In jumping in also if of help, hiring someone regional to you would cost less than renting something and paying the shipping given it’s feasible. Regional pricing is also based upon local economics and how busy they individually are or in general you get what you pay for ability of those you shop with and quality of rental. Hard to say how much something should cost in any one area other than in general based upon another region. Fair price thus can’t be specifically stated as comparable in price. Much less it can’t be known what any price given is in comparison to what’s provided otherwise in estimate. Big difference in rental charges between that of a
Mac 2K and a Trackspot, yet if the Trackspot is not bright enough by way of design intent to punch
thru the incandescents, the Trackspots would be wasted money and a poor design.
This in addition to length of production. A three month production in removing the gear from the production schedule the rental company has might cost more than a one day rental. On the other
hand, it might cost less dependant upon who you are renting it from and how busy they are. A rental during a off time in the season might also cost less as opposed to the rental shop needing the gear and having to rent it themselves now.
Something not stated is also any need by the rental company to install and or run the show. Dependant upon what you were expecting to be using by way of design intent and or punch, it could require at least someone to come out to program and run the show and if not someone to come out and supervise the use of the gear. Say on a
Mac 250, you could waste hours in programming the thing in what paying someone to program it for you would take an hour. Some companies will not allow Joe off the street to have un-supervised rental of their gear - it’s not very cost effective in the long run to chance expensive gear with. On
truss and fixtures it could also depend upon liability. Blown up lamps or dinged up gear costs money in just renting it to anyone, much less in doing the hang and
plug in for the gear it might not be safe to just rent the stuff out without someone paid to supervise the install and safe use. For many things included in the rental, it might be necessary to include someone paid to run the show or at least supervise it’s install. In many things it’s dependant upon what’s requested or needed. At times also, that person paid to supervise the install and program the gear for you if not run the show might be more cost effective as a factor not yet determined by way of actual design needs.
(Realizing of course you are in the
blind in asking such things and would intend to design around what ever you could get but in some ways design is intent and what you rent should not be by way of cost that factor that determines the design for a successful design.)
In movers, there is a large difference in movers, one could mean a VL-500D or
Mac 250Krypton by way of design intent and
intensity or some American DJ type wiggle light that might or might not be bright enough or hit your
mark on the
stage. On the other
hand, one could require a Studio Spot by way of noise. All by way of specific purpose would have different rental rates much less comply with your budget and design intent.
This in addition to if say a Trackspot lamp is rated for 300 hours in life but tends to
drop off a wee
bit in output towards the end of it’s life, this or if it goes out during the show you are left with a dark hole on
stage to compensate for - you also get what you pay for. Rental cost by way of supplier could also be a factor of what is in someone’s garage and works at the
point it exits the garage door - given it’s tested, yet dies during the show, or perhaps for a few more dollars, what is replaced and balanced in output to all fixtures on the rental by way of cleaning, prepping and
bench focus to be the same in output before it leaves the rental company. I have gotten many rental fixtures with cob webs in the
lens train, much less gear in the past that is un-safe to use even from
Altman rentals of their own gear. A common comment by way of our moving light department is that those we rent gear to supplement from
send us their worst to service for them in rental. They kind of know that what we get will come back much better than it was sent out including at times as needed for the gear a trip to our factory service center to fix the rented gear they of course pay for but in rental wastes our time in getting ready what we
send out in optimum condition up to our own requirements. This from cracked lenses to snowballed lamps which I believe by way of having to for the period of rental provide shop lamps for the rented fixtures. Gee, we rented x amount of fixtures from somewhere, they now all need me to provide lamps a few $K worth of lamps for what’s not owned by us but needed for a production due to what’s rented not being in so good of condition once it arrives.
While budget is a necessary factor for you, design should reflect intent than budget, than once known what you want a specific request for the rental provided. In price either deal with what you might expect given a budget or realistically design around the budget by way of dealing with and pre-planning for what might fail or less involved in the rental by way of budget. You have a lot of expectations for a $500.00 rental, at best one might wish one night’s rental for it.
(Realizing of course that this was just a simple request for if it’s fair in pricing /budget request for what you need/want the intent is to fill in the info further in what a rental even if simple is about.)
Chapter two (as requested):
500w
PAR 56 or 64 as either being in option, which do you need given each will have a different ability to
cover the
stage with a beam of light? Specify what your design requires to make magic rather than adapt as needed in compromising your design intent. You as with the moving lights are paying for it or is the budget the major
design factor you will do so around? Is art and design taking a back seat to what ever you get? Nothing and don’t get me wrong about some artistic integrity type of thing but at very least
express intent for type of beam spread. A
PAR Raylight kit lamped
PAR 56 or 64 will on the DJ market rent often for less than that of a Q500PAR56MFL or
incandescent 500PAR64WFL. Also depends upon the size of the rental company and even color of the
fixture you require. Given every chrome
PAR 64
fixture we own at the moment is going out on a show at the moment for instance, it would tend to be more expensive to rent Chrome verses Black cans at the moment. Also given size of renter, in our case, and for your amount of need, 12 cans in
PAR 56 verses 64 would not be a problem unless by way of specification for the next week a chrome
PAR 64 were required. Don’t care in color or type means something beyond your design to the rental company where busy. On the other
hand if the rental were for two weeks from now, such chrome cans would be available and cheaper again.
