Sea Changers

I think Gaff has spec'ed some for his new facility, though I doubt he has them yet. He has probably demoed it though.
 
Yeah I'm planning on buying several... we'll see how the budget goes but I'm hoping to have up to 12 wash lights and 8 profiles for my new black box. I've seen the demo several times and really been impressed. They are very slick. They are not super fast... probably would not make you very happy if you want them for concert purposes. But they are fast enough for theater purposes and very quiet. The color is really good. They did a very good job with the pastels. I was told Ocean Optics makes the dichroic filters that Vari-lite uses so its a good product. They do cut down on the lumen output of the S4 a bit so you need to use 750 lamps for sure. If you are using them in a fairly steep down angle you need to buy a 16.5" extra long yoke which is another $85.

Bid prices I got from a national dealer:
-Seachanger Profile unit WITHOUT Source Four, with extended yoke, about $1,750
-Seachanger Wash, with Source Four Burner/reflector, extended yoke, barn door adapter ring, and City theatrical Barn door, about $1,950
 
Yeah I'm planning on buying several... we'll see how the budget goes but I'm hoping to have up to 12 wash lights and 8 profiles for my new black box. I've seen the demo several times and really been impressed. They are very slick. They are not super fast... probably would not make you very happy if you want them for concert purposes. But they are fast enough for theater purposes and very quiet. The color is really good. They did a very good job with the pastels. I was told Ocean Optics makes the dichroic filters that Vari-lite uses so its a good product. They do cut down on the lumen output of the S4 a bit so you need to use 750 lamps for sure. If you are using them in a fairly steep down angle you need to buy a 16.5" extra long yoke which is another $85.
Bid prices I got from a national dealer:
-Seachanger Profile unit WITHOUT Source Four, with extended yoke, about $1,750
-Seachanger Wash, with Source Four Burner/reflector, extended yoke, barn door adapter ring, and City theatrical Barn door, about $1,950

Gaff, for my own edification:
The extra long yoke is needed because the S4 gets in the way of itself? Because, overall, the unit is longer, and not because the SeaChanger gets in the way, correct?
 
If you hang a typical S4 straight down... or within a few degrees of down... the back of the instrument is very close to touching the yoke. The Seachanger adds about 7 inches of length to the instrument... plus it adds a 5 inch or so lump to the middle of the S4. So add 7 inches to the length of a S4 and you have a problem. I'm told it isn't a problem if you are only shooting from horizontal to about 30 degrees down from horizontal... but if you are shooting from 30 degrees below horizontal down to complete vertical you need the extension.
 
Only used the HES Color Merge. Good product, quiet, but slow on the changes. And I didn't like the extra power supply, but I guess doing that was better than having all the weight in the fixture.

I'm told the Sea Changer has more color flexibility, and does ambers and greens better. As for the hanging thing, the Color Merge didn't affect the ability to point it anywhere I wanted. You could tilt it over 180 degrees, and that was more than enough for me. The module went between the rear and front sections of the barrel with two screws, and was only about 2" thick. Sea Changer, I don't know.
 
Yup, our dept. here demo'ed one a while back, it was the Production Advantage unit that was getting shipped around. I compared the mixing with that of the Elektralite Paint Can (horrendous fixture) that we demo'd earlier, and the Seachanger was very nice. Uniform color across the whole beam of light, smooth color fading, and the xG feature is really nice. It adds a whole new dimension to the color mixing. The optics correction was actually surprisingly good. We were able to get the good hard edge that we didn't think was possible by putting another big chunk of optics into the optical perfection of a brand new source four (PA sent around a brand new 26 degree unit with their seachanger).
 
< I compared the mixing with that of the Elektralite Paint Can (horrendous fixture) that we demo'd earlier, >

Can you elaborate why the Paintcan was horrendous? I haven't spoken with anyone that has used one...
 
Only used the HES Color Merge. Good product, quiet, but slow on the changes. And I didn't like the extra power supply, but I guess doing that was better than having all the weight in the fixture.
I'm told the Sea Changer has more color flexibility, and does ambers and greens better. As for the hanging thing, the Color Merge didn't affect the ability to point it anywhere I wanted. You could tilt it over 180 degrees, and that was more than enough for me. The module went between the rear and front sections of the barrel with two screws, and was only about 2" thick. Sea Changer, I don't know.

Just want to point out that I believe the HES Color Merge is now a dead product. I was looking for some more info on it a while back and it no longer seems to exist on their website. Can anyone confirm this?

Oh yeah and the Seachanger adds about 12 pounds to the Instrument. So yes it's heavier, but hardly something impossible to deal with. It also has a built in power supply which is pretty cool.
 
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Oh yeah and the Seachanger adds about 12 pounds to the Instrument. So yes it's heavier, but hardly something impossible to deal with. It also has a built in power supply which is pretty cool.

Interesting. I hate the internal power supply. I don't want to have to run three cables to each light (dimmer, AC, DMX). I would much prefer running a 4-pin data/power line. Hang 12 of them on a pipe and see how much of a mess you make with the cables.

I've spoken at length with the guys from Ocean Optics. In my opinion they're about 80% of the way to an amazing product. It's fine for a Broadway show that hangs once. I find the product much less appealing to the regional theatre market, where you move your gear around depending on the show.

And yes, you some punch from the lights. And the long yokes needed will mean you can't hang them on the same pipe as the rest of your electrics and have all the gear make the shots needed and be out of sightlines.

--Sean
 
Interesting. I hate the internal power supply. I don't want to have to run three cables to each light (dimmer, AC, DMX). I would much prefer running a 4-pin data/power line. Hang 12 of them on a pipe and see how much of a mess you make with the cables.
I've spoken at length with the guys from Ocean Optics. In my opinion they're about 80% of the way to an amazing product. It's fine for a Broadway show that hangs once. I find the product much less appealing to the regional theatre market, where you move your gear around depending on the show.
And yes, you some punch from the lights. And the long yokes needed will mean you can't hang them on the same pipe as the rest of your electrics and have all the gear make the shots needed and be out of sightlines.
--Sean

I definitely see your point on the internal power. In my theater's configuration running some extra cables isn't going to matter very much and it saves money on power supplies.
 
I definitely see your point on the internal power. In my theater's configuration running some extra cables isn't going to matter very much and it saves money on power supplies.

My argument is that, other than the older Colorams, everyone is pretty much using the same polarity of 4-pin power/data supplies. I'm pretty sure the motors inside the Seachangers aren't line voltage, so there's a transformer somewhere inside. That transformer has a cost both in weight and in dollars. If they could use a 24vdc power source, then the piles of edison cables on the pipe to supply power to the changers would go away.

My $.02. For our new space we got the Coloram IT's. Wybron as a company is MUCH more responsive than Ocean Optics has been anytime I've spoken with them.

--Sean
 

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