I’m retooling a parade route lighting package and want to replace 2.4kW lekos with 400–600W IP-rated profiles that still throw a crisp 12–15° gobo at 30 m and read at noon; considering ETC ColorSource Spot VXT and Elation Proteus Lucius for the punch per watt. Anyone have real-world photometrics and dimming behavior on camera, and tips for keeping each zone under a single 20A while holding that saturated, sparkly look on floats?
But @OP we kept three Proteus Lucius on one 20A by capping intensity around 90% in the console and staggering power-on by about 2 s; still got a crisp ‘13°’ B-size read at about 30 m in midday.
Lucius: set PWM 25 kHz and ‘linear’ dimming; metal gobos read 12°/30 m. VXT needed ‘studio’ to avoid stepping.
Quick example: we’re getting a clean noon read at about 30 m with Ayrton Perseo Profile around 13°; set high PWM (30 kHz) and the “theatre” curve with a 3% floor to keep dimming smooth up to 120 fps. To keep a zone on one 20A, we use a sequenced PDU (Motion Labs) with 500 ms offsets and an Output Limit at 95% — three heads sit near 15 A in open white, verified with a clamp meter while dodging strollers. If you go Lucius, I’m with @jacobf87 on staggered power-on; it’s a touch punchier, though VXT with a 14° tube is surprisingly crisp if you can live with a bit less per‑watt bite.
@OP On Proteus Lucius I’ve gotten better midday punch at 30 m by cracking the iris about 10% to tighten a “12–15°” gobo and running open white (no CTO) for the native cool CCT; it bumps edge contrast on camera. If you want the single breaker to behave, a LynTec sequenced rack has tamed inrush for me more reliably than console caps, and FWIW the VXT still won’t match Lucius at noon.