Best products from r/lightingdesign

Books I recommend / see commonly recommended.

• • -
    Show Networks and Control Systems
    
    This is a great book all about how modern lighting networks work using sACN and other protocols. John Huntington is a great speaker if you ever get a chance to see him speak. He should be doing a session or two as USITT this year. He is also a professor at CUNY and has a great program there.
    

• • *
    Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician
    
    Another great book by another great speaker. I got to see a panel with Richard Cadena a few years ago at USITT. I was very impressed with how he spoke about stage lighting and some of the practical experiments that he has done and shared with us. I haven't read this book, but I've heard great things about it. A big topic of conversation at that panel was inrush current, and he gave some really great and easy to understand answers. I suspect that his book is more of the same.
    

• • -
    Designing with Light
    
    A classic. Very very well respected book. It will probably be the text book for your first lighting class in college, if you choose to study lighting in college.
    
• • -
    [Light Fantastic: The Art and Design of Stage Lighting] (https://www.amazon.com/Light-Fantastic-Design-Stage-Lighting/dp/3791343718)
    
    My favorite lighting book. Covers a huge array of topics, addresses lighting history & color, shows and demonstrates some really really interesting designs.
    
• • -
    A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting
    
    I see this book recommended most often. It's another great book. The title holds true, it is a very practical guide to stage lighting. How to do paperwork. How to write a contract. How to talk to people. Some nuggets of lighting knowledge. I didn't really get as much out of it though, as I am not trying to become a professional lighting designer.

FrostD makes a good point.

There are some standard textbooks that you might look into (with the accompanying knowledge that they will carry textbook-like price tags). I've found them more useful than websites, mostly because I had a lot of trouble finding any websites that did a broad overview of stage lighting.

Shelley's A Practical Guide to Lighting the Stage is a pretty well known one.

Personally, I learned a lot from Gillette's Designing with Light. But I also encountered it after I'd had some experience with the actual lighting instruments. So I remember it as a great introduction to "how do I design," but I can't remember if it covers any of the "this is a fresnel, this is a par" things.

If you want to learn how to program cues, I'd look into tutorials (or at least manuals) relating to whichever board you are likely to work with. If you don't know which board you're most likely to work with, there's a decent chance you'll end up behind an ETC Express [citation needed].

While I'm recommending texts, if you want to figure out how to draft a light plot (likely a further-down-the-line thing in your education), Hillmar's Light Plot Deconstructed is a pretty good way of learning how to make a plot in Vectorworks.

But really, the best way to learn is to do, or at least to be around people who do. If you're going to school, check out if the theatre program (if it exists) would like an extra set of hands on the next load-in/strike. Or if they need a board op (which was one of my favorite ways to pick up on lighting design without needing a lot of prior knowledge or experience).

If you're not going to school atm, see if there are theatres nearby who might want help. Often, even small places (high schools, churches, restaurants that host live acts) will have their normal "lighting guy/gal" they could put you in touch with. Most should be willing to at least point you in the right direction, even if they don't end up wanting/needing a hand with things.

This isn't by any stretch a complete guide, but hopefully it's enough to get you started in some direction or other.

OLA is Open Lighting Architecture .. lets you convert one type to another .. but generally it has an ArtNet interface and lots of fun output interfaces including SPI. For some thoughts: last year I built 4 4'x8x16' steps we used on stage. We drove them with SPI Controllers .. that worked great .. but was expensive. The reason I went pi is the pi itself is $35 and built in wireless .. fadecandy is $22 .. can drive a pixel set of 64x8. This year we're building 12 steps 8'x8"x9" with 6 rows of 64 px driving off the QLC. I have githubs of the ansible code I use for all of this .. happy to share.

Some things to consider:

• PI - there is raspberry pi zero form factor .. which is quite small ;) I am experimenting with those now as full replacements for the Pi-B's and C's I have ( I used to teach with PIs so I have a bunch of em )
  
• interference - 802.11 can be impacted by bad dimmers .. things near by ( high amperag fryer, microwave), channel collisions with existing APs and most easily .. if it's visible lots of things will try to connect even with a password. Set your wifi to NOT broadcast the BSSID. And check the wifi spectrum when you get to a venue ;)
  
• amperage .. make sure you have enough to drive your px .. specifically something north of 80 px in a single strand you'll wanna inject power on the other end. The overall power supply doesn't have to be crazy .. but investing in a good volt-ohm-amp meter meter is worth it for testing and validation.
  
