Control/Dimming Looking at GMA2 for show

[calwalker1]

Hello all,
My school is currently having some major construction works going on (eg hall has been knocked down and we are getting a new one soon) for our next show we are renting a venue and providing all our own gear. for this show we have a pretty technical design with projection and a few moving lights (for us this is technical, I have never done video before. and only LED no movers) this show is also going to be a lot of fun for the techs as I have been given a lot of freedom to design and our drama group is very close knit so while they have fun on stage I have fun at the console.

As this show is going to have a few moving lights (20 +) we are looking at what desk we should use to control it. As this show is going to be a bit of fun I had a chat with the other senior tech and he and I really want to use a grand MA desk (mainly as from what we've seen they are awsome)

So before you shoot us down I'd like to say this is only for a bit of fun, will only be rented for a few weeks and we have both extensively used the grand MA for PC and believe we would be capable with programming the desk.

My question is does anyone know how much a Grand MA2 ultra-light costs on average for rental as before we go approaching the admins asking if we can use it, we want to know how much we're expecting to pay. We don't need an exact figure we're just wondering if anyone has a rough idea of how much they paid.

When you reply please say what currency it's in so I can convert it.

 

[Footer]

Your looking at the hot new console are the market. Few of us have even seen one in the flesh. Very few are out there that are not out on the road with *insert big rock show or Cirque here*. I would give a call to your local rental house and see if they have any and what they would cost to rent. Rental rates can fluctuate greatly depending on the season and what is going on around you. If the house just got a tour back and have a bunch of gear sitting there rusting, they tend to make better deals. If they only have one of an item and everyone wants it, the rates are going to be high. With this console, I think the rates are going to be high no matter what. The console retails for over 30k U.S. I could easily see it renting for over 1,000 U.S. for a week, if not twice that. There is no way for us to really know what that number really is in your area. Call a rental shop and ask if it is even possible to get one. They should give you a number without an issue.

 

[LuxMax]

I'm sitting in front of a MA2 fullsize right now so I can give you an idea of what to expect.
At the moment rental rates for a MA2 fullsize is around US$1200-1500 per week in NYC, the Lite will probably be around 7-800.
You will definitely appreciate a real console compared to onPC, the physical buttons and screens make life a lot easier and lets you work much faster.

 

[calwalker1]

Your looking at the hot new console are the market.....

Okay, I think I may have clouded ideas after seeing one (and using one) at a large rock-eistedfod and assuming they were the norm, I will still contact a rental company who we get everything from (as their boss was a former student so we get good deals) and see if they have one but in case that's not possible would anyone recommend and other good desks? maybe a hog would be suitable as I have used one of their line as well.

 

[calwalker1]

You will definitely appreciate a real console compared to onPC, the physical buttons and screens make life a lot easier and lets you work much faster.

I agree I have used a strand offline compared to a physical and it has nothing on the desk. however as us getting this desk will be more for me and my crew than the show (as in a little desk would probably would cut it but won't be as "fun") so we need to way up the price compared to need as while we love the desk we also not loving the budget on a desk instead of lights.
(the majority channels are conventional dimmers it's just for the moving lights and to have a little more control over the LEDs)

 

[ScaredOfHeightsLD]

would anyone recommend and other good desks?

It's tough to recommend a desk without knowing a bit more about you and your programming history and what your exact needs are. What do you mean by a little video? Are there going to be other technicians on your crew who will need to use the desk (focus, cueing etc...) Make sure that it is accessible to them as well as you have enough time for training etc... I have programmed a few things on the MA2 Lite and can say that it is a very user based desk. Plan on spending some time getting the desk set up to how you want it to work. I personally am more of an ETC guy at heart so my gut is to say EOS, but I don't really know enough about your show to make a good recommendation.

 

[mstaylor]

The better approach would be to talk to your former student/contractor and see what he has to rent. Once you know your options, come back and we can suggest which is better.

 

[derekleffew]

...does anyone know how much a Grand MA2 ultra-light costs on average for rental ...

There's nothing at all wrong with GMA1 full-size, GMA1 light, or even GMA1 ultra-light and you'll find they are much more available than any of the GMA2 family. Only if the vendor(s) in your area cannot supply any of the above should you look at another console line.

 

[Grog12]

I have to agree completely with Derek, I've had a full size GMA1 for two weeks for a bit less than what was previously quoted for a full sized 2 for 1.

Also when you say you've been using the onPC software have you been using the onpc gma1 or gma2? Cause it will make a difference.

 

[shiben]

There's nothing at all wrong with GMA1 full-size, GMA1 light, or even GMA1 ultra-light and you'll find they are much more available than any of the GMA2 family. Only if the vendor(s) in your area cannot supply any of the above should you look at another console line.

I would do this and go with a GMA 1. You can probably get a full size for less than the 2. Plus, the GMA 1 still seems to be the standard for lighting desks everywhere, and I know a few people who have used both and still prefer the 1.

