Chauvet Professional’s Rogue Family
A look at this growing family of low-budget high-feature moving lights.
22 April 2015
Review:/ Marcus Pugh
Everyone in the lighting game now have many options on where they can spend their moving light dollars, and competition means that everyone is getting more bang for their buck. All the lighting manufacturers are bringing more value and features to the market while keeping an eye on the price point. Much of these changes are driven by the manufacturing boom in China and it isn’t so much about how many different moving lights to sell under your brand but creating a range that suits their customer base.
One company that has really stepped up its game in recent times is Chauvet, having grown a strong following in the states for quality club and DJ type fixtures. Chauvet has released its Chauvet Professional line which looks to supply lighting designers in television, production, touring, theatre, clubs, hospitality, houses of worship and architainment. Under this banner comes the new Rogue series tagged with the epithet: ‘Weapons of mass creation, liberating imaginations from the tyranny of tight budgets’. The Rogue series consists of seven fixtures, two sizes of Spot, two sizes of beam fixtures, two new wash units and the Rogue RH1 hybrid which is the ‘big boy’ of the range. I had the opportunity to review The Spot R1 and R2 as well as the Beam R2.
I have demo’d a lot of ‘budget’ fixtures recently and was sceptical about that I might be in for more-of-the-same when three of the Rogue range arrived on my doorstep. My scepticism started to dissipate from just opening the first box and seeing the obvious build quality, I had to check the buy price twice Show Tools International (the Australian distributor of the Rogue range) because it just seemed too low.
One of the first things you notice for all units in the Rogue range is the rugged rubberised finish on the outer casings. This finish gives the units a matt finish and the covers have a bit of ‘give’ in them helping to prevent cracking from minor knocks and bumps. I have witnessed some Rogue Spot R1s that have spent 6 months in a busy rental shop showing very little evidence of scratches from the rigors of gig-life. The bases have a largish footprint and Chauvet hasn’t opted for the smaller bases which some manufacturers have moved toward recently. The larger footprint means that components inside the base are laid out with ample space between allowing plenty of air movement for heat management without the need for larger, noisier fans. All three units I reviewed had the same sized base (even the small R1 Spot) but this means the hang brackets are uniformly positioned for all three.
MORE INFO
Contact
ShowTools: www.showtools.com.au, [email protected] or +61 (0)2 9824 2382
Chauvet Lighting: www.chauvetlighting.com/chauvetrogue/index.php
Under the head covers the LED engines in the spots have large heat sinks teamed with fan cooling. The internals are well laid out in all three units with removable modules for servicing. Some thought and engineering has gone into the cable loom runs to minimise snagging on moving parts. Internal cable connectors are non-proprietary so replacing these could be done at most all electronic stores if parts were hard to come by out on the road.
Another feature that often gets overlooked for moving light is the handles which is not the case with the Rogue range every unit has good sturdy handles that bolt directly to the main base sheet of metal and would stand up to even the meanest treatment from the roughest loader.
Creating a budget minded fixture comes down to compromises and some have been made for the Rogue units. One such compromises is the control panel and interface, the buttons are small and fiddly which you’d struggle with in gloves or trying to change addresses while hanging out of a truss. The control interface isn’t intuitive but is still workable and as with any fixture I’d imagine practise would make it easier to navigate. The pan and tilt motors aren’t the quietest or fastest on the market and some of the internal cable looms could be more robust but none of these things are a deal breaker. The important thing is the output, optics and features all of which you get a lot of for your money.
All units have Neutrik powerCON connectors inputs and outputs, 3- and 5-pin XLR ins and outs. Overall the selection of standard gobos are good and each fixture has some that will work well as a mid-air effect through haze and some projected onto a surface, there wasn’t any that I thought to myself ‘ I’d never use that’. I was surprised to see no stand-alone ‘sound to light’ or ‘master slave’ mode but this shows that Chauvet are serious about the Rogue Range being the real-deal mover not another set and forget fixture party light.