• universes .. I've successfully transmitted 4-6 U over a single SSID of 802.11bng . If each px is individually addressed .. and you're using RGB .. then each px is 3 DMX channels. Each U is 512 channels .. that gives you 170 px in a single U and QLC doesn't handle crossing U in a single fixture.. but does handle things with matrixes .. so you'll have to play around with the config and layout. You can always use the same channel(s) for multiple fixtures of the same type.
  
• road-rash .. touring with such a rig .. plan spares of everything and have a test program you can run to make sure it looks right. The LED strips don't handle LOTS of bending .. but some. The "Sticky" on the back is for shit. plan clear tape or something else to make sure they stay mounted whereever you're putting them. Also .. the "joining" kits you can to connect 2 strips work reasonably well .. BUT they dont' like to move alot. We've started soldering them on to the strips once we have the design set.
  
  Please feel free to reach out any time .. do lots of work in this space and always willing to help ;)

It seems your original post slipped past my radar, but I work with this technology on a daily basis and would love to provide some help.


I'll get on to your product suggestions shortly, but I do need to address your understanding of power injection. The 50@5v or 100@12v "guidelines" are based strictly on standard-spaced bullet/square ws2811 strings; once you change the length/gauge of wire, this all goes out the window. In order to properly take on a project like this, you MUST have a through understanding of voltage drop. There are formulas (and simple online calculators) that will help you figure out the voltage drop over different gauge's of cable vs length. Power injection is simply a way to combat voltage drop.


The ONLY traditional advantage of 5v pixels was the ability to have individual control over each LED in SMD applications such as strip/rings/panels. There are now 12v individually addressable SMD LEDs such as the WS2815.
I would say the only advantage of 5v pixels at this point would be price, as they are more widely available and less in demand, due to the newer 12v chips. However, in reality, this savings will easily be eaten in more expensive (thicker) wiring and PSUs.


It is a little concerning that you state "i'm running at 12 volts," but you spec a 5v WS2812b ring. If you provide much more than 6v to those rings, you will permanently destroy them. You CAN use a small buck converter though, see below.


Here are my thoughts concerning your choice of LED: they are not the same as in the video. Your rings consist of 12 individually addressable 5v LEDs, while the video seems to use a single addressable source per lantern, most likely a 12v or 24v WS2811 "module" in each, similar to these: http://www.vozop.com/index.php/24v-ws2811-led-pixel-module-12leds-smd5050-rgb-light-20-pack.html


I don't think anything would be wrong with using the ring you spec, and if you have the time to program them neatly, then you could get some neat effects that wouldn't be possible with a single source per lantern. However, the work needed to wire these correct and neat would probably not be worth it in the long run.


Running a 5v system this far apart would require prohibitively thick/expensive wire, so in order to make it work, you will want to distribute power at a higher voltage and drop it down to 5v at each ring. This can be done with a simple and cheap buck converter like this: https://www.amazon.com/eBoot-MP1584EN-Converter-Adjustable-Module/dp/B01MQGMOKI You will need to pick up a voltage meter (multimeter) in order to adjust the pots to the correct voltage, but honestly you shouldn't attempt a project like this without one.


The Tees you spec seem useless for your project, as they do not allow the pixel data to daisy chain between Tees. You will want what's known as a 3,4,3 Tee, like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-core-T-type-waterproof-splitter-the-middle-is-4core-female-BLACK-color-the-male-connect/1859056875.html You should then get the matching 4-pin pigtails for each ring, and solder them to the +, GND, DI and DO, in accordance with the pin out of the Tees. Don't forget to also pick up matching 3-pin pigtails to connect to your controller and extend distances between Tees.


Your power supply should typically be the last piece of the puzzle. Once you decide on the type of LEDs you are using, you will need to calculate their max current draw in full white, then find a power supply (or multiple) that can provide at least that amount of current. I typically like to spec a PSU that is at least 20-40% more output than required; this keeps things cooler and prolongs the life of the PSU.


Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, I realize this is a lot of information. It does seem like you have a good idea as far controllers and software go.

To add to everything here, talk with your director. This seems really obvious but ideally there aren't surprises during tech.

