adamcoppard Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Our school has a Zero 88 24 channel Alcora lighting desk, and up until now, we have only used PAR 32's, 64's and Source 4's. Within the next year, we will almost definitley need some form of moving fixture. Can we control a moving light, with colour changes, and moving, from our standard desk, or would we need to hire a Pearl 2004 / Jands Vista T2 with the moving lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 The simple answer is yep, you need a moving light control. It is possible to control movers from a manual desk, but it's awkward, sometimes unreliable and really not a good idea - but it gobbles up channels by the bucketload! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyingwysiwyg Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Hi Adam, You would definately need to hire a desk in to run the moving light element of your show. Most of the attributes on moving lights need to be handled in a different way to Dimmers. With dimmers the desk handles the values as Highest Takes Precedence as a general rule, whereas attributes on moving lights such as Pan, Tilt, Colour and Gobos etc are generally treated as LTP (Latest Takes Precedence). Many of the small generic desks like the Alcora were only designed to run dimmers. The other problem is control channels. Each moving fixture may take for example 20 channels (This is very conservative some can take far more). 4 fixtures would gobble up 80 channels straight away before you've even started looking at existing dimmers. Having said that it is always worth connecting 1 moving light to a small DMX desk and having a play around. It gives a great insight into how complicated it can get trying to program a simple chase or look and why we now have desks specifically designed for moving lights. Have a look here for some good info on moving lights and the differences between HTP and LTP Hope this helps, F - Wyg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_the_LD Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 As has been said, you CAN control a mover from a manual (HTP) desk, but it really isn't a good idea! You really do need a mover capable desk (LTP). If you hire in a Pearl, I really recommend doing the Pearl basic course first as I think you would find it most helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamcoppard Posted July 22, 2008 Author Share Posted July 22, 2008 Righty ho. Thank you. Will let you know if and what comes about with the moving lights, and which of the two desks we would go for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 we will almost definitley need some form of moving fixturewhy?or would we need to hire a Pearl 2004 / Jands Vista T2 with the moving lightsWhy only these 2 desks?they seem a bit OTT for a school,there are cheaper options that maybe alot more student freindly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamcoppard Posted July 22, 2008 Author Share Posted July 22, 2008 These two desks are the only that our hire company stocks. The only person who ever uses these desks is me, and our other sound technician, so student frendliness doesn't matter, as we wouldn't actually buy the desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 we will almost definitley need some form of moving fixturewhy?Seconded. or would we need to hire a Pearl 2004 / Jands Vista T2 with the moving lightsWhy only these 2 desks?they seem a bit OTT for a school,there are cheaper options that maybe alot more student freindly If you really must have movers, then hiring in an ETC Smartfade ML would be much more appropriate to a school environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamcoppard Posted July 22, 2008 Author Share Posted July 22, 2008 Moving lights will probably be required (or at least colour changing lights) a) due to the lack of power (an odd one, but bear with me), we are lmited to 3/4 lights a side (so 6 or 8 in total), which is far from ideal, leaving only a small amount of colours left, meaning that, with some form of colour changing lights, we can use as many colours as technically possible.b) the moving lights may be required for the plot of the play. Also, we are apparently doing two play's next year, ran off of the same lighting rig / sound rig, and I really don't want to be refocusing / regelling lights every morning, meaning moving lights, although expensive, may spare us some time. Onto desk choices:We hire from two companies, and have done for the past few years:Stage Electrics and ESP Production, of which we prefer ESP. Those are the only two moving desks from there inventory. Stage Electrics only do smaller desks (which may be better suited). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strandman Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 An unmentioned one is the jester 24ML costing about 1k not too expensive to buy and easy to set up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bleasdale Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 An unmentioned one is the jester 24ML costing about 1k not too expensive to buy and easy to set up Seconded! we will have on at our school from september. I have used one in a hire shop and used the offline editor. Brilliant desk. This desk has the capability to have generic and moving fixtures on it. Also its not too hard to program. I would imagine the hire of one for a week wouldnt be too expensive. If you would like to know more about this desk, try the zero 88 website, www.zero88.com. or contact BR member Peter, he knows all the zero 88 products inside and out. hthjoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jay Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 we will have on at our school from september Not trying to bite Joe, But you seem to give alot of comments on desks that you have not used yet, I have used one in a hire shop Good, you have had a quick go, but not used it in a professional programming/oping enviroment used the offline editorOnce again, good you learned the offline editor but still you have not used it in a professional programming/oping enviroment. Im sorry if im moaning at you, and I dont know how other people feel, but there is no point in giving advice on something you have not have proper experiecne on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chubbs the Techie Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Well even though ToshiBoy is right, I do have a JesterML at my school, and have used it in many a situation, and it is wonderful. In fact, all the things Joe says it is (Nice guess work ) It is very very easy to use, can do some pretty complex stuff, is not as good as I want it to be at busking, but you can't have everything. Above all, it's stable as a rock, and cost a measly £1k, good value compared to other 'proper' desks. Chubbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamcoppard Posted July 22, 2008 Author Share Posted July 22, 2008 Wow. We may be able to buy a Jester ML for our school, rather than hiring. Thanks for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 The Jester ML would be perfect for you as you could use the Alcora as a DMX in desk so you can still control generics. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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