Stage Designs

Widescreen Light Panels

Jeremi Lamberson from GracePoint in Valparaiso, Indiana brings us this these cool DIY LED lights.

This design was inspired by Sean Bolinger from Christian Faith Center in Federal Way, WA and was used for their Christmas Service. They ended up taking 2×4’s and building frames 2 feet tall by 4 feet wide. They added a 1×3 furring strip to give them a 1 inch lip that concealed the LED light strips. They painted their 2×4 frames with a flat black paint that you can get from any local hardware store. Once those were dry, they tacked LED strip lights purchased from Amazon. The shortest length was 16 feet, which you can cut down to length if you prefer, but they simply doubled up the bottom to give the light more pop. The final touch for the frames were adding a white Coroplast back to really bring out the color of the lights. You can tack the LED lights in the frame any number of ways. They simply stapled them to the wood. If you choose to go this route you have to be careful that the staples are wide enough and that you don’t damage or short any of the strips as they found out the hard way.

They used DMX decoders to tie into their current light rig which allowed them to do some chases and effects with them. They had a total of 18 boxes which they used two 24 channel DMX decoders powered by 400 watt power supplies each. They used two 4 channel DMX decoders with 100 watt power supplies to each for the last 2 boxes. The LED lights were connected to the decoders using thermostat wiring as it allowed to keep wiring simple (it had white, red, green, blue and yellow wires, they doubled up the white and yellow for power).

To hang them, they simply used threaded rod cut to length, washers, and nuts. By using the threaded rod and nuts it allowed them to make simple adjustments to making sure their set was level.

The wood and paint you can pick up at any local hardware and lumber supply store. The cost for pain and wood ran them about $300. Thermostat wiring ran about $75 in a spool of 250 feet so obviously your need and length would vary your cost. The lights and decoders they picked up on Amazon. Lights were $13 per 16 foot line. The 24-channel decoders cost $170 a piece and the 4 channel dmx decoders ran $28 a piece. The power supplies we got from LED wholesaler. The 400 watt supplies ran $70 a piece and the 100 watt were $27 a piece. Together they spent about $1200. But it also allowed them to expand their lighting rig for future sets and stage designs.

Special thanks to Sean from Christian Faith Center for taking time to talk them through the logistics of the LED lights and DMX decoders.

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43 responses to “Widescreen Light Panels”

  1. The set is cool on its own, but the worship leaders beard really brings it to life!

  2. Jeremi Lamberson says:

    Here is a link to our Christmas Opener to see them in action!

    https://vimeo.com/valpograce/review/116029119/f76a806775

  3. Gary Brownell says:

    Nice job on getting the LED Tape and DMX controllers to work with your lighting console. That’s a big look with a lot of color for the money.

    • Jeremi Lamberson says:

      Yeah Gary, we were definitely pleased. The depth of our stage is only about 19 feet and because of poor planning on my part, we lost about 2 feet of that for the panels, because I did not have an accurate measurement of the ceiling. But even though we lost that space, it still made our stage look and feel big. We actually used the concept with LED light strips and DMX decoders for our current series where we attached each strip to a 10 foot piece of aluminum conduit and placed in a 2×10 that we drilled holes into as feet. It looks like they’re flown. Very simple, yet another big look!

  4. john byrd says:

    can i get a wire diagram and parts list for this set?

  5. Robert Ross says:

    Jeremi,
    I also sent you an email requesting a copy of that diagram and parts list :-)

  6. Keith Cross says:

    i sure would like a wiring diagram and parts list too! pretty work!

    bkcross13@yahoo.com

  7. Adam Miller says:

    Can i get the diagram and parts as well?

    Worship@cornerstonechurch.org

  8. Jeremi,

    If you’re in the mood to send out another diagram I’d like to get one from you. Email is brian@therevolution.tv. Very clean design. I’d like to do something in the next few months with LED strips I’m interested to see how others have used it. What was your total DMX channel count for this setup? Have you been able to use and video server content in a pixel map way with this setup?

    Thanks.