Its also a great way to get your ideas out there; the director may have a better idea for this, he may have never thought about that idea and needs to think about it. Does the director want a realistic courtroom? Or does he want an idea of a courtroom? Is there a scenic designer? What do they think about your idea for this scene?

It always depends on the show. Compared to others i'm approaching it very organically and artsy.

Couple books that are very helpful

Steve Shelley's Guide to stage lighting - Great book that discusses an overall picture

Richard Pilbrow's Stage Lighting Design - A more technical look, been awhile since i've read it but it does include the McCandless plot.

PM if you wanna talk extensively, i'm starting to do this for a living and talking about lighting design is really what wakes me up in the morning

Are you referring to concert or broadway or theatrical lighting? Or something else?

For concerts, I have a huge folder on my laptop that I've amassed over the years from manufacturer's websites (Martin, Vari-Lite, Clay-Paky, etc) and doing searches for "%band_name% concert" on Flickr. VL makes it hard to save photos from their website, but it's possible with Firebug.

For theatrical lighting, I have a great book called Light Fantastic that has lots of wonderful pictures of theatrical lighting, and I've also found tons of good stuff in trade magazine, especially PLSN and Live Design, both of which also have good websites.

I can only speak for non-moving fixtures, but I've ventured into some cheap Amazon units for various reasons.

The "86 LED" little mini-lights that run about $20 aren't awful, but they're not super bright and the back panel is all DIP switches. I never got the test one I bought to work on DMX at all, but I play at a bar regularly that has about 30 if them and they get the job done. Its so twitchy on sound active that its useless.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HP9MGQZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought a pair of these guys, they're about 1/3 to half the power of an ADJ Hex par, they're not bad for the price and they're not so intense you can't be too close to them on stage. They respond OK to DMX but not quite as fast as the ADJs, but acceptable. I like the in/out power plugs. I do not like that every time they're off power, they revert to sound active, they don't seem to retain DMX settings. For permanent installation that would be a complete deal breaker, for me its an annoyance but I can live.

https://www.amazon.com/Control-Activated-Wedding-Birthday-Uplighting/dp/B07Q48BJYP/ref=sr_1_58?keywords=15w+led+dmx+light&qid=1574117861&sr=8-58

I like these little guys, their color is decent, DMX works fine, I bought a total of 4. I put 2 under a drum kit to light it up a little and they're perfect for that, then 2 more in some boxes to stand on to make them glow a bit. Be aware, the plastic is a little thing, if you step on one you'll break the arm off.

​

These little spots are cool:

​

https://www.amazon.com/Donner-Spotlight-Pinspot-Lightning-Control/dp/B019DU4OG8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=dmx+pinspot&qid=1574118334&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzM1dEMTQ5RlpOOFVTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzc4MTAzM09XMEFENEJCVElWTiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDQyMDU3MUtaN1pCMlRVSFVIUSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

​

And this link is proof that you can't fully trust reviews and how they're paired with links. I submitted photos of the spotlights, which are no longer part of this listing. Now they're here:

https://www.amazon.com/Eyourlife-Spotlight-Colors-Supported-Wedding/dp/B07HJ2BWG5?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_dp

I took a couple shots of the colors of the spot in my basement with a few quick puffs from a hazer. They're not bad for $25 but again, probably not enough power to work on a large stage, but they're not bad in a smaller space.

The cheaper/home brewish solution is to to put a large psu and the pixel controller together on some mounting board and put a 25ft tail on your pixel bar and run It back to the controller/psu
Good option when the budget is low
The green connectors you see on a lot of controllers will unplug from the controller to make transport of the bars easy
If you don’t mind dealing direct with China star times led is a great resource for everything led strip otherwise a lot of there products are marked up +200% and resold all over ammazon under other brands

Side note pixel protocol used post controller usually stars to get buggy after about 35ft of cable to strip


What you are describing in your post is the expensive/plug and go solution I used in a project recently due to cable run lengths of +100’ was the entech pixelator system .
the controller had to be integrated at the strip for the signal to make it all the way to the end of the cable
Worked like a charm for 150 5m bars in a room with 117ft to the roof

Hope that helps

First things first, different areas are going to call different things different names. Never be ashamed about asking what people mean by a term, as clear communication is critical in this industry.

Next, three books that will help you.

