# How do you store your Gobos?



## PDSaccman (Dec 3, 2011)

I am the Accessories(Gels, Gobos, Barn Doors, Half Hats etc) Manager and we are redoing our theatre and I am wondering how other people store their Gobos.


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## calkew5 (Dec 3, 2011)

I've seen folks use small file cabinets (like card catalogs). CD cases are a popular choice, too. By that I mean those binders with the pockets.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000A1WGL/?tag=controlbooth-20

That one's a little fancy but you get the idea.


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## Sean (Dec 3, 2011)

You need to give us a slightly better idea of what scale of storage you need. Do you have ~100 gobos? Or do you have something more like 1000?

--Sean


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## PDSaccman (Dec 3, 2011)

Sean said:


> You need to give us a slightly better idea of what scale of storage you need. Do you have ~100 gobos? Or do you have something more like 1000?
> 
> --Sean


 I would say about 100.


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## SteveB (Dec 3, 2011)

CD case, and I need a 2nd


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## JLNorthGA (Dec 3, 2011)

PDSaccman said:


> I would say about 100.


 
How about going to the flea markets and finding some old 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" floppy disk storage containers.

I use the 5 1/4" to store sanding disks for my 5" random orbital sander. I think the 3 1/2" storage containers might hold gobos.


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## josh88 (Dec 3, 2011)

I second the cd case, we've always just made them from an old binder and those plastic windowed sleeves, like the kind for baseball cards. just find ones large enough for the gobos. we'd then make a photo copy of the gobo and slide it in so that if the sleeve ends up empty we know what goes there.


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## derekleffew (Dec 3, 2011)

http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/...73-better-way-store-glass-patterns-gobos.html
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting-electrics/6607-gobo-carrying-case.html
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting-electrics/4222-gobos.html


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## esmphoto (Dec 3, 2011)

in a horrible pile underneath all our equally unsorted gels. vaguely divided into cubies by type (shapes, architectural objects, odd pictures, other)

I do have a scan of every gobo and photo of a cyc with all our gels in a powerpoint that i can take to production meetings.

i've been looking at various solutions, thinking about binder sleeves.


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## techieman33 (Dec 3, 2011)

Ours are in 3 ring binders, in sleves for 3 1/2" floppies. Who knows if you could even find those any more.


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## chausman (Dec 4, 2011)

We use envelopes in one place, plastic cd sleeves in another, and a third venue uses 3x5 notecard boxes. Like this:


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## venuetech (Dec 4, 2011)

hanging file CD page


hanging in the cut color file cabinet.


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## Gern (Dec 5, 2011)

Case Logic CD cases. 
But, last season the gaffers was brought to set(school scene lots of background) and someone walked off with it. Did the thief know they were gobos, or were they hoping for music?


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## Kelite (Dec 5, 2011)

We've offered this little beauty empty or filled with 150 steel gobos...


Apollo Design | Black Box


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## Beans45601 (Dec 5, 2011)

Kelite said:


> We've offered this little beauty empty or filled with 150 steel gobos...
> 
> 
> Apollo Design | Black Box


 
How much for an empty one?


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## JFR (Dec 5, 2011)

I store gobos the cheapest way possible, and then buy more gobos with the money I saved. 

I just use the plastic sleeve they come in when we purchase them. On the top I write the gobo number, and then file them numerically in a small box. You probably have a small box that would work perfectly. I think I've even used a Pop-Tarts box before. 

I have tried to do a lot of different gobo storage systems, and this is the one I like best. CD binders have worked ok, but when you're looking at 100+ gobos, you will accumulate a lot of binders. Or just a small box or two.


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## zmb (Dec 5, 2011)

Kelite said:


> We've offered this little beauty empty or filled with 150 steel gobos...
> 
> 
> Apollo Design | Black Box


 
Looks like bargain if I had to buy 150 gobos at once...


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## josh88 (Dec 5, 2011)

zmb said:


> Looks like bargain if I had to buy 150 gobos at once...


 
Kelite specified empty or filled. I would venture a guess that it's not the same price empty.


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## chausman (Dec 6, 2011)

josh88 said:


> Kelite specified empty or filled. I would venture a guess that it's not the same price empty.



It is still a rather good deal though. Roughly 20 extra free* gobos and a free* handy box to keep them in when not in use.

*Free as in you've just bought an USD $1725 MSRP box with 150 gobos and a box for them.


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## Kelite (Dec 6, 2011)

chausman said:


> It is still a rather good deal though. Roughly 20 extra free* gobos and a free* handy box to keep them in when not in use.
> 
> *Free as in you've just bought an USD $1725 MSRP box with 150 gobos and a box for them.


 


Sorry for my absence, company meetings with KC Hooper and Rich Dale in the house! Woohoo!

The 150 pc Black Box gobo special equates to $11.40 per steel standard pattern, discounted from $13.25 MSRP. These ship with a free Black Box for your venue's storage needs.

A smaller 75 pc Black Box gobo special will be announced for 2012-


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## jstandfast (Dec 6, 2011)

Mostly I use the sleeves they arrive in, marked by manufacturer and Type. A good few can be fit in one of those sleeves. Loose "B" size fit really well in Scotch 33/35 tape cans.


