We’re tackling a big question in this article: How in the world do you choose the right fixtures to light your stage?

Whether you're starting from scratch, replacing old equipment, or just need to find the right lights for your space, understanding how to choose the right lights for your stage is crucial.

This guide is designed for anyone new to lighting, a hobbyist, or a tech director who needs to understand how to pick lights that fit your space, do what you need them to, and last for the long haul. That's what we're all looking for, right?

Common Mistakes When Choosing Lights

One of the most frequent issues we see in venues with permanent stage lighting is simply using the wrong fixtures. The lights might be a little off, or completely unsuitable for the people's needs. At Above AVL, our goal is to help you get the right gear every time—something that meets your needs, has the necessary features without being overkill, and fits perfectly.

How to Choose the Right Lights

So, how do we do that?

Step One: Determine the Beam Angle Needed

First, you need to look at your stage. Even if it's not a perfect rectangle, the initial step is to break it up into zones. For a small stage, this might mean three zones, each approximately 8 to 10 feet across.

Consider Where Lights Will Be Hung

From wherever the lights are hanging in front of the stage, you want them to hit each zone at a pleasing angle. This might influence where you hang the lights, if you have a choice. When the light hits the stage, you want it to fill that area, or be just slightly larger, allowing you to use beam-shaping tools (like zoom) to size it down precisely. While fixtures with zoom are excellent for this, they aren't always the best option, and even with zoom, you can still miss the mark.

Calculating the Beam Angle You Need

When you have an existing hanging point or know where you want to place your lights for a good angle, the next step is to measure the throw distance – the distance from the light to the stage. You can use an inexpensive laser distance measurement tool or a tape measure. Once you have this distance, you can use math or online calculators (like this one at aboveavl.com) to figure out the approximate beam angle needed to create the right size circle of light on your stage.

For example, if the calculation shows you need an approximately 30-degree fixture to cover a stage spot nicely, that's your starting point. You'll repeat this process across the stage for front light, back light, and any ambient lighting. For your main, primary lights, determining the approximate beam angle (e.g., 30 degrees) is paramount. While a 26 or 36-degree fixture might work, the latter might not be bright enough. Getting the beam angle right is the first step.

Step Two: Brightness

Next, you need to consider brightness. You might be tempted to find the cheapest 30-degree fixture, but will it be bright enough? Any reputable manufacturer provides photometrics – either center-point foot-candle/Lux measurements or a full chart showing brightness at various distances. These charts help you determine how bright the light will be on your stage at a specific distance and full brightness (though full brightness isn't always the cleanest white).

Foot-candles and Lux measure the same quality: light at a specific point in space (not total light output, which is lumens). A foot-candle equals one lumen per square foot. Using the metric system, a lumen is measured by a square meter or a lux. Thus a foot-candle is equivalent to approximately 10 lux.

How bright do you need it to be on stage?

This varies greatly. Generally, the aim is 40 to 60, maybe 80 foot-candles on stage (approximately 10 times that in Lux). This range is usually bright enough without blinding performers, looks great to the audience, and provides enough power for good stage lighting and color mixing, if applicable.

The wide brightness range exists because the amount of ambient light in the room directly affects how much light you need from your stage fixtures. If the room is very bright, your stage lights need to be brighter to be noticeable. Also, in larger spaces where audience members or cameras are further from the stage, you'll need more light for it to appear bright enough, though modern cameras are less sensitive to this.

Step Three: What Attributes Do You Need in a Light?

So, you've considered the needed beam size and brightness. The third crucial piece of the puzzle is what features and quality of light you actually want.

With LEDs, there are many different names, but generally, you'll find:

• Softer lights
• Middle-ground lights (like pars, which are wash lights often used for stages)
• Harder-edged lights (allowing for tight cropping of light onto specific objects)

All these types have different light qualities and features. For example, a recent customer was using inexpensive moving lights as their main front light and wasn't happy. The issue was the wrong type of light for their purpose, lacking good color quality. By switching to a non-moving fixture (like the Gamma Rosé fixtures, which are a Fresnel-style light with great beam control), they achieved proper stage lighting with the features they needed (and none they didn't), for less money than their original setup.

How Can Above AVL Help You?

If you need help finding the right lighting for your space, that's exactly what Above AVL does every day. At AboveAVL.com, you can send us an email or schedule a consultation call, or just add items to your cart and request a quote from there. Let us know your throw distance and stage size, and we’ll help you explore the best options.

Part of the process might be comparing the photometrics of the equipment you currently have to new lights that might fit your needs better. If your current lights work great but are just old, we can easily find comparable replacements to fit your budget. We love doing this and helping people get the equipment they need!