Theater lights, plz halp

[Ksandra]

Hey everyone, I need some help regarding some theater lights.

So, as many know our schools moved to a new location, and we actually have a theater space now with lights n' all. The old school didn't take care of ANYTHING. There were just closets and cabinets all around the space just full of costumes and random props and lights. My crew have been amazing about sorting through everything (many had to be tossed because they were broken), but we are running into a huge issue: Getting the lights to work.

Now, I worked in the theater for years doing various shit, but at no point in my theater experience did I ever have to do any wiring for the lights. Angle them, yes, wire, no never. I have two students assigned to the lights and have been trying figure out wtf we need and where the fuck everything goes, but it's been one dead end after another. They tried finding videos but everything seems to be talked as if we know all the technical terms for anything. Unless I can get someone to explain what we need to look for, we are stumbling pretty blind.

Here is what we've found that we know are regarding the lights:




There is also a board on stage attached to the wall similar to the board on the right. There are a bunch of light plugs under it running through the stage. They were all unplugged, but I plugged them in. Only 7 plugs were there, and there are way more than seven lights on the ceiling and more that the board could handle. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow so you can see.

If you happen to know any theater people who might be able to understand all this, feel free to share the picture.


Thanks in advance.

[BaneTheBrawler]

Ask another school or even an electrician. The latter might do it pro bono, since it's for a school. Maybe a nearby college's theater department? Pitch it as good practice for them to set up a lighting system! There's probably a few BGers who know what they're doing, but wiring is one thing where it helps to actually be present in person. I mean, imagine trying to explain to your friends how to build a PC over text!

[Minions]

I don't do AV like this, but my first suggestion is going to be figuring out what each wire is and where it goes to before you do anything else. I don't know if they sell toners for this purpose like they do for networking. Going with a professional is a good idea, and likely will remove a lot of pain and headache. At least whoever originally ran the wires seems to have labeled them with at least numbers, which will help quite a bit. Look around on the wall(s) and see if there is a wiring diagram. For networking installations we always have a wiremap posted.

You can also look up model numbers on the different controllers and it will likely lead you to a manual walking you through what the various things do.

[Day]

The board and cables to the right look like XLR mic cables to me, I did theater but didn't hang with the techies, some what familiar with audio equipment though. I suspect those cables are a mic snake unless theater lights use xlr cables in some fashion I dont know about.

Yeah I think it's older model of this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acces...th-trs-returns

[synistar]

By the looks of it, I think you're working with something like this. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ontroller.html
And here's the manual. http://www.elationlighting.com/pdffi...e-setter-8.pdf

Item on the right looks like a DMX splitter.

Google fu led me to this video:

[Day]

Interesting I guess lighting does use XLR. TIL

[synistar]

Heck if I know if it really DMX or XLR. Can't tell if it is a 5 pin or 3 pin in the picture.

[Day]

Yeah I actually didnt' know there was a such cable as DMX, makes sense now, reading about them since I was curious.

https://www.learnstagelighting.com/c...-dmx-lighting/

[Ksandra]

Heck if I know if it really DMX or XLR. Can't tell if it is a 5 pin or 3 pin in the picture.

They're 3 pins, and ty.

[Acevalefor]

Yeah, all those cords are xlr mic cables. The board in the center is a control box for the lighting that would be set up on the catwalks. The other two boxes look like amps or filters.

The XLR cables should be plugged in and labeled to their corresponding port number. i.e. if you plug the cable into port 1, make sure you label both ends with a 1. It will save a lot of confusion and frustration if shit gets unplugged.

It has been a few years since I have run any sound equipment but I used to do it every weekend. Get me some pics of labels and ports and I can probably tell you what they do.

[Ksandra]

ty I'll take pics on monday. I'll try to get in contact with a theater too to see if they can come in. I just never seem to have time to. XD

[Prim]

DMX protocol can use both 3 pin and 5 pin cables, thanks to industry laziness. "Official" DMX cables are 5-pin and slightly different than mic cables (tighter wire winding or something). Standard audio XLR cables can work here, but it's not ideal and could potentially cause malfunctions down the road.

The Elation pack on the left is a dimmer pack; I own a couple of that exact one. PAR lights plug into the dimmer pack, 1 DMX cable goes from the pack to the main light board. You're gonna have to trace the rest of the wires, or hope they're labeled to find the right port for them. And you or someone working on this will need to know how to set DMX addresses (dip switches). If the only lighting you have is old-fashioned single bulb PAR cans, this will be easy. There's probably another couple of those dimmer packs floating around, grouping lights together.

The box on the right is a 24 channel audio snake. After looking at it, I'm not sure what it's doing in the light area. That box is usually on stage, all the mics get plugged into it, and the snake runs to the main audio board. The ABCD on the box are for monitor returns. They might have been using it for a really ghetto DMX splitter... but it doesn't actually split anything; it's basically just a gigantic XLR extension cord... And since that light board only has 2 DMX outputs, you'd only use 2 of those ports. I dunno. It's a really funky setup just from that pic.

http://livewire-usa.com/ab100x24x4


Sorry I keep editing. Trying to wrap my head around what I'm seeing.