STAIRVILLE MH 575 S MOVING HEAD

[Breakwave]

Anyone know from using this unit how well it performs ? Would like to know stuff like brightness,optics,move speed,fan noise and movement noise points before I buy a pair ? HELP PLEASE !!!!

[smalljoshua]

Hi Breakwave,

 

It would help us to know your situation a bit better. Are you wanting to use these in straight drama or R&R?

 

It would also be nice if you were able to structure your post slightly differently with things put into context with background as these always help get a meaningful and appropriate answer first time.

 

Josh

[Guest]

judging by one of your recent posts, your still a student which could quite possibly mean your looking at getting these for your school, or for your own "hire" company.

needless to say, neither is a good option, have a search on the forum for movers in schools to get a view of what other members think.

 

Jon

[Aaron-Hill07]

I hate to sound a bit unfair here... But you've just applied to be a Performing Arts Technician at a specialist school and now your buying yourself two cheap moving heads.

 

There's just something about this situation that sounds a bit odd to me, if you were buying them for the school you are at (or have just left if your in Year 11) then it'd be down to the school to buy them. And you won't be buying them for the school your hoping to work at because you haven't got the job yet.

 

So from that, I'm guessing your getting them for your own usage or your 'hire company'. In which case, don't.. 2 moving heads are going to be pretty much useless to you especially without flightcases etc because they're going to get wrecked and you just won't need them.

 

If your thinking about starting up a hire company, invest in some descent generic lanterns first.. then some dimmers, control desk and get yourself into a good state with gobos, gels and accessories so you can build up a good generic stock. That way, you can actually light shows as opposed to having two Sound to Light beams swooping around the stage because you can't afford anything else.

 

Don't go for the usual naive approach of ''But I saw them at Glastonbury Festival on TV and they look cool''. There are so many factors that you have to consider when buying intelligent lighting such as the moving heads you've suggested, such as..

 

- Re-Lamping Costs (MSR/HMI575 Lamps for eg. can cost up to £100 each dependant on brand)

- Maintenance & Repair Costs (There's a lot more that can go wrong in one of these, especially in the cheaper units and the repairs can be very expensive!)

- Physical Size & Weight.. (Weighing in at nearly 30kg each, your going to need descent trussing/rigging and lighting stands to support them!)

- Do you need them?... (Do the shows your likely to be working on warrant the use of special effect lighting?)

- Noise... (I'm not sure on these exact units, but some cheaper moving lights can have noisy fans and mechanical parts.. if your doing corporate or straight drama's.. the noise of them simply being on may take away from the performance and honestly just be annoiying!)

 

 

There are, of course more things you need to look into about the pro's/con's of moving lights in general which you can read into by searching 'moving head' in the search section of the forum.

 

To continue what others have said, you need to let us know more about the situation you are in and why your considering intelligents.. for all we know you could have a huge stock of generics, consoles and dimmers and just want a couple of movers to offer to clients for an extra. On the other hand, you could have no kit already and just want some movers because they look 'pretty' and 'cool' in which-case.. don't do it, stupid move.

 

I'm just 17 years old and have been working properly in the industry for a couple of years now and have a pretty good lighting stock for someone of my age who is in full-time education. I luckily was advised away from buying loads of cheap lighting by others on this forum and have never regretted it since so make sure you just be careful and wise with what you buy!

 

If you want any more help/advise from someone pretty much your age, feel free to email/PM me and we can have a chat about your situation etc.

 

Hope that helps,

Aaron

[Rory O]

Well if they are anything like some of Stairvillie's older products that I've used before they are quite LOUD and once the tilt on the head got stuck during a show. So they are a bit errr...

Rory

[Breakwave]

Thank you Aaron-Hill07 ,

 

Sorry I'm having a bit of a bad day and really should have worded the post better.At this present point I haven't got much lighting kit . I started off in sound and have built up that first. I know Im young like yourself interested in the industry and have an awful lot to learn.But I'm very keen.Like a lot of people no ones teaching me things so I need all the advice I can get.

 

I do want to start building my own hire company up.

 

Im looking at getting the right equipment together for things like music concerts/gigs and the odd bit of theatre ( where I use the venues generics)

 

So overall I'm looking for a set up that will suit theatre and Gigs.

Would like to have a good set of Generics and a few movers

I know what desk I want and already have a few large flight cases including a few road trunks.Also I have a DMX hazer and a pair of strobes.

The reason I haven't got any generics as yet, is the fact that I often do jobs with other people where they supply the generics or in cases at school where I use there in house system.(which for a school is surprisingly good ! )

I often just add my own stuff along side it for specific effects.

