light wall in action.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2923770888960 <—– Iphone video of our student night. *not great quality audio but shows the light wall in action.
Will post some more shortly.
Hey Brent! To echo many others, totally love the design! Could you shoot me over the plans and any other info on how you guys made these panels happen to scottie@reachchurch.com – thanks!
Are the panels controlled by your light board?
How did you attach the strings to the panels?
Each socket on the string had a small lip. So we drilled the hole just the right size so all we had to do was twist it into the hole and it sat in them nice and snug. But just as an added measure we stapled the strings to the back of the panel.
Any chance I could get a copy of plans or specs from you guys? I’m loving this idea for our new youth room!
Yah let me get your email and Ill send it over.
I would love to get a copy of the plans as well, this is an amazing idea!
georgewebster2323@yahoo.com
Would love to get a copy of them as well for our youth camp!
sorry, my email is ksfindley@wol.org
This is awesome! Love it! I’d love to get the plans too if that’s possible. Here’s my email, atalbert@gracegso.org.
Could I get a copy as well!
Just need your email Josh and I will send them over. ;)
studio13.87@gmail.com
Me too please? tndirishfan@gmail.com
can I get them to? qmatthews@gocrossings.org
Can I get a copy as well? Thanks
I know it’s been a while since this post was made but if it’s still possible to get the plans of a panel I’d appreciate it soooooo much. We’re preparing a concert and such a panel would fit just right into our plans (and hopefully budget)
watpie.w@gmail.com
thanks!
I know it’s somewhere here posted already just can’t find it! There are so many posts…
Can i get the plans, too? Thanks
Ciprianbc@yahoo.com
ben@alcwired.com
Much appreciated! Thanks!
This is awesome! We might try this at our church. We did something similar with a “marquis” but this looks like a simpler approach. Good thinking! Question though, when you hung letters or signs in front of the bulbs, were you concerned about them getting hot and burning? How did you keep them safe?
the 25watts bulbs dont get that hot. But with all the designs we’ve done. all signs were hung so they didnt touch the bulbs. ;)
Hey Brent,
Could I get a copy of your plans as well! My email is moswalt@rcbc.org. This is amazing!!!
Thanks for the info and reply. Love the idea and especially love how budget friendly it looks compared to other things we’ve been considering! Appreciate you guys sharing your ideas with the rest of us in “church world!” God bless!
Loving how the panels could be re-configured to adopt different set shapes etc.
Thanks David! It is very versatile.
We did a similar thing at our church, only difference we had was 4′ x 8′ walls with 32 50w Par 30 bulbs. here’s a video demo of ours, its a little intense in the demo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFDaTLwk2G4&feature=youtu.be
I love it. I would love to do this. A few questions…How long did it take, about how much and may I have a copy of your plans to do this at our church? Thanks much
Andre thanks for your comments. It took quite a bit of time. Dont know exact man hours as we had many on the project. We gave our selves about 3 weeks. to get it completed and tested, but this time frame could be much shorter if in a permanent facility. Cost was under $1000, initially but each new series requires us to buy more materials to match that series.
Get me your email and I will send plans.
this is so cool!!
send me a copy of the plans too please.
marlenam@gmail.com
oh i found the link thanks for sharing
Is there any way I could also get the plans to this set? fpnoemi@gmail.com
They are regular light bulbs right? How did you get some to be red and some white?
We just ordered different colored bulbs from 1000bulbs.com. They are A19 25watt Bulbs. and they are $1 or cheaper depending on the amount you buy.
Hey Brent,
I have been wanting to do this stage design for a long time! it is awesome man!
I want to do this for our student ministry!
Can you send me the plans as well? my email address is toddjholmes@yahoo.com
Also, where did you buy the actual light fixtures?
Appreciate you sharing!
Fixtures were purchased from partylights.com
Hey Brent we just finished our wall panel. we build it quite huge because of the size of our stage. it is about 10 ft/130ft.. we bought it and built it very similar from your plans. the only thing we did different was we built 4×8 panels. we got them all hung up and lights are on.
Since I am not to knowledgeable we have a light company coming today (in a few hours) to tell us what we need to do to make it more then just dimming. I want to be able to do what you guys were doing on the facebook video of your service!
my only question at this:
How do I get them to chase, move the the music, the pulse looking lighting, etc?
I noticed the post with the americandj link and the computer software. are you only able to do those features through the software?
also, we are wanting this to be all wireless. does that cause any concerns?
Thanks man..
Brent,
I love it and been looking for a new design for our youth group. Can you email me the plans also?
ryana@carmelbaptist.org
Brent,
Can you please email me the plans. We are also a portable church and really like thid setup.
Thanks much!
Mike let me get your email and I will send you a copy.
If anyone re-makes the light wall I would love to see pictures of it.
Bent my meal is mike4j@gmail.com … Thanks! =]
Any chance I could get a copy of plans or specs from you guys? I’m loving this idea for our youth conference coming up. It looks great. I am needing specific plans on making the panels and mounting the sockets. Thanks jhight@crossroads72.com
I would really like to see your plans for the wall as well. My email is sethpenley@me.com. Thanks a lot.
Could you please send us a copy of your plans as well.
Thanks!
wuellnerfamily@gmail.com
Love this idea & the portability of it! So many ideas & different set-ups for the panels! May i get a copy of the plans? pchad@nwaog.com
I absolutely love this! Ive been looking to for something portable for our youth church. Could you please send us a copy of your plans? Thank you so much for your time
trademarkfiles@gmail.com
This is an awesome idea. Love to get the plans as well. radiophive@gmail.com – Thanks in advance!
