Production/Technical desk

[hodgeydodgy]

Hi all

 

I am a volunteer a my old secondary school and studying Production Arts Technical at York College. Now the last show we did the the head was complaining about messy cables everywhere so we've decided to build a production/technical desk so that all the kit is wired into it. There will only be two cables running to the desk (power and a multicore from the patch on the wall.

The desk will have to be able to hold:

zero 88 Jester 24/48 (with monitor)

Soundcraft EFX 8 (with space for another if needed)

Radio Receivers

small effects unit

CD playback

Yamaha EMX 3000

And space for DSM

 

PLEASE have a look any suggestions and ideas would be brilliant.

Here are some pictures of the design and the design file.

 

If anybody would like to see the sketch up design do contact me and I will email it to you.

 

Thank You in Advance

http://www.blue-room.org.uk/brwiki/images/1/16/YHS_Hall_Production_Desk_g2.jpg

 

http://www.blue-room.org.uk/brwiki/images/d/d4/YHS_Hall_Production_Desk_5.jpg

 

http://www.blue-room.org.uk/brwiki/images/1/1c/YHS_Hall_Production_Desk_4.jpg

 

http://www.blue-room.org.uk/brwiki/images/5/5b/YHS_Hall_Production_Desk.jpghttp://www.blue-room.org.uk/brwiki/images/1/11/YHS_Hall_Production_Desk_3.jpg

[Dj Dunc]

We cant see your image!, and also, more info needed on the construction, budget, and wether its permanent etc.

[hodgeydodgy]

We cant see your image!, and also, more info needed on the construction, budget, and wether its permanent etc.

 

Hey there how do I add my images as it wont let it :/

[the kid]

And how many people you plan on having use it.

 

But in all honesty the best way to keep all the cables tidy is lay it neatly, and possibly loom it all. Making a desk to fit it all perfectly will work, but at the end of the day you still have loads bits just 2 cables.

 

If you don't have a rack get one for the sound kit as that will keep it neat. Job done.

[hodgeydodgy]

And how many people you plan on having use it.

 

 

There would be at max 3 people using the desk.

 

We cant see your image!, and also, more info needed on the construction, budget, and wether its permanent etc.

 

The budget isn't massive but it does want to be permanent so can be stretched to a point.

[the kid]

Going from the designs, which I have to say look quite good, what is the working height of this bad boy? looking at it, sitting down and the height of that back plate is going to be really annoying to see the stage. In-fact I would remove that back plate unless you can / want it lower and put in 4 LED XLR working lights

 

And you are in a school / college not going to want space to have someone "dive in" in-case of any issues?

 

I can assure you you will need to make the desk out of AT LEAST 3/4 inch if not thicker and need support legs, work out spaces.

 

That is going to be about £400-£500 I guess by the time you have got all the metal work on it as well not including any power stuff...

 

Seriously do a show and spend some time making the cables neat.

 

Also where are you going to store the beast?

[Dj Dunc]

If its for a permanent install, put a load of 13 amp sockets around the floor / underneath the desk surface. Also router / holecut a load of 3" holes at regular intervals for the passthrough of cables. Make sure with your 19" rack for all your audiogear that the rear is easily accessible to you, when you need to alter a set up, but equally as unaccessible for the general punter. In many boxes Ive seen, there is a hidden box basically where all the cables can be dropped down through slots, and then run through and back out of a hole in the box somewhere else. The cables are accessed by removable panels on the front side of the desk.

[hodgeydodgy]

Going from the designs, which I have to say look quite good, what is the working height of this bad boy? looking at it, sitting down and the height of that back plate is going to be really annoying to see the stage. In-fact I would remove that back plate unless you can / want it lower and put in 4 LED XLR working lights

 

And you are in a school / college not going to want space to have someone "dive in" in-case of any issues?

 

I can assure you you will need to make the desk out of AT LEAST 3/4 inch if not thicker and need support legs, work out spaces.

 

That is going to be about £400-£500 I guess by the time you have got all the metal work on it as well not including any power stuff...

 

Seriously do a show and spend some time making the cables neat.

 

Also where are you going to store the beast?

