dave singleton Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hi, Im LD for a dance show in July. Im currently trying to source a desk for the show. My original idea was to use the theatres own Strand 300 however I have a rig of 13 movers aswell as the generic channels and their current software wouldnt allow for this. So suggestions please... Im very confident on a Pearl however dont find the Theatre Stack all that fantastic (and its not really meant for this application). In an ideal world I'd like to hire in a Strand 300 or 500 (if it could be found for a decent price) however I can only allow about £200 for the desk (before VAT). I can get a pearl 2004 for £130 for the week. Can anyone suggest things? (I would prefer to steer clear of the Zero88 Leap Frog/Bull Frog) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I know you said no Zero88, but FWIW I did a dance show end of last year, with 6 movers and about 70 conventional channels, and it worked okay.Used the theatre stack, but with mainly manual fade times (ins and outs) David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave singleton Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 Its possible, and with budget in mind the more likely solution. I do like the auto move while dark features (in various forms) some desks have. I dont really want to have to go through cues making sure the macs are all in the right place etc so when I hit Go they dont go nuts on stage. Thats ultimatly why the Strand 300 was my desk of choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marky Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Can't you arrange for thier software to be updated? Seems like the most cost effective option! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave singleton Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 Um, I hadnt thought of that as an option actually. :P Maybe its possible, how much does it cost to upgrade channels on strands? I no it isnt cheep. I also dont really want to tread on their toe's, I dont no the venue staff too well and dont want to upset anyone. Still on the hunt for a desk... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I'm sure the venue wouldn't object to you paying to upgrade their desk! It might work out cheaper than hiring a whole desk from elsewhere too. If you're lucky they might even chip in on the upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1nuzz Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hog 500. Great little desk for movers and cheap as chips to hire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Lawrance Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Dave, Why have you not rung me about it. I thought I was on speed dial for these sorts of things. Lanbox anyone?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albatross Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Hi, Im LD for a dance show in July. Im currently trying to source a desk for the show. My original idea was to use the theatres own Strand 300 however I have a rig of 13 movers aswell as the generic channels and their current software wouldnt allow for this. So suggestions please... Can you expand on why the desk won't 'allow for this'?Unless the Strand is a very old version it will do movers. The only thing I can assume from your post is that you're running out of control channels. as you have 13 movers you only need 13 control channels. All the attributes of a mover are then points of that control channel ie. 54.1, 54.2 54. 33 etc. If you don't have 13 free control channels then you could soft patch some of the conventionals to 'double up' DMX outputs to a single control channel.I.e DMX 63 & 64 could be control channel 63, leaving control channel 64 'free' Sure doubling up may limit what you want to do, but it's very likely that you run some groups of conventionals always together, always at the same levels, and these are prime candidates to softpatch together. I hope this helps, Hi there, Thanks for the post, I was wondering if you could give me an insight into if this is possible on the 300? The desk currently is a Strand 300, 100 channel. I need 30 dimming, then the following: 4 * Mac 550 run in Basic Mode - 20 channels per fixture6 * Mac 250 Wash run in 16Bt Mode - 13 Channels per fixture3 * Mac 250 run in Mode 4 - 13 Channels per fixture2 * Martin Wizard Extreme - 11 Channels per fixture2 * Antari Low Fog - 2 channels each2 * Le Maitre Neutron Star - 2 channels each1 * Show LED star cloth - 4 channels Regards, Dave 4 * Mac 550 run in Basic Mode - 20 channels per fixture (80 DMX)6 * Mac 250 Wash run in 16Bt Mode - 13 Channels per fixture(78 DMX)3 * Mac 250 run in Mode 4 - 13 Channels per fixture(39 DMX)2 * Martin Wizard Extreme - 11 Channels per fixture(22 DMX)2 * Antari Low Fog - 2 channels each(4 DMX)2 * Le Maitre Neutron Star - 2 channels each(4 DMX)1 * Show LED star cloth - 4 channels(4 DMX) plus 30 standard Dimmers ( say 36 as they're usually in racks of 12)comes to 264 DMX channels so running on One universe is fine. You could split the Movers to a separate DMX universe to the conventionals, purely to keep the wiring separate. as far as control channels go. Yes you do have enough.36 dimmers ( 36 channels)4 Mac 550's ( 4 control channels)6 Mac 250 Wash ( 6 control channels)3 Mac 250 ( 3 control channels)2 martin Wizard Extremes (2 control channels BUT I don't know if this is part of the fixture library currently, it may be rather than creating a library which is not hard but tricky to get right, it's easier to run these as discrete channels.. in which case it's 22 channels)2 * Antari Low Fog - (4 control channels BUT oyu could set them to the same DMX channels & use only 2 control channels, meaning bioth would come on together)2 * Le Maitre Neutron Star - 2 channels each (4 control channels BUT oyu could set them to the same DMX channels & use only 2 control channels, meaning bioth would come on together)1 * Show LED star cloth - (in theory One control channel, but again it's probably NOT in the fixture library so discrete channels may be easiest.. so 4c ontrol channels) Total Control Channels assuming all fixtures & LED cloth are in library is 56.Worst Case is 83 channels assuming you use the Wizards, Foggers/Hazers & Star Cloth independently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave singleton Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 Hmm, looks to me Im going to have to phone the Theatre again. The Technical Manager said it wouldnt run all that in those modes. Might well be an old verison of the desk. :P Im not sure I no enough about the strand range to be able to tell. However their tech spec seems to have no mention of ML software on the desk. Judging by the strand website there is no 100 channel version available. You can get 50 channel (24 subs), 125 channel (24 subs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 You just need to find out what particular kind of 300 the theatre have. The answer to that will tell you how many moving light attributes it can deal with, and therefore how many fixtures you can fit onto it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albatross Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Any current version of Strand 300 software should have the Moving Light cpability in it.The real issue may be that the Theatre staff are unfamiliar with setting up & using movers.The can check the version from their setup screen, or even when it boots up. It costs nothing to bring it up to the latest version, the only cost is changing features/facilities ( I.e more channels) Setting the desk up to use the movers effectively will involve some sof tpatching & configuring. While not difficult to do, it does require some familiarity with the desk.The 'not in those modes' comment might be that he's not bothered to do the calculations of numbers of DMX channels versus control channels. Each mover only needs ONE control channel but many DMX channels. Each aspect of a mover (fixture) is referred to by Strand as an attribute, and when setup correctly wil be a poitnt after the channel number.I.e Intensity ( light level) will point ONE (.1) Pan & Til will be .3 and .4 of the channel number. as for channel capabilities.. there are many different configurations available that are not listed on the Strand site. The desk I use regularly has 96 channel faders, 24 submasters but 150 control channels optioned.. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave singleton Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 I'll investigate tomorrow morning (well today :P ) and let you no... I've had some time on the desk at Chichester College. We have a very basic package. I've patched on it before but only ever either 2 * Mac 500 (LD/board op couldnt do it - see moving light post) or 2 * Mac 250. The Technical manager no's the 300/500 software backwards as in the main house uses a Strand 550i week in week out and I've seen him use movers from it. I understand there isnt much difference in the software at all between the 300/500 consoles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon T Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Try the Guys at Tower Productions www.tower-productions.com They have a jands hog 500 for only £180 a week, and sounds like it will suit your application ok. hth Jon T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick S Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 I understand there isnt much difference in the software at all between the 300/500 consoles. There's none - they actually use the same reference manual. The OS is identical, and the features in the OS that are enabled/disabled are determined by either your hardware (processor type, etc) or what you paid for (at least, I think that's right). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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