We built the boards…they came out GREAT! Quick question, how are you controlling the chase functions on the dimmer pack. I connected it to DMX but it only acts as a dimmer. Is someone standing backstage triggering the chase scenes? Did you program your own chase scenes using a DMX controller? Any info would be much appreciated. alex@steelecreek.org
All the scenes we do are programmed using software. We currently us American DJs myDMX. Their software is free but their widget is not. Please send me a picture of your lightwall in action once it goes live. http://www.americandj.com/ProductDetails.aspx?Category=&ItemNumber=2114
I was also seeing if you could send me the design plans on that also. It looks like something that we could definitely do in our youth building.
Thanks Chris
Sorry my email is chris.kopp@lotwcc.org
Could you email me the plans as well.
colinjarnold@windstream.net
Thanks and God bless!
Also, how did you guys do the letters in the sun stands still picture? I love that.
The Sun Stand Still Design was made from 1inch 4×8 Foam Core, with see through fabric behind it. We projected the Sun Stand Still Letter onto the foam core, traced it out, cut it out and then stapled the fabric to the back.
Can I get the plans as well?
Thanks,
Justin. Justinorr94@gmail.com
love the design, would love to try this in our teen church. Could you email me the plans. Thanks, keep up the inspiring work.
love the design, would love to try this in our teen church. Could you email me the plans. Thanks, keep up the inspiring work. My email is prtakinola@yahoo.com
Love it! Could you please send me the plans as well? ejmirelez@citylifechurch.cc
Brent, I would love to get a copy of the plans as well! We’re planning to do this design at our mobile service in downtown Pittsburgh. How did y’all transport this set? I’m assuming you took the bulbs out, what did you store them in?
Thanks!
Hey Dave I will send the plans over to you. As to how we transported it, with our muscles. ;) We just carry them in and out and no actually we do not take the bulbs out each time. For a couple reasons by mainly time. They bulbs are much more durable then you would think. And in the last 8 months that we’ve used the panels, we’ve only broken 6-7 bulbs during transport.
If panels are going off-site being transported in a trailer or vehicle then you might want to consider taking the bulbs out.
Forgot my email. It’s david.devore@pittsburgheast.com
Another request for the plans, sorry for so many. Actually if you can get me a set of them I can host them on my site so everyone else can just download it.
nathan@potomacbeads.com
Week in and week out I get to witness the brilliant design ideas of Brent Wernsing. Not only is he a great set designer, he is an even better better Youth Pastor! He keeps “church in a box” fresh and different for all those attending.
Here is a link to the plans for anyone who wants them.
http://mynewwalk.com/downloads/lightwallplans.pdf
Also, just wanted to share our latest stage design for our Series Make War
http://www.mynewwalk.com/downloads/makewar.jpg
Hey I would love to get a copy of the plans for this. Love the idea and would like to see how it would benefit our stage as well! thanks!
matt.franzen@lifepointplano.org
hey would love to get a copy of those plans swell! this is a great idea! michaellfischer@gmail.com
Hey Brent great design. Like everyone else i would like to be able to get your plans. pastorandrew@lwcjonesboro.org thanks man.
sorry didnt see that you posted them, thanks!!
Looks awesome I like the 3886 other people would love to steal… I mean see you plans. Email is justin@audacityChurch.tv
Could I get the plans as well?
Ctdorsey@gmail.com
Great Design!! Can I have a copy?? Just kidding, I saw that you already posted them ;) I had a question about the Dimmer Packs. Each channel on the dimmer pack has 2 outlets. Do you just not use one, or does each panel have two male prongs that fit into each channel? Also, if you have 9 can lights above the wall (each with their own channel) did you have to buy 3 dimmer packs for those? I guess I’m just a bit confused about how the dimmer packs work and all. I’d appreciate any of your help on that. Thx!
4 Lights per dimmer pack. Not utilizing all 8 outlets.
On our Sun Stand Still Design:
9 Can Lights
9 Light Wall Panels
18 Total. 18/4 = 4.5 so we used 5 dimmer packs total and we had extra channels open on the 5th pack.
Hope that helps.
Can I get a copy of the plans as well? Great job!
Would love to get the plans for this please treykiessling@gmail.com,
Thanks in advance
Here is a link to the plans for anyone who wants them.
http://mynewwalk.com/downloads/lightwallplans.pdf
Thank you!
Hey Brent, I’d love to do this for a special event I have coming up! Can you email me the plans at nflowers643@hotmail.com?
Thanks!
Can I also get the plans?
Thanks
Hey I was wondering if you need to buy the dimmer packs or if the design can work without them? This is a great idea, I’m currently putting together a plan to present to my youth pastor (I am interning and designing our youth room) but am trying to find a way to cut down the cost. Thanks!
If you want your panels to do anything besides just be on, you will need dimmer packs. but if you just want them always on, you wont need any dimmer packs.
Is there anyway I can get a copy of plans from this project?! I love it so much! My email is: zumazuma157@gmail.com
http://mynewwalk.com/downloads/lightwallplans.pdf
Hey could I get the plans too? Email: jayden.friesen@gmail.com
Thanks.
http://mynewwalk.com/downloads/lightwallplans.pdf
Can you please send me the plans. Our pastor wants this built for Easter Sunday.
Email address is paul.schumacher@generator.com
http://mynewwalk.com/downloads/lightwallplans.pdf
Could you send me the plans by any chance? I’m seriously digging these!
My email is danbraeut@gmail.com
Hey I would love a copy of the specs for this project as well if at all possible! Thanks a lot…
Therald7@gmail.com