Rigging for House Lighting

P

PositiveCharge

New Member
Hi All,

Curious to know if anyone has a rigging solution to fly in individual house lights. I have some house light cans over the orchestra section in my theater that are truly impossible to get to. The rake of the seating make using a scaffold or a lift impossible. I would like to be able to rig two rows of my house lights to be able to fly in using aircraft cable or something similar. This would also be great to set trims for the house lights to match the rake of the seating so that there is even coverage and consistent brightness in the house as well. I'm thinking that a multi-point which system might work, but the fixtures themselves are generally lightweight so I don't want to overengineer the soluion either. Suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!
 
Rigging aside, have you tried something like a Genie Super Straddle? They are made to access difficult areas over seating exactly how you describe. Also the obligatory "don't play rigger if you don't have the proper qualifications" statement.
 
Gage said:
Rigging aside, have you tried something like a Genie Super Straddle? They are made to access difficult areas over seating exactly how you describe. Also the obligatory "don't play rigger if you don't have the proper qualifications" statement.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gage, the problem is that my theater seating is an off-Broadway sized house with a very steep rake flanked by steep stairs on either ends of the aisles instead of ramps, so getting the Super Straddle situated with the weight of the Genie on it is seemingly not possible since there's no space to roll it up the rake and into place. Thanks for the suggestion though, I'll keep thinking on it.
As far as rigging goes, any rigging points and systems will be secured by qualified personnel. I'm curious if there's a specific rigging system already out there for this application.
 
How many cans are you needing to bring in? Would you want individual height control or could they be moved in groups?

I've never seen a solution for house lights like this but my mind goes to line shaft winches hockey arenas use for raising and lowering the net behind the goal. Many lift lines all mule'd a bunch to go back to one winch. Using something like this for house lights poses a problem that you'll need to sort out cable management to power the lighting fixture. Two options come to mind- 1st I've used wire rope that has electrical conductors in it, hang the lights from this and then the lines go back to a slip ring on the winch and your done. 2nd, some sort of chain slides on the lifting lines to pile up the electrical cable as the lights are flown out.

Without knowing you space at all I'd feel good about saying this project would be north of $150,000 to carry out, most of it in labor. Lots of small tasks at height and if its hard to access to change the lamp I'm guess it would be even harder to get about if to install a pulley, and retrofit the electrical system. I would start a conversation with a company like Tiffin to feel out a price from someone who does this type of work.
 
The Ruby Diamond Auditorium at Florida State had all their chandeliers hung on individual electric hoists after they retrofit it several years back. I don't know the specifics, but being that they're bigger fixtures, it's less to hang than an ordinary auditorium (maybe 8 total). Might be worth an email to see what gear they used.
 
PositiveCharge said:
Hi All,

Curious to know if anyone has a rigging solution to fly in individual house lights. I have some house light cans over the orchestra section in my theater that are truly impossible to get to. The rake of the seating make using a scaffold or a lift impossible. I would like to be able to rig two rows of my house lights to be able to fly in using aircraft cable or something similar. This would also be great to set trims for the house lights to match the rake of the seating so that there is even coverage and consistent brightness in the house as well. I'm thinking that a multi-point which system might work, but the fixtures themselves are generally lightweight so I don't want to overengineer the soluion either. Suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!
Click to expand...
@PositiveCharge ETC's motorized rigging division may have an off the shelf answer for you.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
Wow, this just inspired me with an invention...
 
StradivariusBone said:
The Ruby Diamond Auditorium at Florida State had all their chandeliers hung on individual electric hoists after they retrofit it several years back. I don't know the specifics, but being that they're bigger fixtures, it's less to hang than an ordinary auditorium (maybe 8 total). Might be worth an email to see what gear they used.
Click to expand...
Good idea, I was originally thinking about a chandelier winch too, it may be overkill since these lights are much much lighter. I need 8 points and they can move together but can't be connected via truss or a batten as they have to pass by an I beam. I'll check into the Ruby Diamond at FSU, thanks for the lead.
 
soundman said:
How many cans are you needing to bring in? Would you want individual height control or could they be moved in groups?

I've never seen a solution for house lights like this but my mind goes to line shaft winches hockey arenas use for raising and lowering the net behind the goal. Many lift lines all mule'd a bunch to go back to one winch. Using something like this for house lights poses a problem that you'll need to sort out cable management to power the lighting fixture. Two options come to mind- 1st I've used wire rope that has electrical conductors in it, hang the lights from this and then the lines go back to a slip ring on the winch and your done. 2nd, some sort of chain slides on the lifting lines to pile up the electrical cable as the lights are flown out.

Without knowing you space at all I'd feel good about saying this project would be north of $150,000 to carry out, most of it in labor. Lots of small tasks at height and if its hard to access to change the lamp I'm guess it would be even harder to get about if to install a pulley, and retrofit the electrical system. I would start a conversation with a company like Tiffin to feel out a price from someone who does this type of work.
Click to expand...
All good considerations, cable management in particular is a big consideration. As you've mentioned, each fixture needs its own cabling that can allow it to fly in. Thanks for the lead with Tiffin, I'll see what they suggest. Several lift lines on one winch is ideal.
 
soundman said:
I believe the lifting line only is capable of supplying 4 circuits of 24VDC so it would be unlikely to match the other house lights.
Click to expand...
My babies… yeah, 4x 24v circuits. You could drive pretty decent LEDs, but may not compete with other house lighting.
 
Stupid expensive, but this would work.

Wahlberg Winch 10 Cable from Rose Brand

Useful in any situation where you need to provide power to a scenic element that is being flown. The Winch 10 LX combines a light duty load rating with an integrated electrical circuit in the lifting line. Perfect for eliminating the mess created by havin
www.rosebrand.com www.rosebrand.com
 
This could be pretty challenging to retrofit, but I saw an interesting solution recently. They had several groups of pendants mounted on what were essentially just traveler tracks. Instead of lowering them down, they were all drawn towards one of the catwalks over the house for service.
 
Hey @teqniqal - the solution you implemented in my space is still working out after 28 years! Maybe you can help OP.
 
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