Drama studio refit

[Blaize110]

Our drama department has decided to refit our small drama studio. At the moment it has a Z88 level 12, 2 x Betapack 2s and a selection of Strand Patts (served us well but looking rather worse for wear).

 

At the most basic level what's needed is: New lanterns and a new 12 channel desk. (As we currently have 2 DIN patch sockets to the dimmers)

Feel free to offer criticism/suggestions but at the moment I have been thinking: 5-10 Parcans, 5-10 Profiles and 5-10 Fresnels (we have 30 possible sockets around the pentagonal room)

 

However I have drawn a blank on the desk. The level 12 is fine for the odd performance at the moment but it would be nice to have some programmability built into the desk. However I dont know if a 12 channel programmable DIN desk exists (Something like a Z88 Sirius 24 but for 12)?

I have seen the Pulsar RockDesk 18 (12 faders), but this only has chases and while I understand the pinouts are different to the dimmers, it may cause confusion to younger members.

 

 

At the other end of the budget, I would like to get a DMX desk and either replace the dimmers with Betapack 3s or get a demux and possibly a Betapack 3

 

All suggestions welcome

 

EDIT: I am starting to think more and more that a DMX desk is a good idea to give some future proofing. As DIN is already out of date. In which case, can anyone recomment a decent DMX desk?

[James Remo]

Caveat lector - This is more for a suggestion of a good programmable 12ch desk with analogue outputs, not as a realistic purchase suggestion, as it is not a model that is in production, but it does seem to fit the OP's needs well

For 12ch programmable desk with analogue outputs you could do worse than a zero 88 XL. Only 1 chase at a time, but has 9 pages of 12 submasters. It has a DMX output too, for future upgrades to your dimmers. They pop up on ebay quite regularly and usually go for about £100. Very solid little desks.

And whilst I'm flexing the Latin - Caveat emptor!

[mac.calder]

Dimming has really gone down in price recently (last 2 to 3 years), and in many cases, for 12 to 24 channels can be almost cheaper than buying a DeMux.

 

For example - LSC has recently released their "Redback 12" which is a 2RU dimmer with 12 channels of dimming, sockets on the back, aimed at the lower end of the spectrum as far as pricing goes. Combine that with a maXim S or Minim console will not cost you the earth - you should have change from 3000 pounds.

 

If you want something more common in the UK - Zero88 have their offerings in the same sort of price point - 12 channels of dimming plus a Jester.

 

As for lanterns... I would suggest go for mainly fresnels with a few profiles. Whilst parcans give you a lot of lights for the money, they do not mesh well with other lights as far as blending goes... investing in more fresnels is a safer bet IMO. That said, parcans do have thier place in theatre, you just have to be aware of their shortfalls.

[James Remo]

If you are looking at a DMX desk then I'll second the suggestion of the maxim s, but add that as my zero 88 xl and xls' started to fail (not that we don't still have them and use them mind, but they had a hard life poor buggers) we invested in two maxims to try them out, but eventually decided on the ETC smartfade as our small desk of choice. The only thing the little smartfades are missing is fade times on the submasters, quite a glaring shortfall IMHO, but it wasn't quite enough to not make them good for the money.

[Blaize110]

Thanks for the quick responses and ideas.

 

The only reason I didnt go for getting DMX dimmers is the current dimmers are still working fine and it seems pointless removing them, however a £100 demux allows for their replacement with DMX dimmers in the future if need be. Also, our main hall is still running on 4 DIN betapack 2s and when we transition to DMX there, im sure a demux will be useful.

 

Desks I have looked at so far are the Strand 200 and the Jester 12/24. Ill have a look at the MinimS tomorrow.

[mac.calder]

Desks I have looked at so far are the Strand 200 and the Jester 12/24. Ill have a look at the MinimS tomorrow.

 

If you can get a DeMux for that sort of price - absolutely, go for it - and if you have the spare $$$ and the power to be able to cope with it - get a 12 channel dimmer as well - it is really nice to have those extra 12 channels.

 

The Minim is a 12 channel "lower level" desk - maXim S is a higher level desk as far as feature set goes. It is made by the Australian equivalent of Zero88, LSC Lighting.

 

The other desk I completely forgot about was the SmartFade from ETC.

 

Smartfade

Minim

maXim

[pritch]

How likely is it that you'll be wanting to use the lighting in the hall and the studio at the same time? Perhaps you could be looking at a wider desk (say the Jester 24/48), and moving it between the two spaces as needed?

 

Of course, the 12/24 will also control 24 channels in wide mode, but leaves you with nowhere to go should you feel the urge to hire in extra dimmers for the hall (or move the ones from the studio) if you need them for a more demanding performance and, if you're working in preset mode, wide mode can get a little confusing.

[Blaize110]

At the moment the hall is controlled using a Sirius24. Ideally I would like to keep the two systems as separate as possible. Eventually we plan to do the same thing as this but in the hall with a 24/48 desk. So both locations have the capability to control more dimmers should hiring be necessary.

 

Depending on how much we are allowed to spend, I may or may not get DMX dimmers. But if I get a demux, it puts in place the infrastructure to replace the dimmers with DMX ones when the funding comes round again.

[mac.calder]

Depending on how much we are allowed to spend, I may or may not get DMX dimmers. But if I get a demux, it puts in place the infrastructure to replace the dimmers with DMX ones when the funding comes round again.

 

What I was meaning though was if you have the money to spend, why not get a demux AND some dimmers - have your cake and eat it too, as it were...

[Big Jay]

Again, as others said, the ETC Smartfade, I have just finished a week's Puppet Festival programming the SmartFade, and at the start, It took a while to get used to the compact(ness) of the desk, going into sub menues ect. But by the end I found it to be a really good desk, I wouldnt recoment it for complex events, but for a few generics and even a few Intellegent Fixtures (I no you didnt specify them) it can handle it really well.