Hey CB,
I had a meeting a few months ago, and it looks like the high school (at which I am the TD) is receiving a district grant for upgrading our lighting. Yay!!! But we don't get to spend it until the summer, so we've been using our time to make sure we make the best decisions possible.
I can't stress to any of you how sad our situation is... We usually rent most of what we use, because we own so little. We currently own the following...
HOWEVER, our new budget is $30K, so we have a little bit of room to play! (Assuming the district follows through... They warned us of the possibility that it could drop as much as $22K depending on their year-end expenses...)
Typically, we would have 4 lighting stands in FOH (in the back and on the sides), and 1 on SR, and 1 on SL. The location is unfortunate (for the front lights), because the throw is so freaking huge. Also, there is no way to hang anything on the 30' ceiling because (a) there is nothing to actually hang it on, and (b), because there is no way to get up there in the first place without renting a scissor lift.
And if you can't tell, we've never had a hang that lasts longer than 1 week at most, before we take it down to hand the gym back to the PE teacher.
We talked to several consultants in the area, with recommendations all over the place from "Install all the electrics and dimming and rigging for a few dozen circuits and then buy the luminaries when you get more money" to "Spend it on 2-4 high-end MLs that can sit high and won't need to be touched very often" to "Dozens of cheap DJ LEDs... Everywhere..." to "More stands, more satellite dimmers, more conventionals"
Tons of opinions, none of which match. I thought I would throw the ball out to all of you for some recommendations. I've attached a floor plan with some of the dimensions.
Personally, I was going to go for installing as many dimmer circuits and electrics as possible on a motorized batten in FOH, and maybe have a small batten on either side of the stage with a few circuits for side lights. Then we are set to purchase the actual fixtures in a few years, and have the electrics to support it. And I would much prefer to purchase proper, theatrical fixtures than cheap DJ equipment or budget cans...
The space is a gymnatorium. Seating and floor protection is brought out before each show, and taken down after. Many elements of productions have taken place on the floor, but we intend to move everything to the stage for future shows. Most productions are an ugly mash-up of small plays, choir performances, band performances, and dances.
If you're too lazy, busy, et cetera, to post a more comprehensive response, I've included a poll with a few of our consultant's recommendations that you could choose from...
Thanks for your input!
I had a meeting a few months ago, and it looks like the high school (at which I am the TD) is receiving a district grant for upgrading our lighting. Yay!!! But we don't get to spend it until the summer, so we've been using our time to make sure we make the best decisions possible.
I can't stress to any of you how sad our situation is... We usually rent most of what we use, because we own so little. We currently own the following...
- 2 tripod-style lighting stands (up to 8'6" @ 75lbs)
- 2 Source Fours (26º, 575W)
- 6 Source Four PARs (575W)
- 2 Electro-Controls 3466 fresnels (1kW)
- 4 Altman 65Q fresnels (500W)
- 2 Altman 360Q ERS (6x12, 575W)
- 2 Strand Century LekoLites (31º and 23º respectively, 1kW)
- 2 Leprecon ULD-340 DMX-HP satellite dimmers
- Plenty of gels, gel frames, and miles of 5-pin DMX cable
- Leprecon LP612
- ETC Express 72/144 (yeah, waaay overkill... It's my baby )
HOWEVER, our new budget is $30K, so we have a little bit of room to play! (Assuming the district follows through... They warned us of the possibility that it could drop as much as $22K depending on their year-end expenses...)
Typically, we would have 4 lighting stands in FOH (in the back and on the sides), and 1 on SR, and 1 on SL. The location is unfortunate (for the front lights), because the throw is so freaking huge. Also, there is no way to hang anything on the 30' ceiling because (a) there is nothing to actually hang it on, and (b), because there is no way to get up there in the first place without renting a scissor lift.
And if you can't tell, we've never had a hang that lasts longer than 1 week at most, before we take it down to hand the gym back to the PE teacher.
We talked to several consultants in the area, with recommendations all over the place from "Install all the electrics and dimming and rigging for a few dozen circuits and then buy the luminaries when you get more money" to "Spend it on 2-4 high-end MLs that can sit high and won't need to be touched very often" to "Dozens of cheap DJ LEDs... Everywhere..." to "More stands, more satellite dimmers, more conventionals"
Tons of opinions, none of which match. I thought I would throw the ball out to all of you for some recommendations. I've attached a floor plan with some of the dimensions.
Personally, I was going to go for installing as many dimmer circuits and electrics as possible on a motorized batten in FOH, and maybe have a small batten on either side of the stage with a few circuits for side lights. Then we are set to purchase the actual fixtures in a few years, and have the electrics to support it. And I would much prefer to purchase proper, theatrical fixtures than cheap DJ equipment or budget cans...
The space is a gymnatorium. Seating and floor protection is brought out before each show, and taken down after. Many elements of productions have taken place on the floor, but we intend to move everything to the stage for future shows. Most productions are an ugly mash-up of small plays, choir performances, band performances, and dances.
If you're too lazy, busy, et cetera, to post a more comprehensive response, I've included a poll with a few of our consultant's recommendations that you could choose from...
Thanks for your input!