Need a remote douser ?

[Charc]

soundlight pointed out the strobe control could be proprietary 0-10VDC.

[avkid]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

I know of very few professional strobes that use a 0-10v input as a trigger.

Well, it is Chauvet.

[bdkdesigns]

I've also used an old color scroller before as a douser. We disconnected the fans on it so that it was silent (heat isn't an issue on this projector).

I had a Heat Shield window and a Black Wrap window side by side. It was easy to make since we only had a 15 minute window to hang a projector that was just added to the show during tech.

[leistico]

I just got through doing "Closer" at my theatre, and had an interesting time with that same problem. The projector had to be used in the "chat room" scene, as it was the only action for the scene, and we had it on a gray/white wall on the set, glowing like glowtape, even on "black".

I found a chunk of masonite on the shop floor, drilled a couple holes in it, put one screw through it into the projector shelf as a pivot, put another screw in the shelf as a stop point for the "shutter" to rest on in closed position, and tied about 50 feet of string to it, up and over a couple pulleys, nails (not screws) and unused dead-hung light pipe.

The end of it terminated in side-of-house wing space. I put two screws close together on the back of the wall, and tied another screw to the string, so that all I needed was a stagehand on cue to pull the string about six inches and slip the screw+string under the other two screws for it to stay open, then when the scene was done, lift it out and let it hang free. The shutter rested back onto the other screw, and no one was the wiser. I had a black screen on prior to and after the scene, so there wasn't any spill light to speak of, and heat wasn't an issue as the projector ventilation was unobstructed and the masonite shutter was never in front of anything but "black".

I said little prayers to MacGyver and Rube Goldberg, as it lasted the whole three week run.

[derekleffew]

Very inventive, leistico. In Las Vegas, we would have found a way to make it hydraulic, and controlled by a PLC, with a dedicated operator, as well as a spotter, on a "deadman switch".

[ruinexplorer]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

Very inventive, leistico. In Las Vegas, we would have found a way to make it hydraulic, and controlled by a PLC, with a dedicated operator, as well as a spotter, on a "deadman switch".

And it would have gone over budget.

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by ruinexplorer

And it would have gone over budget.

Never enough money to do it right the first time, but always enough to redo it.

It's not done until it's been rebuilt four times.

(Certain phrases I've learned from a particular company in the desert.)

[icewolf08]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

Never enough money to do it right the first time, but always enough to redo it.

It's not done until it's been rebuilt four times.

(Certain phrases I've learned from a particular company in the desert.)

"Why have one when you can have two at twice the price?"

[ruinexplorer]

Originally Posted by icewolf08

"Why have one when you can have two at twice the price?"

Especially since you need to have a spare for the over engineered piece that will never fail and if it does there will be no way to replace it until you have time to repair it anyway!

[dbaxter]

On a serious note, I used an old servo from my RC car days and a USB servo controller from Phidgets to swing a "lollypop" of a big juice can lid soldered to a brass bar mounted to the servo. It took 20 minutes to whip up a Delphi program to have a green (open) and red (closed) button on the lighting computer to swing the douser in and out. If anybody wants the program, send me a note.