Michael Neto from First Church in Sterling Heights, MI brings us this cool use of fluorescent bulbs.
They first expanded their stage and blacked it out. They used 1/2″ plywood for the extension and 1/4″ paneling for the rest of the stage. Then they painted everything with a flat black. They also added LED tape under the staging to give it that extra punch.
They used some frames that they built for a previous stage design and added T8 Fluorescent bulbs with 4 lamp ballasts to accommodate all the lighting. With all the material, the set cost under $500 and gave their Young Adult Conference the atmosphere they were looking for.
Are you able to dim the fluorescents
You can but you have to use special ballasts which are quite pricey.
Do you have a link to the ballasts? The ultimate goal would be to build this and have it controlled through the media computer somehow.