The argument for Lighting Storage.

[Rob Fulton]

I'm at a university where lighting storage had historically been on the stage floor. I am trying to make an argument for getting them off the deck and was hoping that some arguments can be passed on to me on this forum. Most of the inventory is S4's along with the usual collegiate inventory of PAR's and Fresnels. I believe they mostly have lived upstage and are moved when scenery has need of that space.

Some thoughts I've had. Please offer others or expand on any here.


Safety for Workers- off the ground removes them as tripping hazards


Safety for Instruments- increases life span if they are dead hung VS on the floor


Work Flow- if they are always in the way we're always moving them, which means they have more of a chance to be damaged


C Clamps are meant for holding the weight of an instrument VS the barrel holding the weight which decreases the lifespan of the instrument

 

[JJBerman]

Question, are you just leaving the fixtures on the floor?

I'm actually for keeping fixtures on meat racks on the deck.

At the theatre I work at, our lighting storage is in box booms on either side of stage.
Access to the box booms is via spiral staircase, and the fixtures live at a 'performance balcony' level.(we have a balcony on either side of the proscenium facing the audience)
That means every time I need to get fixtures into the catwalks or onto stage there will be lots of traversing the spiral staircase.

I would look into making a few carts/meat racks that roll. You can then hang the fixtures on these meat racks and roll them around as necessary.

 

[Rob Fulton]

Thanks for the message. However, I'm not so much looking for storage solutions as I am of why you should store instrumentation off the floor. I have to convince others lighting storage should not be on a stage floor before I can decide on a method of the actual storage.

Any thoughts?

 

[MNicolai]

Meat racks are your friend. I don't mind short-term storage on the floor if it's easier for a transition to distribute fixtures around in prep of a load-in but beyond that the fixtures should really be hanging somewhere. If you build some double-stacked portable racks on heavy duty casters it'll set you up for more efficient ins/outs, give you places you can label as designated for PAR's, 26°'s, 36°'s, etc so you don't have to dig around for the only 50 in a sea of 26's. For safety of building occupants, it also helps keep egress paths clear and minimizes trip hazards.

As for product longevity, the most important issue is that when fixtures fall over, reflectors, lens, and lamps can crack and shutters can get mangled up. --- IF you aren't already seeing this damage to your fixture inventory, it will be a hard sell to someone else who doesn't want to do this if you give these reasons.

Also helps to optimize available stage space and reclaims more room for scenery/platforms/actors in the wings/etc.

I wouldn't try to stretch this argument too far though. Once you get away from life safety and turnaround time between events and get into the durability of barrel set screws, you've diminished the importance of the more critical points.

 

[JohnD]

One other reason that hasn't been mentioned, stock shrinkage. Fixtures just sitting around randomly can very easily grow legs.
Sort of a swerve, but how many groups schedule a routine inventory? Same with down time for maintenance?

 

[Aaron Clarke]

I think you nailed the three key points in your original post-

1) Safety- I don't think random used things should be sitting around on a stage deck (depending on your off stage space but I doubt anyone would say they have too much)
2) Protecting the financial investment
3) Convenience (primarily that of the deck crew but also light crew knowing where things will be)

I would agree that storing them as close to where they are getting used is just as important. I recently took all the working fixtures and 12/3 cable that were stored in the light (retired projection) booth in our old Vaudeville theatre. This felt like climbing mount Everest about 20 times and on my first hang I lost all my energy before the first light was even hung. I was able to move them to the much more convenient storage room that is an annex building right across the alley from the back stage door where they had the "historic" and broken fixtures stored. 125' plus walking 40 steps up (20 of which at 9.5") versus 30' on the same level? That was a no brainer. I then took the broken fixtures up to the booth storage area so in my down time before shows I can get them working!

 

[Les]

I recently took all the working fixtures and 12/3 cable that were stored in the light (retired projection) booth in our old Vaudeville theatre. This felt like climbing mount Everest about 20 times and on my first hang I lost all my energy before the first light was even hung.

For a second I thought we worked in the same theatre. Our lighting storage room was in the upper reaches of the now walled-off balcony (prop room). Mount Everest indeed, at least for the fixtures that made it back up there. Usually the poor things would give up halfway, setting up camp in a hallway or on a catwalk somewhere. I blame the fixtures because surely myself or my fellow lighting techs wouldn't just leave things laying around like that...

I am now dedicating that room solely to storage for practicals, various seldom-used LX components, and instruments in need of repair. Working fixtures are now being moved to the dimmer/switchgear room, which is on a mezzanine level about equidistant to FOH as it is to the stage. The room is wide enough that with a meetrack halfway between opposing walls (breaker boxes on one side, dimmer racks on the other), I should still achieve at least 4' of clear space for access to the panels. This will keep all my good instruments from intermingling with the bad ones, which somehow always make it back in to the population only to frustrate a lighting tech with an intermittent problem. And the fixtures sometimes have issues as well .

My first choice wouldn't be a dimmer room, but it's an improvement over what we have now. I hope to install an electronic keypad on the door, etc.

Luckily I haven't had to argue my case, but my reasoning is based on workflow, efficiency, security (limiting access), safety (personnel as well as instruments being kicked over), and clearing floor space. We all know how much of a premium floor space comes at in a theatre, and storing the instruments vertically on a meetrack or on battens frees up valuable real estate and makes the place look more presentable. Consider also that lighting fixtures are black and not easily seen in the dark. If someone plows in to them for whatever reason, not only would you be looking at potentially damaged equipment, but also a bit of a liability for any injuries incurred.

 

[tjrobb]

Think about this. When you move them, as needed for scenic space, you're wrenching and twisting your back for each unit. With a rack, it's push and go using your legs mainly. Your back will thank you.

 

[Van]

If not Meat racks then, Certainly, dead hung on a batten out of the way.

 

[StradivariusBone]

We had a similar storage mentality at the space I work at when I started. All the spare fixtures were stored upstairs on the catwalks. With the inspiration from an Instructable, some plywood and chain link fence pipe we created our own meat rack that is narrow enough to fit through most doorways and therefore we can lock up lights when we feel the need to.



I had the lumber, casters and fasteners as stock, so the only cost here was the fence pipe. No it's not schedule 40 and yes it does "smile" a bit when loaded, but no one's standing under it and we've had it loaded for a 3+ years now with no problems.

Here's the link to the instructable.

 

[Rob Fulton]

Thanks for the thoughts. We are now talking about a chain motor and wenching them up and having them live in the air.