Budget is obviously not that big . I need good kit for cheap prices . Like everyone I suppose.

Id love some nice Robe or Martin movers but for the wattage Im going to need there way out of my reach of now ....

Generic wise I'd like a range of kit.Including some of the Selecon acclaim range as I have used them I do quite like them.

 

I have done voluntary work for my old school doing Lighting and Sound for literally every event that required it in the past 5 years . According to them they cannot officially employ me as I'm still classed as a student Until september.So until then I don't get payed basically.It will only be a part time job , as I don't really want to be stuck doing that forever.

I'd rather go down the Freelance path .

 

Thanks for your time . Also thanks for your help and I do apologise for my lack of knowledge and bad wording.

 

Jake

[Ynot]

I do want to start building my own hire company up.

Oh dear... <_<

 

Jake, you might want to start reading some of the threads in the Next Generation regarding youngsters and equipment and starting a hire company.....

 

Hmmm...

[tom_the_LD]

Aaron, I don't mean to be rude but I've just looked at your lighting stock from your website, and I can only see two "generic" items on there. 300W PAR 56 and a 500W PC. No profiles, fresnels or floods. Or even dimmers.

 

I'm not a hire company, and I don't claim to be one and I don't intend to start one up. I'm an 18 year old who has an interest in lighting, have a few basic lights (P56's and pinspots) and a selection of dimming (some Mini 2's and 2 Betapacks) as well as a Linebacker and a few other bits. Why have I got this gear? Some of it I aquired and some is just simply because I wanted to buy it. I knew I wouldn't make any money on it but I saw a few bargains on eBay.

 

I'm the main user of the gear although other people borrow it and use it if they want to which is fine by me.

 

If they're for your own enjoyment, you have the cash sitting doing nothing and you really want them then go for it. But just don't expect to make any money on them. However when they go wrong, which they will at some point, or indeed just for general servicing you'll at least be able to learn something.

 

But on the other hand, if you're never going to use them yourself, then there really is no point.

[Ynot]

Aaron, I don't mean to be rude but I've just looked at your lighting stock from your website, and I can only see two "generic" items on there. 300W PAR 56 and a 500W PC. No profiles, fresnels or floods. Or even dimmers.

Hmmm...

Not to mention the statement on that Hire Inventory page, Aaron - the one that refers to

industry standard equipment

 

Aaron, apologies, because I think you were supporting the general BR stance in general BUT you're at the same time not practicing what we preach!!

 

This sort of thing is precisely WHY no-one with any REAL experience or knowledge will ever take you guys seriously!!

 

I'm sorry, but you really should learn that in this - or ANY business - at least 75% of what makes you a success * is the reputation you've built for yourself and your company. And as I've said countless times, a good rep is hard to earn and takes years to achieve. A BAD rep is easy to get, takes a second to acquire and will take years to lose...

 

* Success = make a living out of the proceeds of the business = paying for a mortgage/rent/food/utilities etc etc after you've covered ALL of the company's costs.

[Aaron-Hill07]

Hi Jake,

 

Firstly, I want to say that in the future when you want to find out information or need help... don't write the post until your ready and take your time over it. The initial post that you made sounded rediculous, looked even worse and frankly I bet a lot of people looked at it and laughed. Including myself if I'm honest. You may be young, passionate and keen but you need to tone it down a bit, your talking to industry professionals that do this job on a day-to-day basis in professional theatre, touring and a lot of them run their own hire companies.

 

The thing you need to ask yourself, is.. if you spent X amount of money on equipment, have you got the customers there that are going to use you for their technical solutions? What makes you stand out from the rest of the hire companies out there which will make you more attractive? Your entering a very tough industry, work is very sought after and you always end up entering a bidding war with other companies when your quoting for work.

 

Another question - your falling into the same trap a lot of young technicians fall into.. Why on earth do you think that you need movers to create good effects or 'specific' effects. I've seen many light shows designed just with generics which look stonking and I've also seen a lot of light shows which have utilited intelligent lighting and looked appauling. The art of being a good lighting designer, is working with what you have to create effects sympathetic with the performance.

 

You mention you know what desk you want to buy, what desk is it?

 

The other thing to point out, is that you are 16 years old and you mention you have road trunks etc.. but what's the point? How are you going to get them from A-B because you can't drive so you must depend on parents I'm guessing? When you get to the point where you have all this gear sitting around and you get a phone-call saying I need to hire a lighting rig for a show tonight.. what's going to happen when your parents are out all day? Your stuffed because you have the kit but can't actually move it anywhere but your shed.

