Automated Fixtures I-Cue or Moving Light?

[backstagebadger]

Hi All,

So I have about $1000 that I could use towards a moving fixture. It needs to be something with zoom/iris, pan/tilt, and color changing.
My question is, is the Rosco I-Cue still a good option or can I get better value from a moving light such as the Chauvet Intimidator Spot LED 350?
The application is for a high school theatre stage approx. 40 ft. wide (proscenium to proscenium) and 30 ft. deep and the fixture would be on a "catwalk" position pipe. We would use it as a special for our musicals and one act plays.

Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated!

 

[venuetech]

What kind of control desk do you have?

 

[Dionysus]

What existing fixtures do you have? The I-Cue's intensity and such will depend greatly on the fixture it's put on. Also you need to get a DMX controlled Iris as well if you want that functionality, same goes with colour changing (expect if you put it on an LED fixture that handles that).
I-Cues are GREAT, I own two and have made very good use of them.

If you truly want to 'shoot out' between the I-Cue and a moving head fixture or scanner, it will vary depending on the fixture you attach the I-Cue to.

Don't forget you also need a power supply for the I-Cue, Iris & Scroller (if you use one), and cables.

 

[backstagebadger]

We will be upgrading to an ETC Element. We currently have source four fixtures mainly, and would probably get an additional one if we went with the I-Cue. We normally lamp at 575 watts but could put a 750 in the fixture the I-Cue is attached to if need be.

 

[TupeloTechie]

For your situation I would recommend the I-Cue, with DMX Iris.

I don't think you'll be impressed with the output, colors for theatre, or the dimming curve of that Chauvet DJ fixture.
You should also take into account maintenance. You have a lot less moving parts with the I-Cue/DMX Iris, and if something does go bad you can still use the other components during repair time/etc.

It would be more than your budget, but I would look into using the I-Cue/DMX Iris with the ETC Colorsource Spot, or even one of the Chauvet Pro Ovation LED fixtures instead of a Color Scroller. This will also free up one of your dimmers.

For further reading, have a look at Gafftaper Method in the wiki!
https://www.controlbooth.com/wiki/?title=Collaborative-Articles:Gafftaper-Method

 

[TJCornish]

Hi All,

So I have about $1000 that I could use towards a moving fixture. It needs to be something with zoom/iris, pan/tilt, and color changing.
My question is, is the Rosco I-Cue still a good option or can I get better value from a moving light such as the Chauvet Intimidator Spot LED 350?
The application is for a high school theatre stage approx. 40 ft. wide (proscenium to proscenium) and 30 ft. deep and the fixture would be on a "catwalk" position pipe. We would use it as a special for our musicals and one act plays.

Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated!

Chauvet Rogue R2 Wash. Keeps up with a 575w S4 even in open white, would be MUCH brighter than a S4 with saturated gels. Great build quality, good zoom range. Has a decent color palette, but may not do everything you want for theater, depending on how picky you are.

 

[MikeJ]

I second the r2 wash. I don't think you need a hard edge fixture for this.
The dimming on the R2 wash is very smooth, and the zoom is 10-50 degrees, I think you will find it much more usefull than a leko with an iris.

Retail is $1500, but it might be worth stretching your budget of you can.

 

[cdiamondz]

I would suggest an Apollo Right Arm 3, but by itself it is just a little over $1000, and it is quite large. My theatre has two of them and two DMX irises that goes with some tungsten fixtures. We had a third party group hang them and the fixtures at the same level as our cat walk (we have a mounting pipe on the side of it, but they installed the fixtures incorrectly.We don't use the right arms much, in fact one of the fixtures is currently upside down with the iris' safety cable holding it in the slot due to the shoty installation . Overall they are useful if your theatre is a functioning auditorium and your choir director can't hang or focus a fixture, but they are quite bulky because you have to take in account for the pan motion. I'll probably have to talk to my school's maintenance (I know a guy) to see if they can get a lift or possibly rope access to remove them from their current location. They group that came out was a local university group that helped on one of our shows and after I told the installer the next day (I had to leave early as it was winter and snowing hard) that he installed the fixtures in correctly. His response: "Huh." Although I can access the right arm from the cat walk by laying down (totally dumb to do with out any safety equipment) but I can't remove the fixtures because it's upside down and the console doesn't help because I can't even reach the fixtures. The installer also happens to now live on the other side of the country. Just a rant of my current experience with the Apollo right arm. They are good things to have but they're currently unusable.

 

[backstagebadger]

Thanks for your thoughts all, looks like we may not have the money this year after all (I found some sketchy rigging and moved that to top priority to get fixed.) At my college we have some Rogue R2 wash fixtures and I am a big fan! However, I also recognize that maintenance could be an issue. Luckily, since they are LED we don't need to worry about lamp replacement, but that also means that the color may not mesh perfectly with the rest of our plot. I like the I-Cue system, but it would also require us to purchase an additional source four which will probably put it over the cost of something like the Rogue R2 Wash.