LightBoard for Just a Few Moving Instruments

[drawstuf99]

Hi,
This may have asked deep in some topic somewhere, but I wanted to ask this...

I'm about to start working on a community theatre production of "High School Musical" (yes...) and, needless to say, this community theatre's lighting system is less than up-to-par.

Currently, there's an OLD Strand GBX "Genius" Console. It's crap; however, it works for what they've been doing up to this point w/ conventionals.

I'm hoping to, if budget allows, rent a few moving heads or a few scanners (most likely scanners because they seem a bit more compact and cheaper for the price of community theatre). Having not been able to use moving instruments personally, I'm kindof in a odd position. I realize that if I get anything, I'll have to end up renting a light board to run the stuff from in addition to the conventionals.

My question is this: For using maybe, four moving instruments (scanner or moving heads) in addition to maybe 4 color scrollers, would it be more wise to get a cheaper board to rent (ie: ETC Express/Expression which I've used before) or something more complex like a Hog. I'm a bit concerned about the learning curve of something like a Hog board and our short load-in/program/tech time. I know you can run moving instruments w an ETC Express or Expression, its just maybe sometimes more tricky. These instruments wouldn't be doing too many complex movements, so...yeah.

Any ideas? I'm not sure of my budget just yet, I'm just checking out options. I know renting boards can be a bit pricey, as I've looked at rental companies in my area.

Thanks for the help in advance.

[soundlight]

If there's a chance that you could permanently augment the theater's inventory, 've heard that the American DJ DMX Operator Pro is a very nice mini-console that'll work for a community musical in a pinch. It's one of those "Made by Elation for AMDJ" consoles that is under the Elation bar so they refuse to sell it under their name, but it will work just fine for a musical.

But, if you want to rent, an Expression 3 (has encoders) or a Hog 250 or Hog 500 should work. As others have said in the thread that I posted, the manual is actually pretty readable after you get in to it (I read it for a while last night and messed around with Hog PC, and it's rather nice). But remember that neither the Hog 250 nor the Hog 500 have touch screens, and the Hog 250 is the older Jands model, same with some Hog 500's.

[beltsvillecrucib]

Hey there,

First off I would check to see how many channels the strand is licensed for (btw is it a GSX or LBX?). The GSX we have at school is only a 50ch version. That could render a decision on whether or not you need to rent real fast.

That being said, it is possible to plot with scrollers/DMX devices on a GSX/LBX, however it is a huge huge pain. Right now I am running 8 Wybron CXI's off of our GSX and cue-ing the show was no fun. It takes a lot of time to create mark cues. I could imagine it would be slightly easier on the LBX where you have more faders to use as "encoders". Also, the "effects engine" and the way in which effects are set up is awful. You can't program effects into cues unless you manually create a chase using link,wait, and loop. You start and run effects on a seperate little section of the board. You can only have 3 and they must run at full or off. This could get really, really messy with live moves. My recommendation is if you have the budget by all means rent an intel console. I know a Hog 500 normally runs around 300 per week and a 250 for less than that.

An express(ion) console may work, however, I've never had to use one without the emphasis server when programming movers. From what I've read the interface isn't great.

[gafftaper]

If you're going to rent, an Express is definitely not the way to go. You can do moving lights on it but it is not the least bit friendly to moving lights. Your learning curve will be much easier if you get a console that is designed to run movers. Renting a small Hog's or GrandMA are great options. What about purchasing the new ETC Smartfade ML... I hear it's not too expensive and is designed for small mover setups. Also any of the new strand Palette consoles will cover all your conventional needs and be much friendlier to movers than what you have now.

[Pie4Weebl]

expression and express are both fine for movers. not the best but if you are only doing 4 fixtures and mostly static looks it should be fine.

[SHARYNF]

On the low end for movers, elation Show Designer I gets recommended a lot
Sharyn

[KaR356i]

I have used an express console with 7 scanners. the two martin 918's had the most attributes and therefore took up the most channels. At the time, I was in college, had no experience with movers or a console designed for movers. It was not difficult to do on an express. a few years later I took a training course on the Whole Hog. In my experience, I think the learning curve is about the same, if not higher on an ml console. But that's just my opinion.

If you end up using an express console, I'd be happy to give you the tips I learned. That's all we had in college, so I spent 4 years on that board combining ml's and conventionals.

Good luck!

[CLEFFEL]

Not sure when the production is, but a SmartFade ML might be right up your alley. It's compact, two universes of DMX and you can run it along side your conventional console. From what I hear it's got loads of features and has a good price point.

I don't believe they're going to ship until June, so if you can wait, this might be the best way to go if you're only dealing with a handful of movers.

Good luck!

-Chris

[Lightingguy32]

Originally Posted by drawstuf99

Hi,
This may have asked deep in some topic somewhere, but I wanted to ask this...
I'm about to start working on a community theatre production of "High School Musical" (yes...) and, needless to say, this community theatre's lighting system is less than up-to-par.
Currently, there's an OLD Strand GBX "Genius" Console. It's crap; however, it works for what they've been doing up to this point w/ conventionals.
I'm hoping to, if budget allows, rent a few moving heads or a few scanners (most likely scanners because they seem a bit more compact and cheaper for the price of community theatre). Having not been able to use moving instruments personally, I'm kindof in a odd position. I realize that if I get anything, I'll have to end up renting a light board to run the stuff from in addition to the conventionals.
My question is this: For using maybe, four moving instruments (scanner or moving heads) in addition to maybe 4 color scrollers, would it be more wise to get a cheaper board to rent (ie: ETC Express/Expression which I've used before) or something more complex like a Hog. I'm a bit concerned about the learning curve of something like a Hog board and our short load-in/program/tech time. I know you can run moving instruments w an ETC Express or Expression, its just maybe sometimes more tricky. These instruments wouldn't be doing too many complex movements, so...yeah.
Any ideas? I'm not sure of my budget just yet, I'm just checking out options. I know renting boards can be a bit pricey, as I've looked at rental companies in my area.
Thanks for the help in advance.

A good board that is due out sometime late 2007, early 2008 is the ETC Smart Fade ML. How ever, a good moving light board for you that isn't that hard would be the ETC Express with Emphasis, it is one of the easiest systems to learn. How ever, I would recommend the ETC Insight 3 with Emphasis for ML, since it has 6 encoders and if you know the express syntax, then programming will be very easy

[Thomas]

My people, MARTIN FREEKIE. Now that's an awesome little desk!