Scroller
- Thread starterbriancon7
- Start date
They will be used on my down lights. the rental company has a scroll that they call their "theatrical" set of colors. I dont remember their numbers, but they are mostly light blues, greens, with a few reds and yellows. Im doing cinderella, and there are not a lot of blackouts planned. I wanted to get them for my Par 64s, but budget is not exactly conducive to that plan. I plan on getting 20 scrollers so I have one on every down light. Im still feeling out ideas from a few designer friends on other ideas. I have a very short time period for load-in, so my solution was basically to add scrollers to the rep plot so I have as much control as possible.
If you have a very short period of time for load in, then scrollers are probably not going to be your friend. It is much more time consuming to address, hang, cable, and troubleshoot scrollers than to just drop some gel, not to mention the added programming time and headaches (marking scrolls, calibrating scrollers, etc). You are probably better off just picking a few different colors and splitting up your fresnels into a few different systems, giving the constraints you are working under.
My plan was to have them all addressed before even getting to the facility. I have a crew of around 10 and two and a half hours. I have close to no hanging and focusing to do. For what the director wants, my only idea is scrollers. She want a ton of looks that are not alike at all.
someguy98457
Member
We use apollo scrollers where I work on 1k fresnels all the time with out any burn through, however they have a built in heat shield and fan running. Also our scrollers seem to have the most demons of any intelligent things I work with so for a short load in I agree with danTt
techieman33
Well-Known Member
Perhaps one of the lists at http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/...1-gels-apollo-color-scrollers.html#post160993 ?
Well, that's going to make using scrollers a challenge, isn't it? One seldom enjoys seeing a live scroll, does one?
On the rental scrollers, be sure to specify the correct size mounting plate for your Altman 1K Fresnel fixtures. Likely, but not necessarily, 7.5".
Joking right?
Do people really have issues with calibrating scrollers these days? I have worked with a bunch of different, but common scroller models from low end to high end, and aside from torn or stuck strings, have never had to calibrate them. I suppose if you make your own gel strings, that could be an issue, but I generally don't have problems hanging scrollers on fixtures, addressing, cabling, and just going. Also, if the OP is using a newer generation console (Eos series, OBII, Strand 500, Palette Series, etc) then programming scrollers is really simple and not very time consuming, just a couple extra keystrokes.
techieman33
Well-Known Member
We use some color ram II's and aquarams once a year on our pearl and they always seem to fight us the whole way through the run.
I rarely have to calibrate an entire system of scrolls, but it's not uncommon that I'll need to calibrate one or two in a rig of 75+ scrollers. A lot of the time when I program scrollers, they are rental gear with varying degrees of wear, and have newly made scrolls that were made for that show, so it's not uncommon to find a few frames that need to be fudged. That said, it's a matter of seconds to do this, hardly something that takes any appreciable amount of load-in or tech time.
jglodeklights
Well-Known Member
Group of 31 ColoRAMII scrollers: I need to calibrate them all at the start of my season, and at least 25% of them throughout the run of a show (3-4 weeks). Maybe I am just more picky than others? This year is better since the scrolls are new, but last year, with the pretty fried scrolls, it was a crap shoot as to how long calibration would last. Add in to the mix that temperatures in the theater range between 65 and 103 degrees.... oooh boy! This also means I usually lose at least one scroller per show run (there are 5 per season) and replace it with a spare.
So yes, scrollers are generally easy to setup and program with newer consoles when they behave (straight off the truck from our rental company a few don't always like to work the first time around), Your mileage will vary when it comes to calibration based on the maintenance performed on them, scroll age and scroll manufacturing tolerances. If you are working with an older console, which is not uncommon, you may have a few headaches.
StNic54
Active Member
I actually agree about the LED's for washing the stage - scrollers can be a big headache with limits to your options. LED's save a lot of time, don't require dimmers, and make for quicker programming and no calibration headaches. Check the prices for rentals and compare. The only gel I work with now is occasional color correction - all kinds of time saved.
