Results 1 to 17 of 17
Low[er] cost gobos is being discussed in the ControlBooth Lighting and Electrics forum; At risk of alienating some of our patriotic members ,I have found a Chinese company who make a range of ...

  1. #1


    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    perth W Australia
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    712
    Thanks
    24
    Thanked 28 Times in 25 Posts

    Default Low[er] cost gobos

    At risk of alienating some of our patriotic members ,I have found a Chinese company who make a range of gobos including multi-colour glass ones at a price even I can afford, and they are happy to send anywhere in the world unlike some other companies who only service the US.


    ∷广州市耀星光学仪器有限公司∷
    David Ashton
    All Things Theatre
    Perth,Australia

    "for every complex problem there is a solution which is neat, simple,and wrong"
    H. L. Menken

  2. #2
    CBmod icewolf08's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Occupation
    Master Electrician
    Posts
    3,782
    Thanks
    25
    Thanked 264 Times in 221 Posts

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    Have you actually purchased templates from them? Is it actually cheaper when you include shipping costs? Are the cuts good?
    Alex Weisman
    Master Electrician - Pioneer Theatre Company
    IceWolf Photography


    Soup or art?

    "...allow me to explain about the theatre business.
    The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster!
    ...Strangely enough, it all turns out well."

    Love CB? Upgrade to premium today!

  3. #3


    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Houston, Tx
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    1,281
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked 45 Times in 44 Posts

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    Have you talked to Jands over there? I bet they would know a good source for gobos that is "local" though nothing is too local in Austrailia.

  4. #4
    Senior Team  Premium Member 
    Footer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Saratoga Springs, NY
    Occupation
    Production Coordinator
    Posts
    7,596
    Thanks
    2
    Thanked 535 Times in 429 Posts

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    Woo Hoo, now I can get replacement gobos for my Mario3000.

    Also, I would just like to throw out there that these gobos are a direct rip off of Apollo, though there could be more then just Apollo. If Apollo won't ship to you, then buy these, but if they can you should not be buying this product.



    and Apollo's...



    and...





    I do however like the upside down Texas. I figured Texas would have declared war on them because of it by now.

    Comments Keith?
    Last edited by Footer; March 9th, 2009 at 08:38 AM.
    Kyle Van Sandt
    Production Coordinator
    The Egg
    Van Sandt Designs

    "Pull rope, push box, push button, get a banana."

  5. #5


    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    perth W Australia
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    712
    Thanks
    24
    Thanked 28 Times in 25 Posts

    Thread Starter

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    Wow, two window gobos the same, you wouldn't find a Rosco or Lee gobo like that.
    No I can't get Apollo gobos here except by going through a US dealer and when I tried last year to get a 3 colour glass gobo made the best price I could get was US$500, which was, I thought, ridiculous.
    Strangely this Chinese company doesn't show all their designs on their site because they're concerned about their designs being copied.
    If you live in the US and you're happy with the products you're getting, that's great, for you, not much value if you live in the rest of the world.
    I am not giving a recommendation, yet, of their gear, but I am getting some samples over, with custom gobos $50 each and $3 copy and 3 colour $130 and $20 a copy, I'd be a fool not to try them.
    David Ashton
    All Things Theatre
    Perth,Australia

    "for every complex problem there is a solution which is neat, simple,and wrong"
    H. L. Menken

  6. #6


    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Houston, Tx
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    1,281
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked 45 Times in 44 Posts

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    Here in tx, i am paying around 90 for the first metal gobo, and around 7 i think for the copies. Over in louisiana, we have been having problems of no dealer close by for lots of things, the closest dealer was here in houston, so over there we became a dealer. There problem fixed. Maybe you could become an apollo or rosco dealer. The company i work with over in louisiana is a rosco, elation, american dj, and trying to become a clay paky dealer.

  7. #7
     Premium Member 


    Kelite's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Fort Wayne IN, USA
    Occupation
    Manager/Administrator
    Posts
    1,701
    Thanks
    40
    Thanked 80 Times in 72 Posts

    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    Quote Originally Posted by Footer View Post
    Woo Hoo, now I can get replacement gobos for my Mario3000.

    Also, I would just like to throw out there that these gobos are a direct rip off of Apollo, though there could be more then just Apollo. If Apollo won't ship to you, then buy these, but if they can you should not be buying this product.



    and Apollo's...



    and...





    I do however like the upside down Texas. I figured Texas would have declared war on them because of it by now.

    Comments Keith?


    Hi guys, yes another Asian manufacturer with few ideas of their own. This happens to most quality lighting and audio manufacturers, so I guess one could say imitation still continues to remain flattering.

    The reason I buy brand name products locally (in the USA) is due to the nature of emergency replacement within a day's notice. In the event my Mario 2000 losses a rotating wheel or encoder, I will be lucky to be up and running within a few weeks. With custom glass gobos, it only takes one time to have the material crack, words mispelled, or other issue (which happen to every manufacturer at one time or another) with no time for a rescue.

