MrsFooter up there is a professional lighting designer and Soundlight is nearing graduation in a college lighting program they know what they are talking about. YOU NEED LIGHT FIXTURES. Your videos are REALLY dark and blotchy, or washed out and flat lacking color and depth. This is nothing to be ashamed of, you clearly haven't had proper training. You are doing your best on your own, passing along the wisdom of the ages from one student tech to another, without a teacher who knows anything to guide you. Imagine what would happen if math was taught the way lighting is taught at your school! I've taught a lot of young "gorilla theater survivor" technicians like yourself. Trust me there are many things that you think of as good that are not. There are many things that you think you know about lighting that are just flat out wrong. Again this isn't your fault and it's nothing to be ashamed of, it's the fault of the administration that didn't hire a real pro to teach you anything. When you go to college and get some real training you will laugh (or cry) at how sad your current situation is. You aren't alone. There are MANY students who hang out around CB in similar or even worse situations. I myself was in a far worse situation in high school. We can help. But you are going to have to trust us a bit. Just to get you started think about this. A standard lighting plot splits the stage up into areas around 8 feet in diameter. Each of these areas is lit with a minimum of two or three fixtures from the front, one light directly overhead, and two lights from the side and/or two lights from the back. Thus it's normal for every 8' area on the stage to have AT LEAST 5 lights focused on it (often you will find 6 or 8). You can easily find that number increasing up to 11 (or more) if you need multiple color washes of the stage... for a single 8' diameter circle. Again that's not your normal, but that's what we consider good lighting out here.
First off what you call "color bars" are properly called Striplights. A typical proscenium stage is about 40' wide and about 25' from the grand drape to the back curtain. A typical lighting inventory would include 3 or 4 rows deep of strip lights by 4 or 5 fixtures per row... That's between 12-20 strip lights... each eating up 3 circuits... and we've just used up all your spare circuits... which is why you need 96 or better yet 192 dimmers.
What you need to do:
#1 Get a book or two about lighting design and read them.
#2 Go volunteer at a community theater, a local community college or university, another high school with a good program. Find someone who knows about lights who is willing to teach you a few tricks in exchange for your hard work. SOMEONE will do this if you look for them. Theater techs are good people and love to help, that's why so many real pros hang out here on this website. You've just got to find that person.
#3 You need a lot of basic light fixtures. You DO NOT need any sort of moving lights. I like Soundlight's "96 dimmers and 200 fixture" minimum... but I want to add that you also need to spend more than $1000 per year renting moving lights to that list (can't afford that? you can't afford the upkeep on moving lights). However much money you are able to come up with you need to spend at least 60% on new lighting fixtures... You can get Ellipsoidals, Pars, Fresnels, and Strip lights. Nothing that changes colors or does tricks.
OOH! OOH! My Turn...
That's like buying a Cray supercomputer
to play PONG.
Which is why you don't need the movers. The dark spot, hot spots, etc, aren't just the camera. As it was said either in this thread or one of the other ones, it may seem like we're picking on you, but we're actually trying to help.I said with the videos, it was the camera, thats why it was dark. Our stage is actually pretty bright if we need it. It is a very small stage as well, we don't have a huge theatre department. 16 spots, 8 Fresnels, two color bars and two full cyc's.
I am currently a Senior student. I have been the director of lighting and sound since I was in 7th grade.
Really, we only have spotlights. We use gels for the front spots sometimes and then there are some pretty sad colored lights above the stage, we need to replace them soon with LED color lights, you cant see the colors unless all other lights are off. But needless of our lack of "cool" lighting we sellout everything we do. I just want a new color bar and four moving heads : P Which I am planning on getting DJ lights when I go about getting new lights. Smaller DJ moving heads are all we need for our size theatre.
Like I said, I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but you're, what, 17? There are people on this board who have been working in the industry since before you were born - listen to what they have to say!
OK, this might sound a little bit harsh, but really I am going to say this entirely for your own good. To quote a show I worked on earlier this year, harsh isn't always true but it usually is! Having read this thread and your others, here's my advice:
In the real world, this title has absolutely no relevance. You may run the crew and design shows - all power to you for doing that - but when it comes to buying equipment, the school is not going to give you $15,000 and say "here you go, go buy what you want with it." It just does not work that way; there will be procedures that have to be gone through - multiple quotes for equipment, for instance, red tape that has to be worked through and a senior staff member is going to have to sign everything off. If you walk into a professional theatre looking for a job and tell them you were the "director of lighting and sound" they'll laugh at you.
