To buy or not to buy

[madjock]

Hello,

 

For a while now I've been toying with the idea of buying a console. Would like to know your thoughts, I'm a freelance lighting designer not a company. Would be bought and used on my jobs with the potential for sub-hire when I'm not out. I've had the privilege of travelling all over the world with my work, however can sometimes find a lack of programming time when I leave Britain certainly Europe. If I had my own console I could have the show banked before I leave but is it worth it?.

 

Question 1. who's bought and found it to be helpful to there career or who's bought and later found they've wasted there money?.

 

Question 2. With weight loading at airports space in trucks etc, What do you think is the most powerful but relatively small console on the market at the moment (sorry realise "best desks" is a constant topic) but I'm interested in the efficiency of fast programming and size.

 

Any thoughts much appreciated,

 

Madjock

[Renny]

If you're a freelance lighting designer who works internationally you have more idea than most people who post on here. If it is that big a worry in terms of plotting time etc why not an offline editor or a PC based control system?

 

I don't know a lot of lighting designers with their own desks. Well, none actually.

[Cormac]

Hi,

Ok you haven't said what type of work areas of lighting your involved in so its hard to know if your talking about theatre/tv/music whatever.

I don't know many theatre designers who own there own consoles but I know a few involved in the Music based touring who do,if you were to take the plunge a few things to consider.

1)Get a quote for worldwide insurance for whatever you buy and subtract that from any rental income you may or may not get.

2)If its a Higher spec console like an MA,Avo,High End work out what spares your going to need and add to the total price.

3)Will you need a backup system,it's easy to call your supplier when your desk go's bang at 3am in a field in poland and get them to find another but not so easy when you are the supplier and a much bigger headache.

4)if you had a long tour or multiple hires that were confirmed and you know you can pay back the outlay in a short period (3 years Max) go for it, if not ask yourself is what you buy still going to be current and a console that somebody else is going to want in 3 years.

5)Most if not all higher spec consoles offer offline software for programming at home so I might start by trying that first and see if that makes your day any easier.

6)Few if any Airlines will take anything over 32kg and sometimes no one item more than 25kg ,so if your console and flightcase exceed that amount your looking at freight.

Some smaller consoles like Hog III PC/jands vista offer smaller versions but you will still struggle to get them onto domestic flights.

get a basic freight quote and figure out who is going to pay for that if you live in London but the truck with the lighting system is going from Glasgow...

7)if you buy make sure you have solid 24hour backup and someone to call if things do go wrong,buying second hand will make this much harder and you will not find it as easy to get support for equipment that was sold to another company and then to you and in any case the warranty will probably be out of date.

8)If you can swing it lease rather than buy.

 

Buying your own equipment is a way of making your own day easier and making sure you have the same show on the same console is a joy for anybody that's toured worldwide.Find out what the hire price really is before you buy,not the price you get charged if you ring and dry hire desk "x" from a rental company,but the price if your hiring an entire lighting system and I think you might find it's considerbely less than you might imagine and is less than any manufacturer salesperson will try to convince you that you will get.

 

 

I have found out most of the above by trial and error but for me I think I made the right choice by buying.

 

Regards C

[GregB]

I bought my own dsk for just such purposes. my first choice was a poor one (Fat Frog) and was sold on within 8 months of purchase.

My best deal was a producer bought me a desk for three concecutive shows/tours (so could justify the outlay) which was a (early) PC based AVAB Tiger. The nice thing about that particular desk was the business end was basically a PC (laptop in my case) and a really great console/board.

The console and spare hard drive stayed on the tour truck, the PC stayed with me. What a blessing. My hotel bedroom often became a "plotting party" with the the other LX guys, piza, a couple beers.....

 

If you can afford it buy the best console you can for the job your doing and get the PC to boot! Keep a spare (configured) hard drive so that when (and yes it will happen on tour) it dies your not stuffed for a show that night. :)

[tvi675]

Hi Madjock,

 

Our MagicQ range of consoles and PC products were designed specifically with weight in mind. Our PC products such as the PC wing are extremely light weight (around 6kg) so fit in the weight restrictions for hand luggage on most airlines. Our MQ100 console only weighs around 14kg (un-boxed, obviously a fight case adds more!) making it within the weight restrictions for hold luggage.

