Stage Lighting upgrade... Thoughts on my ideas...

Ravenbar

Active Member
Local HS's looking to upgrade their lighting system. Budget of ~$350,000 for "new LED stage lighting and console for the auditorium". Their idea is to replace everything, even to the point of adding in moving lights. I feel doing that's going to be streatching the budget extremely thin

I'll say first off that I have little say in the ultimate outcome, as that's up to the architect/school. However I was asked for my input and invited to the meeting with the architect/most likely contractor, as I'm one of 2 people who actually work with the system(I come in every year for the musical and also to do maintanence on things as needed, and one teacher(also musical director) handles it the rest of the year.) Had to work my dayjob that day so sent an email with my ideas.

Current system is as follows:
-ETC Expression 3.0(400ch)
-120 ETC Sensor 2.4k dimmers
-Raceways at all lighting positions, with a single relay power circuit shared between them all(originally had 2, lost one when they replaced the aisle lights) and single DMX out at some positions
-failing inventory of Altman Shakespeares(from ~2008), a handful of Colortran ERS zooms(from ~1991), and bunch of 6" fresnels,Starpars(~2008), Par 64's, (12) Zipstrips for stage downlight and cyc.



My idea is as follows:
-Swap dimmers 1-42(all FOH circuits) to 1.2k dimmers, utilize freed up power for a additional 24 or 48 rack for either dimmers or relays. Relays would be if Shakespeare replacements are DMX controlled, otherwise add additional 1.2k dimmer circuits to FOH. THis is because we never seen to have enough circuits FOH to light all the different zones the director likes to use. Keeping current dimmable circuits in place for current inventory and practicals

-Add additional DMX outputs/relay power outlets to all positions.

-New fixtures, in order of priority
"(40) Altman PHX(150/250?) LED RGB(A/W) zoom - Replacement for the Altman Shakespeares. 36 fixtures be would minimum for 5(currently 4) downstage and 4(currently 3) upstage zones x the 2 groups I've been using the last few years.
-A good size inventory of RGB LED Pars - Replacement for Altman Starpars and PAR 64's
-RGB LED Cyc lights
-RGB(A/W) LED zip strip replacement"
-Toys(moving lights, ect) as budget allows

Also introduced the idea of a new lighting position at the back of the house in a cove of the ceiling, as a means to solve lighting issues at the very front of the pit. Every year during the musical the stage gets built up out into the pit. The current lighting "grid" over this area doesn't extend far enough out from the stage to adequately cover this area. Extending the grid over the seating also wouldn't work as access would be nearly impossible sue to a sloping floor and seats in the way.



Input?
I've been been for the most part out of the indusrty for over a decade, so not sure on current tech. Last time I saw anything more than a cheap RGB par for LED lighting was at the 2005 USITT conference in Toronto. My thoughts then, and I'm sure everyone else there, was "wow, those are vibrant colors, but they have no punch"

My biggest concern with going to a full LED rig is longevity and maintainability. Looking at 10-15+ years until the next major upgrade. With the advances in LED technology in the past 15 years, and also the complexity of fixing them, along with the additional cost of purchase, I feel those concerns are more than justified.
 
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If the goal is to move to all or mostly LED fixtures, you really don’t need dimmers. For power I would likely replace some of your sensor dimmers with relays ( Ie simply replace dimmer modules with relay modules ).
You can get up to 10 fixtures on a circuit. Now if it was me, I would leave some dimmers in the rig for when you do need dimmers, but you will not need very many. I would suggest you change either your dimmer or non dim circuits to another connector type like twist locks to make sure your students will not connect an LED unit to a dimmer for power.

In today’s world of fixtures, I would NOT do RGB fixtures. I would do RGBL. Or RGBAL fixtures ( red, green, blue, lime, Amber). For front of him use units that have to light faces, I would try to afford the ETC Luster systems. They have more colors and give better clurmrendering.

I would stay away from Altman and consider ETC or Chauvet instead. Just personal feeling about the company and where it is likely to be in 10 years for service, etc. especially if you are interested in longevity.
 
ETC doesn’t make 1.2 kw dimmers for Sensor, so there’s no swap out option unless you put in a new rack of somebody’s 1.2 stuff.

Better investment would be LED ellipsoidals for the FOH, relays to power the existing circuits and a data backbone, as well as a new console. The data backbone may be the most important as it’s labor to install. Gear you can sometimes buy piecemeal. Data being Ethernet everywhere and as many DMX Gateway/nodes as possible as that’s how you get the data out to the fixtures. Our big renovation had the consultant getting us 28 1&2 port ETC nodes. I thought at the time that was an absurd number, I’d never possibly use them, and right now I have 2 spares between spaces. And budget an update for the Sensor racks to CEM3 as it gets the older gear out.

