Blinders / Moving head light hire and DMX control?

[tempsc]

Hi.

 

 

A local college has asked me to assist with the production of a 'rock music concert / battle of the bands' at a local theatre. The theatre is equipped with the following lighting kit;

 

 

ETC Express 48/96 desk

 

28 Source 4s – 12 with scrollers

 

20 profiles

 

16 pars

 

12 fresnels – all with scrollers

 

12 colour cyc floods (4 x 3)

 

 

Additionally, the desk also controls a recently installed fogger.

 

 

The production manager wanted to know if we could also hire in some blinders and also, some moving head lights. However, not knowing a great deal about such kit, I'm not sure if the desk will be capable of running such equipment. I assume that the blinders and moving heads will be DMX controlled, but how many channels will be required to adequately operate them? Finally, what are typical costs for one nights hire?

 

 

Any other advice would be appreciated.

 

 

Tks

 

Tempsc

[LXbydesign]

Ok , well blinders will simply plug into existing dimmers, moving lights will require hard power (normally when u hire this in they will come with 16a plugs) and DMX.

 

Prices depend where you get them from - what deals you can get etc etc.

 

Your post is a bit blank as to numbers / types of fixtures needed etc etc. Give more detail on that and where the venue is and more help can be given. If your doing this at a theatre venue cant you have a chat to the tech. manager or chief LX ?

[SoLiEn]

According to ETC's site for the express

 

"Express uses Expression 3 software, giving your venue the moving light control and 16-bit resolution you'd only expect to find from a higher-end console. "

 

also, I would be tempted to add a hazer to the list..

 

 

also, for a typical nights hire from a local hire company to me, for the kit I would go for given the money:

6 x Mac 500's @ £45 per day

6 x Mac 600's @ £45 per day

4 x Blinders @ £15 per day

1 x Le Maitre

MVS @ 30 per day

 

plus odds and sods for cables tapes if needed.

 

 

 

After all that, can I just add that yeah moving lights look great and are fun to play with, but in order to get them to look good you need to get them set up and programme some pallettes/Cheats at the very least, I dont know how easy to do it is on the Expression, but if your hiring in for one day, you have one day to Rig it, programme it, do the show, de rig, then drop back in the morning, if its for a school or college, you might not beable to get into the space until the school is over for the day, so bear in mind what your planning of doing is going to be very time consuming.

 

also, there is nothing wrong with a few bars of pars, some set to open white so be your blinders...

[tempsc]

Gents. Thanks for the info there.

 

On numbers of fixtures, I thought that a couple of 4 or 6 way blinders would be great and on the moving head fixtures, maybe 4 or 6 of them, floor mounted for ease of installation and setup.

 

 

Ref the other points, I assume that the costs below are typical, per unit costs?! Also, what is a Le Maitre and what is a MVS? Finally, do I assume a hazer is another name for a fogger?

 

 

6 x Mac 500's @ £45 per day

6 x Mac 600's @ £45 per day

4 x Blinders @ £15 per day

1 x Le Maitre

MVS @ 30 per day

 

Although not on the school premises, the entire set up, show and derig must be completed in one day. We anticipate a get in of around 8AM and get out by midnight - fingers crossed!

 

 

Tempsc

[timtheenchanteruk]

the le-maitre is a brand name of the hazer, and no a hazer is slightly different froma fogger, a fogger wil gie thick bursts of fog/smoke, whereas a hazer will put out a fine haze, similar to smoke but alot less dense to fill an area and define the beams form the movers

you can get a sort of hazer effect from a fogger by using a desk fan in front of it to distrubute the output.

[woody74]

"Express uses Expression 3 software, giving your venue the moving light control and 16-bit resolution you'd only expect to find from a higher-end console. "

But what they don't tell you is that without encoders, you'll end up cursing Etc's name...

 

Since the OP is "not knowing a great deal about such kit...", I'd say that's reason enough to not add the headache of running movers off a 2-scene style console.

 

-w

[prolightdesigner]

Using the ETC board you mentioned, yes, you can control moving lights with. The draw back is that as SoLiEn mentioned, programming moving lights to look good is a very time consuming process. Though I've never used the exact board you'll be using, I have used a very similar one and can say that programming any moving lights with it is an unpleasant task. To program/control the units you're suggesting, you would want to use a dedicated moving light console that has built in, time saving features that make programming movers much easier. Keep in mind you're looking at 10+ channels per mover, so that becomes a lot to program going channel by channel!

[indyld]

Since the OP is "not knowing a great deal about such kit...", I'd say that's reason enough to not add the headache of running movers off a 2-scene style console.

 

Woody74 has alluded to something that, without knowing all the details of the gig, is staring me in the face. I may be misreading the entire situation, so apologies in advance.

 

Tempsc, I don't know how much help or experience you are going to get when you assist with this show. I would suggest that rigging 12 moving heads plus other kit, focus, program and do show (oh, and the out) in one day is not for the inexperienced in moving lights, whatever desk you use. You could spend the entire day just getting it all in position and working.

 

Please tell us that you have at your disposal people who do have this knowledge and experience, otherwise it sounds to me that nobody will have a very good day. And won't get their moneys worth out of the extra kit.

[themadhippy]

12 colour cyc floods (4 x 3)

cant ya use them for your blinders and hire more pars

[SoLiEn]

LE maitre is a manufacturer and MVS is one the model name of one of their hazers, as the others and myself mentioned before, you need alot of time, energy and patience, along with a little bit of knowledge, ok a fair bit of knowledge to get the movers to work nicely for you, and reiterate the cursing ETC's name part. in your situation id be tempted to use more pars then movers, less effort, less money, less know how required to make it look good and flashy etc.

[tempsc]

All.

 

Many thanks for your help and advice - it is appreciated, as ever.

 

I like the idea of the appopriately mounted desk fan - nice and cheap and simple to do. Also appreciate the fact that moving heads are not a thing for us to look at at the moment, due mainly to the non frindly desk. That only leave the blinders. I guess we could use the cyc floods but then again, it seems as though the blinders are nice and cheap so we may end up just going for them.

 

Thanks

Tempsc.

[SoLiEn]

whatever you choose to do, good luck and enjoy it after the hard work is over. dont forget the beer after the show.

[RichardFoster]

This may be a little late now but if the desk owners haven't mentioned the Express having an Expression server added then it almost certainly doesn't have one. Express desks have been around for quite a few years and the moving light bit was a later optional addition. In that case, much as I love them for conventional lighting, they're slightly hard work with scrollers and hell with moving lights.