Zero 88 Jester

[johnthughes]

Hi,

 

I am a technician in a 160 seat school theatre. At present we are running with an old Strand MX which is on its last legs. I am currently trying trying to negotiate some budget to replace with a modern memory desk. The jester 24/48 seems to fit the bill (we have 24 dimmers currently). I am also trying to negotiate budget for a couple of moving lights to bring the theatre into the 21st century. My question is, will the jester run a couple of moving lights or do I need a separate controller?

 

Thanks.

[benweblight]

The Jester is really a generic desk, no good for mover control. However, it can record a full 512 channels through the DMX input, so you could use a cheap DMX interface and software to program into the Jester's cue stack and submasters for playback.

 

Other desks to look at are the ETC Smartfades, there is a 'Smartfade ML' with mover control but not sure if this is within your budget.

[Tomo]

Yes it could, but it won't be easy as it's not designed to do so.

The same with the ETC offering at that level, the ETC SmartFade 24/96 - it's accurate enough to run moving lights, but it's not easy.

 

The ETC SmartFade ML is designed to control moving lights as well as generics, so that would be one option.

 

However, I'd question whether you want to buy any moving lights at all, as the maintenance bill for them is astronomical!

In most situations, it's better to hire them in for the shows that need them, as that way the maintenance isn't your problem!

 

That said, a moving-light capable desk would make the hiring easier, as it's better to just hire the moving lights rather than moving lights and console - mostly because you'll already know how to use your console!

[paulears]

If you are planning on adding moving lights then the Jester route is not the right one. It's a nice little desk for controlling dimmers and maybe a few other simple odds and ends, but it isn't designed to do movers. Realistically, if you want movers then you need to go for (assuming you want to stay with Zero88) the Frog range, and upwards from there.

 

There are quite a few recent topics that may help, have a poke around.

[u_dakka]

it will work moving lights, however it'd do it in such a crap was as to make it useless. What will happen is when you set it up as a scene all the channels will be on the same fader. so if you move that fader to say 70% what will happen is you'll get 70% of the programmed brightness of the fixture, 70% of the pan, 70% of the tilt, 70% of the colour, 70% of the shutter etc.

can add interesting effects for disco stuff, which is what we use the disasterpiece 216 (masterpiece 216, but with added beer spilt in it - crashes a fair bit) at the union for.

In the Zero88 range the smallest one for movers to have them do what you need for a theatre role is the fat frog, its an easy desk to program, after about an hour of fiddling around (those wheels are really rather sensitive, but you get used to it). It has features for 12 movers, and you can select pallettes as well, so one set of movements can have several colours and shutter/gobo settings - saves time.

The difference between desks that are dedicated for movers and ones that arent, is that the when you programme which mover you've got, it sends the full 100% of all the channels (except brightness) to the lights when it's selected and the brightness is controlled by the fader position.

 

andy

[tom_the_LD]

What will happen is when you set it up as a scene all the channels will be on the same fader. so if you move that fader to say 70% what will happen is you'll get 70% of the programmed brightness of the fixture, 70% of the pan, 70% of the tilt, 70% of the colour, 70% of the shutter etc.

 

andy

 

Is it just the jester that does this, as I had been informed that 1 channel = 1 fader on desks which aren't designed for ML control <_<

[pritch]

What will happen is when you set it up as a scene all the channels will be on the same fader.

Is it just the jester that does this, as I had been informed that 1 channel = 1 fader on desks which aren't designed for ML control <_<

 

With regards to what u_dakka was saying, the implication is that if you run a fade or reduce the grand master level, then the pan/colour/whatever attributes will also fade, meaning that the fixture will move or change colour as the fade runs.

 

It sounds to me like you've got your wires crossed about patching multiple channels to one fader, which is possible on the Jester - in fact I'm told the Jester will allow you to patch an entire universe to one fader if you feel the urge!

[jfitzpat]

It sounds to me like you've got your wires crossed about patching multiple channels to one fader, which is possible on the Jester - in fact I'm told the Jester will allow you to patch an entire universe to one fader if you feel the urge!

 

But patching desk channels to multiple DMX channels doesn't really help with movers. Having one control channel set 10 DMX channels to the same level is not the same thing as setting pan, tilt, color, gobo, prism... to appropriate, individual values.

 

The Jester does have a mode where you can put memories on submasters, but memories are still limited to the number of desk, or control channels (24 or 48, depending on the model Jester), so in addition to the problems of pure proportional fade control noted above, there is a serious limit on control capacity.

 

The Jester is a great board (we have one and I love using it as tactile input for our system), but I'm with Paul, it is not a good choice for movers.

 

-jjf

[pritch]

But patching desk channels to multiple DMX channels doesn't really help with movers. Having one control channel set 10 DMX channels to the same level is not the same thing as setting pan, tilt, color, gobo, prism... to appropriate, individual values.

 

No, you're quite right. I was heading a little <_< with that one, I admit.

[Graham NZ]

Hi

 

Or you could wait a couple more weeks visit ABTT and be surprised by a new product we are launching which will address all of your needs. :)

 

Graham

Zero 88

[Stutwo]

Oooh you tease