 

Then of course you have to think about keeping it maintained, you need to have enough PAID work to cover expenses because I can guarantee at some point you will have to pay for something!

 

I'm going to be very honest here and say that truly, I'm very very worried. I'm worried because you've been offered a job interview for a performing arts technician, yet you've stated yourself that you have a lack of knowledge and quite frankly your wording and grammar is not up to scratch. You need to be focussing on getting through school, getting another qualification in the form of A Levels or Diploma's etc and stop trying to get employment because frankly you don't have the life experience or clearly the knowledge you need to survive in the industry yet. It'll come with time, as will everything else but when your at this age, time is one thing you definitely do have. So use it wisely, get as much experience as you can, get on a college course, gain some contacts and in a few years time maybe try out the freelance opportunity.

 

Oh, and one thing to keep in mind.. is to get stuck in, get yourself involved with as much as you can.. do some voluntary work even if it's just doing Front-of-House once a month with a local theatre... At the end of the day, experience, knowledge and contacts are key so the more of that you get; the better grounding you'll have lined up for a succesful career.

 

Good luck to you, keep your eye out on this forum and I'm sure you'll learn a lot about the industry and how it work (I sure did!)

 

Remember, feel free to PM/E-Mail me if you like.

 

Hope this helps,

Aaron

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

Tom - Thanks for the post. Again, I don't claim or advertise myself to be a hire company. I am much more like yourself, a guy who does lighting and owns kit which he hires out to people that want it. The reason the Hire-list is up there is because I use that website for reference so instead of sending people copies of my Portfolio & what equipment I've got. I can just say go to my website and have a flick through.

 

Second quick point, is that the equipment listed on there isn't up to date and will be updated by the end of the week (I Hope) to add 6 Minuette Profiles & 8 Minuette Fresnels so I do have more equipment and a good range of equipment as opposed to loads of movers and nothing else.

 

Ynot - I'm almost a tiny bit offended there.. I have to say that the experience I have is quite substantial as opposed to other 17 year olds and unlike some others, I am there solely on very hard work and determination. I have a good knowledge of how the industry works and the equipment used within the industry as others that know me would agree.

 

At the end of the day, I'm a self-employed freelancer and I am very succesful as I have been self-employed for approximately 12 months and I am making good strong profits after business costs are accounted for.

[david.elsbury]

You're a "self employed freelancer" and have been since you were 16?

 

Yeah. Right.

Sorry.

[Aaron-Hill07]

Yep. Is this where I now have to prove myself?

[Ynot]

Ynot - I'm almost a tiny bit offended there.. I have to say that the experience I have is quite substantial as opposed to other 17 year olds and unlike some others, I am there solely on very hard work and determination. I have a good knowledge of how the industry works and the equipment used within the industry as others that know me would agree.

 

At the end of the day, I'm a self-employed freelancer and I am very succesful as I have been self-employed for approximately 12 months and I am making good strong profits after business costs are accounted for.

Offence isn't what was intended BUT you fail to realise that - by intent or otherwise - you are touting your services as a Lighting Designer and your web site advertises that you have equipment to hire.

 

The equipment, first, is minimal and despite the nice flashy web presence doesn't really amount to much - even with the few bits you're adding this week.

 

But where I'd have to take issue is your status as a freelance LD.

What qualification do you actually have which gives you credence to call yourself a designer?

Your portfolio does list a few impressive sounding gigs, but mostly as a rigger or follow spotter - the festivals & fireworks nights you show as being LD for seem to be small-scale affairs and if I'm honest wouldn't be too taxing to design...

The theatre list I suspect is most likely school productions?

 

Again my apologies for being a bit brutal but you HAVE to look at it from the outside.

Your responses in this thread in fact have contained some wise words, so kudos for that, but at the end of the day you're presently parading yourself as something you're not really qualified to be.

 

You're far from alone in this, and maybe you have a slightly better head on you than some others here, but the principle is still the same.

[woody2]

I'm just 17 years old

 

working properly in the industry for a couple of years now

 

who is in full-time education.

 

<_< need I say more

[Guest]

the experience I have is quite substantial as opposed to other 17 year olds

 

Actually I have to say I'm slightly offended worried by that quote and I'm sure alot of others are too.

I for one know that I don't have the most amount of work in my portfolio but I still have spent a fair bit of time working for a hire company. Now that doesn't give me a right to say I'm better than most 17 year olds does it?

 

and to the OP, I've seen two ages for you on two different threads, are you 16 or 17?