    There are many gobo makers in the world, and there will become many more I'm sure. Find one you trust and build a relationship with that company. Hopefully if you need them on a Saturday night, they'll be there for you in your moment of crises.

    Have a great day gang-
    Keith Kankovsky
    Apollo Design Technology
    US distributor of Spotlight and Multiform fixtures. Earth-friendly gobos, gel, and other gear at www.apollodesign.net
    *PrintScenic Full Color & B/W gobos for LED profiles
    Laus Deo

  8. #8
    Senior Team  Premium Member 
    Footer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Saratoga Springs, NY
    Occupation
    Production Coordinator
    Posts
    7,596
    Thanks
    2
    Thanked 535 Times in 429 Posts

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    Quote Originally Posted by Kelite View Post
    Hi guys, yes another Asian manufacturer with few ideas of their own. This happens to most quality lighting and audio manufacturers, so I guess one could say imitation still continues to remain flattering.

    The reason I buy brand name products locally (in the USA) is due to the nature of emergency replacement within a day's notice. In the event my Mario 2000 losses a rotating wheel or encoder, I will be lucky to be up and running within a few weeks. With custom glass gobos, it only takes one time to have the material crack, words mispelled, or other issue (which happen to every manufacturer at one time or another) with no time for a rescue.

    There are many gobo makers in the world, and there will become many more I'm sure. Find one you trust and build a relationship with that company. Hopefully if you need them on a Saturday night, they'll be there for you in your moment of crises.

    Have a great day gang-
    Amazingly we have not been hit here like lightnetwork has with the Mario3000's and such. Its sad to see that they blatantly rip off another company. Yes, all manufactures have similar gobos but come on. They went to the Apollo site, downloaded the art, and blamo, they had gobos. Added to that who knows what they are doing with the waste after the steel is etched. I am not saying that all Chinese stuff is junk, but I am saying if you see copywrite or patent infrengment do not buy stuff from that company. We are seeing more and more of this in our industry, if it takes off I have a feeling it will start hurting the companies that actually inovate to make these products.
    Kyle Van Sandt
    Production Coordinator
    The Egg
    Van Sandt Designs

    "Pull rope, push box, push button, get a banana."

  9. #9


    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    perth W Australia
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    712
    Thanks
    24
    Thanked 28 Times in 25 Posts

    Thread Starter

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    There is one HUGE difference between Apollo and this Chinese company, [who do have a range of unique and interesting stuff] and the difference is that they want to sell me stuff and Apollo do not want my business, it's great to have the most wonderful product in the world, but if you refuse to sell it, then it's not much use to me.
    David Ashton
    All Things Theatre
    Perth,Australia

    "for every complex problem there is a solution which is neat, simple,and wrong"
    H. L. Menken

  10. #10
    CBmod  Premium Member 
    Grog12's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Occupation
    Ballet Technical Director/Lighting Designer
    Posts
    2,580
    Thanks
    71
    Thanked 88 Times in 79 Posts

    Blog Entries
    3

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    How can you be sure Apollo isn't trying to get into the Australian Market?

    There are a variety of reasons that companies can't sell across international borders, its not because they don't want your buisness (any company that turns down sales usually doesn't stay a company for very long) but probably has something to do with a lot of buericratic red tape.
    6 P's to live by: Piss Poor Planning Prevents Positive Performance
    4 P's for LD's Producers Prefer Pretty Photographs.
    Nothing like being focused and desperate to make me remember how something works. ~Steve B
    It's not bullying--it's educating via the time-honored traditions of intimidation and humiliation. ~Derek

  11. #11


    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    perth W Australia
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    712
    Thanks
    24
    Thanked 28 Times in 25 Posts

    Thread Starter

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    Fairly straightforward I needed 2 Roman gobos, I found exactly what I needed emailed Apollo, they said they don't supply to Australia, I got contact in US to buy and ship out, fortunately there was no rush.
    At least half of US suppliers will only sell in the US.
    If you don't believe me go to Ebay and see how few suppliers will export.
    Now it's their country and if they don't want my money, that's cool, but do not lecture me on buying inferior gear while at the same time refusing to sell to me.
    This is also why I make or buy lots of spare parts for lamps as we're too small a market to bother with.
    David Ashton
    All Things Theatre
    Perth,Australia

    "for every complex problem there is a solution which is neat, simple,and wrong"
    H. L. Menken

  12. #12


    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Houston, Tx
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    1,281
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked 45 Times in 44 Posts

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    have you talked to jands yet? They are the makers of the jands vista console, but they are also dealers for lots of companies both lighting and audio, and they are based in austrialia.