I’m partial to ETC gear, but it’s not cheap. I think their service trumps any money saved on other companies, but you need to look at Chauvet as well as others as side-by-side.
 
If the goal is to move to all or mostly LED fixtures, you really don’t need dimmers. For power I would likely replace some of your sensor dimmers with relays ( Ie simply replace dimmer modules with relay modules ).
You can get up to 10 fixtures on a circuit. Now if it was me, I would leave some dimmers in the rig for when you do need dimmers, but you will not need very many. I would suggest you change either your dimmer or non dim circuits to another connector type like twist locks to make sure your students will not connect an LED unit to a dimmer for power.

In today’s world of fixtures, I would NOT do RGB fixtures. I would do RGBL. Or RGBAL fixtures ( red, green, blue, lime, Amber). For front of him use units that have to light faces, I would try to afford the ETC Luster systems. They have more colors and give better clurmrendering.

I would stay away from Altman and consider ETC or Chauvet instead. Just personal feeling about the company and where it is likely to be in 10 years for service, etc. especially if you are interested in longevity.

My thinking behind preserving the dimmers is that (1) I don't think the budget is going to stretch to replace absolutely everything, especial with the need for supporting system upgrades, (2) Preserving the ability in the future, if needed to utilize existing fixture inventory, if/when the LED stuff stops working. I know I can fix the incandescent stuff, LED's not so much. I also don't see the old equipment going away entirely. Last I knew, the R40 striplights that were retired in the early 2000's were still kicking around somewhere, (3) We're often employing non-theatre lighting for practicals/effects/ect. This varies from christmas lights, to LED strips, jobsite worklghts, to old overhead projectors. To preserve the ability to preform these tricks with incandescent's, dimmers are useful.

Specifically in my email, I mentioned RGB(A/W). Didn't realize lime was a color option.

I'm fairly certain students won't be hanging lights. The current standard is stagepin for dimmable and edison for relay. I see no reason to change that.

I would prefer to stay away from Altman fixtures as well, I only gave that light as an example of the fixture type. Problem being, the prefered supplier(Syracuse Stage), is an Altman dealer, so that's what we tend to end up with. My biggest gripe with the Altman is the lack of parts availability for the Shakepeares. I learned on 360Q's and to me a Shakespeare is new tech, yet I can't get more than basic, universal parts for them(i.e. I can only get TP-22 sockets(yes, I know that number off the top of my head from replacing so many) but I can't get speed caps for them. There are a number of fixtures prematurely retired, because the steel socket mount screw/standoff siezed/snapped off in the aluminum base. The entire fixture is fine, other than the cap.
 
ETC doesn’t make 1.2 kw dimmers for Sensor, so there’s no swap out option unless you put in a new rack of somebody’s 1.2 stuff.

Better investment would be LED ellipsoidals for the FOH, relays to power the existing circuits and a data backbone, as well as a new console. The data backbone may be the most important as it’s labor to install. Gear you can sometimes buy piecemeal. Data being Ethernet everywhere and as many DMX Gateway/nodes as possible as that’s how you get the data out to the fixtures. Our big renovation had the consultant getting us 28 1&2 port ETC nodes. I thought at the time that was an absurd number, I’d never possibly use them, and right now I have 2 spares between spaces. And budget an update for the Sensor racks to CEM3 as it gets the older gear out.

I’m partial to ETC gear, but it’s not cheap. I think their service trumps any money saved on other companies, but you need to look at Chauvet as well as others as side-by-side.

1.8kw dimmers(15amp) would also work. Idea behind cutting the dimmer power is channels trumps power per channel. most of the 2.4k circuits/dimmers/channels only have 575w plugged into them. I don't see a complete abandonment of existing gear, so keeping some

As far as buying gear piece-meal, that isn't an option. A couple years ago there was extra money from a grant or something, and they wanted to buy some new lights. It was turned down as they were "removable". I am going to suggest that onve this is in place, they budget $5-10k/yr for lighting maintanence/replacements, to keep the rig in working order and replace gear as needed.

