Conventional Fixtures All LED spaces
- Thread starterBillConnerFASTC
- Start date
microstar
Well-Known Member
I specified an all-LED system for the brand new 271-seat proscenium Muskogee Little Theatre in Muskogee, OK. Their first show was in November. ETC ColorSource ellipsoidals and PARs, Altman SpectraCycs and worklights, Light Source houselights, and RVE LED followspots.
ETC Element console and SR24 rack with relay modules and some dimmers if they wanted to add their existing conventionals. I did not design the theatre.
ETC Element console and SR24 rack with relay modules and some dimmers if they wanted to add their existing conventionals. I did not design the theatre.
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
Thanks. I have 3 or 4 in construction. I need an example of ones that are operating.
Possibly The Villages facility in The Villages, Florida. 1000 seat road house.
I know the consultant, Stan Kaye at the University of Florida. I think he told me this was a full LED facility.
http://arts.ufl.edu/directory/profile/1347
I know the consultant, Stan Kaye at the University of Florida. I think he told me this was a full LED facility.
http://arts.ufl.edu/directory/profile/1347
Scenemaster60
Well-Known Member
Mac Hosehead
Well-Known Member
I know of 2 retrofits in the SF bay area.
http://stage-directions.com/current...witches-to-all-led-lighting-rig-from-etc.html
https://music.stanford.edu/venues/dinkelspiel
I believe the Sunnyvale venue still has incandescent house lights where as Dinkelspiel changed their's to LEDs. I know of another concert hall that has changed to mostly LEDs. LED fixtures seem well suited to venues with classical music. It can avoid filament noise and noise caused by fixtures heating or cooling.
http://stage-directions.com/current...witches-to-all-led-lighting-rig-from-etc.html
https://music.stanford.edu/venues/dinkelspiel
I believe the Sunnyvale venue still has incandescent house lights where as Dinkelspiel changed their's to LEDs. I know of another concert hall that has changed to mostly LEDs. LED fixtures seem well suited to venues with classical music. It can avoid filament noise and noise caused by fixtures heating or cooling.
farmerjo1111
Member
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
Very cool. Not sure if this will get a brick thrown at me or revoke the invite, but I was working for Jerit/Boys, theatre consultants for that facility, when it was built in 1990s (?). IIRC I didn't have much to do with it, and have never seen it other than photos. Thank you very much and if the client isn't interested, I am for sure, and drive near frequently.
You don't have a tensioned wire grid do you?
KyleAnderson
Member
Catwalks in Hicklin and a bar grate grid in Barnett.
Just a heads-up -- Barnett & Hicklin are both outfitted that they could be all LED with a full Selador, Desire, and Source Four LED package, but as of a couple years ago the design faculty absolutely hated LED and refused to learn how to program or teach LED. Stuck toward incandescent with LED accents. The technical director secured funding for the large project largely independent of the design faculty's intentions for the program and design faculty was...hostile...to adoption. Design students took it on at their own risk & initiative, and sometimes at the strong discouragement of the design faculty.
The attached roadhouse Young Auditorium has a sizable Desire and Selador package they adopted and use quite often in a 50/50 mix of incandescents and LED's. Technical director has changed since the LED's were adopted but before he retired he was rather giddy about the whole affair. He was reluctant and measured about tours coming through and wanting to stay incandescent with tried and true gels and accommodated everyone however they preferred, but was very willing to experiment with LED roadshow events and had quite a bit of success depending on who was sitting at the console each night. Definitely encountered some programming hurdles though that a roadshow faces going hybrid LED/incandescent that you don't encounter when you just throw faders for a one-off with conventionals.
Not sure how that affects what you're looking for, but if you're doing market research I imagine if you poll the faculty on the academic side, the students, and the technical staff at the roadhouse, each user group will give you different responses ranging from fear to ecstasy.
Remember, when you are designing a space you are designing it for a client to use. You are not the end user. Just because the designer of the building tries something does not mean the users are wrong for not using it.
Second, I would hate to see a university or high school theatre go completely LED. While its a great idea and power savings and such.... not have any changeable color media in play will put the students behind the 8 ball when they get out in the real world. Learning to design with color media is just as important as learning to design with LED fixtures, moving lights, and projections. Professional venues can do whatever they want. But, that shithole summer stock that everyone works their first gig at won't be all LED.
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
I think most LEDs have gel holders, so you can learn how to do that.
I have simply offered it as an option to a client and they have asked me to find some spaces that are all LED.
I think it is necessary to ask rhetorically how long "that shithole summer stock that everyone works their first gig" won't be LED. How many are still non-solid state dimmers? I'll concede that at this point, a designer needs to understand quartz and gel, but does an intern who is just handling the stuff? I never thought 10 years ago it would grow as fast as it has.
Reminds me of one of my summer theatre experiences - ATD - and the acting intern who did gel changes (classi drama in rep) was colorblind. Was a virtue because he used the numbers written on the gll rather than his eye.
I have simply offered it as an option to a client and they have asked me to find some spaces that are all LED.
I think it is necessary to ask rhetorically how long "that shithole summer stock that everyone works their first gig" won't be LED. How many are still non-solid state dimmers? I'll concede that at this point, a designer needs to understand quartz and gel, but does an intern who is just handling the stuff? I never thought 10 years ago it would grow as fast as it has.
Reminds me of one of my summer theatre experiences - ATD - and the acting intern who did gel changes (classi drama in rep) was colorblind. Was a virtue because he used the numbers written on the gll rather than his eye.
For the new facilities you are working in LED is coming on quick. For the rest of us who already have the infrastructure and fixtures it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I've had the power study done of my building. The break even point on power even when you include HVAC is way too far out. For new construction where you don't have to buy the dimmer racks and distribution it makes tons of sense. Then again, I'm still running Strand/Century 12k and 6k dimmers on a telephone patch... and we have a completely LED cyc. You're going to see a lot of that in the years to come. I don't forsee anyone loading up dumpsters with working S4's and sensor dimmers anytime soon.
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
No question that unless in new build or at least all new infrastructure, switching to LED is not financially viable. But infrastructure does not last forever. At this point in time, in a few cases where technical training is an important part of the mission, solid state dimmers and quartz sources ought to be available. I have even been guilty of suggesting a manual counterweight set or two in an otherwise all motorized rigging system for this same thinking. On the other hand, those experiences can likely be had at another nearby venue, so the decision is not always simple.
In the same vein, do you think grad schools should still teach hand drafting? I turned the corner on that one. And I kind of wondered recently at a new performing arts high school if the photography teachers insistence on a darkroom with a dozen stations and no place in his area for digital photography really made sense.