    J A N D S

    Also if you feel better, i buy a few grand of custom gobos a year, and i have to go through a dealer to buy Apollo gobos. I have two choices of gobos, order from a friend of mine who is a rosco dealer, in which i usually get a nice deal, or go through several local dealers, 1 being way high on price the other being a small company so they don't have much of a price break, so they are only a little cheaper than the first, or the 3rd in which they are <unacceptable for reasons deleted>. I once called Apollo about becoming a dealer, and they wanted me to buy 50K in inventory to start, i said nope and that was the end of that.
    Last edited by derekleffew; March 10th, 2009 at 10:15 AM.

  13. #13


    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    perth W Australia
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    712
    Thanks
    24
    Thanked 28 Times in 25 Posts

    Thread Starter

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    Jands don't make gobos and they are not cost competitive at my [lower] end of the market, but their salespeople are awesome.
    David Ashton
    All Things Theatre
    Perth,Australia

    "for every complex problem there is a solution which is neat, simple,and wrong"
    H. L. Menken

  14. #14


    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Canada
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    441
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 25 Times in 23 Posts

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    the response David received is not unexpected. It is not always possible to deal with a U.S. company for many reasons: exchange rate, government regulations, distance, shipping costs, the U.S. product does not have the required approvals, the U.S. company is not interested etc.

    In my day job the industry I work in has become so frustrated with dealing with the U.S. government export controls that the non U.S. part of the industry has largely extracted itself from the U.S. suppliers and the Europeans in particular have heavily invested to develop non U.S. suppliers. It is too hard to deal with the U.S. and U.S. government regulations.

    This is sad because there are many excellent U.S. companies who are losing business because of the U.S. bureacracy. By the way the U.S. also has its share of lousy companies. No country in the world is all bad the reverse is also true.

    I await the torrent of replies

  15. #15
     Premium Member 


    Kelite's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Fort Wayne IN, USA
    Occupation
    Manager/Administrator
    Posts
    1,701
    Thanks
    40
    Thanked 80 Times in 72 Posts

    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    The Australian distributors for Apollo products are Bytecraft Entertainment and Clearlight Shows Pty Ltd. in Victoria. Since shipping charges for metal stock gobos is somewhat ridiculous, the sale of SmartColor scrollers, Smart Move rotators and Right Arms have proven to be a better sale for our agents in Oz.
    No one is lecturing you David, sorry if you抳e gotten that impression.

    Tim, while a stocking order is in line for most equipment/expendable manufacturers to open additional dealerships, $50k is not accurate. I'll PM you with details.
    Keith Kankovsky
    Apollo Design Technology
    US distributor of Spotlight and Multiform fixtures. Earth-friendly gobos, gel, and other gear at www.apollodesign.net
    *PrintScenic Full Color & B/W gobos for LED profiles
    Laus Deo

  16. #16


    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    perth W Australia
    Occupation
    President/Owner
    Posts
    712
    Thanks
    24
    Thanked 28 Times in 25 Posts

    Thread Starter

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    So a practical example would be, I contact Bytecraft, send them my artwork,[they are 3000 miles away] some time later they send it to Apollo who make it and send it back to Sydney who then send it to me.
    We have 4 x DHL courier trips and 2 mark ups and maybe 2 weeks if I'm lucky.
    Same job with artwork sent to China, well under a week and 1/4 of the cost,
    what would you do in my situation? and of course I know I live in the most isolated capital city in the world, but in this internet age with secure money transfers it is easy to do business safely, my daughter sells costumes all around the world.
    On a typical install I will buy gear from my supplier in Holland and from Sydney, Australia and from the US, [Innovative Systems are seriously competitive]
    The gear will arrive from everywhere in 5 days, average, from China, 2 days average.
    The point is I can buy US gear much cheaper than some Chinese gear and vice versa, you cannot generalize as there are really nice people in all countries, who do all they can to help get your show together and there are people who don't care about your problems in all these countries too, I get really annoyed at unfair generalization of China in particular as some of their gear is excellent and innovative and generally but not always lower cost.
    David Ashton
    All Things Theatre
    Perth,Australia

    "for every complex problem there is a solution which is neat, simple,and wrong"
    H. L. Menken

  17. #17
    CBmod icewolf08's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Occupation
    Master Electrician
    Posts
    3,782
    Thanks
    25
    Thanked 264 Times in 221 Posts

    Default Re: Low[er] cost gobos

    It sounds to me like David has a good thing going. Just as anyone else will stand by the people who give them the price and service that they need. Sure, here in the US, Chinese manufacturers have a bad stigma about them, but hearing that at least one of them is doing well by the end user is a good thing.
    Alex Weisman
    Master Electrician - Pioneer Theatre Company
    IceWolf Photography


    Soup or art?

    "...allow me to explain about the theatre business.
    The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster!
    ...Strangely enough, it all turns out well."

    Love CB? Upgrade to premium today!

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •