DMX Toys

[tyler.martin]

I am working in a 350 seat theatre, that is going to be undergoing some reno's in the summer 0f 2010. I will have some money to buy some items that can (according to one board member) give the tech some "wow" factor. I havent been given a budget, Ive just been told to come with some recommendations.

We are primarily a rental house, we only have 1 production that the theatre is responsible for producing, and that is the attached high schools' spring production. I generally run the tech for their winter rock school concert. We are going to be bringing in some third party productions from the local theatre scene fall 2010 and beyond.

Some Specs:
Board: ETC Express 48/96
Dimmers: Strand CD80 1.2kw Total of 192 Dimmer Channels
Fixtures: Almost exclusivly S4's with 10 Frenels and a Cyc Light Bar

So What I have been thinking about were these:

iCue
Seachanger or Color Scrollers

I dont think that movers would be a good investment. We really dont have that type of clientele, but i know we might be able to start attracting them.

A newer model board is in the works too, this console has been in the building since the theatre was built, and it is starting to show its age, and more recently the high school has been allowed to use the theatre with out either my supervision, or the manager around, so knobs are missing, my house patch disks have been over written etc...
Any other suggestions?

[Arez]

Apollo right arms can be nice.

Take a look at the Gafftaper Method, I believe it's in the collaborative articles section in the wiki.

[Kelite]

Apollo right arms can be nice.

Take a look for the Gafftaper Method, I believe it's in the collaborative articl. Section on the wiki.

The Gafftaper Method certainly causes one to look at many possibilities within a wide range of financial situations. With newer ellipsoidal fixtures already in house, the Right Arm would add versatility to your existing stock, as well as offer up some moving effects if desired.

There will be a wide range of new, exciting fixtures and accessories debuting at LDI this year (Apollo has 12 new offerings, the most in one year for us), so your choices will be many. Keep an eye on the trade rags and the cutting edge LDI reporting we are so used to viewing here on the ControlBooth!

[SHARYNF]

it is probably worth asking the board member/source of the funding what WOW FACTOR they are thinking about

Sharyn

[Footer]

The right arm is now selling for $850 at Production Advantage. That is the cheapest I have found it and puts 2 at the same price point at 2 icues+power supply and cable would be. I am doing the same thing with year end closeout donations and the Right Arm is going on my list.

An ellipscan would be cheaper.... but you get what you pay for.

[DaveySimps]

I am also a fan of the Right Arm units. We got a couple last year. Now that I see how we are using them, I am looking to add a few DMX iris units as well. The Seachangers are great as well. You also may want to consider a gobo rotator or two.

Before you start dreaming up a list, I would definitely get at least a ball park budget. Often times inexperienced people do not understand how much this gear actually costs. In their mind, they might think that you can buy much with $500, when in reality that can get eaten up by a few pieces of image glass or colorizers and frames.

~Dave

[coldnorth57]

I work in a house about the same size and have 4 I-cue and Iris and i have found then to be very handy as well we also have 8 Smart scrollers with soures 4 pars and they work great together

[xander]

A slight hijack here: does anyone have any substantial information on a comparison between the Icue and the right arm? Maybe like how smooth they are, is the Right Arm 16bit? I have never used one personally, but since it is Apollo it can't be bad, IMO. I wonder bcause they both pretty much accomplish the same thing, add movement to a fixed fixture. However, the Right Arm seems to be the better deal to me because of its versitility. An Icue only fits in a 6.25" accessory slot and you can only really go up to a 26 or 36deg. If I'm not mistaken you can put just about anything with a yoke on a Right Arm: ellipsodial, par, even a projector.

Just thoughts...

Tim

[JD]

And don't forget some of those wonderful DMX accessories from DFD !

(My Favorite) http://www.dfd.com/pdf/shokdata.pdf

and the rest:
Doug Fleenor Design - Ph & FAX (805) 481-9599

[derekleffew]

xander, see the thread: Right Arm vs. I-Cue.

[sstolnack]

If you have a system set up, a rep lighting plot, then my preference would be colorscrolls, or twinspins if you don't have any. In my opinion, colorscrolls can give a base plot a lot of flexibility, you can change the mood of scenes without adding more lights with different gels. They could also be very helpful for rock concert type lighting as well. A twinspin (gobo rotator) can add some "wow" factor as well.