I know nothing of data backbones. When I was in college doing this, we had bare bones, antiques. In a technical theatre program in 2008, we didn't even work with anything more advanced than color scrollers. Honestly, I see no advantage to a date backbone, over a couple 5-pin XLR runs to the distribution system. Current rig is only 120 dimmers, and adding a few toys, I've only had the channel count up to about 132. With the new rig, I can't see the channel count going much above 2 universes worth. Currently there are 2 universes going to the dimmer rack. I'll also add in that whatever the system ends up requiring for channels is pretty much going to be all there is until the next major upgrade, i.e. no need to add in a bunch of room for expansion, as it won't be utilized. A bunch of ARTnet, and other input/output was installed at the last upgrade 12+ years ago and has never been used.


New console is also in the budget, but I had no ideas, as all I've worked it is the express/expression series.
 
I fully understand the logic of wanting more lower capacity dimmers, but your not going to get more circuits out of your current Sensor racks. You don’t detail what racks you use, typically the largest Sensor install rack is a 96 (48 module). Thus the maximum circuit capacity is 96, as there are only 96 load lugs for wires, so no physical method to expand beyond that. What’s the other 24 ?, if it’s an install 24, that too has no additional capacity. If it’s a partly filled 48 or 96 then you have expansion. ETC does make a 1800 watt dual dimmer module but it only replaces a dual D20 module so you gain nothing. Your only option to move to 1.2kw dimmers is separate rack mount packs of 12 x 1.2kw dimmers. Thing is the wiring is going to be 20 amp by code, so all your doing is artificially limiting the circuit capacity. It’s likely about as cheap to install additional 20 amp dimmers as 10 amp. And why ?

You don’t need or want more dimmers is what everybody is going to tell you. You need LED, power for that and data capability. LED’s and movers EAT addresses. A 1024 address Ion may seem like overkill, then in 2 years you’ll find yourself expanding to 6144. You put 50 LED’s in and baam !, that’s 500 addresses right there.

Data distro is crucial. 5 pin DMX is only good for DMX. Ethernet can do anything else as well as DMX. Dante audio needed ?, video somewhere ?, a cue light system needed ?. Ethernet is cheap to install and WILL GET USED !. Having this backbone gets you future expansion capability.
 
More than anything else, the school needs a consultant (not a salesman from SSL nor any other vendor or contractor) who has expertise and is familiar with all the products available. Having an architect and contractor design a modern stage lighting system is a joke, not to mention wasting taxpayers money.

I prefer not to spend anything to maintain last century's stage lighting. It's a little different for renovation than new build but not a lot. Just the practically entire elimination of the overwhelming ignition source for fires in theatres is reason enough alone to make sure it's in the dumpster.

Too much bandaid thinking also and not enough big picture. That goes along with my amazement of a big expenditure again in as little as 15 years. I expect big expenditures like this in public schools to require bond issues and for a theatre that's usually 25 to 40 years.
 
ETC is now supporting using D20 dimmers in a Sensor for their LED fixtures. That alone could save far more than the fixture premium.

Note the qualifiers are many and serious. :legalstuff:
 
I fully understand the logic of wanting more lower capacity dimmers, but your not going to get more circuits out of your current Sensor racks. You don’t detail what racks you use, typically the largest Sensor install rack is a 96 (48 module). Thus the maximum circuit capacity is 96, as there are only 96 load lugs for wires, so no physical method to expand beyond that. What’s the other 24 ?, if it’s an install 24, that too has no additional capacity. If it’s a partly filled 48 or 96 then you have expansion. ETC does make a 1800 watt dual dimmer module but it only replaces a dual D20 module so you gain nothing. Your only option to move to 1.2kw dimmers is separate rack mount packs of 12 x 1.2kw dimmers. Thing is the wiring is going to be 20 amp by code, so all your doing is artificially limiting the circuit capacity. It’s likely about as cheap to install additional 20 amp dimmers as 10 amp. And why ?

You don’t need or want more dimmers is what everybody is going to tell you. You need LED, power for that and data capability. LED’s and movers EAT addresses. A 1024 address Ion may seem like overkill, then in 2 years you’ll find yourself expanding to 6144. You put 50 LED’s in and baam !, that’s 500 addresses right there.

Data distro is crucial. 5 pin DMX is only good for DMX. Ethernet can do anything else as well as DMX. Dante audio needed ?, video somewhere ?, a cue light system needed ?. Ethernet is cheap to install and WILL GET USED !. Having this backbone gets you future expansion capability.

Current dimming setup is a 96 rack + a 24 rack. Anything above 110 is either house lights, aisle lights, and the existing relay circuit. There are 3 circuits missing, as in no one knows where they go(dimmers 103-105), per the blueprints, they are to the center US floor pocket, but there is actually duplicates of the SR Floor pocket.

