I guess what has been planned I'm not privy to. I just tell them what I want and they say if I can have it.
So how are they developing the design and who is providing any initial input into the
theatre aspects?
Unfortunately there is no other space for the dimmers to go Either in the booth or bellow it!
What kind of problems do you see this position posing? are we talking about during production if there is a problem?
I'm not familiar with all the requirements there but I assume it is much like here where being an "electrical room" entails a number of code mandated requirements for access and life
safety. There could also be issues such as coordinating the electrical service and runs into and out of the space. The main
point is that most of these issues can probably be addressed if accounted for in the initial design but the location of the dimmers likely has to be designed for that purpose.
As for the multi-core we have decided to run a
basket for it at high
level so it it sits away from any
power or cables the might cause interference. I'm going to run 12 returns from the
stage to the
mixer and 6 sends (
mic level) I have DI Boxes for
line level So I'm going to leave it like that. I also want to run a pair of Speak-ons for use in monitoring, and a pair of phonos for cd/tape in.
Perhaps some terminology issues here as "sends" would typically be signals going to the
console with "returns" being from the
console and "tie lines" being bi-directional and able to be used as a
send or
return. However, I don't know of many theatres where having all the connectivity at one
point works well, you typically see sends and returns distributed around the space. I might also think about getting a DI or interface for the CD/Tape in rather than running dedicated lines.
Having everything (mic,
line and
speaker)
in one cable also goes back to the question of where the equipment is to which the cable connects. The mic and
line signals probably run to the mixing
console, if the
speaker cable is part of the same 'multi-core' does that also mean that all the amps and processing related to that signal will be in the same location as the mixing
console? If not, how do you break them out and run them somewhere else or might they be better off to just be separate in the first place?
Maybe this gets into the more general issue of just how you plan on using the space. You mentioned it being used as both a
theatre and a function space. You initially noted raised seating but later mentioned not having a permanent
stage. You seemed to believe that the 'function space' requirement prohibited a black box approach when in my experience that is actually a pretty common approach, the function space requirements often mean having no permanent
stage or seating which then lends itself to somewhat of a
back box approach. So I don't think it is real
clear just what you plan to do or how you envision using the space and it seems that should be defined before getting into any specifics. For example, do you have a defined
stage and audience area? Is the lighting, audio,
etc. expected to support both the theatrical and function space uses? Are they expecting to be able to support many events without a lot of setup or a lighting and sound operator?
I also wanted to confirm the size of the space. You commented that "The performance space is approx 60 square meters" and that is only about 646 square feet. Is that the
stage space or the entire space?
The DL.2 has been discontinued for some time now, the DL.3 is the
current version, however this also seems to potentially go back to the intended use. The DL.3 is an interesting concept but a
bit awkward and very expensive if you're primarily using it as a 1024x768 resolution video
projector. Without knowing what you are trying to do it is impossible to tell if something like the DL.3 is a good solution or a poor one.