Wrong. You need to learn how to use the equipment you have properly first. While LED technology has come a long way in recent years, in terms of brightness they're still nowhere near as bright as a regular parcan; buy them to use for colour washes and you'll probably find that you have to turn all the other lights off to see the colours anyway. You would be far, far better to buy some decent fresnels and a good stock of gel which will give you much, much more bang for your buck. As for the moving heads, DJ heads will be the same as your existing coloured lights - you'll have to switch everything else off to see the effects. I work in a 300-seat professional theatre which is a pretty small space; we do six shows a week, 44 weeks of the year (we do eight plays a year, with a week-long production week for each show) plus a kids show during the daytimes for two weeks every school holidays (3 shows a day), and an improvised late-night comedy show every Friday and Saturday night. So we're doing upwards of 450 shows every year, and do we own moving lights? No. We rent them when we need them - which is not for every show. That way we get the right light for the application; if they break down the hire company gets us a replacement in double-quick time - currently we have a pair of Martin MX-10s in the rig; both have broken down over the last week, and the hire company has been down with a replacement for us within half an hour, and earlier this year we had a Mac600 power supply blow up and catch fire, and again we had a replacement within half an hour; and the biggest thing, we don't have to pay for the upkeep and lamp replacement of them. Had we owned those units, we would not have had the parts in stock to replace the broken parts (both the MX-10s had busted stepper motors) and our shows would have been seriously compromised because of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that NOBODY should own moving lights, because that would be stupid, but until you have the ongoing resources to maintain them, and the real, genuine need for them, rather than the motive of wanting toys to play with. Also, DJ gear is of a lesser quality as a general rule; you'll find things like they won't hold their position properly - each time you go back to the cue where it's in a certain position, it may not be in exactly the same place as you plotted them - and gobos won't index properly so it'll never be the same twice running. You've been given some excellent advice in this thread from people who really do know what they're talking about; you made a good decision in coming here to ask for advice, now take the advice you've been given!
Like I said, I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but you're, what, 17? There are people on this board who have been working in the industry since before you were born - listen to what they have to say!
I have purchased new gels for the spotlights and the color bars above the stage, I will try them out next time I am at the school and see if there is any difference. ... If the new gels dont do anything I will look for a new fixture.
Is there anything else anyone would like to suggest on the topic of lighting? Any specific fixtures or anything?
You need to read this thread...http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/education/9503-king-queen-booth-complex.html
GET MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED. You are doing more harm them good, no matter what you leave them, being a new booth, new lightboard, or whatever else, you might as well leave them with nothing. All the gear that you buy will go to waste if no one is there to run it. You don't want to be getting phone calls about how to turn on the lights. If you do get those phone calls you have failed at doing what you should be doing. Take this time to train someone else, leave that as the gift from your class. If you really want to give a gift... go buy these dvd's.
Practical Technical Theater :: The Complete Solution for Technical Theater Classrooms
Yes, they are boring, yes my students hated them, but they do have good knowledge in them. They are at least a starting point.
People are not out there to get you. People are there to learn. Even if you think no one wants to do your job, someone out there do. They can do it just as well if not better then you. Don't get a booth built so you can have a castle to call your own. If there are not 3 people that can hang a light, plug it in, patch in, focus it, turn it on, and cue it when you leave you will have made the problem worse. Someone taught you, its time for you to do the same. Don't be the kid that knows everything, be the kid that teaches everyone what they know.
You have mentioned the gel thing before and I'm not exactly sure why you think this would really help. Unless you have a quite saturated gel in the fixture getting a new lighter color would not help it to be seen. A saturated gel in any fixture will cut down the intensity, but it will not be a "dimming" effect if the fixture is efficient.
As far as new fixture advice I would suggest either pars or fresnels as down light, the trim of your electrics will factor into what type to get. For front light I would go for ERS units and I personally like ETC and once again your throw distance will factor into what degree to get.
Are you familiar with how to do photometrics?
OK, so I almost sprayed my drink all over my keyboard when I read this. As a thought, you might want to see if someone from the local ETC and/or Strand dealers would be interested in taking a look at your space, and making recommendations for lighting and console upgrades. True, they may come up with something way over your budget, but it might be a starting point.
I may be missing something, but these two statements seem contradictory.We noticed the dark spot on day one, but there was nothing we could do about it except stay away from it. But pelase trust me on that the stage is always uniformly lit.
What color gels are you talking about? Most of the time, a gel isn't there to turn the light an obvious color, it's just there to give a certain "tone" to the light, such as warm, cool, etc.And, I have purchased new gels for the spotlights and the color bars above the stage, I will try them out next time I am at the school and see if there is any difference.
Most LEDs are virtually invisible in daylight. Can you cite a specific example?I only suggested LEDs because I knew that you can clearly see them in daytime,
They may be doing exactly what they are supposed to do, it just may not be what you are expecting.If the new gels dont do anything I will look for a new fixture.
Do any of these directors know anything about the technical side of theater, or do they just deal with actors? (Your other comments seem to indicate they don't know tech, just making sure.)I am getting all 5 Drama directors from both sides of the school, Junior and Senior
And, we will look forward to seeing them.If I have any chance to, I will bring my camera to school and take some pictures.