    • Jeremi Lamberson says:

      Brian, its funny you bring up the video server and pixel map, because the last few days, that’s what I have been research on. So it is possible, but no we haven’t utilized them for that yet. Our total channel count for the LED strips alone was 54 channels (18 fixtures, channels apiece). Obviously you can cut that down and slave some of them, but I wanted maximum control for each fixture. Also, I’ll send you over what I have now.

  9. Clark Dailey says:

    Hi Jeremi. This is an area that we are just getting into for some smaller worship spaces. I would also appreciate a wiring diagram. I still can’t wrap my head around this. Thanks.
    clarkd@newhopebc.org

  10. james tucker says:

    Very very very cool.

    Thanks for taking the time to post pictures and the writeup.

  11. Gary Mandile says:

    Jeremi,

    I’ve been wanting to tackle something like this for a while but wasn’t sure where to start. If you’ve got the parts list and wiring diagram handy we sure could use the help.
    garymandile@yahoo.com
    Great job. It looks fantastic!

  12. Brian says:

    Love the clean concept. Would love a copy of diagram to further clarify set up.

    Kalstrupb@me.com

    Thanks

  13. Ernesto says:

    Can I have a copy of the diagram to. Great Job. media@tirmail.com

  14. Erik says:

    Please send me a copy of the diagram as well, this is amazing!

    erik@kearneyefree.com

  15. Sergio says:

    Please send me a copy of the wiring diagram and parts list please! This is a amazing set up!

  16. Tope Sabitu says:

    Please send me a copy of the parts list and wiring diagram too. I need it for my church.

  17. Jacob Phelps says:

    Hey brother, is there any way I can get that diagram? This would be awesome for our student ministry here at HNW.

  18. Ross Armstrong says:

    Great job guys! I’d love to get a copy of the wiring diagram and parts list as well. Thanks! This will be a huge help. ross@northrockhill.com

  19. Josh says:

    Hey can you please send me the diagram for the wiring and parts please? Thank you!

    JoshStephensLA@gmail.com

    God Bless!

  20. Ezekiel says:

    bro, I’ll really love to get d diagram of d wiring. My email is basseyezekiel25@gmail.com

  21. John says:

    Awesome work! Are you guys portable? I’d love to get a diagram of how you wired everything as well as a list of supplies. Thanks

  22. Ryan Schmitt says:

    Can I please get a parts list as well.
    2001ryanschmitt@gmail.com

  23. Wesley says:

    I see a lot of people asking for the wiring diagram. I would love to see that if your able to send it to Wes.backhouse@tfhny.org
    …Better yet, could you share it as a link so the next 100 churches that fall in love with it can see your creativity in action? I’m sure that many people have been to shy to ask. Cheers

  24. Kris Kuriger says:

    Doing a big event next month would love to know how to wire this up! Share one more time? kriskuriger@hagoodyouth.com

    Thanks Guys!

  25. Can I get a layout of everything needed too? Love the design & thanks for posting this!
    petecampbell@newlife4kokomo.org

  26. Phil says:

    Any chance I can the diagram too? Super neat. pmiller@thesae.k12.ca.us

  27. Rafael rojas says:

    Can I also get a copy of the parts and wiring list. Rrojas8082@gmail.com

  28. Could I get a copy of the parts list as well as a wiring diagram if you have it? daniel.bullard@weareasbury.com

    Looks like the link to the original led strips isn’t active anymore, but I may have found an alternative.http://www.amazon.com/SUPERNIGHT-Waterproof-300LEDs-Changing-Flexible/dp/B00DTOAWZ2/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1460407591&sr=8-16&keywords=led+strip+lights

  29. Richard C. Peña says:

    Could you please send me wire diagram as well? I would love to do this for my church!

  30. Edward Weston says:

    Oh wow Jeremi I’m so late with getting this info but aye you never know until you try. I would love the wiring diagram for my church as well bro: clestaff@gmail.com

    Thanks,
    EW

  31. Nicholas fitzgibbons says:

    This looks great! Can I get a wiring diagram as well?

    Nfitzgibbons89@gmail.com

  32. Shelby Smith says:

    Hey Jeremi!

    I know it’s been a few years since you posted this design, but would you be able to send the wiring diagram my way if you still have it? Thanks in advance!

    Shelby@clcchurch.com

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