mike hayes Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 Hello all, I’m new to the forum so I’d just like to say hello before I ask to pick your brains! I work as a volunteer for a smallish theatre lighting company and are thinking of investing in a lighting control console, however there are so many about and are quite expensive so was wondering if I could get your recommendations, comments and views. We are thinking of buying a Zero 88 Elara and were wondering if anyone could say whether or not this would be a good investment, if there is anything to be aware of or things it can/can’t do. Would it maybe worthwhile buying something maybe larger like a Pearl 2000 as we are beginning to perform in larger venues and will probably not be able to upgrade for a little while if we go ahead with the purchase of the Elara or something similar. Many thanks in advance for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDD Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 1) As a theatre group, it would be better to look at the Alcora rather than the Elara, as the Elara is primarily intended for "live" use, whereas the Alcora is for theatre-style use. They are both very basic, so if your budget can stretch, get something bigger. 2) The Pearl is almost to the opposite extreme to the Elara. For theatre work on a small scale it is overkill, unless you plan to use mainly automated lighting rigs. Some people like the Avo "theatre stack", but I personally don't. Strand desks seem to be popular, although my favourite 500-series may be out of your price range. The 300-series is smaller but again, personally I don't like the configurations. As an ETC Express user I obviously would recommend ETC desks... have a look at their basic range. Also, Zero 88 do quite a good range of desks at a reasonable price point, namely the much-talked-about Frog range. Whatever happens, I would look slightly higher than the Alcora/Elara unless you want VERY basic. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andystone Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 Hello all, I’m new to the forum so I’d just like to say hello before I ask to pick your brains! I work as a volunteer for a smallish theatre lighting company and are thinking of investing in a lighting control console, however there are so many about and are quite expensive so was wondering if I could get your recommendations, comments and views. We are thinking of buying a Zero 88 Elara and were wondering if anyone could say whether or not this would be a good investment, if there is anything to be aware of or things it can/can’t do. Would it maybe worthwhile buying something maybe larger like a Pearl 2000 as we are beginning to perform in larger venues and will probably not be able to upgrade for a little while if we go ahead with the purchase of the Elara or something similar. Many thanks in advance for your help.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Before you start talking about makes and models you really need to decide what you want from a console, then start looking at what is available. Are you priorities channels or moving lights?What sorts of shows are you going to be doing?Are you doing theatre style shows where you want to plot cue to cue or something with more busking capability?What sort of people are going to be using the desk, what is their knowledge?Do you want something with lots of manual faders or is a numeric keypad OK?How many submasters do you need?What is the budget?Does it need to be portable? Once you have decided on all these (and probably some more), you should then start looking at the best console to fulfill your needs. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.henderson Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 I hate the Theatre Stack Opperation on the Pearl, I would never use it for theatre if I had the option however it is a great desk for busking! Something up from the Elara range but not quite as expensive as a pearl would be a Frog. If you wanted capabilities for moving lights in thwe future a Fat Frog could be good. As andy said we really do need more info to help! Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 I'd second the fat frog, but it does seem a tad ott for theatre, bot like the pearl... my colleague seems to think it would be perfect for creating the theatre environment at our school... though we hardly have any lights. IMHO the alcora (which we currently have 2 of, both broken coz kids keep hitting them when they dont work) are pretty good for theatre work if you have 24channels, though we occasionally have a problem with the desk sticking in "wide" mode (allows you to use all 24channels), which can be really annoying when busking shows... you go to bring some lights down and they dont dim and then when you press the preset save button a few times it suddenly starts to work, rather annoying! but thats just my problem... was solved on one of the desks when I got a EPROM update from zero88 (if I remember the dude that helped me is a member here) Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Mike, If you have already looked at it then I'm sorry but in case you haven't I would recomend you have a look at the Strand 200 instead of the Elara. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 If you have already looked at it then I'm sorry but in case you haven't I would recomend you have a look at the Strand 200 instead of the Elara.I'd second that - the 200 is a great console, and you do get a lot for your money. Other than that, Mike, if you could answer some of the questions that Andy Stone posed yesterday, that would help us to help you ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike hayes Posted January 22, 2005 Author Share Posted January 22, 2005 Thanks for your help guys, I probably should’ve given you bit more information about what I need it for. We tend to do small scale plays and amateur dramatics usually in village halls, so there basically needs to be spotlights and crossfades at the moment, but we are always looking to better ourselves so moving lights maybe something we consider in the future. The reason I asked about those to desks in particular is that someone we know is selling both of these consoles and were wondering about the merits of both. He is giving us what we think is a fairly reasonable price for both items and we are thinking of taking the plunge and going for it, but would like to know what they would be useful for. Am I right in thinking that the Pearl is used more for bigger lighting rigs for things like concerts? Many thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.henderson Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 As mentioned before the Pearl is used a lot more for Rock aand Roll and conerts etc. etc. and you will very rarely find one being used for theatre (small scale especially) for what you want it would be a massive overkill. How many channels are you looking to control?? Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 Sounds like the Pearl would be overkill for your purposes. It's a medium-sized moving light console (it'll run up to 120 moving lights at a push) that will happily talk to dimmers as well, but it's primarily a 'busking' console - for structured linear shows that you want to playback theatre-style (via a 'Go' button) it's awful. The Elara wouldn't really be ideal, either - it doesn't have theatre-style playback capabilities. It's sister, the Alcora, would be the better option, I reckon, but it won't give you much in the way of expandability, especially on the moving light front. If you're going to be doing a lot of theatre-style playback, then perhaps the Strand 200 isn't the best choice, either - it'll do a bit more in the way of sequential playback than the Elara, but it's still not perfect for this kind of use - it achieves it by sequential crossfades through groups of subs, so your number of cues is limited by the number of available subs on the desk, and it's a little bit 'clunky' as a mode of operation. Perhaps your best bet would be a Zero88 Fat Frog. Easy control of dimmers, decent theatre-style playback, the ability to run moving lights in the future, and not too expensive either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattwright15 Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 I would have to second the fat frog, great desks used and seen them on many ocasions for many differnt tasks, they extremly simple to use to, well seen schools with them in and kids programing a couple of macs. They are good for the money, but wouldnt recomend the frog 2 for ur situation. A Fat Frog is a good choice. As mentioned above I also wouldnt go with a 200 for theatre stack use. u can pick second had fat frogs up for around £1000, to £1250, just make sure it has the moniter option, very early model didnt and this does limit u in some ways to the ease of the desk. Check out Ebay they sometimes come up on there, would look for u but I just finished a Derig and need some sleep. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilly Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 I'd add a vote to the Fat Frog. Until the frog range of desks arrived I was very cynical about Zero88 products, but the Fat Forg is a great desk, and sounds ideally suited to this purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptheboris Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Have not used the Fat Frog but if it is as easy to use as the Frog then it is well worth investigating. Can't really say a lot about non Zero 88 desks as only use them. The Alcora is not bad for general small show operation but is a real git when it comes to editting memories. Not the world's easiest I will say that. If it is just small shows you are wanting with no moving light capacity, it might be worth trying to pick up a 2nd hand Sirius desk. They are pretty good even though they are no longer made. Might even have one that is soon surplus to requirement. PM if interested. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayslx Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Mike, my advice would be to go with the alcora as peal is over kill, it doesn't sound to me that you will be using moving heads, so keep it basic, the alcora is a quick and easy way to plug and play, as for the strand 200 this too will work and is cheaper ,however, I think the alcora is alot more user friendly and you get better service with zero 88 products than with strand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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