stuartglen Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 My school is considering getting some new kights "finaly" insead of hireing in scanners for every show. Currently we have a Strand mx 24 which controlls the generic lighting. The scanners we are considering getting are two furturelight scan 250's http://www.terralec.co.uk/__12_product_inf...ABD66E13A9.html The Strand mx would not be able to control the scanners since we already have 24 channels on our dimmer racks for generic lighting. The desk that I though would be best for us and is cheap enough for us to get would be this. http://www.terralec.co.uk/__12_product_inf...ABD66E13A0.html Bear in mind that we will not be getting expensive lights and will not need 16 bit resolution on the pan and tilt controlls. Any comments on wether this desk would be appropriate or suggestions for a better desk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueShift Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 I know there will be lots of people who'll bash it - but for school use, take a look at a fat frog. Its very very intuitive, and not at all expensive. it will gove you room to expand in the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KindredHyperion Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 However, there is quite a lot of difference in price between the FatFrog (~£3k) and the Scanmaster the OP was referring to (£167) :) You might want to consider the Z88 Diablo, though. Remember that in the vast majority of circumstances you get what you pay for, and it's worth going that little bit extra to get a decent, high quality product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBrien Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 But for ease of use over the whole system the fat frog would be a better choice I would feel and £3k would seem a bit high to me, Iv seen them for around half that. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.henderson Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 If you did want a Fat Frog (which may be a bit overkill for 2 scanners but you could run your generics off it as well) and you didn't mind going second hand there is an 'as new' one from AC for £1267 at the mo. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartglen Posted October 8, 2005 Author Share Posted October 8, 2005 The strand mx is adaquate for the genrics and also the entire budget for new parcans, scanners and a controller is £1500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si pie Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Hi I my experience the controllers from terralec are not too easy to use and as such will not be easy to teach on! In my opinion a fat frog is the cheepest/easiest desk to use and teach on. They normally cost between £1.5K and £2k depending on where you go. Sometimes people will give a discount if you let them know you're using it for education. HTH Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dweeks Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 My school is considering getting some new kights "finaly" insead of hireing in scanners for every show. Currently we have a Strand mx 24 which controlls the generic lighting. The scanners we are considering getting are two furturelight scan 250's http://www.terralec.co.uk/__12_product_inf...ABD66E13A9.html The Strand mx would not be able to control the scanners since we already have 24 channels on our dimmer racks for generic lighting. The desk that I though would be best for us and is cheap enough for us to get would be this. http://www.terralec.co.uk/__12_product_inf...ABD66E13A0.html Bear in mind that we will not be getting expensive lights and will not need 16 bit resolution on the pan and tilt controlls. Any comments on wether this desk would be appropriate or suggestions for a better desk? Out of interest, what type of productions do you put on at your school? I'm just thinking because, at my old school we rarely did productions that needed moving lighting, unless you're putting on a dance show or rock night. Are you sure you're not just buying these because they're "cool" and "moving" etc? Could your school do better investing in a set of decent quality profiles, maybe a few new fresnels? The few times we put on productions which needed intelligent lighting, we would source a cheap hire company, or find a friendly local with some... Just a thought.... It seems to be the fashion to use intelligents when some well thought through generic rigs would be far more appropriate/affordable. Bare in mind you'll need to think of servicing fees as well, new lamps/mirrors cost money... who will pay when they break? Finally, (and it was looking at the scans that made me consider this post), those scanners are distinctly aimed at the "DJ" market. Whilst they'll be great for the occasional rock night, they'll be more or less useless for music concerts, productions, and to an extent dance shows... Would you not be better saving your money and hiring some decent scanners with replaceble gobos, discharge lamps etc? Hiring scanners is hardly bank-breaking, compared to buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartglen Posted October 8, 2005 Author Share Posted October 8, 2005 Well for the past four productions we have been hireing in 4 scan757s and conroll equip and it's gotten to the point where the play's are designed around the idea of intelligent lightind. Furthermore, we will be paying a grand or so for both scanners and desk so ove about 10 days worth of shows they will have payed for themselves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dweeks Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Well for the past four productions we have been hireing in 4 scan757s and conroll equip and it's gotten to the point where the play's are designed around the idea of intelligent lightind. No offence but thats a bloody stupid principle; the lighting should compliment and be designed around the show, not the show designed about the lighting?!! Furthermore, we will be paying a grand or so for both scanners and desk so ove about 10 days worth of shows they will have payed for themselves Fair enough, if you think they're worth the money. I can't find and haven't heard of scan757's so I can't compare, but having had a pair of Chauvet Intimidators which are more or less identical spec, I know how frustrating they can be; rotating gobos, remote focus, a decent strobe, replacable gobos... so useful and lacking them is incredibly irksome. But still, your school, your decision. Have you thought at looking at some second hand scans tho? They'll be cheaper, meaning you can afford a decent control desk. Plus, they won't be from Terralec, always a plus! AC Lighting do a lot of work for schools, why not give them a ring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartglen Posted October 8, 2005 Author Share Posted October 8, 2005 these were the lights we were rentinghttp://www.terralec.co.uk/__12_product_inf...B8913F4D20.htmlthese are the lights we are thinking of getting is ac lighting better the terrelac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dweeks Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 these were the lights we were rentinghttp://www.terralec.co.uk/__12_product_inf...B8913F4D20.htmlthese are the lights we are thinking of getting is ac lighting better the terrelac? Where did you rent them from out of interest? I wouldn't say necessarily better, but they're a lighting specialist company, whilst Terralec is the equivalent of Maplins. If you contact AC, the chances are they'll organise a bundle package of 2 (or more) decent scanners, a decent desk and maybe some DMX cable, and add on the schools discount (which I believe they still do? We got one when we did a set up at another school). Plus the additional deal that AC are far more likely to be accountable if something goes wrong with the scanners or desk, rather than the useless helpline system used by an electronics firm like Terralec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartglen Posted October 8, 2005 Author Share Posted October 8, 2005 We rented them from herehttp://lightunlimited.co.uk/ I made a mistake I meant to say it was these lights we were considering gettinghttp://www.terralec.co.uk/__12_product_inf...61973DED22.html Anyone got suggestions for scanners/moving lights at around the £300 mark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dweeks Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 If you don't mind, you haven't really responded to my question, which I feel was quite valid and sensible. Seems to me you just want the scanners for no real reason. If people have an idea what you want them for, i.e. what kind of production, they'll be able to give a better response. Althought maybe you could just buy a laser, because they're "cool", and they could write the show around a laser disco??? Kids today I dunno :blink: Edit: Thank you Sam, my point exaclty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.henderson Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 This topic is turning into the same old discussion that always crops up here on the BR; people buying cheap 'discoy' scanners for the 'cool technology'/ toys factor. Have a look around at past topics on cheap MLs and Scanners and you'll quickly see other Theatre Professionals opinions; generally it's invest in a decent Generic stock and improving infrastructure etc. before wasting money on cheap, almost useless (in a theatrical situation) toys. Also if your productions are being designed around intelligent lighting you need to think seriously about why you are doing this and not designing lighting to fit the actual show! Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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