 

Well we are going to lower that back plate after playing about with the tape measure a bit as it is in the way. The unit is measured to fit through the door so it can go in to a storeroom.

Thanks Jake

[kerry davies]

Few questions before anyone can answer with reasonable solutions.

1) Why were the cables messy to start with? Can't you run them tidily, out of the way etc?

2) Is the head OK with reducing the capacity in a small, 200 seat hall to allow space for the desk? The footprint of this beast would be around 2mX6m which isn't negligible.

3) Will this affect external hires which the school website promotes?

4) How will the reduction in flexibility affect other uses for the hall/equipment etc?

5) What is the demand, if you only use the desk once or twice a year, is it worth it?

6) Can you store it when not required for shows?

 

In a school which has multiple uses for spaces I would have thought that flexibility was a prime factor, but only the school authorities can decide that. I note also that it is a specialist sports school and that the performing arts are treated holistically rather than being a specific area of speciality. You may well have decided to do this but the Head is the one to make the decisions. (Sorry to be a wet blanket, but...) Bit of a cross with Kid and how many of you big, hairy guys are going to be humping this thing around? To make it solid enough to move would makeit too heavy to carry.

[themadhippy]

buy yerself some black tat,make as much mess as you like with cables,and cover with black tat,.

[jonic222]

Hi

 

I like your design, but I'd be worried without a few more supports.

Also - if you were to hire in more radio mics for a large production, where would the receivers go?

I'm not sure if you'd ever need it, but is there room for a larger mixer or lighting desk (width and depth of the desk need to be considered)? We recently had a situation where our flatscreen monitor used for our lighting desk broke and we had to use an old CRT screen, which we had a hard time fitting onto our desk alongside the mixer and lighting desk.

Next - As you have a CD player I assume you use CDs. Would a shelf to store CDs be useful?

Last point (and I apologise for potentially being slightly over the top with Health and Safety here), but I'd recommend fitting a ledge at the back to stop chairs rolling or sliding off the back of the platform - I've seen someone fall off something like this and I don't think he enjoyed it!

[Dave SA]

Just build a crew surround. It'll cost less than a 10th of this and be moveable/recoverable to fit production themes/dressing etc.

[ojc123]

I'm with Kerry Davies, Themadhippy and DaveSA. Assuming you can answer to the judge that it's built to take the weight of three people moving about on it then it's a monster heavy thing which may go out the door but not easily. You can make it to suit the requirements now but they will change and you have to amend things.

 

In a similar school situation I use a platform built from Q-build(other products are available)for productions when I want to do what this does. It is quick, light, easy to put together and very flexible. It covers basically what yours does and is no problem to move. A bit of black round it if I want makes it presentable. I have a set of dedicated mains extensions, looms and multicores so I can patch it in to the normal system quickly when I need it. On my own I can set the whole thing up in an hour. If there is an issue then everything is easily accessible.

 

For info, I normally use a 3x2 (2250mm x 1500mm) platform at 500mm with 3 x 722.5mm units on top for the working surface. It has a barrier with toeboards at the back and sides to prevent people falling off. I have made it 5x2(3750mm x 1500mm)when needed. It's usually two people on the platform. The Q-build can be used for other stuff and takes up a lot less room when not in use than your planned unit.

 

You will move on fairly soon. You need to leave a simple system which can be used by someone else. That needs to be in your mind too.

 

I do like the LED strip thing. I can see that featuring soon.

[Junior8]

This is massive overkill for these little bits of kit. Tables, gaffa tape, a bit of black cloth and some care with the tripe is all that's needed. Get the woodwork dept to build you a nice rack for the radio mic receivers - if you really need them - and run the audio off a netbook. Ditch the screen from the Jester. Job done.

[overhyped]

I see you also want PC's in there:

Assuming the production demands more than one PC sometime, you'll probably need a switch (unless you trust your shows to wifi), which will need extra rack space, and most probably permission from the IT support dept - who will probably want a secure locked location and complete control over what goes on the network...

 

I agree with everyone else aswell: you're in a legal minefield making unrated things for schools...

Another thing: when a show comes up, are people going to actually want to lug that thing out? You will find people more willing to take out the few parts they want!