Rental Equip Cost?

What is the average cost to rent a Light Show? i know it varies so if you care here are the specs of what i need. If not just post with a Number thanks,
Tony

4 point spots or movers if they are cheap enough
10 - 12 par 56
2 zip strips white
2 hazers
2 movers
Board any kind that will run it all..

Thanks, again
 
Uh, I'm sorry, but there's really no way to just start naming fixtures/stuff and be able to get any sort of price of it. It looks like you're going to have to do a bit more research on this one...

First off, where are you located? You'll need to look for rental centers in your area. There are a couple websites out there (I'll try and see if I can find one) which list rental companies per location. You might be able to find a local one (from your userinfo, Nashville is a fairly large city, you should be able to find at least one), or if not, you'll need to worry about potentially heavy shipping costs.

Second, what kind of movers are you looking for? Dirt-cheap or high end (not the company!)? Moving mirror, or moving yoke?

Third, what kind of board depends on what you're running a little bit, but a LOT more on what company you rent from, most rental companies have a scale of lower-end less-intuitive less-powerful boards all the way up to the high-end boards able to control lots of lights, but there's no way to know which board you're going to get necessarily until you find a company.

Fourth, what do you need in the way of cabling? This depends largely on your venue and your electrical setup.

Fifth, how are you hanging these lights? Truss? Bars? Do you need to rent these things as well?

That being said, you could get the following from my local renting company

>10 Par 56
>2 DF-50's (Do you really need 2?)
>2 Studio Spots
>4 Lycien Midgets (Did you mean followspot by point spots?)
>Hog 1000
>+ $50 for Assorted Cables (You'd probably need more, I'm not going to bother working it out)
>+ $100 for zip strips (the company doesn't carry them)

For approximately $1800.
 
Grottfather said:
4 point spots or movers if they are cheap enough
10 - 12 par 56
2 zip strips white
2 hazers
2 movers
Board any kind that will run it all..

Thanks, again

Point Spots - Movers can take care of this..
8 Par 56 or 64 - Any brand 500Watt
2 Hazers - Any brand that can haze for 2 min song.. off and on.. very minimal sound
2 Movers - Any kind with ability to change colors and and spot area
Board at least 16 - 24 channels
price range 700 MAX!
 
You need to talk to your local rental dealer, all I can do is tell you what it would cost me in Seattle. None the less, I doubt you are going to get what you want for only $700

Here are some prices from my local place:
Martin Mac500E $250 per day $500 per week
Technobeam $100 per day $200 per week
Phoebus Ultra Quartz follow spot $50 per day $100 per week
Par 56 $6 per day $11 per week
Zip Strips $20 per day $40 per week
ETC Express 24/48 control board $135 per day $270 per week
Zero 88 Fat Frog moving light control console $150 per day $300 per week
Le Maitre Neutron Pro Hazer $60 per day $120 per week.

Good Luck
 
how do you plan on running the movers?
its really difficult to run the movers off of something such as an Express, youll need a mover board too.
like it was said before, you really need to get quotes from companies around you.
and good luck finding this for $700. that would almost be impossible.
 
That is tough, I would guess $300.00 to $1200.00 US. It all depends on equipment quality and company.
 
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.)
 
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