Transferring Gear Between Two Venues

[Thomas Johnston]

Hi All,

At the high school I attend we have 2 drama studios, and one 350 seat sized theatre. Our theatre manager is also in charge of the lighting and sound in the drama studios. We have lighting gear in all 3 venues and transfer the gear, cables, fixtures ect. between the two venues. Right now it takes a while to move between the studios and theatre. I am planning on building some "flight cases" on wheels to transfer the gear. How would you do this? And how do you recommend moving the gear between the venues?

 

[venuetech]

Do you have loading docks and ramps so you can roll the cases on and off the truck?

 

[Thomas Johnston]

We don't actually use a truck. The get wheeled to an elevator than up the elevator, rolled to the next building through tunnel, than to another elevator that takes them down to the studios. It is a school, and they didn't really keep us in mind when they designed it haha

 

[venuetech]

Size your cases to fit in the elevator or the smallest doorway. Get the best large wheel casters.
Think about where these boxes will store when not in use. You may want to look at storage hampers and bins that are commercial available. Dolly's and hand trucks would be nice to have during such moves

A garden wagon can be very useful.

Hampers nest when empty so storage space is a bit easier to find

 

[derekleffew]

http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/best-way-to-transport-instruments-while-saving-space.30130/
http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/best-way-to-transport-instruments-beside-meatracks.24042/
http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/methods-on-storing-light-cables.17240/
http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/looking-for-best-practice-on-storing-luminaires.36069/
http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/looking-for-meat-racks.32404/

 

[len]

Size your cases to fit in the elevator or the smallest doorway. Get the best large wheel casters.
Think about where these boxes will store when not in use. You may want to look at storage hampers and bins that are commercial available.

Used laundry hampers would be my first choice. Big, cheap (relatively) and not in high demand. Hand trucks disappear.

 

[Samuel Grant]

Honestly I would go with road cases. Yes they are more expensive but they have two major advantages
a) Easy to work with, move and stack when in storage.
b) Offer more protection to the fixtures.


At the venue I work in, we had a show two weeks ago where they brought in 6 movers inducing 4 Mac250s and also a whole bunch of PAR64 LEDs, a HOG . These lanters belonged to another venue in my city and as such when they bought them they had proper road cases as well. When they arrived they were on a truck that pulled up to our scene dock, they rolled directly into the crane hoist area and we attached the road cases to the crane with there handles. One they were on the stage we got the lanterns out, dropped em back down a floor to the scene dock and there we could stack the road cases on top of each other.

The laundry hampers could work depending on the fixtures and would be cheapish (good for a high school) but I would worry that the bags might break at some point and could therefore damage the lanterns.

If you were to get road cases I would hope that they were kept under lock and key, but to be fair len I used to be the head tech at my high school for my last 3 years and you would be surprised what would dispensary, It is sad to admit but at one point I actually had a lighting board goose neck light stolen

 

[theatricalmatt]

I would consider a mobile meat rack. Not very different than a flight case, but subtract what you don't need (solid sides) and add a pipe for hanging fixtures off of. Consider a drawer or boxes on one side or the bottom for things like gel frames, irises, and such.

You might also consider finding a central storage space, and cut the distance instruments have to travel in half. And is there a better path between the two venues -- perhaps even going outside (or onto a truck)?

 

[len]

and we attached the road cases to the crane with there handles.

Case handles aren't meant to be used to lift overhead in most cases.

 

[de27192]

I second making meat racks. Scaff bars in the top to hang lights from, then around the base board, add some sides maybe 4"-6" high, then you can bung cables in the bottom. Make as many of these units as required. Also nice is to add some little accessory boxes on the inside for easy storage of gel frames, irises, barn doors etc

Easiest 'off the shelf' way to make meat racks without the help of a welder is using Kee Clamp scaff

 

[robare99]

Keep an eye on Craigslist for some used flight cases. I found a pair, roughly 24"x24"x48" (approx, I'd have to go measure them) for $500. Since then I've seen more here and there.

Here's how I pack my lights:

4 Martin Minimac Profiles:

4 Chauvet Intimidator Spot Duos:

20 Blizzard Puck style lights:

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Meat rack for lights, hampers for cables, furniture dollies for big stuff and maybe a nice av cart or two. If you were a professional company I'd say road cases and cabinets, but meat racks and hampers work great for in house applications.

 

[kicknargel]

IMO, flight/road cases are overkill if you're not packing onto trucks regularly. +1 for meat racks, hampers and etc. You might even be able to build meat racks in a Z-configuration (similar to what's used in retail clothing) so they'd nest tightly for storage.

 

[theatricalmatt]

@gafftapegreenia -- I *loathe* cable in hampers. It's fine for the cable on top, but that'll be the case in almost any storage container. But the largest cables tend to get placed in the bottom, which means leaning in over the side, and getting the edge of the hamper into your diaphragm -- and then having to lift a 100' mult out. Ugh, no thanks. Give me a decent cable case, with a half-door on one side, or better yet, a "peg-board" style mobile meat rack ... assuming it's living in the theater building, not trucking somewhere.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

I'll be honest, are hampers my favorite? No. But they can work. I've seen hamperes with dividers added to sort by cable length, and that is something that makes then far more useful. Also, I think 100' feet of mult sucks no matter what its being hauled it, and having to lift out a coil is always a workout.

Meat rack withs arms to hold cables are preferable to hampers in my mind, but hampers can hold more cables. Heck, Rubbermade tubs can be very effective if you only have mostly short or thin cables.

This is all based on in-house stock. If its going on a truck even occasionally, get or make some cases.