1. Backstage Handbook while a little outdated, this is the stagehands bible.
   
   
2. Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician and Technician this is a good reference for how electricity works. Less of a what things are and more of a how things are. Good book regardless.
   
   
3. A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting also more of a how things are, this details more of the design and communication side of lighting. Also a very good read, as it details out paperwork for shows.
   
   As far as what equipment and systems you should be familiar with? ETC EOS family is a good starting point. It’ll get your mind familiar with how to program lights and is a pretty universal starting point. ETC Sensor Racks are also fairly standard for dimming. For moving lights, that’s really going to depend on what you’re able to get your hands on. If there’s a production shop nearby to you, call them up and see if they’re willing to take you on as an intern so you can learn things, or just ask them to spend a couple days showing you how everything works. Or see if there’s an IATSE chapter that’s nearby to you, they’ll also be able to help point you in the right direction.

I second /u/wrightde's suggestion of seeing as many shows as you can. You'll start to build a vocabulary that you like, discover how other people make it happen, and just as importantly, you'll see what doesn't work.

Lighting Design is a mix of the artistic and the engineered. /u/wrightde is correct that you shouldn't get bogged down in the technical - the artistic should come first - but the artistic still has to be translated to the technical, so you need that knowledge as well.

My go-to recommendation is Steve Shelley's book: A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting. It covers a lot of great craft - from design meetings, to how to calculate coverage, to how to use/draw a plot and section, and a host of other subjects.

Good luck!

Unfortunately it's rather difficult to simply 'pick up' lighting design, especially when you're thinking of a larger scope including renovations and retrofits. Even something as simple as finding a website that explains the beginnings of stage lighting to send people to has been a challenge for me in the past.

The Steve Shelley book mentioned by /u/loansindi is a very robust choice, but is aimed more specifically at theatrical lighting and is likely to have far more information than you'd ever want or need, and will make you crazy.

I'd recommend this Pilbrow book, which is a little more readable. It is a tad bit dated, however; not that what he says is wrong but that it's a bit old-fashioned.

The reality is the best way to learn about it is to have conversations with someone who understands lighting in the context of your space. That way you can not only understand concepts, but concepts as they apply to your context. I understand why you would want to do prep work so as not to be caught off-guard by the process or taken advantage of, but there are people--trustworthy people--who are paid to do just that. No need to put undue pressure on yourself to be an expert.

Anyway, hope that's helpful to some degree. Please feel free to PM or get in touch with me via email (john @ johndelfino [dot] com) if you have more questions.

Source:: Lighting Designer, Independent and with Visual Terrain

My first thought would be to get these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01MG9KYCD?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DTOAWZ2?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00XFSNKXS?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00D7CWSCG?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

You’ll get 10 DMX channels of RGB control that can support 10ft of LED strip each. Put a few inches of LED in each lantern then connect to the next, so you’d be able to link together about 15-20 lanterns or more on a single channel. Won’t be “individually” controllable, but you’ll have control over the groups of lights that are connected. Do this for each of the 10 channels and you could easily fill a room.

Super interested to hear everyone else’s approach for this

It all depends on what kind of design you want to get into? Concert/music design is totally different than theatrical, even within theatre musicals and plays often have different design principals.
I'd check out Steve Shelly's book https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Stage-Lighting-Third/dp/0415812003/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0415812003&pd_rd_r=QMEV3MMX5JMSDAZPBNNT&pd_rd_w=uh8vJ&pd_rd_wg=jKgB8&psc=1&refRID=QMEV3MMX5JMSDAZPBNNT
as well as this one. https://www.amazon.com/Stage-Lighting-Handbook-Francis-Reid/dp/087830147X/ref=pd_sim_14_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=087830147X&pd_rd_r=YG5RCJMEPDWJ7E98CBCZ&pd_rd_w=QJmxz&pd_rd_wg=ZQ1Dr&psc=1&refRID=YG5RCJMEPDWJ7E98CBCZ

My biggest suggestion for someone who's just getting started is to not buy any equipment. Equipment is mostly cheap to rent, a PAR can is $3 or $4 a unit, and it's someone else's problem to fix it and buy lamps for it. You're not going to be able to afford quality gear, so you'll end up with cheap Chinese crap that's just going to disappoint you. The other thing to remember is that intelligent lighting is relatively new to lighting, lots of fantastic shows were lit without anything fancy. It's far better to master your color and angle work then get in to using movers than it is to just start throwing strobes everywhere and pray that it works. Learning to make choices and which choices are stronger than others will get you a lot further in life than being able to spit out flash and trash like everyone else can.

