focusingthepoint
Member
Hello Control Booth community,
I am a high school student who has read the forum close to daily for about two years now. Reading posts on Control Booth is has taught me so much, so I would like to thank all of you for that.
The inventory at my school is a bit thin, but we are always trying to improve. In the past few years we were able to get two scrollers, one gobo rotator, and a power supply for these accessories. We almost were able to get two i-cues, but the school was ultimately not willing to pay for them. We have tried to use these accessories as much as possible and to their full potential. However with two scrollers and one rotator, there is only so much that we can do.
This past winter we were able to get the money for the rights to perform the musical Chicago. The nature of this show calls for quite a bit of flashy lighting, but with an inventory that just barely covers the stage with a decent wash it did not appear that we would be able to do much creatively with the lighting.
So we started looking into renting some moving lights for the performances. It was an option that was greatly considered, but our director was not sure that she could justify the cost. So we looked into buying some from China.
Yes, I am familiar with the Gafftaper method. Yes, I have read plenty of posts condemning the evils and the immorality of buying lights from China. Yes, I am aware that the general consensus of Control Booth is that buying lights like these is plain stealing because of a probable lack of R&D. I simply want to share my experience of Chinese movers.
The technical supervisor looked at some models, and emailed one company. The price that they quoted was only slightly more than we would have paid to rent MAC 500s or Studio Spot 575s during the time we needed them. I understand that MAC 500s and Studio Spot 575s are older fixtures, but these the Chinese ones we were looking at had many more features. So technical supervisor had the purchase approved, and for not much more than a rental we purchased 2 575w moving head fixtures in a flight case. We paid via Paypal and soon enough the units arrived.
I was amazed by how much the lights could do, and learned so much working with them. Now that the show is over, we still have the lights to keep, and have been using them to enhance as many school functions as possible.
When we first received the lights, only one of them would run the demo mode, the second would only work as a slave unit. The technical supervisor emailed the company, and they emailed back about a week later with a recommendation for how to fix the problem. Several weeks later, the company emailed him again to check if the problem had been resolved. Now I know that when something big goes wrong there with these units there is nowhere that will be able or willing to repair them, but unlike the rental units at least they have lasted for more than a few weeks.
So I'm sorry for this post being so long, thank you to anyone who actually reads it. I do not expect a positive response to this at all, nor do I intend this in any way as an encouragement to purchase lights from China. My goal in writing this is simply to share my experience.
I am a high school student who has read the forum close to daily for about two years now. Reading posts on Control Booth is has taught me so much, so I would like to thank all of you for that.
The inventory at my school is a bit thin, but we are always trying to improve. In the past few years we were able to get two scrollers, one gobo rotator, and a power supply for these accessories. We almost were able to get two i-cues, but the school was ultimately not willing to pay for them. We have tried to use these accessories as much as possible and to their full potential. However with two scrollers and one rotator, there is only so much that we can do.
This past winter we were able to get the money for the rights to perform the musical Chicago. The nature of this show calls for quite a bit of flashy lighting, but with an inventory that just barely covers the stage with a decent wash it did not appear that we would be able to do much creatively with the lighting.
So we started looking into renting some moving lights for the performances. It was an option that was greatly considered, but our director was not sure that she could justify the cost. So we looked into buying some from China.
Yes, I am familiar with the Gafftaper method. Yes, I have read plenty of posts condemning the evils and the immorality of buying lights from China. Yes, I am aware that the general consensus of Control Booth is that buying lights like these is plain stealing because of a probable lack of R&D. I simply want to share my experience of Chinese movers.
The technical supervisor looked at some models, and emailed one company. The price that they quoted was only slightly more than we would have paid to rent MAC 500s or Studio Spot 575s during the time we needed them. I understand that MAC 500s and Studio Spot 575s are older fixtures, but these the Chinese ones we were looking at had many more features. So technical supervisor had the purchase approved, and for not much more than a rental we purchased 2 575w moving head fixtures in a flight case. We paid via Paypal and soon enough the units arrived.
I was amazed by how much the lights could do, and learned so much working with them. Now that the show is over, we still have the lights to keep, and have been using them to enhance as many school functions as possible.
When we first received the lights, only one of them would run the demo mode, the second would only work as a slave unit. The technical supervisor emailed the company, and they emailed back about a week later with a recommendation for how to fix the problem. Several weeks later, the company emailed him again to check if the problem had been resolved. Now I know that when something big goes wrong there with these units there is nowhere that will be able or willing to repair them, but unlike the rental units at least they have lasted for more than a few weeks.
So I'm sorry for this post being so long, thank you to anyone who actually reads it. I do not expect a positive response to this at all, nor do I intend this in any way as an encouragement to purchase lights from China. My goal in writing this is simply to share my experience.