 

[calwalker1]

Hello all,
Just spoke to the rental company about what desks they had. they told me they don't stock GMA's as they are apparently "prone to crashing" I'm not sure if that's entirely true but I will trust them on that.
they told me the main other desk they have that's in this range is the "Full Boar" console from roadhog.
I have used one of these before and though they were good. however that was for a large concert not for theatre. what do people think of them?

 

[TimMiller]

Go for it I like the console where I last worked I kept trying to get them to buy one since the hog 2 was dyeing a steady death. Grand-mas take awhile to setup the way you want them hog is quick and easy. If you have used a hog 500/1000/2/3 then the road hog is an easy transition.

 

[derekleffew]

... they told me they don't stock GMA's as they are apparently "prone to crashing" I'm not sure if that's entirely true but I will trust them on that. ...

I wouldn't ever trust another thing that rental company told me, nor would I ever rent from them! There are some very valid reasons for a shop not to invest in MA Lighting products, but that isn't one. Would the top ten tours of 2010 use a desk that is "prone to crashing"? I think not.

An HES Full Boar should suit nicely, especially if you have prior experience with it. What's the difference between running a large concert vs. theatre? The only thing I can think of is you may want to run everything off one Go button, but you can still trigger other CueLists via Comment Macros.

 

[calwalker1]

I have to agree with you considering that it seems like a real industry leader. I will assume they just want me to not rent it. Or they have it set up wrong. I do like the design of MA2's how everything networks together. I would not be unhappy with a hog (they will both be Awesome). We will have to go with this company as a former student is on the exec. Team so we get really good prices.

I will speak to him personally and see what he thinks. As I have used the MA 2 onPC a lot so I am ready to take on the desk.

 

[rochem]

I wouldn't ever trust another thing that rental company told me, nor would I ever rent from them!

My local shop refuses to stock ETC products, and their (very large) conventional inventory is made up of Shakespeares and Star PARs. Their lobby doubles as a demo room where they love to do shootouts between a Source Four, a Strand SL, a 360Q, and their Shakes. They're also home to one of the largest soft goods distributors in the northeast. Go figure.

I will speak to him personally and see what he thinks. As I have used the MA 2 onPC a lot so I am ready to take on the desk.

If the company doesn't stock the MA, then nothing you say will change that. If you're locked into that house and they don't stock them, you're pretty much not gonna get an MA. Sure, rental houses will sometimes buy or subrent gear to fill a specific need, but it doesn't sound like this is a huge budget rental. And even if they can get it for you, chances are that it'll be much more expensive than you want it to be, since they're probably buying it new or subrenting it, and they still need to make money. In the example above, I was looking to rent a 150-unit conventional rig plus a few Vari-Lites, but I wasn't willing to accept Shakes for a variety of reasons, so they lost the job even though they had a lower bid.

 

[calwalker1]

If the company doesn't stock the MA, then nothing you say will change that. .

I need to clarify that with the boss as on the phone they said that they ran a concert with it last week and it crashed so I am not if one of them was running Someone else's desk or that was theirs.

 

[techieman33]

I don't understand how you couldn't trust anything the rental company says because they don't like a particular console. If one crashed on me during an event I would probably be complaining about them too. You don't have to use a product because that's what the big tours are using right now. Focus on finding what will work well for you.

And to the person crying about Shakespeares, I would take one over a source 4 any day. Well if SL's weren't available. I'm sick of the ETC everything crap.

 

[Grog12]

I don't understand how you couldn't trust anything the rental company says because they don't like a particular console. If one crashed on me during an event I would probably be complaining about them too. You don't have to use a product because that's what the big tours are using right now. Focus on finding what will work well for you.

And to the person crying about Shakespeares, I would take one over a source 4 any day. Well if SL's weren't available. I'm sick of the ETC everything crap.

Very simple...their line of reasoning for not stocking it is complete BS. Derek is absolutley right, do you think Bono or Lars Ulrich would stand for a console that crashed once, much less was "prone to crashing." The rental house is just making an excuse for not having one on hand. I'm fine with rental houses not stocking everything by everyone but to hand out a line of BS like that is just plain stuipd.

 

[rochem]

And to the person crying about Shakespeares, I would take one over a source 4 any day. Well if SL's weren't available. I'm sick of the ETC everything crap.

I don't have anything against Shakes on their own, but when you're trying to supplement an existing inventory of Source Fours, it's not worth the extra trouble of matching them and explaining it to the LD. As the vast majority of rental packages I coordinate are supplementing existing inventories rather than working as a standalone system, I don't often rent from that shop.

 

[TimMiller]

All consoles crash here and there. I have had grandMAs crash, hogs crash, avolites crash, I have had ETC consoles crash including the express, I have had little NSI boards crash. (yes I do have a way of crashing things). But my very favorite was when the hog3 crashed while the beach boys were on stage. Talk about record call back time when I left the message. If I was the board I would have crashed too with what we were running it through. But with any large show that's what you have a backup console or show server running for.