I'm not sure what line of work you're in, but from an event work standpoint, and I suppose a film standpoint, more and more manufacturers are moving towards LED-source fixtures. So if you're actually looking to build a distro and are looking towards future use, 120v may be the direction to head it. It's hard, though, to pigeon-hole yourself into 120v or 208v exclusively. You're better off having a variety and having that flexibility. A good reference for understanding these concepts can be found here

The suggestions below are great, let me throw in one more Designing With Light by J. Michael Gillette The amazon price is high see if you can find a cheaper version or older version. To me its a great intro to stage lighting.

I would recommend QLC+ for free DMX software if you decide to go that route. It can be somewhat difficult to learn and it's certainly not pretty to look at. But it is very capable and once you get the hang of it it's fairly easy to use. And once you set it up it you can train just about anyone how to operate it, you can make a set of simple buttons on the "virtual console" that can recall different scenes.

Of course you will need a DMX adapter - one I've seen recommended a lot is DMXking UltraDMX Micro but I've never used it personally. And then you'll need some DMX cables to connect the lights together - something like this. The length you need will depend on how far apart you want to place the lights. They can be daisy-chained together - so "DMX out" port of light 1 connects to "DMX in" port of light 2 etc. There's also wireless DMX systems if you don't want to run cables.

If it's protocol and how the actual signals work in the industry, I would recommend "Show Networks and Control Systems: Formerly 'Control Systems for Live Entertainment'" by John Huntington.

It'll cover how all of our main protocols work and how the might be connected. It also was just released as a new volume. So information is more up to date.

Show Networks and Control Systems: Formerly "Control Systems for Live Entertainment" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692958738/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-fUFAbZY9S31S

I realise that this may be much further in depth than you would need. However the book is structured so that you can bounce around topics as you need. (also a photographer you might learn how to sync your camera up to things you could control in the studio for some extra fun projects )

Here is what you will need- this is double density LED strip. Prices for these strips have dropped dramatically in the past two years, and you want to get them directly from Amazon or eBay from a well rated seller to avoid paying way more than you have to than from a company who is in America and is just importing the goods to mark them up.

The last time I did a large LED strip project, I bought at least one spare item of each type to ensure that I had no Chinese failures. You may want to do the same.

4x
SUPERNIGHT (TM) 16.4FT 5M SMD 5050 Waterproof 300LEDs RGB Color Changing Flexible LED Strip Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DTOAWZ2/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_Y8asub14V6WY0

3x
LEDJump DMX512 4A 3 Channels Decoder Controller Dimmer for RGB LED Light Strip DC12V-24V https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KQ3NY5E/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_j-asub002J3CY

3x
New Universal Charger AC Power Adapter Laptop Notebook USB/10 Tips 12V-24V 90 Watt Max https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006FD71P8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_5cbsub1Y1Z1W3

You will need to be prepared to solder and to strip wires. Have some extra wire handy for leads.

Think about where you want to place the power supplies and DMX boxes, and ensure that you have enough wiring to do so.

Run the laptop charger at 12V.

You may want to use these as a drop glow, and not have them directly visible. If you have them directly visible, you may want to diffuse them some more to avoid looking at individual LEDs.

Consider putting in a quarter round 1/2 inch molding on the lip of your platforms, and adhering this to the underside of it to illuminate the face of your platform.

Good luck!

Light Fantastic by Max Keller.

Light Fantastic: The Art and Design of Stage Lighting https://www.amazon.com/dp/3791343718/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qPJ4Ab43PYNV6

Color theory wise: Light Fantastic by Max Keller. The book is also gorgeous.

Get a 1' section of a wide PVC tube piece, at least 7" wide. Get about 15m of 12v RGBW LED tape without rubber cover (for best heat dissipation,) and wind that around the cylinder. Get a 12v, 4 channel DMX LED driver and 12v power supply rated for 15A or more. Put the full cylinder into your frosted 2m lantern and run data/power outside of the lantern to your driver and transformer. Control with DMX source or Alexa as desired depending on driver.

It'll be brighter than the Airstars.