 

We know of many freelance LDs using our products, particularly the PC solutions because of the transportability of them, several of whom do successfully hire out their desks when they themselves are not using them, along with hire companies around the world. Programming and operation has been designed to be simple, and users used to Avo or Hog desks find it incredibly easy to pick up.

 

You can download the free, fully functioning software from our website at www.chamsys.co.uk, and if you have any questions, send me a PM!

 

Regards,

 

Matt Lemon

ChamSys Ltd

[Paul_R]

Hi Madjock,

I'm also going to recommend a PC based solution, LightFactory

I use this on a Laptop, and also have a playback wing which fits nicely in a 2nd laptop case for portability.

The other advantage for both LightFactory and MagicQ (just to be fair!) they both have Console Editions of Capture available which would also help with you pre-programming!

 

There is plenty of information if you do a search, or have a look through the WIKI for other solutions.

 

I'm a user, not a company rep, but PM me if I can help!

 

Regards,

Paul

[thelxbloke]

Swedish lighting designer Emma Westerberg

 

She stowed her compact ETC Congo jr lighting control console with her on the tour bus, or when she flew, checked it through in her luggage.

 

Whole article:

http://www.etcconnect.com/news.asp?id=20058

 

Perhaps this would be an option?

 

HTH Steve

[Jivemaster]

What desk is your favourite to operate on the job? Can you get an on-line -editor for that? The desk goes on the truck, your lappy with OLE goes with you. Data transfer by network or USB. You could even keep some USB memory sticks elsewhere for full reloads.

[johnhuson]

If I were buying for myself as a freelancer who wants to tour the console internationally, then size & weight would be my first consideration. Working on this basis, the obvious solution to me would be a PC (read laptop) based solution with some sort of small portable wing. I've seen quite a few systems used in these circumstances and a lot seems to boil down to personal programming style preference, and the type of show you work on most.

 

Nearly all of the major manufacturers produce PC/MAC/Linux based versions of their systems and quite a few with optional external wings. As an example if your doing cue stack style shows and your familiar with Hog style of working then I would look at Hog PC versions and also Magic Q systems. If your more from the Avo style of working then I've recently been working with an LD who's using an Avolites D4 Pilot and it seems to work very well.

 

There are also systems like the Jands Vista which are a concept unto themselves, I would of dismissed such a system on the basis of portability, as up until recently the only PC wing type option was the S3. However I've just been on the Vista website to see they've just released the M1 control surface which very much brings it back into this market place and it's certainly a product I'd like to look at further.

 

To sum up, to answer your question further I think we need to know what your current console experience/preference is and what type of shows you work on most.

[madjock]

Hello,

 

Thanks for the posts, some food for thought.

 

My main experience lies with avolites have dabbled a little with Hog and have used GrandMa on numerous occasions in saying that GMA is still a platform I'm adapting to.

 

Shows can vary to a rig of parcans which I met recently in India to 100 movers and some LED fixture which I met in Switzerland not so long ago GMA was driving both systems. I'll usually spec for an AVO due to its 'Buskability' I find it is the easiest system to throw a show at when time is a factor. I generally work in live music.

 

Has it been beneficial to your career to buy your own desk? has it improved the standard and consistency of your work. I suppose is the main question.

 

Thanks,

 

Madjock.

[gareth]

If you're looking for a system that's cheap, easily portable, flexible, familiar to someone with Hog experience and which embodies much of the buskability of an Avo desk, you should really look at Chamsys and their range of USB wings. I have a 'standard' (i.e. not Mini or Maxi) Chamsys wing, which is a great piece of kit. I use it with an all-in-one touchscreen PC, but it would work almost as well with a laptop (though I'd advise an external mouse rather than a touchpad).