Touring with Fixtures

[Capi]

I'm interested in how you pack lighting instruments for transport, namely a touring show. They would be in a box truck. Do you use road cases or another method? I hope it is clear enough what I am asking. Let me know if I need to clarify anything. Thanks for any insight.

[sound_nerd]

We use roadcases for all of the touring gear. 8-way truck pack cases for the ERS fixtures and the fresnels, two way cases for the movers. The only fixtures that aren't in roadcases are the par bars/acl bars, which get put on a rack that holds 9 bars. The lenses for the ERS fixtures live in another 8-way case in the event we need to swap lenses out.

[Pie4Weebl]

Meat racks are the way to go for large amount of conventional lighting fixtures and dual flight cases for movers.

Also, don't search for meat rack on google image search, there are just some things you can't unsee.

[Eboy87]

I never thought I'd get a chance to use this, but, in light of Pie's post:



That is all.

[Capi]

Originally Posted by sound_nerd

We use roadcases for all of the touring gear. 8-way truck pack cases for the ERS fixtures and the fresnels, two way cases for the movers.

What's an 8-way case? Maybe a link...

[Footer]

Will you be pre-rigging anything? If you are going to be going the unistrut pre-rig route, meat racks made for that are your best bet. I personally don't like conventionals in cases, I prefer meat racks (or swing truss if you have some cash....). Few things of info would be helpful... how many fixtures... are they hung in clumps or all over the place...

[Techiegirly]

Originally Posted by Pie4Weebl

Also, don't search for meat rack on google image search, there are just some things you can't unsee.

Oh that was great...I'm almost tempted to do a Google search though now. Any one else feel that way too?

[Les]

Not to continue hijack but... Once I did an images search on Annie because I was designing the show and I wanted to see the set. Google has a dirty mind!!!

[Capi]

Originally Posted by Footer4321

Will you be pre-rigging anything? If you are going to be going the unistrut pre-rig route, meat racks made for that are your best bet. I personally don't like conventionals in cases, I prefer meat racks (or swing truss if you have some cash....). Few things of info would be helpful... how many fixtures... are they hung in clumps or all over the place...

First of all, this is a summer tour that has gone out the last couple years. The last two years it was Godspell and this year is Joseph. Anyway, the way they had it last year, and I assume it will be done the same this time, is they had, IIRC, 4 S4's on a pipe (bolted to it) with a Gator Clamp at each end of the pipe. This was then attached to the truss when they reached the venue, and the truss was then flown out. I think they had probably 20-25 lights for front light hung this way. They we had a S4 pars in shop-built box trusses and a few other fixtures upstage, but I'm not sure how.

In the past, transportation went like this: They had two or three 4x4 beams with angle brackets on each end spanning the width of the truck. The pipes with the S4's were then set on the beams with the fixtures hanging down. There were some problems with this. 1) The lights were free to move around and hit each other, the wall of the truck etc. 2) Occasionally, this caused the nuts to come off the bolts leaving the unsaftied lights dangling.

I plan on doing some things different this year. (If you haven't guessed, I was not on the tour last year, but I heard stories from my friends and room mate) This year, if we go the same route, I'm going to make sure every light is either double nutted or use lock nuts, make sure everything is saftied, and use blankets between the sets of lights and probably strap them to each other, if not also to the wall.

I am interested in any other ways transportation, or any other tips I can garner. Thanks.

BTW: My curiosity got the best of me and I Google Imaged "meat racks". Didn't really get anything that shocking....maybe if I turned the Safe Search function off... But I don't think I will.... Thanks for all the advice.

[Footer]

Originally Posted by ship

Meet BK Broiler (Big Kittie, Bunnie Killer amongst other names for him) - a roadie of one tour experience (accident but adopted by that local crew also) and who loved to walk the truss. And his sister Carlie Simon. BK was the best shop cat ever and my cat about the shop. Here they are one night at my desk while I stayed late in inspecting lamps. Could type away all night on the keyboard, he wouldn't care thus she wouldn't. BK would let you know if you offended him such as with a camera flash. Beyond that telling you about it nothing mean - no biting or other stuff. Not a mean bone in his body for humans - his best friends and all were no matter who - he loved people and especially liked nothing better than me carrying him about the shop in one hand.
Poor BK was also a hunter of local renoun in catching from snakes to baby bunnies and one morning after spending the night locked in the shop got out. The car that slowed down to let me cross never saw him running out. Poor thing died in my arms = one of those situations one still cannot believe actally happened but did. Best cat I ever met. all including his sister still miss him. His ashes now live above my desk - his home in the shop, and many still visit him in missing the big orange hunter.
Don't think there is any photos of him or either of them walking the truss but he especially loved walking out on stage while a designer was designing or across a truss being prepped for a show. This cat was a great roadie.

I have had one of those type of cats, loved being onstage, would usually try to follow me up a ladder. One day I had a wall unit flown in for a focus, got done with that piece and went to rail to take it out, had the piece about 10' off deck when I saw the cat jump off and run off stage... that cat never go on any scenery again.