TomHoward

I don't think you'll be that likely to find a clamp rated for vertical attachment based on friction alone... I'd have more faith in practice in the Gravlocks than unistrut as it's a much bigger clamp even though it isn't rated. I think your next option would probably be drill & bolt as suggested... You could also use the gravlocks or similar vertically in a risk assessed way (ie it's massively under it's working load) and then add a safety chain back to something existing (drop a wire from the top, fix to an existing bolt hole or a eye on the wall in the masonry)

The simplest way might be to use Gravlock couplers, (you need to use them in pairs each side of the RSJ) and add a short 2ft-3ft length of 48mm pipe. https://www.scaffolding-direct.co.uk/scaffolding-fitting-forged-girder-coupler-gravlok-12-.aspx However these are not usually rated for vertical attachment as they could slip down the beam... If you wanted to do it smaller you could also use Unistrut - the grown up Meccano - again probably worth fitting in pairs both sides of the beam but would give a channel to bolt into on the face side

Here's what's going to surely be the least popular suggestion in this thread: we are using iPads with Luminair (other packages are available) for this sort of thing. They are easy to program scenes, powerful, work seamlessly with dimmers & LED fixtures. If your users are basically computer/tablet literate they can be picked up really easily as people don't seem as scared of them as other devices. (If they aren't though it will probably be a nightmare). We set them up with an ArtNet node on the venue wifi, program up the generics and RGB and people seem to take to them so quickly. If you have an iPad they can be much cheaper than a lightly console, if you don't frankly they still work out cheaper in the end. I know that's a very left field suggestion, and we're usually working with students and primary school teachers / staff who tend to be slightly more computer literate, so it may well not work for you, but if you already have some of the equipment it can work in some situations.

The presentations are often on laptops from visiting speakers, so recording the HDMI stream is preferable to screen recording / software on the presenting laptop. I could use a dedicated laptop with an Atem/capture card but to be honest my preference is a hardware solution if possible - just as I tend to find computers take so much admin time keeping them up to date etc… something I could either keep in the rack or deploy in a 1U case between venues would be ideal - the Extron looks good with an SSD in or recording onto USB stick.

Thanks for this - I hadn't thought of streaming basically being the same thing as recording but writing to disk instead, but of course that's what the ATEM approach would be. Looks like I would get away with an even simpler SMP but I'll have a look at the eBay one for sure

Thanks , both venues have Kramer splitters / matrixes so I can do an HDMI feed straight for recording so splitting the image on to the projector isn’t a problem. We have Atem minis but not pros or ISOs but that is a thought, they would record direct. The camera is usually standalone though so there wouldn’t be a camera feed available. I’d say presentations are usually around 1hr. I wouldn’t have thought the audio is likely to be a problem as they’re mostly silent, unless I was unlucky enough to have a file split of that usual 1min of video in a 60min presentation.

Does anyone have any experience with an entry-level (ie cheaper) hardware recorder for HDMI? I want to record an HDMI stream sent to projector for recording the slides lectures to sync back up with the camera video later. Do any of the cheaper Chinese units work or do I need to buy an Atmos Ninja or similar etc? I'd prefer something that could be powered rather than battery - I can do this with a laptop and capture card also but I'd prefer something hardware/standalone. (Currently I take a copy of the slides and sync the still images back up to what I see on screen - but a) it takes ages and b) it doesn't work for any presentations eg Menti or Kahoot with audience interaction / live content)

We have some in a school recording studio and I'd never really rated then, given the price point. A student (who is unaware of the cost of each mic) did a presentation on mic choices for acoustic guitar with a C2, a SE7 and an M201. I had to double check myself he hadn't got the wrong mics as the C2 stacked up against them.

We don't specifically use outdoor rated, just hardboard ply and give it a couple coats of Vinyl Silk & paint the edges. Painting we use an 18" roller on a pole (one of those ones like a broom that holds both ends) and a paint skuttle that fits it. It gets wet but it isn't outdoors all the time as such. Structural Ply you'd think would be a better choice but what we've tried we've found it's a poorer finish and tends to be knotty. For Wickes you can get 10% further off with the TradePro card - I've signed up as a joiner/carpenter for theatre and it got accepted.

How much are the hex board sheets costing if you don't mind me asking if they are cheaper than marine ply? I guess you won't be able to repaint if that makes a difference? We use Wickes hardwood ply (£40 a sheet, £36 with the discount card) and Leyland Trade Vinyl Silk black - but ours is Steeldeck so that is pretty much what it comes with. We don't trim the ply - let it hang over 3mm-ish on all edges and to be honest we don't jig it just line it up over all edges. Try not to put the Tek screws through where the bolt holes are...

As per everyone else I’d use “take” to mean a different point in time, not in space. I’d probably use Position (as in Mic Position) to refer to the different locations - take 1 position 1 etc - as inferred by Paul also but that’d be my first choice. Position refers to a location in physical space, and “take” refers to a point in time captured at that position. (Or all positions) You could also use “location” but that sounds like they are far apart from each other, in different places not multiple positions in the same room.

I think you could on a Mac, with an aggregate audio interface, but it's a bit messy. Just looking at your original proposal, I'd say the £68 mics are better than the £39 mixer, the mixer will probably be your weak point in that. I'd either go low budget with that mixer and a couple of the £18 Behringer mics if you wanted minimum spend, or I'd get a nicer setup with those £68 Thomann mics and pair them with something like this 2ch or this 4ch interface if you wanted a bit of expansion room. I tend to prefer interfaces to desks with USB unless you're doing something live at the same time.

Sketchup is undoubtedly painful for modelling for 3d printing but if you are using it there's a free plugin Solid Inspector^2 which will sort out all your loose edges, reversed faces or highlight the ones it can't interpret for you to fix.

I thought I had a Behringer UM2 but I can't find it.... I also saw whilst googling to see if all class compliant cards are supposed to work someone else doing the same thing using a Powered USB hub instead of the powered lightning adapter - so that's another option if you already have the powered hub

You can still buy the Peavey USB-P from B&H Photo with international shipping - it just isn’t sold in Europe - I don’t think it’s got CE/GB or whatever certification and it’s FCC marked instead - I’ve always assumed that’s why. The international shipping & tax isn’t that expensive. are you looking for 2x ins or 2x outs though? As I don’t think either of those devices have any inputs