My idea was basically to add in an additional 24 or 48 rack, to utilize freed power.

More than anything else, the school needs a consultant (not a salesman from SSL nor any other vendor or contractor) who has expertise and is familiar with all the products available. Having an architect and contractor design a modern stage lighting system is a joke, not to mention wasting taxpayers money.

I prefer not to spend anything to maintain last century's stage lighting. It's a little different for renovation than new build but not a lot. Just the practically entire elimination of the overwhelming ignition source for fires in theatres is reason enough alone to make sure it's in the dumpster.

Too much bandaid thinking also and not enough big picture. That goes along with my amazement of a big expenditure again in as little as 15 years. I expect big expenditures like this in public schools to require bond issues and for a theatre that's usually 25 to 40 years.
The typical schedule the school uses is major capital improvement projects every 5-10 years, every other project seems to get the lighting system upgraded. This $350,000 upgrade is part of a larger $5.5 million project. If I thought that the money available would absolutely replace everything, and that we would definitively get a 25+ yr life out of that gear, I'd go that way in a heartbeat. But just running some quick calculations on fixtures prices alone I can't see replacing the current rig with LED equivelents, not to mention needed infastructure upgrades to support that that equipment.

Current fixtures are, with replacement cost:
(~30) Altman Shakespeares - replacement cost using BMI for (40)Altman PHX 250w zooms - $76,288
(10) Colortran Leko Zooms - Replacement included above
(2) Colortan Leko 30- Replacement included above
(~30) Altman Starpars - replacement cost using BMI for (40) ETC Colorsource Par - $28,320
(~10-20) Par 64's - replacement included above
(~20) 6" Fresnels - replacement cost using BMI for (20) Chauvet COLORado M-Solo = $9599.80
(12) Altman Zipstrips(3cirx10lamps, not sure if that's a ZS-3 or ZS-4), (8) as downlight, (4) for the cyc - replacement cost using BMI for (8) Chroma-Q colorforce II 72" $34,884 + given a cyc width of about 45', using (6) Altman Spectra Cyc 200's,on 8' centers, $14,970 = $49,854
(4) 14" scoops, mainly used as worklight & for classes , replaced with (6) Altman 130w LED worklights, = $4,939.20
Say they replace the console with an ETC ION XE 2k, with a single 20 fader wing, that's another $9660.
For a total of $178,661.

That's half the budget gone, without any dimming/distribution system changes, and a basic fixture for fixture replacement. The fixtures counts I mention are existing usable inventory, add another 25-50% on top of those for currently unusable fixtures, and I'd say a reasonable budget for board/fixture replacement would be about $225,000-$275,000, without infrastructure upgrades.

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Well aware of the fire risks, this happened in the space during curtain call on closing night a coupe years ago. Never could figure what burned as I personally took that set piece apart looking for the source and found nothing. Best guess is a feather, under a Starpar.. I've also had a couple other reports of similar happening during rehearsals, but no source found.
 
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Remember you won't be double or triple hanging with gel combinations.

Current primary rig is (2) sets of front lights, in 4 zones DS, 3 zones US. I'd like to preserve that and expand to 5 DS, 4 US, with 2 sets, so then there is redundancy for light failure and also color washes. That's with Lekos. Also have a single systen of (2) 6" Fresnels and (2) Par 64's for N/C frontlight. Then there are 3 sets of (3) 6" fresnels dedicated to the pit/concert risers. And then the worklight Scoops as well. All the zipstrips are like for like replacement as their used for color mixing anyway.

The lack of channels is more indicative of lack of ability to do wanted smaller zones/spots/corners rather than a need for more gel combinations. I currently only have 30 circuits for DS, and an additional 12 FOH but only usable US. There are generally 7 DS "hot spots" the director uses, which brings my available circuits to 23, for all DS front light/color washes/ ect. The stage is also often built out deep into the pit,which means Downlight is also coming from the FOH grid, as well as barely usable lighting angles. I can't count how many times I've had to run 50'+ cables from the 1st and secondf electric over stage, up[ and over the curtain, over a ceiling, and down to the grid as a means to boost circuit count.
 
Looks like about 50 spots and 50 washes and a cyc lighting system. Use ETC ColorSource and that's probably $150-175k and is simply more. Upgrade to sensor 3 and add 24 relay modules, some additional power distro for added positions, and data - net and DMX. Might need a new or improved house and work light control - not sure - and add an Ion - still well within the budget. (Even with the dumpster for the incandescents.)