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## icewolf08 (Dec 6, 2011)

Given that my template inventory numbers somewhere in the thousands of individual templates, I use a file cabinet with index-card sized drawers. I have a drawer for Rosco, one for Gam, I have been building one for Apollo as more LDs request Apollo templates, and I even have some space for Lee and SFX/Theatre Magic as well. We cut up old matboard signs that the theatre used for pevious events to make dividers for the drawers. One of these days I could snap a photo if anyone cares to see.


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## chausman (Dec 6, 2011)

icewolf08 said:


> One of these days I could snap a photo if anyone cares to see.


 
I'd like to see it. Just about anythings got to be better then a bunch of torn envelopes...


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## len (Jul 15, 2012)

*gobo storage*

Finally found a couple decent sized gobo storage bins. Sadly, they're plastic, but they should work for the shop. What are they? 3.5" floppy storage boxes, which should work, although the plastic sleeves might be a little wide. Anyway, hope they work out better than the cd folders I was using, which were terrible.


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## natedogg08 (Jul 18, 2012)

*Re: gobo storage*

The theatre I used to work at had close to 100 gobos. We kept them in a small accordian file, and used the different sections for the different types, aka breakups, trees, clouds, shatter, words, abstract, etc. Easy and it kept us organized.


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## Beans45601 (Nov 19, 2012)

*Gobo sleeve uses?*

I imagine we all have a similar problem, but I find myself wondering what to do with the hundreds (and growing) of those PVC sleeves that gobos come in (at least from Apollo and Rosco). Have y'all found any uses, aside from throwing them into the recycling bin (I don't think we do #3 plastic here, anyway...).


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## gafftapegreenia (Nov 19, 2012)

*Re: Gobo sleeve uses?*

They're good for keeping your gobos in. That way when you have a stack of say, leafy break up gobos, they don't all foul on each other.


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## Beans45601 (Nov 20, 2012)

*Re: Gobo sleeve uses?*


gafftapegreenia said:


> They're good for keeping your gobos in. That way when you have a stack of say, leafy break up gobos, they don't all foul on each other.



Well of course, but I don't keep one gobo in each sleeve, I keep 10 of the same gobo in one sleeve. Unless they have been in an old instrument and are warped, this works just fine... I'm just wondering if anyone has any brilliant ideas on what to do with all these extra sleeves.


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## techietim (Nov 20, 2012)

*Re: Gobo sleeve uses?*

We have a little custom sized box made by one of the Theatre crew with a couple of dividers built into the box.
Works very well!!


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## StNic54 (Nov 21, 2012)

*Re: Gobo sleeve uses?*

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer a filing cabinet with hanging file folders, and I staple the gobo sleeves into each labeled folder. I had too many situations where other folks walked away with the gobo boxes and they became unavailable when needed most. I'm a fan of a designated, immovable location for all your needs.


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## msfixit (Aug 24, 2015)

Hi all,
I just started as a TD at a school with a large theatre program. They've never had a TD before, so I'm starting from scratch in terms of storage and organization. We currently have a box with a dozen or so gobos and about 20 template holders and was wondering what the best way to store these was. My old theatre had a filing cabinet drawer dedicated to them, but don't have the amount of gobos to really justify that.

Any ideas?


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## sk8rsdad (Aug 24, 2015)

Try small box for the the holders, or hang them on a safety chain if shelf space is limited. 
Use a CD binder for the gobos.


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## josh88 (Aug 24, 2015)

I've also seen a 3 ring binder with cd pages in it so you could flip through in a similar way and store it on a bookshelf.


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## AsherSB (Aug 24, 2015)

I've also seen a CD binder used before, although if you only have a dozen or so, maybe you don't need anything more then a box.


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## mikeydoesstuff (Aug 25, 2015)

I seal M sized envelopes, and cut them in half, they store about 10-12 B size or smaller if theyre all still flat, less if theyre warped, or A size. Print an image, paste it on the front, toss them in an old floppy disc box, done! Easy to add and subtract, visual references, can add postit tabs... whatever floats your boat.


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## theatricalmatt (Aug 25, 2015)

I use archive boxes size for 4 x 6 index cards from Staples, and index card guides to separate the templates. Each index card guide gets the gobo number and name, plus a full-size print of the gobo images pasted to the index card guide. I also keep an spreadsheet with the same information, plus quantities of A and B size, as well as an image of the template.

For extra gobo sleeves, I find they work really well for sorting smaller gel cuts -- MR-16 striplight gels, for instance, or birdie cuts. I print a label on the side of the gobo sleeve, and then they go into a similar archive box for storage.


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## DELO72 (Aug 26, 2015)

PDSaccman said:


> I am the Accessories(Gels, Gobos, Barn Doors, Half Hats etc) Manager and we are redoing our theatre and I am wondering how other people store their Gobos.



I agree with the others on the small card-catalog size filing cabinets. We used those at a few theatres I worked and taught at. What I did (and it worked well for us) was we bought manila envelopes, cut them in half (you can use both sides), and photocopied the gobo onto the front and labeled them by name and #. And stored them numerically by brand (all the Roscos in one, GAM in another, Apollo in another, etc. Then keep a spreadsheet on file of the # you have of each. This way you know what you have in stock, and when you need to order more, etc. just by checking the spreadsheet first. Attached is how they looked when done. There are a lot of great other suggestions on here though! All sound like good ideas.


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