ROGUE R1 SPOT
Specs
140W white LED engine
8500K colour temp
16 or 19 DMX channels
540°/250° pan & tilt with automatic correction
8 colours + white ability to do split colours and continuous scroll at variable speeds
7 rotating indexing gobos, 5 metal and 2 glass, all interchangeable
8 fixed metal gobos, all interchangeable
3 facet prism, rotating motorised
Electronic dimmer and strobing
Strobe 0 to 22Hz
Motorised focus
Motorised iris
16.5° beam angle
2619 lux at 5m
Dimensions 282 x 360 x 447mm
16.5kg
220W running current 1A @ 230V
Pros
Quiet
Handy gobo access window for easy gobo changing on the rotating gobo wheel
Snap-n-lock gobo system for tool less gobo changes on the rotating wheel
Robust build quality
Very bright for a small mover
You can get a sharp focus over a good variety of throw distances
Less heat and fans means longer service cycles
Cons
Beam angle is a bit tight for short throws
No zoom
Large foot print for a small mover
No motorised strobe
No pan or tilt locks
Summary
Value for money it is hard to go past this unit, it has some features you would only expect to see in more expensive movers. The white LED is super ‘white’ at 8500K which is right up the blue end of white and makes the fixture appear brighter than similar wattage LEDs with lower colour temperatures. The colour selection while not subtle does suit the target market for this fixture. The Spot R1 would be great for medium sized clubs, small touring rigs or theatres. This would be the perfect mover for a high school theatre as a teaching light. I was I’d had this level of tech at this price available to me when I was coming up.
Price
AU$2200 (inc GST) [This is not a misprint.]
ROGUE R2 SPOT
Specs
240W white LED
8500 K colour temp
18 or 21 DMX channels
540°/270° pan and tilt with automatic correction
2 colour wheels each with 7 colours plus white with ability to do split colours and continuous scroll at variable speeds
7 rotating indexing gobos, 5 metal and 2 glass, all interchangeable
8 fixed metal gobos all interchangeable
3 facet prism, rotating motorised
Electronic dimmer and strobing
Strobe 0 to 22Hz
Motorised frost
Motorised focus
Motorised iris
16.5° beam angle
Pan and tilt locks
5500 lux @ 5m
21.2kg
409 x 343 x 349mm
301W running current 1.4A
Pros
Robust build quality
Quiet
The 240W LED has loads of output
Handy gobo access window for easy gobo changing on the rotating wheel
Slot-n-lock gobo system on the rotating wheel for tool-less gobo changes
Combination frost and prism allows the unit to cover some wash functionality
Easy gobo morphing
Less heat and fans means longer service cycles
Cons
No zoom
Beam angle is a bit tight for short throws
No motorised strobe
Summary
The Spot R2 has heaps of output for a LED based fixture, you can load up both colour wheels and morph between gobo wheels and still get beams through the air. The gobo morphing works well with both gobo wheels positioned next to each other in the beam path through the head. This unit would work well in large clubs or medium theatres if you got the throw distance right. In a retail environment projecting custom gobos while competing with daylight or existing ambient lighting conditions. The Spot R2 would be perfect with 6 – 12 units hanging or sitting at the rear of stage shooting beams and gobos over the band or doing back light colour bumps between the dual colour wheels.
Price
AU$3300 (inc GST)
ROGUE R2 BEAM
Specs
230W Osram Sirius lamp
15 or 18 DMX channels
540°/270° pan & tilt with automatic correction
14 colours with continuous scrolling at variable speeds
17 fixed gobos including 6 aperture reducers.
8 faceted motorised rotating prism
Motorised dimmer
Motorised focus
Motorised frost
Motorised strobe
1° beam angle (2° field angle)
133,200 lux 15m
7500K colour temp
20.6 kg
409 x 327 x 474mm dimensions
385W running current 1.7A
Pros
8 faceted prism allows for mid-air beam shaping
Aperture reducers produce a pencil thin beam
Easy servicing
Fast strobing
Motorised dimmer allows for ‘pulse’ style strobing
Cons
No rotating gobos
Gobos not interchangeable
Not as fast as some more expensive beam fixtures
Have to remove the fan to change lamps
Summary
The Beam R2 does exactly what the name promises and that is punch out a mighty bright beam. The feature set may be somewhat limited but you don’t want too much in the beam path compromising the output for this style of fixture. Output-wise you could put this next to much more expensive beam fixtures and struggle to pick the difference in the beam. The pan and tilt movement is smooth and fast even if it doesn’t have the top end speed of some other units on the market. The colour wheel can be spun continuously at ridiculous speeds that play tricks on your eyes. The Beam R2 would work well in medium to large rock venues or clubs also as a cost effect beam effect in theatre shows. I could even see the Beam R2 on medium sized rock and EDM tours.
Price
AU$3600 (inc GST)
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