Cloud concert shell upgrade

[Matt W]

I'm not crazy about the idea of installing lights permanently in this shells (if that is what you mean). There will be balance problems - tilting for storage. That style of shell was not designed for lights installed. The clamps, hangers, pivots, and framing all have to be checked to be sure they are strong enough.

It would be better if the the rigging was adjusted to center shells between electrics, basically redesign the layout, minimizing actual moves of a set.

One other option - come up a way to easily mount LEDs on pipes already between shells and just portable cable for one circuit. The ColorSource PAR might be a good choice. Budget minded might be the Kreios FLX - no dimming but great color and light.

Looking at the options suggested I believe i will just bee flying in an empty line set and jumping some cables from the electrics or some other source.. We are in the process of upgrading to the Color source pars for our electrics but this it to far in the future.

the more i think about just mounting the lights to the existing surface more issues are pointed out and i think of other problems. (like if i pulled power from the electrics then i need to run out the sound shell and the electric at the same time.)

 

[Matt W]

Really?

You should never have two pipes physically connected together in any way unless you have both the pipes and arbors properly married. The system has to run as one otherwise you run the risk of very bad things happening if something does not get moved right. Cable pulls out... electrical connections open up... things short... fire happens.

The only real way to do this is to grab the circuits you need, run them off the end of the pipe, drop them to the deck or mid-rail, then drop the cable to the other pipe.... leaving proper swags of course.

to help you sleep better I've had plenty of training on marrying lines. It would be a thing of last resort though. The lines can be locked out and I'm the only one with a key.

 

[Matt W]

One thing to consider if going the retrofit route- our shells have four PAR64's in each unit and have built-in tilt switches that disconnect power to the lamps when it rotates up. This prevents them from being powered on accidentally when in the store position.

I was thinking of having a Soca run that would break out at a nearby box or jumping the cables from another line. so the Circuits aren't tied up but a switch wouldn't hurt either.

 

[JChenault]

not really. The arbors on the other lines are not tall enough to take the weight needed. Good idea though.

Would it be cost effective to shift the heavy line sets ( that hold the shell) to a better location? ( assuming that would solve the issue )

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

not really. The arbors on the other lines are not tall enough to take the weight needed. Good idea though.

Several suggestions here for rearrangement of rigging. Its not that hard - for qualified riggers - to swap arbors. Might be least expensive of the fixes. It would be serendipitous if it also happened to be time to replace lift lines and hand lines. Know the vintage of the system?

 

[lwinters630]

I have 3 floating concert shell clouds in my space. the Major issue is that who ever designed the building thought it was a great Idea to position the cloud so that it covers my electrics. right now the only option I have for top light is to run lights to a open line. this comes with the problem that I then have to run 2 lines at the same time. I have started talking with a manufacturer about getting a new set that has the lights already installed. This would be a huge improvement over what we have now and would require the lest amount of work on my part but would come with a giant price tag.

my question to you all is: Have you ever installed your own lights in an existing sound cloud? I had a bit of an a-ha moment where i thought about buying my own S4 pars to install in my existing shell. this would mean that i would have to cut a hole in the shell, run the cable and find a way to mount the lights. when it comes to storing the lights in the cloud it looks like we have the room for them but I would proly just pull the lights when not in use just in case someone managed to snag a curtain with one.

The shell appears to be 3/4" ply with some veneer on top.

what do you all think? would the wise move be to just have the new shell made or should I press my luck and install my own.

I have those style clouds. When tilted in place they fall between the 2nd and 3rd electric and they just clear for down/top light.
Perhaps your clouds were moved? If so just put them back to the original batten.

 

[StradivariusBone]

I was thinking of having a Soca run that would break out at a nearby box or jumping the cables from another line. so the Circuits aren't tied up but a switch wouldn't hurt either.

That's kinda how ours are run. It ties up four circuits total, but there are two double deep junction boxes on each shell that has an Edison outlet on it. There's a pig tail coming out of the junction with stage pin that's tied to the frame of the shell with enough strain relief so it can rotate. I've never dismantled it, but I'm assuming the tilt switch is inside the junction. Of course, this was done 20 years ago, I wouldn't be surprised if Bill has some updated codes that might make this setup not ideal

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I still believe it only makes sense to go LED - one constant circuit (cold be a home depot cable reel) and go wireless for DMX. For a little extra cost of the fixtures, no dimmers, no re-plugging, no fire danger, no re-lamping, and - not a stretch with for instance the ColorSource PAR - you get color. The music people will love it. One Socapex pair and multi-cable is going to pay for a fixture and it only means more work.

This is 2016 - stand up, be heard, and leave the the last half of the last century behind. I'll bet the other academic departments and especially the athletic program has. Enlist some dram and music parents theatre as aggressive as the athletes' parents to help. here are too many people in the theatre side of performing arts - because music and to some degree dance dose better - that seem to want to be the shoe makers kid.

I guess I get fed up with users on projects volunteering to give things up when they should - like every other discipline - be asking for more. This is in large part why so many high school theaters suck.