PHOTO: DAVE GORMAN/FLICKR
Somewhere
between no spare equipment and a spare of every component lies the
ideal spare equipment complement for each and every show. That ideal
varies depending on the shop and/or the system designer as well as
various factors related to the specific show such as location, schedule
and prominence. In this month's E-mail, I'm going to break this down by
type of equipment and provide a perspective that you may find valuable
in assessing spare equipment requirements for your projects.
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| Lighting |
The typical show lighting system is comprised of multiples of identical equipment and this makes assessing spares relatively easy. For a medium-sized corporate show, there may be 12 moving spot fixtures, the same amount of moving wash fixtures, some LED up-lighting and perhaps a few dozen conventional fixtures. These will be connected via a DMX network and dimmer circuits and controlled by a lighting console.
The usual redundancy approach for the show described above will have one spare for each type of moving light, one or two spares for the conventional lights and more than a few spares for the LED lights. This may seem like a generous complement, and it is, but that's partly because some of the extra fixtures will be put into use - not as spares but as primaries - in response to the "by-the-ways" that always seem to occur on show site.
In addition to spare fixtures, the electronics portion of the lighting package requires some spare equipment, most notably the console, which should have an on-line back-up with automatic fail-over capability. Note that the spare could be either an identical board or in some case, a less capable model that can fill in if necessary. Other electronics items that require spares are the network bits such as hubs and opto-splitters or a complete DMX merge, particularly if wireless DMX is in the mix.
There are other mission-critical components within the typical lighting package that infrequently receive the redundant treatment and it's worthwhile to examine why. Power distribution centers, while certainly mission critical, are rarely backed up with spare units due to simple nature of the PD components. PDs are not likely to fail - assuming that the PD is in good condition and has been well-cared for. A similar view can be taken of dimmer packages in that they possess a level of internal power redundancy and can be configured with spare channel modules. Not to be redundant myself but this approach assumes that the dimmer package is in good condition and has been well-cared for.
Finally, under the heading of "Duh" - let's not forget consumable items, in particular lamps. The likelihood is that, even in the case where every fixture is benched prior to shipping (the approach we take at Scharff Weisberg Lighting), some number of lamps will need to be replaced while on site. Therefore the safe strategy is to take a small number of lamps for each fixture type and make sure they are returned to the shop if unused.
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| Video |
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Compared to lighting systems, video system redundancy is a totally different animal. The fact that most video components are unique in the system or, are one of a small multiple, makes the decision regarding what devices to back up a complex one. Despite the complexity, there are some simple guidelines we use that can be applied to most system designs and the best way to illustrate is by equipment type, as follows:
Video Sources - Since the playback of content is the basis of the show, playback devices must be backed-up. Typically, we will include a deck that can playback content masters as a fail-safe, in addition to a spare machines for every type of source machine used as a primary. However, even if I'm using a consumer Blu-ray DVD player I want a back-up because if it breaks, I'll have no alternative but to do the show with hand puppets.
Switching Equipment - This includes gear such as camera switchers or graphic switchers of the Spyder/Encore variety and, while they are mission critical devices, they are rarely backed up. The reason? Because they are designed from the ground up as mission critical devices and possess a robustness that may not be built-in to other types of devices.
Transmission Equipment - These are fiber optic transceivers and other specialized transmission gear and because they are often small devices placed in exposed locations it's a very good idea to bring along some spares.
Display Devices - This category probably gets the most attention because of the overhead commensurate with providing spare projectors, flat-screens and LED tiles. Short answer: It's a very rare and very risky show that has no back-up for the primary display devices. Generally, projectors are backed-up one to one and LED tile system are allocated a 2-4% spares complement.
Regarding projectors, it's wise to remember that live back-ups are better than cold ones. To be clear, that means having each projector and it's back up in place, with both properly focused or converged. This approach provides robust redundancy and insures that the show will be flawless no matter what happens.
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| Audio |
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One of my favorite situations is when the presenter, with 15 minutes before doors, walks up to the audio department with a sheepish look on his face and says "I'm really sorry but I ____________ (choose one: dropped, sat on, lost) your radio mic in the _________ (choose one: toilet, salad bowl, deep-fryer)".
Having established that spare radio mics are a necessity due to the reason parodied above as well as the potential for interference issues, I'd offer a few other audio components that require on-site spares. These include podium mics as well as intercom headsets and belt packs. And, although it's not necessary to have a spare audio console on site, the console should be equipped with a spare power supply complete with an auto failover system. It's also a good idea to equip digital audio consoles with an uninterruptable power supply so that memory settings will be retained in the event of a power outage.
In general, speaker cabinets are not usually backed up as they are relatively simple devices that can be fixed on site if necessary. Having an extra cabinet on site can come in very handy in the case of a forklift or other mishap that severely damages a cabinet. Finally, those radios mics mentioned earlier? They use batteries, as do radio intercom belt packs, so we'll make sure we have spare batteries on site. Lots of them.
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| Conclusion |
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The question often posed by clients is: "Why do we need spare ________ (choose one: projectors, flat-screens, LED tiles, moving lights, etc)? Don't you guarantee they will work? The answer is we guarantee that the end product, your show, will be a success. But, the only other things we can guarantee besides that are death, taxes and that the Cubs won't win the 'series this year. In order to guarantee the end product you need the proper tools and that means having adequate spares on hand for mission critical devices. | |
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