What lights should I get for the most versatility between shoots?

[Dakota DiFraia]

Hi, I am a student and I am interested in buying some lights. I was looking at getting an Amaran 150c and 300c, since I've heard lots of good things about them, and I like that the Amaran app allows them to be adjusted remotely and in one place. I know I will need more than just the two, as well as some modifiers, so I was wondering if anyone had some advice for me!

[Dakota DiFraia]

I am also aware I will need stands, but I'm not sure which ones I'd want to get.

[Stephen Baldassarre]

That would be a decent start, though if I were a student on an extremely limited budget (as I was once), I would get a set of obsolete tungsten lights that theaters, clubs, churches etc. are throwing away.  I STILL bring out my old ETC PAR lights and DeSisti 1K Fresnels.  I'll often set up an arc of fill lights with panel lights, like FotodioX Pro LED P60 to bring my exposure up to maybe -1 stop, no shadows, then add in a 575W PAR with oblong lens or a 1K Fresnel for the key to bring exposure up to full.  I have some relatively tall but inexpensive stands like Impact Pro 10'8" stands, among others, but I also have some nice hefty 14' C-Stands.

If you do wind up getting those Amarans, I would strongly suggest soft boxes to go with them.

[Dakota DiFraia]

34 minutes ago, Stephen Baldassarre said:

That would be a decent start, though if I were a student on an extremely limited budget (as I was once), I would get a set of obsolete tungsten lights that theaters, clubs, churches etc. are throwing away.  I STILL bring out my old ETC PAR lights and DeSisti 1K Fresnels.  I'll often set up an arc of fill lights with panel lights, like FotodioX Pro LED P60 to bring my exposure up to maybe -1 stop, no shadows, then add in a 575W PAR with oblong lens or a 1K Fresnel for the key to bring exposure up to full.  I have some relatively tall but inexpensive stands like Impact Pro 10'8" stands, among others, but I also have some nice hefty 14' C-Stands.

If you do wind up getting those Amarans, I would strongly suggest soft boxes to go with them.

I am fortunate enough to not be on an extremely tight budget, so the Amarans and some modifiers would definitely be in the realm of possibility. I am considering getting at least one spotlight kit to use for the gobos as well. Would it be worth throwing in something like the 60x S as well? There's not really anywhere around me getting new outfits and getting rid of old lights, so that's kind of out of the question. 

Generally, I just need a good idea of what my shopping list should be.

[Stephen Baldassarre]

I use panel lights a lot because I'm generally either creating very flat lighting with no obvious shadows and then adding a key to create a single, distinct shadow, or otherwise using the panels to fill in shadows when utilizing available light.  Those Amarans with soft boxes could achieve a similar result (then adding one without a soft box for the key).  I haven't worked with them personally though.  I actually don't have any LED spots, as I like having real tungsten as my key for better color rendering.