Lighting help needed for school hall

uncledick

For my sins, I am a governor at our local primary school and the hall is being rebuilt.  We want to put some lights on a gantry for various productions and I'm being asked what sort of thing we need.  I think it would be suspended from a roof beam at about 5m height and 5-7m from the front of the stage area.  As it's deemed 'non-essential' the school will have to fund the actual equipment via donations / ptfa etc., so budget is a major contsraint.  One of the people at a meeting today suggested that modern lights are just plugged into a supply and they are controlled via wifi.  Is this a 'thing'?

I could spend ages researching online but the local authority want some kind of spec by Tuesday!  Is this doable for under a grand? Any guidance on technologies / suppliers very welcome.

Christophe

Yes it may be possible for under a grand but like anything you can spend 10 x more and you do get what you pay for. There are wireless protocols that work very well. We have a showbaby at work in one of our rooms which links the LED fixtures to the lighting desk wirelessly but enevitably there is still an element of cabling at the stage end and you will eat into your budget. Speak to Clive at CTS who is a great chap and will be happy to advise http://www.chinnicktheatreservices.com/

Cabicular

I would get some pars and some up lighters and a couple of spots
a dmx mixer or Luminair on an iPad (which is a far better option)
you'll need to budget for a wifi router and a dmx to wifi convert or from entech
also set aside a couple of hundred for integrated power and dmx cables
you can go wireless dmx but you have to run cables to power the lights anyway so if you get an integrated dmx IEC cable you are only running one cable anyway so it doesn't buy you anything

Cabicular

I could give you a shopping list from Thomann if you are desperate
do-able for under a grand maybe
i have some fixtures I might be tempted to sell (too big for my bands pub based lighting rig) that would also give you a head start
be prepared for a bit of sharp education on DMX protocol but once you get it, it's pretty logical

ESBlonde

While Wi Fi is an option, a simple hard wired XLR point near the back of the room would likely be cheaper and more future proof. It's one thing getting an ipad to see a device now but what in 5 years time and getting drivers etc. I'm assuming the system will get used occasionally and operator turnover will be high.
A simpledmx controller system may be bought used that will be easy to use and lock out of sight.
KISS principle (Keep it Simple Stupid).
Some LED PARs out front (4-6) and maybe 4 Floods over the stage area. things like spots and moving heads all look great but take skill to set up and operate. A simple old fashioned follow spot is easy for a (supervised) youngster to operate and they are now quite reasonably priced used.

mike257

The last school hall lighting install I worked on, we fitted metalwork above the suspended ceiling and hung a lighting bar from it, and fitted a few LED par cans and a pair of small moving heads. You can get lighting bars designed for this purpose with integrated 13A power sockets along the length of them. We supplied a simple lighting controller and fitted an XLR socket on the wall at both ends of the room so it could be controlled from side of stage or the back of the room.

Whilst WiFi control is an option, I'd echo the advice that a hardwired control method is simpler and will cause less issues with device compatibility in future. If you feel really compelled to add wireless capability, this can still be achieved by plugging a small wireless DMX adapter into the socket where your lighting desk would normally be connected, so you can easily have it both ways.

An ideal simple setup would be to have some lights in front of the stage in the position you mentioned, and some more above the stage so you can light the backdrop in different colours whilst still lighting the performers on stage separately. Could easily be set up so the PAR cans can be organised in to groups and each have it's colour and intensity controlled in a way that is relatively straightforward for an unskilled operator to control.

uncledick

Thanks for the help thus far

Just a question on the hardware side:  Just about everything I look at has a truss or bar mounted on floor stands.  If I want to do a more permanent solution, does anyone know of a proprietary mount to suspend from a roof steel?

ESBlonde

Rigging is a whole specialist subject and the insurance/liability thing is scary. If you don't know pay a certified professional to do the job. You need to know the weight ratings and have the lamps safety chained as well as using certified clamps and fittings, anything less could leave you or the school very liable in the event something falls down in 10 years time when an idiot 'fiddles' with it.
Sorry to sound expensive but getting it wrong could cost you your house!

mike257

Yeah, there's right ways of doing it but can't really be bodged! The install I referred to above, we had to fit a load of unistrut directly to the roof beams, with threaded bar coming through the ceiling, and that held the lightweight lighting bar and LEDs, but that was all lightweight stuff and was supported at multiple points along the bar. The projector was hung further back in the room from a proper structural I beam with a rather hefty beam clamp.

It's one of those things that I wouldn't want to advise on without having inspected the site first so get a pro in!

uncledick

Thanks to everyone for their input.  I've at least ruled out some options and having done the 'crash course in DMX' I've now specced some of the cabling to get the project off the ground.  I'll take the advice regarding overhead setups and probably run a couple of T bars.
Thanks again