NEED: New School Lighting Board

[gafftaper]

In the strange world of things, I am about to become a sort of a consultant on a new high School theatre (backround only at this time). I checked with a supplier and said that the ETC Ion and a Marquee board are the current 'in' boards for high school theatres, the Ion being less expensive.
I recently called ETC on an unrelated issue, but did mention I would not consider buying a Smatfade until they put a monitor out jack on it. They are thinking about it.

The Marquee is a Horizon software console. With the big Genlyte merger, Strand is now part of the family and has taken the Marquee/Horizon software and modified if for all their new Palette and Light Palette consoles. As far as I know, the Marquee has remained essentially the same with only software upgrades. I would definitely take a good look at Strand over the Marquee at this point. It doesn't make much sense to me for Genlyte to keep Marquee in existence now that they've totally converted the Strand products to the Horizon software. Why keep spending money on a lesser known product that competes with your flagship line? My guess is Marquee will vaporize soon.

On the other hand, the Ion is a pretty slick little board with that top of the line service reputation of ETC behind it. The two boards are very different concepts. So get some demos! The nice thing about Strand over Marquee (or ETC) is that there are many varieties of consoles with the same software to choose from. ION on the other hand is the scaled down version of EOS and very much in the powerful obsession family programming wise. The add on wing panels make Ion pretty slick. Get some hands on demos.

 

[soundlight]

You can get the ION close to any of the Strand Pallette fader configurations with fader wings. It's far more flexible than the Strand boards.

 

[Hughesie]

LSC is over there, but they make great desks

our school still runs a lsc axiom 36 as our house desk it never fails, unfortunetly cus when it does WE GET A NEW DESK

 

[icewolf08]

You can get the ION close to any of the Strand Pallette fader configurations with fader wings. It's far more flexible than the Strand boards.

Not saying that I prefer one over the other, but how do you figure that the ION is more flexible than the Palettes? Unless by physical configuration you mean it is more flexible. I run two Strand 500 consoles, and have never felt like I needed wings, or ran out of faders.

 

[SteveB]

Not saying that I prefer one over the other, but how do you figure that the ION is more flexible than the Palettes? Unless by physical configuration you mean it is more flexible. I run two Strand 500 consoles, and have never felt like I needed wings, or ran out of faders.

I agree with icewolf about the Ion "seemingly" being more flexible then the current Strand line, in terms of being able to add fader panels as needed.

You may never work an event that needs lots of manual faders. Others do. Being able to add panels, either having purchased and stored currently not needed panels, or getting additonals from a rental shop, seems to allow the Ion (and Eos as well as Congo and Congo Jr.) greater flexibility for control. Strand seemingly went with the old ETC style configurations - 32/64, or 48/96, or 128 subs, or consoles with 48 subs and 12 playback. In some ways, like the older ETC line, Strand is forcing you to guess what your future needs are in picking a console now. I like the ability to add features later as needed.

I put "seemingly"in quotes, as I would be interested in the actual layout and control feature set of Ion vs, some of the Pallettes and whether the Ion - being the baby brother of Eos, relies more on hidden functions to make up for fewer buttons on the control surface. Having the ability to add wings, while not having as good a control layout, doesn't add value.

Steve B.

 

[cutlunch]

South Fl SFX all though some of the boards mentioned have a memory capability builtin I want to especially address this issue.

Although they may not have used memory recording cues is this because no one has taught them. I did lighting at a school a couple of years and this was the same thing there.

I believe you need to get a board that has memory capabilities or you will be doing a dis-service to future students. Yes I agrree get a board with presets. ( I am a fan of the Strand light pallets) But you need to let the students get this experience because I doubt there is any professional theatre or university course that does not use a memory board.

Also on a memory board they can have subtle nuiances that are harder to do when you have to get a slider to an exact position everytime.

Another point is as you say money is tight so the board you chose now will have to last probably ten years.

If you stiil need a two preset board then I would go for one that has more channels then you have now in two scene mode but also has wide mode that doubles the number of channels this helps future proof.

A suitable board may cost more but this just means more fundraising, in the long term it is worth for the students.

 

[gafftaper]

South Fl SFX all though some of the boards mentioned have a memory capability builtin I want to especially address this issue.
Although they may not have used memory recording cues is this because no one has taught them. I did lighting at a school a couple of years and this was the same thing there.
I believe you need to get a board that has memory capabilities or you will be doing a dis-service to future students. Yes I agrree get a board with presets. ( I am a fan of the Strand light pallets) But you need to let the students get this experience because I doubt there is any professional theatre or university course that does not use a memory board.
Also on a memory board they can have subtle nuiances that are harder to do when you have to get a slider to an exact position everytime.
Another point is as you say money is tight so the board you chose now will have to last probably ten years.
If you stiil need a two preset board then I would go for one that has more channels then you have now in two scene mode but also has wide mode that doubles the number of channels this helps future proof.
A suitable board may cost more but this just means more fundraising, in the long term it is worth for the students.

