pritch Posted March 6, 2006 Author Share Posted March 6, 2006 Well, cheers for all your advice so far. It's certainly given me a few places to look, and I've gone and ignored pretty much all of it, and come out with another system :) So, if I could have opinions on this, please: ETC Smartfade 2496 desk6x Zero88 Install 6 dimmers (for stage)1x Zero88 ChilliPro 410i dimmer (hardwired into house lights)Various Chilli control panels for houselight control I've been playing with the Smartfade offline editor, and it seems quite a simple desk to use, isn't going to break the bank, and isn't all that big either, which is a must in our lighting box. I've picked the Install 6 dimmers as I want to run the entire system on Chillinet if possible, as there are times when we might want to use a few channels on stage without the faff of showing someone how to load a show on the desk and whatnot. My only real concern with this lot is that the Install 6 dimmers are fan cooled. Anyone got any experience with these? How loud are they in use? We don't have the luxury of a dimmer room, they'll be sitting in a (well ventilated) cupboard in the auditorium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 The only thing I note is that the clue is in the name of your desk. Any time you see a desk with a name that has two sets of numbers of channels in it, there is a clue. The first number is the number of channels the desk is comfortable to work in, the second number is how many channels you can get to if you sacrfice usability. Here in NZ I regularly come acrtoss TheatreLight desks which are the same sort of arrangement, 24/48, 36/72, and 48/96 all fairly common. The lower number is generally called "normal" mode, the second number "wide" mode. In normal mode, you can have a bump button and fader for each channel, the same number of instantly accessible memories with bump and fader all at the same time. You can run as a real two preset no memories, or all memories with the higher number on buttons and faders instantly accessible. As a busking tool, its quite handy. Flick the desk to "wide" mode, and then it all gets much more complicated. If you choose to half either or both halves of the desk in memory mode, you have no access to the channels of that half. In manual mode its a single preset desk. So given that you will have at least 36 channels for dimming, check very carefully how the desk behaves when running in the headline grabbing 96 channel mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 How many circuits do you have to your rig? Have you considered installing hard-wired dimmers? You might find that hard-wired may well fit in your budget - and you could just use one or two channels for the house lights - and the Chilli variety support chilli-net. If you are short of space, scrapping that patch panel will free up space. Hard-wired chilli installation dimmers are not fan cooled, so they are relatively quiet. No patch-panel means that there is no more searching for the right plug! You can also consider applying to the Zero88 awards scheme for funding. If it is only a little more expensive, it is worth pushing the boat out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted March 7, 2006 Author Share Posted March 7, 2006 Cheers, both. dbuckley: I'm aware of the limitations of smaller desks. However, I've been playing with the smartfade offline editor, and it seems that it'll cope with up to 48 channels nicely, although it looks like it'll get hairy if we ever venture into the 49-96 channel range. I'd quite like something a bit more sophisticated, but at our price range, it doesn't look like it's going to happen, and I'd rather get something new than something second hand that may end up dying shortly after the supplier's three month guarantee on second hand goods runs out. Ellis: The thought of hardwired appeals to me greatly. We often end up patching in some extra circuits for specials and whatnot, though, so I'll have to mull that one over. Possibly hardwired to the grid with a few 15A sockets spare. I'm also not overly keen on the idea of concentrating everything in a small number of dimmers. I'd rather have them split out so that if we lose a dimmer, then we only lose six channels. Being an amateur venue, the possibility of just hiring in an entire rack at short notice to replace a dead 'un is going to depend on funds which may not necessarily be there. And yes, I've considered the Zero88 scheme. I'm leaving funding up to the committee, although I'll mention it to them. I believe someone has already looked into funding options locally and may have something lined up. I was just given a budget and told to see what I can come up with! (I like it that way, too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Pritch, Due to their nature (power components, etc), it is rare that a whole dimmer rack goes down, usually just the odd channel. In my experience of Amateur venues, that is the least you have to worry about! Of course, if you have somewhere outside the stage/auditorium area that you could install a 19" rack you could try the Rack 6 range. (NB I have no association with with Zero88) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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