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Theatrical question (ish)


slim_mcslim

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quick question about lighting desk suitability...

 

the strand 200 is a fantastic little desk, how suitable is it for small theatre shows?

of one week runs etc - just for 24 - 30 lanterns no movers.

 

anyone else have any alternative suggestions to that?

 

 

paul...

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Perfectly suitable - probably about the best budget desk you'll find for this purpose. 24 (or 48) channels, 48 (or 96) programmable states, 24 programmable effects, timed crossfades (although not via a 'go' button, just between submasters - although it can be set up to go linearly through the programmed subs by taking the masters from end-stop to end-stop).
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Re. the suggestions for a Sirius (or a "Series", which I assume is the same thing!) - they're passable theatre desks, no more than that (saying they're "great" is an enormous overstatement, if you ask me). But they're in a different price bracket to the 200-series - even a second-hand one will cost you way more than the price of a brand new 200 - and the way they deal with fade times and point cues really sucks.
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well I have not used a sirius before, but I had a 200 series from lighting hire the other week, and thought it was fantastic and did my 20 lanterns for a conference beautifully...

 

just interested in what thoughts others had for small scale theatre, but I think I will get one in the new year - question is which one to go for...

 

the 24 chan which is about £300 or the 48 chan which is about £470 plus the cost of a flight case

 

thanks...

 

paul....

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Re. the suggestions for a Sirius (or a "Series", which I assume is the same thing!) - they're passable theatre desks, no more than that (saying they're "great" is an enormous overstatement, if you ask me).

 

OK- They may not be amazing (and I dont know the strand 200 so I cant make a comparison) however the sirius is nice and easy to program and has a nice simple stack opperation. For up to 48 channels theatre style its good in my oppinion.

 

and the way they deal with fade times and point cues really sucks.

What the sirius??- Fade times are easy on the sirius, enter your fade up and hit program time, enter your fade down and hit program time and your done. When you play it back make sure that your autofade master is up and your done.

 

Sam

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Sirius does have an interesting way of dealing with fade times, not how all other desks record cues, in that to make a dipless xfade you have to have the fade up time in cue 5 the same as the fade down time in cue 4 ( for example ) which has its logic somewhere, but isnt how the rest of the world of cue times on lighting desks works...

 

Sirius is also very limiting in its options and use, but a very good desk from its time....

 

For a small theatre show im sure a Strand 200 series would be fine, or something like a Compulite Spark LX also...

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and the way they deal with fade times and point cues really sucks.

What the sirius??- Fade times are easy on the sirius, enter your fade up and hit program time, enter your fade down and hit program time and your done. When you play it back make sure that your autofade master is up and your done.

I guess you aren't familiar with the way that other memory desks deal with fade times! On any other console, you have two basic times associated with a cue - one which governs channels going up in that cue, one governing channels going down in the cue. ETC, Strand, Flying Pig, everyone except Zero88 - they all work this way.

 

On a Sirius, the 'down' time shifts back by one cue - i.e. to control the timing for channels going down in level in cue (x), you have to apply the relevant 'down-fade' time to cue (x-1). That's totally counter-intuitive, and different to every other memory desk I've ever encountered. It also makes for headaches when a touring production electrician is unfortunate enough to encounter a Sirius in a tour venue - all the time you're crunching in the hard plot you've got to remember to shift all the 'down' times back by one cue, which can be a right pain in the a*se when you're up against it time-wise and you're trying to concentrate on balancing levels at the same time.

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Being a fairly well-versed Sirius 24 user I would say that the timings were indeed 'logical'. However I guess I am going to have problems when I now try to program a Strand, or whatever...

 

But then again thats half the fun of learning!

 

David

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Being a fairly well-versed Sirius 24 user I would say that the timings were indeed 'logical'.

But if you want to program a fadde time for channels going down in level with, say, cue 8 then you have to program that time into cue 7! What's logical about that? :(

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...because you are referring to the down time - which is still associated with the previous cue - because each cue contains data for the up and down time for the preset associated with the cue. The next cues down time refers to the fade into the following cue.

 

I may read you wrong/be confused - but I find it quite a logical way of programming a stack. In order to get a nice xfade, you just ensure that the down and up times of adjacent cues match.

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