Stainless focus net

[raar]

Probaly has something to do with the focalpoint of a video projector being on a completely different point, had the same kind of issue.

 

Arjen.

 

 

A dance company I know recently visited the Cambridge Junction (UK) who apparently have such a grid also. They thought it was great, though encountered problems when trying to shine a projector through it on to stage (you could see wire shadows of some sort). They ended up rigging the projector just above the wires and using something the resident technicians had to force the wires apart just enough to let the beam through... Doesn't effect normal lighting though - I tried to work out why this might be but it made my eyes go funny...

 

Gareth.

[Grahame]

I'm pretty sure they've got one at the Gilmorehill G12 theatre at Glasgow Uni....

They do indeed. I've played there several times.

These grids do make focussing a breeze, and on a one-day gig they really speed up your rigging and focus time dramatically. I do have a few caveats about them however...

 

1)Grisdale mentioned problems shining a projector through the grid and encountering mesh shadows. I've found the same thing with follow spots. It was fine when they were moving, but as soon as you had a stationary performer you could see the mesh shadow on the face. Not very nice. I think it has something to do with having good optics on the instrument (e.g. projectors and follow spots), and how close they are to the mesh.

2)From an audience POV, I find the presence of several large glowing pools of mesh overhead somewhat distracting. They're a lot more obvious than just seeing the lanterns. But that's probably just me being picky from an LD pespective.

3)There are inevitably ruddy great girders across the grid just where you want to put your main wash or your special that just can't go anywhere else. I find this a particular problem in Gilmorehill when trying to do dance cross-light. There's always a girder in the way somewhere. On the plus side, it's dead easy to re-rig the lanterns somewhere else, but then you might not be getting the angle you need.

4)Lighting a cyc or cloth is the other major problem with these grids. You just can't get a decent angle on them at all - all you can do is lay the flood units flat on the grid and hope for the best. This means you are lighting huge swathes of the floor that you normally wouldn't, and it's very difficult to get a decent coverage unless you can use groundrows as well.

5)In fact, rigging a cyc or any sort of hanging (black tabs, legs etc.) is a major pain in the neck. Gilmorehill has a motorised roller cyc mounted under the grid that can be moved up or downstage to the required position. This sort of works, but then you've got a big roller on the floor which doesn't make it any easier to use groundrows (see point 4).

 

So you have to ask if the speed advantages of being able to quickly nip up to the grid to refocus a lantern during a rehearsal outweigh those disadvantages. In most cases they probably do, and if you have a lot of 'one-nighters' in your venue it's probably the way to go. But if you do longer runs, speaking personally as an LD I'd rather not have the grid.

[Roderick]

Thank you all!

I'll try to chase it up through the Aotea Centre.

[gareth]

Don't do what the numpties at the Newcastle venue have done, though - take a perfectly good tension wire grid, and ruin the whole thing by mounting the IWBs too close to it so that the lanterns (their profile stock is Source4 Zooms) can't tip all the way down without hitting their noses on the net.

Happily, I'm informed that this particular situation (which was the creation of the building's architects and consultants) has now been rectified by the venue staff and that the bars have been lifted to a more sensible height."