Automated Fixtures Purchasing Moving Lights

np18358

Active Member
So my school is looking to finally purchase moving lights. We have followed the Gaff Method, and up until now, we have been operating with a collection of DMX accessories including Right Arms, I-Cues, Scrollers, and other toys. We have never really been able to get exactly the look that we wanted, and we finally are looking to purchase moving lights. We have an extensive conventional array, an overhead LED array, and we are also looking into an LED cyc, so I think that movers are realistic. We have full time staff, and a modest (not huge) budget to repair if things break. These will go between two theatres, a 600 seat proscenium theatre, and a 167 seat black box theatre. Looking at 8-10 fixtures, and in the slightly below $10,000 a fixture range. I have been looking at the Mac Viper profile, and I love them, but it is slightly more than we would like to spend, and that means only getting 8 rather than the 10. I would prefer 10, not only because it makes more sense for our rep hang for the proscenium theatre, but because the way we light the black box, it is 9 areas, and that would be optimal. Also looked at the VL770 Spot, and more likely the VL880 Spot, was wondering if anyone had any experience with them. We produce a Large Musical in the spring, and a large showcase during the winter time, in addition to various smaller studio shows and showcases in our black box, and a straight play in the fall (although the movers would be used minimally if at all in this). I was also wondering if anyone had any suggestions for offerings from Robe or Clay Paky.

Thanks!
 
I have been using Clay-Paky Alpha 700 Profile and Wash Units for a year now and have been very pleased with the results. the fixtures are relatively quiet and have been very low maintenance thus far. I also have a small number of Alpha 300 spots for additional "flash and trash", which give very good output for a low wattage fixture. Another thing that I like about these fixtures alot is the beam spread range, the weight compared to other fixtures in that range.
 
Without a doubt go with Robe DLX/DLS fixtures. They have about the output of a 700W fixture in white and a 1200W fixture in the saturated colors (blues, reds, purples, other deep colors). I was beyond impressed with both the DLX (spot unit) and DLS (profile unit, has framing shutters & animation system but only one gobo wheel). The RGBW color mixing system that they have is very impressive. This will eliminate lamp expenses. Another huge upside with LED units in this case is that when your intensity is at zero there's not an arc source lamp sitting in the back of the unit still full on and all of the fans running full tilt - when it's off, it's off, and the fans can take a break and blow less stuff in to the unit. The new Robe stuff is also built better than most moving lights that I've torn apart before. They did just release the DL4S - which is the DLS with a revamped LED engine.
 
How are you powering this stuff ?

I'm a big fan of Martin, using 6 MAC700's as well as 9 Aura's. Very, very reliable gear.

The Viper I would not get as it uses 10.3 amps on a 120 volt circuit. That means 1 fixture per 20 amp circuit and that kind of drives me nuts, when I can easily get 2 700's on a relay.

So that is something I'd pay attention to.
 
Ah... I had not realized that. That could be an issue. We would probably be powering them off of just a standard 20 amp wall outlet. I would love some 700's, but I don't know where I could find any that are new. If you know a place that has them, that would be great. They are phenomenal instruments.
 
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Ah... I had not realized that. That could be an issue. We would probably be powering them off of just a standard 20 amp wall outlet. I would love some 700's, but I don't know where I could find any that are new. If you know a place that has them, that would be great. They are phenomenal instruments.

Why do they have to be new so long as they've been well-maintained? TMS has a bunch of used 700 profiles going for under $5k/pair. For that price you could have four times as many fixtures for the same overall budget. If a few start to develop issues, you can choose to either buy new parts or cannibalize a unit that you can take parts from to use in the other fixtures.
 
The school district won't allow us to buy any used gear. I wish they would. A local rental house has a dozen that they would give us for 10k or so.
 
We have 30 Vipers spread across a couple campuses and I love them. Definitely can't go wrong with them. Try getting a demo of the new Mac Quantum Profile. I've heard great things about them and are priced much less than the Viper. Plus, they are LED powered, so no lamps to pay for, which Viper lamps are pricey.
 
I haven't had any CRI or color issues with my Vipers. Both live and on video, they've looked great. Used them for a wrestling promo video shoot recently, and they looked great on camera.

Of course, you don't need that much power in the spaces you're talking about.

I'd second getting a demo of the Quantum, and one of the Robes (if possible, side by side) and see how they look in your space.
 
So we have looked at pricing, and we are down to 3 options. We are looking at the Mac Viper Profile. We have slightly reconsidered how we will power the units, so the 10.3 amp draw wont be an issue. Our other drastically different consideration is between the Robe DLS Profile, and the Mac Quantum Profile. We are probably going to be getting a demo soon, but I just wanted to see if anyone had any input on these choices.

EDIT: I realized that the Vl3000 required 220 voltage which isn't available.
 
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... These will go between two theatres, a 600 seat proscenium theatre, and a 167 seat black box theatre. ...
Mac Viper Profile weighs 82 pounds, and is ~29" tall + another 4" for hanging hardware; VL3000Spot is 91 lbs. Neither is something I'd want to move between two theatres regularly, and certainly not at the top of a ladder in a black box.

Continue to investigate moving LED profile units. New fixtures appear almost daily. For theatre use, I'd consider lack of framing shutters a deal-breaker.
 
Understood. So I guess the Robe DLS is the best option. It is the only LED mover that I am aware of that has shutters. Does anyone else know of any LED movers that have framing shutters in the 10 grand range?
 
The Robe DLS seems like one hell of an LED performance fixture -- I'd take it (almost) any day over the others especially at a school.
 
Just a divergent option, but Elation has the brand new Platinum Profile LED. Has a smaller LED engine than the Quantum and DLX, but also only has a 5k list price, and has shutters. It might be worth trying to compare it. I haven't seen one in person yet, but it certainly seems like an interesting option.
 
Thanks, I will certainly look into that.

EDIT: THe lack of a zoom feature makes it a non sell. Considering this has to go between a venue where we would frequently need a 10° beam, and then another where we would need a 36° or larger beam, the static 18° beam that this instrument provides will not work in most theatre environments. I question why elation would place framing shutters (a feature obviously geared towards theatre users) on an instrument without a zoom feature. It does have an iris, but still I can't see this in a theatre environment.
 
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Thanks, I will certainly look into that.

EDIT: THe lack of a zoom feature makes it a non sell. Considering this has to go between a venue where we would frequently need a 10° beam, and then another where we would need a 36° or larger beam, the static 18° beam that this instrument provides will not work in most theatre environments. I question why elation would place framing shutters (a feature obviously geared towards theatre users) on an instrument without a zoom feature. It does have an iris, but still I can't see this in a theatre environment.

Agreed. Waste of money without zoom. Cannot fathom what they are thinking, except it was the only way to get the optics to work, currently.
 
You know, maybe I'm Sancho Panza, but I would advocate fighting the used equipment battle. A 4:1 ratio is well worth it.
 

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