This size upgrade still really requires someone with current expertise designing and shepparding through construction.
 
My idea was basically to add in an additional 24 or 48 rack, to utilize freed power.

Just to emphasize this part: there's no inherent need to change any existing dimmer capacity in order to add more circuits when all you want is more control. You could connect 1000 20A dimmers to a single 20A feed if you really wanted to (ignoring some unrelated practical and code issues)... you just could never turn on more than 20A of total load at one time. If you do, then the main breaker will trip.

Same logic applies to a 200A, 400A, or whatever size feed you happen to have. You can use any combination of individual circuit ratings you want as long as the total connected load that's turned on at one time is never greater than the size of your feed. With a partial or complete transition to LED, then your total load is much more likely to go down than up.

If your current SR48 is fed with anything less than 600A, then you're already taking advantage of this concept without realizing it. A rack of 96x20A dimmers could theoretically draw 640A (3-phase), but that's only if you fully load every circuit and turn them all on.
 
Adding to that the LEDs replacing incandescents will free both power and circuits in large amounts. Sounds to me as though your main concerns will be easily handled without a new rack.

Which reinforces Bill's comments on getting a consultant. You and the administrators focus on program goals, let the experts handle methods.
 
A local auditorium just finished a complete LED stage iighting renovation for about $220K.
Equipment included:
3@ IQ48 relay panels replacing two Colortran ENR 96 racks
6@ ColorSource 58’ raceways with integrated DMX distribution
1@ Ion Xe20 with fader wing (4 universes)/2 touch-screen monitors
12@ 4-port Net3 gateways/network switch, etc.
2@ Fleenor PRE10ETHER-A 4-universe preset stations
12@ Strand 1.2kw LightPack portable dimmers
21@ ColorSource Ellipsoidal
72@ ColorSource PAR
10@ ColorSource Cyc
6@ Krieos FLx90 (worklights)
4@ ADJ Z100 PAR (worklights)

A previous houselight renovation put in 40 Altman Chalice 100w LED units.
Kept some Altman Phoenix and Colortran zoom ellipsoidals for specials with the Strand LightPack dimmers.
 
A local auditorium just finished a complete LED stage iighting renovation for about $220K.
Equipment included:
3@ IQ48 relay panels replacing two Colortran ENR 96 racks
6@ ColorSource 58’ raceways with integrated DMX distribution
1@ Ion Xe20 with fader wing (4 universes)/2 touch-screen monitors
12@ 4-port Net3 gateways/network switch, etc.
2@ Fleenor PRE10ETHER-A 4-universe preset stations
12@ Strand 1.2kw LightPack portable dimmers
21@ ColorSource Ellipsoidal
72@ ColorSource PAR
10@ ColorSource Cyc
6@ Krieos FLx90 (worklights)
4@ ADJ Z100 PAR (worklights)

A previous houselight renovation put in 40 Altman Chalice 100w LED units.
Kept some Altman Phoenix and Colortran zoom ellipsoidals for specials with the Strand LightPack dimmers.
That seems like a smart upgrade. I might like a few more spots for a few pars but could be something about the space - like low trims on electrics - that make the mix just right.
 
@Ravenbar - I'm not an LD or consultant and I get some heat here at CB for saying "bid a fond farewell to incandescent lighting because the light at the end of the tunnel is a train, and the headlight is LED." Disclaimer - the shop I manage is a Chauvet dealer but I'm not soliciting purchases and I'm definately not a salesman...

In the last 20 years or so I've sat through more than one technical upheaval with my big, fat Denier's Grin on my face, only to be handed the bill later. You do not need 120 dimmers any more. Really, trust me on this. What you will need is more distributed, relay-controlled 120V services and a whole bunch more DMX (or networked equivalent) than you can possibly imagine at this point. Re-read @SteveB 's comments in reply #6. Using SOTA infrastructure is critical to the longevity of a useful installation.

Why? Because modern LED fixtures use between 1 - 12ish (some use more, 5-9 is common) DMX addresses PER FIXTURE, and moving lights with multiple color wheels, multiple gobo wheels, pan, tilt, zoom, focus, framing shutters... use even more DMX addresses. There are some fixtures out there that will consume an entire 512 address DMX universe with 2 fixtures or less. Getting control to those fixtures is where TCP/IP based network data infrastructure is the answer. Some new fixtures are directly accepting Artnet with RJ45 connectors for in/out in addition to 5 pin DMX.

