truss rigging question

[andyharris]

Hi guys I've got 2 ADJ lighting bridge systems and I've got someone asking if I'd be able to do some wrestling ring lighting they would like some lights coming from all 4 corners of the ring which isn't that much of a problem, I've got enough LED lighting for that but I was wondering is there an adaptor for this truss to allow 1 section to be bolted a tripod stand at all, I've attached an image (taken from google) of the truss and as you can see it was attachment holes from lights along each section, there's 5 of each section of truss.

 

I was thinking if I could use the middle bolt hole to attach to a tripod somehow I could then add 4 LED pars to each section of truss to light up the ring for the shows, I've tried to google it but so far I just seem to running into walls and not finding anything useful so any help would be great

 

Cheers And

y

[timsabre]

You need an adaptor like this one from Doughty Engineering which supports the main truss pieces

 

http://www.doughty-engineering.co.uk/shop/images/thumbs/t_t55800.jpg

You would need a pair of these with 2 stands to support a separated length of truss, one would not be stable

 

 

Do not support the truss on those plates with holes, they won't be strong enough, they are to hang single lights from not support the whole truss.

If in doubt ask the manufacturer (ADJ) or a qualified rigger for advice.

 

Couldn't you just use a T-bar on a stand? That would be a lot simpler.

[andyharris]

it was just a thought since I already have the system to hand, but after looking into it further I do think T-bars would be a better idea

 

cheers

[Jivemaster]

A short Tee bar may help but soon they become wide enough to be unstable, remember that the area round the ring is a place where the public and the wrestlers get very active. IMO there is a REASON why boxing/wrestling lights are hung from high places. If these fights are part of any system of regulation then likely that system or controlling body will have specifications for the ring's lighting.

 

You will need to be certain that a fighter thrown out of the ring cannot knock your stands over, and into the crowd.

[Simon Lewis]

Hi, Andy,

 

Re-reading your post, you have two of these systems?:

 

http://static.americandj.eu/media/catalog/product/cache/0/image/350x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/D/u/Dura-Truss-sys_1.jpg

 

so - what you'd like to do is use one tower in each corner supporting one length (1.5m) of the steel truss. Looking at the instructions for the system (http://adjmedia.s3-w...TrussSystem.pdf ) the stand to truss adaptor is simply a block above the stand with two U brackets which the steel 16mm chords simply rest on and are prevented from jumping out of by pins in the top of the U bracket. These adaptors can only really be used in pairs - they are not designed to support a single piece of truss.

I can see where Timsabre is coming from with the Doughty clamps, but your truss tube is 16mm (a much smaller diameter than what is typically used). Whilst I am sure Doughty can always make some thing that will fit to order, I could not say whether American DJ intend the stand and truss to be used in that way, and I would suggest (for all these reasons and those given by Jivemaster) that this would not be a good idea.

You also have the problem that your stands have a maximum height of 2.7m and if placed on the floor will not give enough height next to a standard height boxing ring - in fact your lights are likely to end up at eye level.

 

I would echo the suggestion that you avoid using any stands in the vicinity of the ring altogether!

[timsabre]

Sorry I thought it was a goalpost system, didn't realise it was a non standard size either. Agree with the others...

[Jivemaster]

Stands go where people do not. If a fighter or team member hits a stand then it will collapse into and onto the front rows of audience -check your insurance! The place for stands could be on a higher balcony with no people, looking down. I think you will need to meet light level and light evenness regulation so that the fighters referee and scorers can see clearly AND so that crowd (and cameras?) can see the sport. Likely there will be a minimum height for the lamps so that no-one is glared out. Light level checking will probably need a lumen meter and lots of readings will be needed to prove full area evenness of lighting.

 

Go look on youtube for boxing and wrestling vids (there are hundreds) and see if any give you the chance to see the light rig, see whether any shadows on the canvas show the position of the lights. Expect a square of truss about four times the size of the ring with 2 - 10KW of PARs on each side, centred over the ring and about 20ft above the canvas (which may well be 6 - 8feet above the floor)

[Stuart91]

I've covered a handful of wrestling events - somewhat smaller and less production-intense than what Jivemaster describes above. I'm pretty sure it was more of an exhibition match so there was no worries about light levels. What happened was they wrestled under the florescent house lights, but used a handful of coloured lamps for entrances etc. The house lights were cut for those segments. Rather than risk stands, we used uplighters placed around the barrier that separated the front row of the crowd from the ring. None of the lighting looked particularly even or natural, but the customer didn't care.

 

The evening also featured a Harley being driven around the ring. Risk assessment? What risk assessment? And the ladders that they brought were broken during a ladder bout, so they couldn't get their banners back down afterwards. The point of this is - if the wrestling style is closer to WWE than Olympic, be prepared for anything and assume anything you put out will have people fighting round about it.

[Jivemaster]

Ask your contact for their ideas of what they want, what code they fight to, and what lights they want. Assume that some will get trashed if they can be reached. Why did the last contractor depart????