Houselight Control

[GridGirl]

My old theatre (now sitting unused due to the Christchurch earthquakes) had a dual mode house light system. Wall switches downstairs, easily accessible by cleaners etc, then in the control room a work mode/show mode switch. In work mode, house lights are either on or off and controlled by the switch or the desk. In show mode, controlled from the desk only and the switches have no effect. I have no idea how it was wired up - they were driven by the dimmers at all times - but it was a very user-friendly system.

[dmxtothemax]

We have still got the original house lights, which are floro,s

I suppose these are what you describe as work lights

these are controled in two places downstairs (original location)

And now I have added a two way switch in the control booth which can also control these work lights.

But we also have secondary house lights which are controlled from the dimer panel.

These where originally incandesant as they have the best smooth response on dimers.

But now that LED,s have matured we have replaced those incandesants with LEDS.

Not quite as smooth as incandesants but MUCH less power

And also MUCH less heat which the air conditioners would have to negate.

[paulears]

We have terrible houselights, dim and they snap out at the bottom. Two big knobs turned by the stage manager. Each knob also has a big on switch that anyone can press - cleaners, visitors etc. While the dimmers stay on permanently the controls may not even be in the building. No DMX, no cleverness at all, and for us - it's fine. It does mean that somebody often has to walk through a totally dark auditorium, occasionally walking into the iron if somebody left it in, and then head for the panel in pitch darkness. This is actually quite fun - we do it as a challenge to see who has the best spacial awareness. It's interesting to be blind for five minutes. No emergency lights, no light at all - bar a tiny chink of light through a small hole in a wall panel. The venue uses a central battery supplied 110V emergency light system, so when empty the auditorium has total darkness.

 

While having control from the desk would be nice - we have never needed it.

[Barreller]

Can you not afford torches in Lowestoft Paul?

[peza2010]

Can you not afford torches in Lowestoft Paul?

 

They can afford them, but the saturated sea salt air would instantly corrode the aa's - pauls way is the only method.

[PaulDF]

I answered "No, and wouldn't want it".

My current setup has the houselights on a separate DMX universe to the stage lights running on their own small 6ch controller.

The reason I don't want them on the same is from past experience. I used to have the house lights on generic channels on my desk (fat frog). After a show I did some editing and forgot the houselights were attached to it. Mid way through the next show when I qued the one I edited the house lights came up full. Adjusing the program live to take them out wasn't the quickest thing in the world to do either!

Hence from that day they are separate, I can edit away after a show with the houselights up without worry. It also means the main lighting desk doesn't need to be on for the house lights to work.

[alistermorton]

BTDTGTTS

 

Park is my friend, now. I don't think our old Strand desk could do that, though, so it was a much more common mistake to make.

[J Pearce]

On ETC EOS desks Exclusive subs are also handy for keeping house lights (and hazers/fans etc) out of the cuestack programming.

[Stuart91]

I hit a similar problem once. Got parachuted into a corporate gig due to another tech calling off sick.

 

There was nothing programmed in the desk, and we had six movers that needed to be waggling furiously the minute the meal finished. House lighting was controlled from the same desk and had to remain up throughout.

 

Luckily I had spare generic channels on the desk, so my solution was to re-patch the dimmers that were being used for the house lights onto channels that weren't in use during the programming.

 

(The desk was an Event Plus, which dates it somewhat. Programming blind wasn't an option and movement patterns had to be programmed manually as chases)

[alistermorton]

On ETC EOS desks Exclusive subs are also handy for keeping house lights (and hazers/fans etc) out of the cuestack programming.

 

Indeed so.

[paulears]

Re: torches. Yes - there are torches. There are no batteries. Remember although Lowestoft is in Suffolk, and therefore sensible, the theatre is in Norfolk - and no working torches are just one of the 'Normal for Norfolk' features. Lifeboatmen who can't swim, horses having to wear nappies, no parking after 10am restrictions in front of the theatre, and the oft quoted truthful answer to the question on the phone - is there a rake on the stage? "Well, if there is, we'll make sure they're cleared away before you arrive".

 

Torches? Luxury.

 

Sorry for the hijack - but you have to deal with theatres like mine!

[alistermorton]

Do the torches go with the pitchforks?