Touring Scenery Question and Concerns

[molsen23]

Hey Gang,

I feel like I should know the answer to this considering I work in carp for a major Las Vegas show. However, I try to keep my personal projects separate from business and instead of asking the crew at work I present the question here.

Similar questions have been asked here and I have searched and searched all of those threads to no-avail. So here I am.

The project calls for very specific requirements and I will attempt to be as detailed as possible, if anything needs clarification please ask.

We are looking to purchase or construct a touring deck that can be assembled above the venues of a height of about 6"- 1' depending on final need. Most of the venues that the tour will be stopping at have strict policies on securing, taping, and paining on the stage floor (becoming more standard sadly.) Currently this "subfloor" will be need on the upstage portion of the deck to hold static scenery. This flooring will be needed to hold large flats (multiple flats with a height of 16'), a large scaffolding set, several high platforms, 8'-10' vertical sticks of trussing, as well some ground rows of lights and a projector. All of these scenic pieces will need to anchor into the subfloor without catastrophe.

The subfloor finished dimensions are 16' x 48' x 6-12"

The floor will also be designed to modular, as in the future we like to expand the floor to cover the entire working area for built-in automation. The current need is to just cover what we need to keep the budget low.

What type of floors should we be looking at to hold the scenery and secure it without toppling? Can anyone suggest manufacturers or specs? Hw would you spec this to a professional builder to have a floor of this nature built?

Thanks everyone.

 

[Footer]

How often is it moving? What do crew sizes/load in times look like? What kind of trucking is expected?

What's your rough budget? Are you looking for a shop built or this a more in house build?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[molsen23]

Ah,

I knew I would forget some important details. It will be moving every one- two days. One day to load-in, do the show, load out, we are expecting an 8 hour load in. The lighting and scenery has been optimized for maximum efficiency in load and strike since we know the floor will take time. Current road crew is 2 carps, 2 elects, TD and SM. A large chunk of the venues have IA crew mins so we're using the bulk of them thus keeping road crew down. We would prefer in house built since we employ 2 full time carps with decades of experience... but depending on the work load will contract a shop.

Hope this helps more.

 

[jstroming]

Look into Rosco Subfloor. Im not sure about weight restrictions but they should be able to tell you. It's also not 6" high but goes together super fast. Comes in 4ft x 4ft modular pieces. There is a great video on YouTube just search Rosco Subfloor.

Edit: I know of one dance company that uses it at a higher height with some minor adjustments to the underside of the subfloor, I'll see if I can contact a friend there and see how they did it.

 

[molsen23]

I should clarify, the 6" is not thickness but clearance to allow wiring, cables, and eventually automation control lines to pass under to the individual scenic and deck electrics. This requirement CAN be dropped if needed with alternate cable managment

 

[soundman]

What type of floors should we be looking at to hold the scenery and secure it without toppling? Can anyone suggest manufacturers or specs? Hw would you spec this to a professional builder to have a floor of this nature built?
Thanks everyone.

This might be a situation where trying to reinvent the wheel by doing it yourself will not save you money. Calling All Access, SGPS, or Accurate and asking for 24 @ 4'X8' platforms with legs and carts will be easy and pretty competitive on price. They have the jigs set up and a 'standard' way of laying out a platform so the coffin locks and leg supports work together. They will also be able to help you come up with a solution to brace the flats and truss.

Instead of thinking how to build a touring stage system I would think about how you want to load it in and out and let that dictate the rest of it. Would it be beneficial if the stage could roll into place? Will you be able to fit the whole stage in every building or will you have to be able to go to a B rig?

 

[kicknargel]

I'd think about a system of studwalls and platforms. For touring, I'd make it all steel (or aluminum if budget allows). The metal "studwalls" are the legging system. Portions can be hinged and bolted together so they fold flat for transport (called a parallel platform system - a very old-school idea). You come into a space and unfold / bolt this legging system together. Then you can run all your cable, etc before dropping the framed platform decks on top. They attach down via flathead bolts into threaded inserts (or similar). The decks can have pre-set anchor points for the scenery on top, and can even have specific framing to accommodate heavy load points.

 

[Wood4321]

For touring, I would likely not try to re-invent the wheel. While not cheap, StageRight makes excellent decks, and can build custom to whatever size and shape you would like. http://www.stageright.com

Otherwise there is also Secoa, and Wenger. Both of which make good products. (I happen to prefer stageright, but both are good as well)