topshelf1227
Member
I was given the word from my boss that my venue was approved grant money to upgrade all tech equipment. I am the lighting tech in the venue and am looking to upgrade our equipment.
Here's what we have:
ETC Express 125/250 board
6 Elation power spot 575 ML fixtures
Electralite Intelligent lighting Control board
92 stage lights -including 3 color strip lights above stage (RGBA), 2 Par cans above stage, and 40 ETC Source Fours on the front bar and side bars.
The ETC runs the stage lights and the Electralite runs the elation lights.
Our theater is a small multipurpose venue that presents shows 2-3 times a week in a variety of genres: theater shows, comedy shows, children's theater, and concerts (Most of our work is in concerts) - jazz, rock, adult contemporary, classical, country rock, etc. The seating capacity is 261. The venue was a former movie theater.
Some of the acts we've had include: Roger McGuinn, The Subdudes, Constantine Maroulis, David Sanborn, Bernie Williams, Richard Marx, Vanilla Fudge, Carl Palmer of ELP, Howard Jones, Nils Lofgren, Average White Band, Sonny Landreth, Aztec Two Step, Blackmore's Night, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Here's where I need help. I would like to upgrade our lighting board - I am looking for ONE board to control all lights in the theater. Specifically, I would like something that is similar in familiarity to the ETC or something that I can learn to use and run in a matter of a few hours since we have shows frequently and I will not have weeks nor months to learn something new. I would love touch screen capability but most importantly, I am looking for something that will not be outdated in a week (discontinued), something that I can design offline and load and tweak prior to show time, something that has "quick looks" that can be saved to the board and pulled up for those days that a children's show is in the theater and the venue wants to bring up a simple wash on stage, something that visiting artists' lighting designers would want to use when they came to the venue and wanted to add their own LED lights or moving lights, etc.
I took over the lighting designer position after teaching myself how to operate the ETC and Electralite and the original guy getting ousted. I have no real formal training though I am very quick to learn. So I am not looking for anything that is extremely complex.
I was looking at the Leprecon LPC 96V, and the ETC Ion. Can anyone offer some advice? I was told to research and move quickly (by tomorrow- that's how quickly)
We were given a grant of 70K USD for upgrades of technical equipment - sound and lights. The budget I would have would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 10K USD, but the less I spend, the more we can use for sound equipment.
Thanks!
Here's what we have:
ETC Express 125/250 board
6 Elation power spot 575 ML fixtures
Electralite Intelligent lighting Control board
92 stage lights -including 3 color strip lights above stage (RGBA), 2 Par cans above stage, and 40 ETC Source Fours on the front bar and side bars.
The ETC runs the stage lights and the Electralite runs the elation lights.
Our theater is a small multipurpose venue that presents shows 2-3 times a week in a variety of genres: theater shows, comedy shows, children's theater, and concerts (Most of our work is in concerts) - jazz, rock, adult contemporary, classical, country rock, etc. The seating capacity is 261. The venue was a former movie theater.
Some of the acts we've had include: Roger McGuinn, The Subdudes, Constantine Maroulis, David Sanborn, Bernie Williams, Richard Marx, Vanilla Fudge, Carl Palmer of ELP, Howard Jones, Nils Lofgren, Average White Band, Sonny Landreth, Aztec Two Step, Blackmore's Night, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Here's where I need help. I would like to upgrade our lighting board - I am looking for ONE board to control all lights in the theater. Specifically, I would like something that is similar in familiarity to the ETC or something that I can learn to use and run in a matter of a few hours since we have shows frequently and I will not have weeks nor months to learn something new. I would love touch screen capability but most importantly, I am looking for something that will not be outdated in a week (discontinued), something that I can design offline and load and tweak prior to show time, something that has "quick looks" that can be saved to the board and pulled up for those days that a children's show is in the theater and the venue wants to bring up a simple wash on stage, something that visiting artists' lighting designers would want to use when they came to the venue and wanted to add their own LED lights or moving lights, etc.
I took over the lighting designer position after teaching myself how to operate the ETC and Electralite and the original guy getting ousted. I have no real formal training though I am very quick to learn. So I am not looking for anything that is extremely complex.
I was looking at the Leprecon LPC 96V, and the ETC Ion. Can anyone offer some advice? I was told to research and move quickly (by tomorrow- that's how quickly)
We were given a grant of 70K USD for upgrades of technical equipment - sound and lights. The budget I would have would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 10K USD, but the less I spend, the more we can use for sound equipment.
Thanks!