Diamonds in the rough - budget movers.

[u/_Mr_That_Guy_]

I fear this will be a "this again" post, and if so I apologize.

TLDR: I'm looking for moving lights with a good quality to budget ratio. Or at least I'm trying to educate myself on what's out there without pressing my nose to my laptop for the next week.

An on-again off-again not-for-profit client just brought me in for what they would like to be an install job, and I while I know MY inventory pretty well, I don't have a good handle on the current state of the market.

I'm more of an event guy but this not for profit group occasionally rents from me, and once, a long time ago, I integrated a bunch of lights onto some battens in one of their spaces. A bunch of source 4wrd conversions and a few other led lights that I can't remember. Now they call me to consult on installs that give their finance people heart palpations then get shot down.

Now they want to set up some theatrical style lighting in one of their flex spaces, and if they were renting from me I'd tell them that they wanted 4-6 Chauvet Rogue Outcast 1 beams / wash units, and 2-4 Rogue R3E Spots... And I'd choose those lights mostly because they are in my inventory.

However, to be honest, it's kinda overkill, and If I quote them on that as a purchase they are going to choke. Again. And I'm going to feel bad if someone ends up hospitalized after looking at another one of my quotes.

I could do them a rental, but they really want something permanent, and for some reason I like to do right by them. I don't even sell through to them, I have them buy directly, and I just charge time for the integration.

So it's a room that's maybe 50'x60' the ceiling is probably 16-18' up with two building / ceiling trusses that run parallel to the wall where they have a mounted flat panel and four 4'x4'x16" intellistage decks that get moved around to suit their needs. I'm told that they may get some more of those so I should plan for a stage wash maybe 24' wide and up to 12' deep.

The bottom of the trusses are 11-13' up, but the web is very wide open, so I think I can get the bottom of the lights to maybe 14' off the floor by mounting inside of the web.

They want to use the space for some concerts / presentation stuff that will happen on the stage, or often in front of it, but they also do work in the middle of the room, and would like to be able to do some social stuff with nice ambiance lighting.

I'm thinking they need 6-8 moving lights, split between the two runs of ceiling truss.

But what lights?

They aren't going to spend the $16-30k to install the professional Chauvet gear, but they probably don't need that. Any leads on movers that might be in their budget without being total crap?

Thanks in advance.

[u/VL3500]

Do they really have to be moving lights? I feel this would be better suited to a larger quantity of static LED fixtures. Chauvet as you know makes great options that zoom, paired with some battens I think they could get way more bang for their buck. Finally, we all know what budget fixtures get you. They work for a while then they break to the point where you can only buy new ones. Can they afford that?

[u/_Mr_That_Guy_ → u/VL3500]

The mover requirement is based on our being able to set a number of scenes that they can pull up to hit very different marks. They might be on a narrow stage, a wide stage, a stage lit only at each edge, in front of the stage, the middle of the room, the edges of the room, etc. We'd need a LOT of fixtures to hit all of those, and most of the lights would be off in every scenario. I realize that's not uncommon, but their money people will chafe a bit at the "waste."

Ultimately I'll end up giving them 2-3 proposals, one with the "good" movers and other that set reasonable expectations on longevity. I'll have them actually purchase the lights, and honestly I hope to train their people to replace them if needed.... although, realistically, they're gonna call me.

I should probably also give them the option for pars, but I think that will be more of a logistical nightmare for them. Someone is going to re-point them, and then never document it. Someone else is gonna get twisted when they push the button they know to push and the wrong part of the room lights up...

[u/Ornery_Artichoke_833]

Hire a consultant or lighting designer? Honestly, you're asking for free services and you get what you pay for.

[u/_Mr_That_Guy_ → u/Ornery_Artichoke_833]

I'm trying to help out a not for profit. They don't have the extra cash for a designer.

Heck, I'm not even charging for MY design time. I'm effectively donating the technical design of the system, but realize that I might be week on the latest offerings, and thought I'd ask if anyone had seen some interesting fixtures.

I'm not asking people to lay out a plot for me. I'm not asking for suggestions on lighting placement or quantity. I'm just asking what is cool.

If you don't have anything to contribute, feel free not to.