This if filling out the rental request myself. Were I filling out the rental request I also might note that you have both movers and incandescents on the request yet no request for
power supply. Such could be a problem in adding to rental cost were it especially 208v fixtures as opposed to 120v ones. Unless your theater/venu has a AC-Distro and dimmers to control the fixtures, one might infer also from the very
base request that the rental company should at very least supply dimmers for the incandescents and also supply a AC-Distribution pack for the movers if 208v or ensure some form of
power supply for the movers by way of non-dimmer distribution or
house power.
How do you intend to control at very least the
PAR 56 fixtures? By way of control, how many channels for control do you require for them? Controlling a dozen
PAR 56 at 500w later expressed fixtures on a twelve way
ETC 2.4Kw per
dimmer pack is by far cheaper or not than that of a shoe box
dimmer rated at 1.2Kw per
channel for six circuits. Both could without specification on your part be just as valid in rental price and scope of rental.
We than also get into
feeder cable for the dimmers, adaptors, communication
wire and other details in once
power is provided, how to provide the
power to source? Do you need a AC
Distro, than a rack to rack
feeder cable
jumper, are you powering up from a poor man’s 220v source which would possibly require re-wiring a
dimmer pack, or do you say have Cam-lock tie ins’?
Edison power supplies are by far different than even that of a L21-30, yet all require by way of
dimmer and
distro different options.
Now
dimmer to
fixture wiring. 12 fixtures of 120v and 4 of un-determined type, not getting into the zip strips might require a rental addition to consider into the bill. My
PAR cans have
stage pin plugs on them. The shoe box dimmers are
Edison, the 12 way
ETC dimmers are
Socapex and
stage pin. At very least if you were providing your own cable, in taking care of the customer’s needs one needs to determine if not also renting cable, what adaptors at times will be needed - this in addition to
safety cables, clamps, floor bases or some form of
boom verses
truss. Even if the intent is to rent just the fixtures, if your theater is say L5-20 and the intent is to hang them on the
grid, that would require adaptors from the 2P&G
stage pin plugs added to the rental.
Chapter three:
Zip Strips are problematic in as described “2 zip strips white.” Do you mean you wish for white painted
zip strip fixtures.
Zip strip fixtures I would assume to be a 6' long MR-16
cyc light fixture - or do you mean something else? Normally such fixtures are black and they will not be painted unless you pay sufficiently in rental to
purchase them. Also in specifying the
zip strip, it’s assumed a 75w EYC lamp. Do you also intend upon this lamp or did you think it to be a 20
thru 50w lamp also available but an added charge?
Again with the given a some form of light board requested, how do you intend to control them an how many
circuit was the intent for the rented
cyc strips? Much less were the
PAR cans intended to be as individual fixtures or as lamp bar?
Hazers... lots of difference between that of a DF-50, something from American DJ and that of say a Hydrosonic, Antari or Look Products if not LeMaitrie
haze machine in both output and type of
fog used. Could be that you are thinking for instance water based, such a change in specification limits the type used, this much less by way of specification of specific type of gear, what you get is what specific type of gear you specify. The rental company if they don’t have what you request as with all gear should be contacting you with a substitute for your intent as opposed to some intent in your dealing with what ever is provided. The
haze machine - much less that
haze machine when requested to have a squirrel fan as additional charge to disperse it faster will be very much dependant upon what atmosphere of
haze is required by you and how soon you require and request of a specific type to get out on
stage. Wait an hour or two or expect an instant
effect is all about what you specify in the rental. If going for quit
hazer, the DF-50 while cheap to rent is not quiet thus important to at least note. It now gets complex and more expensive as a problem to rent.
“2 Movers.” Is the intent of four to be pinspots such as might light a
mirror ball or that of moving lights? Two movers is a very
broad term and very dependant upon what you want from say Intellibeam to Biglight.
“Board of any type that will run it all...” That’s dependant upon who you rent from and what really you require or request. I can for instance were I quoting this thing specify some form of 8x16 NSI board and declare that given it’s stored cues, be sufficient to control your show. On the other
hand, I could also specify a Hog PC for the same show. By far different by way of scope and your own needs. Even if Jands Hog 1000 to control the show, it might be a learning curve for you to learn the show verses that of say some 24x48
Leprecon board that might store what cues you need and add flexibility sufficiently. This as opposed to a
Express persay that does best with both.
(IN chapter two, showing what I might be thinking or wondering by way of quoting a rental for you what I’m wondering and thinking - beyond cable needs, I hope you have a better view of such details beyond a simple seeming rental being simple to quote or provide assistance on. Such info hopefully in addition to what I have not thought of will be important to specify in your request. This as opposed to getting what you are given and dealing with what you get.)