LED strip- $13 for 5m. Check lower on the page for appropriate drivers.

https://www.amazon.com/GIDERWEL-SMD5050-Waterproof-Flexible-Changing/dp/B07JKKP89M/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=5m+led+strip+RGBW&qid=1563554113&s=gateway&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

Your best bet would be to LEARN about lighting design, including fixtures, control and capabilities. It takes more than a semester to be a lighting designer, but I encourage you to pursue it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240812220/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_pdJvCbP8S5PVA

Alright, I'm going to get some and do it...
Last question, which of these two would provide more illumination?
I like the first because they're not glass and are cheaper, but if the second make the room brighter, then I'll go for it:


https://www.amazon.com/LOUIS-CHOICE-Waterproof-Christmas-Decoration/dp/B07CQYML74/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=string+lights+bright&qid=1563836961&s=gateway&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExV1U3WFlHVzlNTlZEJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTQxOTM5MzdSUlE3S1ZLOTc1QyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTQ4NDY4MklNTE1NUjFKQzNEQyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=


OR


https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Hanging-Outdoor-Pergola-Deckyard/dp/B07DNQCZH8/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=string%2Blights&qid=1563816936&s=gateway&sr=8-3&th=1

Here's a great resource. Available as an e-book and at many libraries as well: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Stage-Lighting-Third/dp/0415812003

Are you on a PC or a Mac?

I use the full version of this https://lightning-dmxcontrol.com/ w/ TouchOSC and an iPad + several midi controllers, works well and was super simple to learn.

I would advise against the knock off USB dongle, I've had shaky experiences with those. I have one of these and it's been solid: https://www.amazon.com/DMXking-ultraDMX-Micro-adapter-dongle/dp/B00T8OKM98

I have also used an ENTTEC OpenDMX USB box, but for whatever reason I get an intermittent flicker when I use it with my mac. It's been solid for PC though.

Show Networks and Control Systems

The Automated Lighting Programmer’s Handbook

These are two of the good ones for breaking down the basics and going through the whole process. Both are available on Amazon.

also this http://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Entertainment-Electrician-Technician-Richard/dp/0415714834 is a very good book. without electricity none of this works.

This book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/024081553X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1370445799&sr=8-1&pi=SL75

It covers the basics, and some good practices while programming.

Show Networks and Control Systems: Formerly "Control Systems for Live Entertainment" Second Edition

Correct, I just can’t justify the $50 at this time

https://www.amazon.com/DMXking-ultraDMX-Micro-adapter-dongle/dp/B00T8OKM98/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519036444&sr=8-1&keywords=dmxking+ultradmx+micro+usb+dmx+adapter%2Fdongle&dpID=413Yc-eLYJL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch Looks like it has doubled in price in two years.
The Enttec DMX Pro Mk2 is also a good candidate, I am in the process of upgrading my rig to use that. The Mk2 provides 2 universes and the DMXKing dongle only one, but less than half the cost.

QLC+ and any DMX dongle can do this, you'll have to learn how to use QLC though. You'd essentially be setting the speed of a chaser with the tap widget, and you'd have a couple of buttons in a solo frame to choose which chaser function to activate. Chasers 'chase' between two 'scenes', or sets of DMX values (i.e. going between red and blue).

You can map any MIDI input to these buttons, I've done it with the Behringer FCB1010 w/ EurekaPROM upgrade.

Altogether, this setup costs $72 for the DMX adapter + $149 for the Behringer + $35 for the EurekaPROM upgrade, $256 total. This setup gives you far more flexibility than the Chauvet controller.

IMO those sorts of controllers that don't include a PC are a waste of money unless you're never ever going to add any more lights to a system. They make sense if you're running a tiny venue that will never need more lights, but as soon as you start experimenting with your own setup, you're going to want to be able to add lights at some point that the Chauvet controller can't manage.

A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting by Steve Shelley

Designing With Light by J. Michael Gillette

These are the two staple textbooks for any lighting design class.

Show Networks and Control Systems: Formerly "Control Systems for Live Entertainment"

Here’s one book:
Show Networks and Control Systems

I can say that anything you'd learn in a crash course would be a start in the wrong direction.

If all you're looking for are ways to light a stage, and some basic techniques, start by learning about the McCandless technique.

Visit the other links here to get a sense of how to plan it all out.

If you ever want to get into more advanced stuff, I recommend you start with Richard Pilbrow's book if you are going to be self-taught.