Unfortunately what typically happens in a high school is the drama teach knows nothing about tech. A student comes along who has some outside training or help and figures things out. The knowledge blooms and is passed along for a few years after the wonder student graduates. Then the school is reduced back to no tech at all. I'm quite sure that the Express I got for my previous high school job has now been reduced back to just a two scene preset now that I'm no longer teaching there. So while it's a great educational opportunity, the reality is unless the school is going to fund a technical position it's the good board is likely to be waisted.

 

[gafftaper]

Not saying that I prefer one over the other, but how do you figure that the ION is more flexible than the Palettes? Unless by physical configuration you mean it is more flexible. I run two Strand 500 consoles, and have never felt like I needed wings, or ran out of faders.

Just want to also jump in here and agree. I'm a fan of Horizon software. I'm also a fan of ETC as the industry king with a much better customer service reputation. My feeling is that the palettes are much more flexible in that there are so many styles to choose from. The vast majority of schools will never do much in the way of major system upgrades that make add on panels useful. Most pick what they need and use it until it survives it's last gasp of breath. The beauty of the strand line is it's the same software no matter what interface you choose. Again, I'm also a big ETC fan and would encourage anyone to look at Ion and Congo Jr. as well.

Once again Get demos!

 

[TimMiller]

Lots of the schools down here in tx are starting to go with the congo and congo jr. I am pushing the avolites pearl consoles for theatres and churches who want to get into moving lights but also have a lot of "little shows". I really like the functionality of the avo consoles b/c you have all of your manual faders you can push up and make a light come on along with all the controls (that are pratical, b/c it is a moving light console) for moving lights. Another one of the consoles i push for schools is the hog 1000's i tell them it gets students ready for most consoles out there in the world that dont have a bunch of faders. To me selecting dimmers manually and running them up on a wheel real fast is much quicker than grabbing faders and recording cues that way.

 

[Lightingguy32]

Basic explanation here is that look for a board that can suit you needs for all types of productions and has an easy learning curve, can be programmed easily and on the fly and can accommodate for extra dimmers/ equipment if more equipment will be added in the future. Judging by your needs, I'd say you should go with the ETC Express or the Expression 3 or Insight 3. those 3 desks share the same programming syntax but Expression and Insight have moving light capabilities (actual encoders), and have a higher submaster fader count (insight 3 has 108 subs, can't remember how many expression 3 has).

 

[derekleffew]

... can't remember how many expression 3 has).

Twenty-four. Though only 13-24 can be assigned as INH. Extra wording added to meet ten character minimum.

 

[Einarin]

any chance your board is an Insight? We have an old one kicking around somewhere and it's a nice biege. We got an Express 48/96 a while back, and it serves us very nicely. Now, if we could just get a new dimmer rack...but that's OT.
I am referring to my high school's theatre, by the way.

 

[TechiGoz]

Ever considered the LSC maXim series? They are a nice simple board for what it seems like you may need.

 

[pbrock]

I am using an ETC Express 24/48, and as a COMPLETE novice to this type of work, I was able to read through their docs and teach myself enough to get through our needs (church). We do a 3-day show once a year, at Easter (100 - 130 cues), then have other smaller shows at Christmas and 4th of July. Plus the occasional youth group and children's group performances, but not so much demand on lighting for those (alternating lights on drama - front stage; lights on choir - back stage). Anyway, it's a good board and fairly easy to learn. PB

 

[Darthrob13]

I suppose it was inevitable that I chimed in on this one.

The Strand 200 does support video, though it is an option. It is really quite a powerful little board. It has a few weird little operational things but once you get used to them you're good to go. It's also the smallest console that Strand has that lets you patch the outputs (the 100 can't do that).

The Palette and LightPalette Series consoles get better with every patch of software. The purchase of Strand by Genlyte really did merge "two great tastes that taste great together" to borrow the phrase. The amazing part is that as was pointed out, these consoles use the same software. Plus you can teach it to behave in a manner that you are used to. (If you don't want it to release the captured channels after a cue record then you can set it up to not do that....if you don't want it to GoTo the cue when you record it, you can have it not do that also).

I would agree with the poster that suggested to get demo's of everything in you're price range. It's your turn to be catered to like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Write down what you want the console to do as a minimum (based on what your console can do now) and add to that. Dealers will return your calls.