bjrdillard
Member
First, a little backstory. I am in a pretty unique predicament: I got hired as a High School theater technician at the beginning of this school year. This school year started in distance learning and it looks like it's going to end that way too. Good news is I have done okay in terms of teaching theater tech online, and we were able to put on a nice virtual show as well. I have been doing most things remotley, but I do have (somewhat limited) access to our theater (still has a half-built set on stage from the shutdown last year). I have never really touched the systems in the theater or run a show there. Thankfully the previous tech has been in contact with me and helps me out when possible. Also for more about myself, my background is mainly in set construction, though I do have experience in all aspects of theater.
So now to the problem: The arts department has decided that now would be a great time to make some upgrades to our theater, and they want to use some use-it-or-loose it money (we have about a month so spend it) to start making some upgrades. Most of their requests require more budget and planning than we have time for right now, but one request that I figured we could spend this budget on now (~$30k) is adding some moving lights to our theater. Our current board is an ETC Express. I know that for moving lights I'll want to upgrade the board, but I'm not sure about going about finding the right console. I've been doing some research and re-learning how moving lights work but there are a lot of things to consider and it has been a hot second since I've worked with lights in this capacity.
From my first look into lighting board upgrades, I've looked at ETC Gio, Cobalt, and Element 2. After looking for hours these have all started to look the same to me, so I decided to make an account on here and ask for help.
So first off, what lighting board would be a good upgrade for us?
Secondly, I also need help in suggestions for moving lights to buy.
It sounds like the general stage wash is lacking in coverage, so I was thinking some moving wash lights could help us solve that problem.
Also, one last question: how are moving lights generally wired? I understand they require seperate power, as well as dmx. Is there a way to wire them through the existing electrical system to get to the board, or would they need their own seperate dmx routed through the theater to the board?
I've seen some similar posts on this site in my searches, so I'm sorry for asking similar questions, but with my limited experience in lighting combined with my lack of experience in this theater, I'm not exactly sure where to turn for help.
Any help or suggestions are appreciated, thanks!
So now to the problem: The arts department has decided that now would be a great time to make some upgrades to our theater, and they want to use some use-it-or-loose it money (we have about a month so spend it) to start making some upgrades. Most of their requests require more budget and planning than we have time for right now, but one request that I figured we could spend this budget on now (~$30k) is adding some moving lights to our theater. Our current board is an ETC Express. I know that for moving lights I'll want to upgrade the board, but I'm not sure about going about finding the right console. I've been doing some research and re-learning how moving lights work but there are a lot of things to consider and it has been a hot second since I've worked with lights in this capacity.
From my first look into lighting board upgrades, I've looked at ETC Gio, Cobalt, and Element 2. After looking for hours these have all started to look the same to me, so I decided to make an account on here and ask for help.
So first off, what lighting board would be a good upgrade for us?
Secondly, I also need help in suggestions for moving lights to buy.
It sounds like the general stage wash is lacking in coverage, so I was thinking some moving wash lights could help us solve that problem.
Also, one last question: how are moving lights generally wired? I understand they require seperate power, as well as dmx. Is there a way to wire them through the existing electrical system to get to the board, or would they need their own seperate dmx routed through the theater to the board?
I've seen some similar posts on this site in my searches, so I'm sorry for asking similar questions, but with my limited experience in lighting combined with my lack of experience in this theater, I'm not exactly sure where to turn for help.
Any help or suggestions are appreciated, thanks!
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