GeorgeM_CPC&CHS Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 At my school we are having a problem with an iMove, we have four of them up high on a rig. There is absolutely no way of getting to it ladders etc. are out of question! The problem is, if for example you program all four to say tilt towards the audience, three of them do it and the other one does the opposite (inverts the action) for no apparent reason, it is being controlled through a fat frog! Any suggestions appreciated! http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blip2 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 On page 6-7 of the manual you will find how to pan/tilt swap from the desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 You need to use tilt reverse, not swap pan/tilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley R Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 If they were working perfectly, someone has changed the settings on the desk itself to invert the tilt on that one fixture. Also might be worth going back and checking any shows that are saved, as you may have also saved the tilt invert command into them as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiLL Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 No way to get to the unit? How on earth did your school envisage maintaining them? Oh... right.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley R Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 One would certinally hope that there would be access Via a Scissor lift or cherry picker, to be able to pull them down for a yearly service at best? Or am I being a bit to optimistic for a school http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LXbydesign Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 I would very strongly suggest to your drama teacher that someone needs to arrange access to this equipment for cleaning and so on. State the reasons why it is needed etc and leave it at that. On the same topic, doesn't anything get re focused or coloured at any time then? Not wishing to go down the old topic of students working at height etc etc, I would just keep your staff members sweet so they will feel more inclined to help and do something about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam L F Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 George, If there’s no way on accessing the moving fixtures, then you’re having an issue at the desk end. Someone must have inverted the tilt attribute from the lighting console, you can change this by going into the patch (I believe), what version of the desk and software are you running? Best, Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigclive Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 For those of you gasping in disbelief about the lack of access to the fixtures, this isn't actually down to lack of access. It's down to the teachers, lecturers and caretakers not being ALLOWED to work at any height. Note that they're not called janitors any more, and they're not allowed to fix things. You just wouldn't believe the number of schools I've worked on where antique fixtures had lamps in them that clearly blew just after install and had never been replaced since. Likewise gels tend to be a bit crispy because they are the same ones that have lived in the lights since they were first installed. Very few have PAT test stickers too, despite the theatre equipment having been "tested" by the usual lacklustre facilities mismanagement companies. It usually takes someone who gives a damn to actually maintain and focus the fixtures for events, and that's usually NOT drama teachers. Incidentally, the use of a cherry picker or scissor lift in a school hall would have to be assessed very carefully to avoid incurring the cost of a new wooden floor or worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeM_CPC&CHS Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 That basically sums up why we can't go up to maintain or adjust the fixtures! To be fair our drama teachers actually do give some care to the fixtures! The stage has been horribly designed though, its pretty much just tables pushed together with some scaffolding above it with the fixtures, frenels, floods etc. on them, and yes our facilities can only go up ladders to a certain height too! They also don't care enough either!! For those of you gasping in disbelief about the lack of access to the fixtures, this isn't actually down to lack of access. It's down to the teachers, lecturers and caretakers not being ALLOWED to work at any height. Note that they're not called janitors any more, and they're not allowed to fix things. You just wouldn't believe the number of schools I've worked on where antique fixtures had lamps in them that clearly blew just after install and had never been replaced since. Likewise gels tend to be a bit crispy because they are the same ones that have lived in the lights since they were first installed. Very few have PAT test stickers too, despite the theatre equipment having been "tested" by the usual lacklustre facilities mismanagement companies. It usually takes someone who gives a damn to actually maintain and focus the fixtures for events, and that's usually NOT drama teachers. Incidentally, the use of a cherry picker or scissor lift in a school hall would have to be assessed very carefully to avoid incurring the cost of a new wooden floor or worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techie_101 Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 if your school isnt allowed to work at height, couldnt they get LX bars on motors or something so you can lower / raise them? (although doing this will be awkward if you need to focus them) or are they permenantly fixed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 That brings more complication and expense, motors/winches require regular testing and certification. Also some people would say that you need to put a steel safety on the bar/truss when it is at it's "out" position, therefore still requiring access and working at heights.David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeM_CPC&CHS Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 They are permanently fixed unfortunately. Its basically a big piece of scaffolding holding them up and its bolted to the floor, if you saw it you'd think it was temporary staging, like the kind of thing that would be assembled at a festival except much smaller and much less stable! The only time I've ever seen anyone up it was near christmas last year we had a talent show, and we noticed something not quite right with one of the profile spots, what had happened was the iMove's had been shaking the steel strut they are fixed to so much the G clamp has actually come loose and its not secured properly (it is safety chained though) so they went up a ladder half the size of height of the stage to get a better look of how loose it is, and that wasn't even the performing arts dept that was facilities management (SPIE Matthew Hall) who are the only people in the school allowed to climb ladders! if your school isnt allowed to work at height, couldnt they get LX bars on motors or something so you can lower / raise them? (although doing this will be awkward if you need to focus them) or are they permenantly fixed? Next time I'm in school (I'm on study leave at the moment and have finished my exams so have no reason to be in) I'm going to take a picture of the stage and post it on this topic, you'll be surprised I think!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howartp Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 For those of you gasping in disbelief about the lack of access to the fixtures, this isn't actually down to lack of access. It's down to the teachers, lecturers and caretakers not being ALLOWED to work at any height. Yep, we had an H&S directive issued 3 months ago which states that only the site team may climb any ladder with more than 3 rungs/steps for safety reasons. Speaking to one of them last week, he pointed out that they have had no more training on how to climb a ladder than anyone other member of staff! What is even more daft is that myself and my technician both hold IPAF PAL licenses (as do the site team) for operating our scissor lift (on a regular hire contract) and also boom lift (occasional hire) which means we are insured through school to rise to the ceiling or roof level but we can't climb to the 4th step of a pair of standsteps. Incidentally, the use of a cherry picker or scissor lift in a school hall would have to be assessed very carefully to avoid incurring the cost of a new wooden floor or worse.Ahem, don't remind me. Little did I know that our school hall has a 1m wide, 1m deep trench running the length of it under the wooden floor (holding water, gas and electricity services), which is just in front of the fire door which I use to get the scissor lift in and out of the hall. The site manager very nearly killed me when he found me parked on top of it with a several-tonne scissor lift! The floor itself is fine, but the trench... suffice to say I have to extend the scissor lift's platform in order to access the LX bars above that part of the hall. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.