J Pearce

I'm a big fan of Doughty Supaclamps for this sort of thing, though a hook/tube clamp of choice and a suitable bolt or thread adapter would also sort you out. A ball head might be useful for focussing.

Modern digital comms (like Clearcom's Helixnet) are just a server feeding data to/from clients. It's just a matter of having a suitably stable server. Greengo is slightly different being a serverless peer-to-peer system.

What Tim said. Make a loom. If it’s too long coil the slack.

I've not really paid much attention to model numbers, just whether it has the features I need.

As above, the Bosch Dinion kit is good at this. You'll need to spend money on a camera with exposure and shutter settings, any of the cheap auto exposure CCTV cameras will struggle with the dynamic range of a stage lit production.

I'd be suspicious of the digital camera and distribution before the flatscreens. All of our MD camera setup is on flatscreens, and I haven't had any complaints about latency. At my previous job the opera MD insisted on CRT and for what they were doing the very small latency from a flatscreen was perhaps an issue.

Yep you've pretty much picked the setup that has just run a rather large musical at the Rep. Those DAs work fine, and the Bosch Dinion cameras are excellent, and very affordable on the used market. I've not tried composite to VGA, I guess it'd depend on the signal delay of the specific converter. Some screens may support a passive cable adapter, it'd depend on their supported scan rates. I'd recommend avoiding converters and sticking to screens with native composite video input (or SCART with an adapter). Small black and white CRTs are ideal and probably go with the camera on a mic stand. As you're local to me and my venue if you wanted to pop over and take a look send me a DM.

That's a shame. My experience was 2021, so a while back now.

Most flatscreen TVs have a tolerable latency on their composite input. Some have a 'gaming' mode which improves this. I generally find that the more modern the TV the more likely it is to have fancier upscaling processing that increases latency. For opera I'd be looking at CRT or low latency native SD resolution screens, but if you're after count ins, ends of pauses, and dynamics etc. then most flat screen TVs should be ok. Most digital cameras are not remotely optimised for low latency live output, until you're into proper studio cameras. Add in digital processing and the frame delays get far too long for conductor cameras.

The Canford 4 ways are standard at the hire cos I use. Very hardy if terminated well, sufficiently flexible and well coiling to be useful on a tour.

Ampman repaired my X32 Rack, but they don't currently list Behringer on their website - worth contacting them though.

HDMI encompasses a few standards. SDI is far more specific. Your HDMI computer monitors will be expecting RGB colourspace, in a variety of resolutions/frame rates. Your SDI adapters will send only video standards down SDI, then only video HDMI standards out of the HDMI - so 720p/1080i/1080p in YUV colourspace. TVs will display these standards, many computer monitors will not. Unless you've got the cash for something like a Marshall SDI camera, I'd stick with composite. Most big musicals are still on composite for MD cameras (though there is now a growing move to SDI for FOH picture). Get a good quality composite camera (I recommend the Bosch cameras which can be found quite affordably on eBay), a composite video splitter (or distribution amplifier to use the proper term - again, plenty on eBay), use your existing BNC cabling, and either use cheap TVs (could be higher latency) or SD native screens - varying sizes available in varying ruggedness at varying price points.

CueOne don't seem to be around anymore. Stage Sound Services have a good stock of CMX8s so may be able to assist with servicing.

Excellent news. Hope you find it useful!

Good point re hooks etc.

An old wavefront system should handle whatever you can throw at it. Just make sure it's got the right drivers in it, it's old enough now that some of the stock for sale has been modified.

I'd be looking at a half decent used PA and amp rack that lives in, with maybe a DJ mixer for BGM and vocal mic. Install some CAT5 lines to any sensible mix position, then add in mixer/snake/mics as needed event by event. Lots of the artists that do that sort of gig have their own setup in any case, and are used to either setting up their whole rig or plugging their mixer into the venue system. An X32 compact with stagebox and basic mic/stand/cable package will sort band nights, which realistically is probably 2 nights a week at most. Realistically, gear won't revive a venue. Good programming that engages the local population will.

If you go with the Behringer XR range, I'd advise using a good quality external access point or router. The onboard one isn't great, and being onboard often ends up in non-ideal locations for wifi coverage (covered in cable, in a rack, under the stage, etc.). We use a XR18 for foyer events and other pop-ups - it's a great bit of kit and works very well.

I’ve not tried it personally, but I’ve heard good things about Snipe-IT.

An ATEM mini pro will record to USB disk, and costs under £300. The Pro ISO will record all inputs to USB and costs £450ish. If you have access to the camera feed and the laptop feed at a convenient location you could feed both in and get a presynced DaVinciResolve file on a USB SSD.

NDI is good but pricey. SDI is good but needs the right cable. CAT5 1-many boxes can be had fairly cheaply if you can site the distribution box at the appropriate switch cabinet. We have a PTZ camera that outputs both SDI and network stream on RTSP. The locations that need low latency get SDI or composite downconverted from SDI, and the more distant spaces get screens with a NUC (recycled from other duties) or a RasPi set to load the RTSP stream on boot. For a cheap(ish) portable setup, you could probably happily do a wifi AP and then a set of cheap android tablets running VLC for dressing rooms and other non-latency-sensitive spaces.

You may find that the existing antenna cabling will support composite video. It'll probably do better with B&W but may do fine on colour - certainly worth a go if you have TVs with composite input, some new cable ends and a DA will be cheaper than a modulator.

Any reason not to use stage weights? If the french braces are made from 3x1 (or 18mm ply) then the notch in a stage weight secures them in place well on a french brace. They're easier to handle so improves manual handling, they won't leak sand, won't get damp and go mouldy, they stack securely when not in use - lots of advantages. They'll cost a little more though.

Be aware of the difference between the university and the students union (which usually umbrella the societies). The dividing line between them varies at each university, sometimes they're essentially a dept of the uni, sometimes they are completely separate legal entities with very clear distance between them.

£300 won't get you very far at all. At that budget, get a tripod and phone holder and use one of your phones. You won't get a better camera for under £300. Gopros are good, but very wide angle for POV shooting, not ideal for archiving a theatre show. As above - do explore what you might be able to access through the university.