Your stated goal of not having any significant upgrades or additions to this installation for 10-15 years is highly optimistic these days. Until about 2010 I'd have absolutely agreed with you, but now? See my comment about Denier's Grin... The longest lived part of your installation will be dimming, power distribution and network infrastructure. Moving lights come with 2 issues: obsolescence in 2 years, and maintenance. As this is a school, having obsolete equipment is not a foreign concept, but you'll need to have some budget provision for accessing fixtures for cleaning and a means of bringing them down for repairs. Non-moving LED fixtures need to be cleaned (power supply and any heat sinks as well as optics). As electro-mechanical devices, a moving light tends to fail mechanically rather than electronically, but any failure mode likely requires some bench time. My assessment is that fixtures will be "obsolete" before they begin to fail and when all but the best begin to fail, you're looking at a full replacement Really Soon Now. There are still original Source 4s out there, making Theater Magic every night, decades later. Can/should we expect the same from an LED fixture, even from an ETC product? My Digital Crystal Ball® is pixelated on the answer; the old analog Crystal Ball was much better... :oops:

I share the opinion that your input to this process needs to be outcomes-based, rather than technology-specifying. Asking "what do we need to install now, to insure that for the next 10-15 years, we can adequately teach the craft of stage lighting and deliver a production end product that the school staff, students and parents can be proud of" would be a good way to initiate a conversation.
 
1.8kw dimmers(15amp) would also work. Idea behind cutting the dimmer power is channels trumps power per channel. most of the 2.4k circuits/dimmers/channels only have 575w plugged into them. I don't see a complete abandonment of existing gear, so keeping some

As far as buying gear piece-meal, that isn't an option. A couple years ago there was extra money from a grant or something, and they wanted to buy some new lights. It was turned down as they were "removable". I am going to suggest that onve this is in place, they budget $5-10k/yr for lighting maintanence/replacements, to keep the rig in working order and replace gear as needed.

I know nothing of data backbones. When I was in college doing this, we had bare bones, antiques. In a technical theatre program in 2008, we didn't even work with anything more advanced than color scrollers. Honestly, I see no advantage to a date backbone, over a couple 5-pin XLR runs to the distribution system. Current rig is only 120 dimmers, and adding a few toys, I've only had the channel count up to about 132. With the new rig, I can't see the channel count going much above 2 universes worth. Currently there are 2 universes going to the dimmer rack. I'll also add in that whatever the system ends up requiring for channels is pretty much going to be all there is until the next major upgrade, i.e. no need to add in a bunch of room for expansion, as it won't be utilized. A bunch of ARTnet, and other input/output was installed at the last upgrade 12+ years ago and has never been used.


New console is also in the budget, but I had no ideas, as all I've worked it is the express/expression series.
I hope I can put this well ... but don't let your current personal knowledge and vision limitations be something that those who follow you will curse. This IS the way these days .. it's not the future, it's here. And if ARTnet never got used, that's a cautionary tale too ... in a school, the learning opptys for students are as important as the production itself. If you need some help with knowledge, confidence, or getting to be a helper at some gigs or facilities that use Ethernet based tech, I bet someone here will invite you over. I understand limitations of having 3 other roles, not wanting to introduce risk before a show, etc ... but at some point you gotta jump the broom .. for the sake of the students and the district spending wisely, if not yourself. The budget mavens no doubt think that $350k will last 20 years ... and (see posts below) entire universes disappear into thin air with some fixtures, pixel tape, etc.

I visited with a touring LD last year whose dance / opera show came thru Berkeley. 80 universes, 44k cues. Your 2 universes will not last 20 years.

plus every once in a while, that genius kid comes along and helps lead the charge.It's a gift to let them do that ... it's ok if they understand it before you do, as long as they teach you, too.

with admiration for all you do,

Ben
 
More than anything else, the school needs a consultant (not a salesman from SSL nor any other vendor or contractor) who has expertise and is familiar with all the products available. Having an architect and contractor design a modern stage lighting system is a joke, not to mention wasting taxpayers money.

I prefer not to spend anything to maintain last century's stage lighting. It's a little different for renovation than new build but not a lot. Just the practically entire elimination of the overwhelming ignition source for fires in theatres is reason enough alone to make sure it's in the dumpster.

Too much bandaid thinking also and not enough big picture. That goes along with my amazement of a big expenditure again in as little as 15 years. I expect big expenditures like this in public schools to require bond issues and for a theatre that's usually 25 to 40 years.
Amen, brother! Esp. About ignition sources ... could help with insurance rates, too?
 

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