Future purchases? What to buy, why and when.

[JLNorthGA]

We are starting at square one, year one.
We have a Sensor 3 - 48 dimmer rack.
We have 18 Source Fours (8 - 36, 8 - 26, 2 - 19)
We have 12 Altman 65Q Fresnels.
We have an ETC Element 40/250.
We have 32 circuits on the catwalk with a front light pipe and a rear light pipe. We have 22 circuits on two raceways above the stage (11 front and 11 rear). Eventually, we'll have another 16 circuits above the stage (but not anytime soon).

We have a 30' W x 16' H proscenium opening with about 24' from the opening to the back wall. We have an apron that extends maybe 12' from the middle of the proscenium opening to the edge. The apron is "semi circular".

We do not have a spotlight. The distance from the light booth to the rear wall of the stage is maybe 80'.

We don't have a lot of money. That being said, we can occasionally get donations from various people who want to support the arts - and we are a 501 C3 organization.

I would like to come up with a "5 year" plan for acquisitions and purchases.

So - with the proceeding in mind, what sort of purchases should we consider over the next five years and why? I've got to justify purchases somewhat - and I still have a scene shop to set up and tools to purchase.

 

[SteveB]

A sugar daddy to buy you a set of Selador or Chroma Q Color Force cyc lights ?. Plus a cyc ?. $25,000 or so in fixtures plus power, cabling. Not sure about the price of the cyc.

Not sure if you have a cyc, but it makes a huge difference in the look of a show. The Element can easily control LED cyc units. You have limited dimmers and need only 2 dedicated AC circuits (720 watts for the 6ft Chroma Q, with maybe 5 - 6 needed). This is a "Green" initiative, BTW.

If you can't afford that, then more S4 ellipsoidals and/or lens tubes. I'm a huge fan of the S4 zooms, especially the 25/50 and fine them a cost effective alternative to buying a regular S4 with 2 extra lenses.

Don't forget all the stupid stuff, gobo holders, glass gobo holders, color frame extenders, boom bases, side arms, DMX cable, safety (paper) color frames, GAM testers, a RRFU or better yet a 7" Android tablet with the aRFR app, if you don't have one. An RVI for the design table if you do one on a regular basis. Maybe software like Vectorworks and Lightwright ?.