I hope that your first goal is to get some good input on the "best to purchase" part. By comming here to CB, you are off to a very good start. But given the apparant state of you theater, you shouldn't be rushing to conclusions, based on a few days worth of comments. (Yes, everyone loves the Element in concept, but very few here have had their hands on one.)
I hope that by "case", you just mean the concept of a new board. If you start by proposing the Element (or, any other specific board) before a demo, then it will look bad if you then find a different board that better suits your needs.When I get my case cleared, I will be ordering a demo of the Element.
Careful proofreading is definatly a good habit to get into. (One that I sometimes have to work at, also.)(By the way, About my typing, sorry for the mistakes, I useally type very fast then go back and fix mistakes...)
An idea of the size of your space woud be good. Personally, I'd like to see a couple drawings of the theater (plan and side elevation views) before recommending anything. At least pictures will help, once you get them.Is there anything else anyone would like to suggest on the topic of lighting? Any specific fixtures or anything?
Gafftaper beat me to my reply when he said "The Express(ion) software is dead. ETC has not made a board with that software in about a year. The new consoles: EOS, Ion, and Element are FAR superior in what they can do. Express(ion) software was good and it's out there on a lot of machines, but trust me, if you can afford it you don't want to choose it over the new generation of consoles. They are far more powerful and much easier to use. You'll just have to learn a few new tricks"
He is very right. If you want to learn the software that is going to be in use for the next 10-15 years in professional theatres get the Element or Ion. If you end up in a place where you have to learn commands on the Express or Expression that learning curve will be much easier. The Element will have the subs you want but you really want to be learning direct channel input. Wean yourself off the submasters. They are quick, easy and really limited. Also, the Element uses the same basic language as the Obsession which borrowed its language from the old Strand Palette series. It's an industry standard that has been around for a while and is making a resurgance thanks to ETC's new consoles. For the sake of your education and the students coming after you, get something that is using industry standard language.
Quote:
We noticed the dark spot on day one, but there was nothing we could do about it except stay away from it. But pelase trust me on that the stage is always uniformly lit.
I may be missing something, but these two statements seem contradictory.
Is the Status five years old as well? "Missing half of its slider caps" indicates the console has not been treated properly. "Because the internal battery completely died" seems repairing the existing would cost less than renting an Expression3, and certainly less than a new console. I thought you had a good relationship with your Colortran dealer?#1 What console do you currently have?
We have the Leviton Status
Status > Controls > Theatrical Equipment > Lighting Management Systems > All Leviton Products from Leviton Electrical and Electronic Products
Its missing half of its slider caps, and it has some problems when programing, it also freezes after about 35 minutes of continuous use, like in a play, so we must switch from Scene 1 to Scene 2 then back to Scene 1, that flashes all the lights, so, thats not good either, and it doesn't have monitors, which we would love. We rented a used ETC Expression 3 this year because the internal battery completely died in the Status, and that I agree is major overkill to buy, but the Element, being made for small venues looks perfect.
For the love of (the deity of your choice, or none, should you so choose) STOP calling them "color bars." I don't give a rat's behind if that's what you, or anyone else, have always called them, you've been told that the correct term is STRIPLIGHTS. Theatre technicians use very specific terms for one reason: to aid in communication. Using a made-up or non-standard term is a sure way to identify yourself as a wannabe, and annoys those who know better. Likewise, there's no such thing as a "telescopic spotlight."
In the other thread you made mention of wanting new equipment for the younger generation like you had five years ago. It is ridiculous and frivolous to think of replacing any lighting equipment that is five years old, unless it was substandard (DJ quality) to begin with.
Is the Status five years old as well? "Missing half of its slider caps" indicates the console has not been treated properly. "Because the internal battery completely died" seems repairing the existing would cost less than renting an Expression3, and certainly less than a new console. I thought you had a good relationship with your Colortran dealer?
The budgeting and acquisition of capital expenditures for a public school district is way above your level of understanding. It appears quite likely that neither an Element nor a Palette are warranted, in my opinion.
Do any of these directors know anything about the technical side of theater, or do they just deal with actors? (Your other comments seem to indicate they don't know tech, just making sure.)
Yes, I mainly came here because of the booth topic, but now that I know there are many pros here I asked some more questions, and some more to come. I have only seen one video on the Element, and from that it looks pretty good for what I want it to do. But like you have said, no one has had it hands on, but, Thats why I want to demo a few boards in our own venue, which ETC accommodates.I hope that your first goal is to get some good input on the "best to purchase" part. By comming here to CB, you are off to a very good start. But given the apparant state of you theater, you shouldn't be rushing to conclusions, based on a few days worth of comments. (Yes, everyone loves the Element in concept, but very few here have had their hands on one.)
We use essential cookies to make this site work, and optional cookies to enhance your experience.