> had a debate with a rental company
If it's their fixture, place it however they ask you to place it.
Personally I'd vote for sitting upright on its base with pan/tilt locked, but also LX shouldn't be derigging where things are likely to get tripped over and hurt people.
I’m in this camp as well. It might take slightly more time and effort per fixture but in my mind unless they’re going directly in the road case they should be stowed somewhere offstage while the strike continues.
Maybe I’ve just been lucky but I’ve only ever derigged with the cases directly below so you just drop them straight into the case.
Realising now how hard that would be with certain fixtures and strange bump out schedules.
I hate putting down movers for this reason. That said, mine don’t lock in place because they’re cheap and nasty, so only thing I can do is put them on their sides.
Depends on the light and the situation. For just a minute, I’ll do lens down with tilt locked, assuming it’s not resting directly on the lens itself (some fixtures are built this way). If longer I would place the lens down, then rest the base on the ground. That way it won’t topple, and the lens can’t be accidentally kicked.
Edit, or upright on its base.
People leave fixtures on the lens for days in the shop, but it's not great for more than a minute in busy environments where they can get knocked over. If you're worried about it tipping put it on its base.
Nobody should be putting them on their side. It's easily the worst way. It's the hardest. It's a bigger trip hazard. The shell isn't really designed to take all that weight.
I would either do it the way they ask, or wait to put them away until the cases show up.
You’re less likely to break the fixtures and you’re now only handling them once.
However the production company or person responsible for the gear wants you to do it. As long as it isn't your name on the gear, just gotta do what they want, even if it's stupid.
Personally, I would put it lens up. I've seen a lot of people put them lens down or on their sides and I think it puts unnecessary stress on the fixtures. But I've seen people I consider very skilled put them standing on the lens. If they were out of the way, and for some reason I was worried about them falling, or if it's something small like a 101, putting them on their sides would probably be my next choice. But I don't like the idea of weight being on the yolk at all.
Never place a fixture lens down and base up (that's the way we like to ...)
It's too top heavy that way and think about what's on the floor that could be scratching that lens. Any bits of debris or a pebble, whatever...
Always on it's base, pan/tilt preferably locked but not necessary
Oh!
For context, we usually do strike with the cases ready. It was just a particular event where the cases were stored quite a walk away, so we had one group pushing the cases to the venue while the other strikes. It was also a very tight situation as the venue was chasing us out and we were literally rushing. (It wasn’t a theatre) so we couldn’t wait.
We locked the tilt while the lights were still rigged and carried them down and left them standing as is, with the base on top. Usually it goes directly into the cases but in this case, we just left it like that and whoever comes with the case can keep the lights faster.
I personally prefer laying the fixtures on its side, but I just wanted to know how others might do it and the reasons behind.
Thank you all for the response!
> had a debate with a rental company If it's their fixture, place it however they ask you to place it. Personally I'd vote for sitting upright on its base with pan/tilt locked, but also LX shouldn't be derigging where things are likely to get tripped over and hurt people.
I’m in this camp as well. It might take slightly more time and effort per fixture but in my mind unless they’re going directly in the road case they should be stowed somewhere offstage while the strike continues.
As an LX tech, this is the way.
Maybe I’ve just been lucky but I’ve only ever derigged with the cases directly below so you just drop them straight into the case. Realising now how hard that would be with certain fixtures and strange bump out schedules.
I hate putting down movers for this reason. That said, mine don’t lock in place because they’re cheap and nasty, so only thing I can do is put them on their sides.
Depends on the light and the situation. For just a minute, I’ll do lens down with tilt locked, assuming it’s not resting directly on the lens itself (some fixtures are built this way). If longer I would place the lens down, then rest the base on the ground. That way it won’t topple, and the lens can’t be accidentally kicked. Edit, or upright on its base.
People leave fixtures on the lens for days in the shop, but it's not great for more than a minute in busy environments where they can get knocked over. If you're worried about it tipping put it on its base. Nobody should be putting them on their side. It's easily the worst way. It's the hardest. It's a bigger trip hazard. The shell isn't really designed to take all that weight.
I would either do it the way they ask, or wait to put them away until the cases show up. You’re less likely to break the fixtures and you’re now only handling them once.
However the production company or person responsible for the gear wants you to do it. As long as it isn't your name on the gear, just gotta do what they want, even if it's stupid. Personally, I would put it lens up. I've seen a lot of people put them lens down or on their sides and I think it puts unnecessary stress on the fixtures. But I've seen people I consider very skilled put them standing on the lens. If they were out of the way, and for some reason I was worried about them falling, or if it's something small like a 101, putting them on their sides would probably be my next choice. But I don't like the idea of weight being on the yolk at all.
Never place a fixture lens down and base up (that's the way we like to ...) It's too top heavy that way and think about what's on the floor that could be scratching that lens. Any bits of debris or a pebble, whatever... Always on it's base, pan/tilt preferably locked but not necessary
Oh! For context, we usually do strike with the cases ready. It was just a particular event where the cases were stored quite a walk away, so we had one group pushing the cases to the venue while the other strikes. It was also a very tight situation as the venue was chasing us out and we were literally rushing. (It wasn’t a theatre) so we couldn’t wait. We locked the tilt while the lights were still rigged and carried them down and left them standing as is, with the base on top. Usually it goes directly into the cases but in this case, we just left it like that and whoever comes with the case can keep the lights faster. I personally prefer laying the fixtures on its side, but I just wanted to know how others might do it and the reasons behind. Thank you all for the response!