# State-of-the-Art & Industry Standard



## Rosie (Apr 18, 2015)

How do you define "state-of-the-art" and "industry standard"? And how can you hope to know what meets the criteria for every area of a theatre?

I'm being asked by the powers that be (and control the money) what needs to be done in our space to bring everything to industry standard as well as what it would take to become state-of-the-art. We host events for a public school district, rent our facility for community events, dance competitions, etc, and bring in small-scale touring productions and concerts for our regular season. Because of the variety of events and size of our space (800 seats), I certainly don't expect what would be considered industry standard for a large arena venue or state-of-the-art for a concert hall would be the same expectation for our venue.

Does anyone happen to know of a resource to compare what is considered current industry standard for different departments as well as the projected direction things are moving for the future? For example, for lighting I know that in the next 10 years, we will likely want to replace many of our conventional fixtures with LEDs. But how do I plan for sound improvements? Rigging innovations?

Is it all just conjecture?


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## Footer (Apr 18, 2015)

Industry standard is really want you want to go for. "State of the art" is a marketing phrase that you will never hear a seasoned production person speak of. What you are really looking for is "rider friendly". Rider friendly gear is not state of the art, it is gear everyone knows and will almost always work. 

Rigging has not changed dramatically in the last 50 years in most _road houses_. You do not and probably will not see full automated road houses anytime soon. Industry standard is still pull rope get banana. I can't imagine bringing a one night stand touring show into a venue with an automated fly system, WAY overkill and lacks flexibility. You need to have the capability of rigging truss and motor rigging for the shows that are carrying it. 

For audio, it really depends on programming. Right now, if you are doing music, a line array made by D&B/L Acoustics/Meyer is where you want to be. You want it driven by a Midas/Digico/Soundcraft/Avid desk. Big thing is the PA has to be designed properly to fit the room, number of boxes and wattage does not matter as long as every seat is hit correctly and evenly. You should have at least 10 monitor wedges on seperate mixes, side fills, drum sub. If you are doing theatre it is totally different set up requirements that can flip this whole thing on its head. I'm not a theatre sound person so I can't really say much beyond ONLY Digico consoles and as many wireless as you can afford. Either way, expect to own at least 50k of hard wired mics and mic stands. 

In lighting being LED will not really be a big benefit to road companies. We are kind if in a flux in the theatre and dance industry currently to decide how touring companies will interface with that gear. If you want to do music you should be all LED with some Vipers or QWO fixtures.


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## BillConnerFASTC (Apr 18, 2015)

I think any plan has to begin with documenting what you are doing - how many of what type of event produced by who - and what you can't do but have demand for. Then you can figure out what you need and where you need to go.
Industry standard is really meeting the needs as well as the average venue does. State of the art means you can do everything that similar venues can do as well or better than any other venue.


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## np18358 (Apr 19, 2015)

This might be better in the "Facility Operations" Forum, I'll still give it a go. 
First, how old is your venue? More specifically, what events do you produce? By events for the public school, are those Student Run Plays/Musicals? What sort of community events? You also mention small tours. Are any of these tours bringing in their own Lighting or Audio Gear, if not, what are they requesting that you cannot provide? If most shows are bringing their on stuff, infrastructure is key. Their is no point in buying movers or expensive lighting gear if the only shows that would use them bring their own. You mention dance. Do you have a marley dance floor? If not, do companies ever request one? How are your soft goods? Have they been flame treated recently? Could they use replacement? For rigging, the important thing is annual inspection. Pro-Actively replacing components that are showing signs of wear before you experience any problems is good practice. For lighting, do you use a Cyc? If you don't have LED Cyc Lights, that might be something to consider investing in. Likewise, if you use overhead wash systems (pars,fresnels,etc), consider LED's as well. If people are requesting movers, than they would be a potential investment, but remember that the repair and upkeep is staggering. If you are only getting requests once or twice a year, rental is always an option. What console do you have? How old is it? Are you able to provide adequate power distribution for the touring shows that you get? For sound, how old are the speakers, amps? How does the system sound? Do you have appropriate fill speakers for Balconies/Boxes? Are you ADA complaint with Hearing Impaired? Do you have spare Mic Elements for your bodypacks? How many channels of Wireless do you have versus how many channels are requested? Do you have enough monitor capability for the shows that come in? Do you have IEMs? Might one or two sets be useful for the concerts? Do you have a projector? Do you every do corporate events? Do you have all of the equipment that is required for those? Cable, while being boring, is also a necessity. Do you have enough XLR, DMX, Stage Pin, Edison, Speakon, 1/4", Soca, and whatever else you use? In general what gear do you find yourself having to rent? Would it be cost effective to just buy them outright? What is repair on these items like versus the rental cost?
Ultimately, if you are able to successfully produce the shows that come in, provide them with all the gear they want/need, stay in budget, and keep the clients happy, I don't see why anything needs to change. You may also find ways to save money, and/or streamline the process (IE, if you are constantly having to switch the colors in an overhead wash lighting systems, either to make clients happy or due to bunt gel, it would make sense to go with an LED product, never have to change gel, and have unlimited saturate colors).


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## JD (Apr 19, 2015)

As footer said, "Industry Standard" would be the better phrase to use. To me, the following sums up the difference:
*Industry Standard* - What most people are using who are in the industry. Usually accepted as the most reliable choice.
*State of the Art* - The latest available technology. Not necessarily in wide use and not necessarily proven to be the best, but looking to be the future industry standard. 

For example: The S4 is the "industry standard." The S4 LED would be "state of the art."


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## gafftaper (Apr 21, 2015)

I would start by contacting other large theaters in the area/region. Find out what gear they have in their inventory. Attend a few shows there to get a feel for the space. "The powers that be" will like to be able to say we have better equipment than they do over at the theater next door. If your gear is similar to that of the competition then you are "industry standard".


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## danTt (Apr 22, 2015)

JD said:


> As footer said, "Industry Standard" would be the better phrase to use. To me, the following sums up the difference:
> *Industry Standard* - What most people are using who are in the industry. Usually accepted as the most reliable choice.
> *State of the Art* - The latest available technology. Not necessarily in wide use and not necessarily proven to be the best, but looking to be the future industry standard.
> 
> For example: The S4 is the "industry standard." The S4 LED would be "state of the art."



I find that "State of the art" is applied to every theatre when it is renovated, and is only removed from the description when the theatre is looking for more money to upgrade everything.


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## porkchop (Apr 23, 2015)

First off, welcome to CB. Swing by the new members forum and introduce yourself.

I've been kind of stewing on this before I answer, really the best advice I can give you is to ask the powers that be if they are asking you for a wish list that may or may not actually happen or if they are actually looking to set a road-map to modernize your facility. If they're committing (via the road-map option) to spending any amount of money that they would consider significant then you should bring in a (preferably at least semi-local) theatrical consultant. A consultant will not only have incite into what is currently considered standard and what future technology is rapidly approaching, but they will also be well suited to listen to what kind of productions you actually do and advice you, and the people spending the money, on what order improvements should be made season after season. Also when it comes down to budgetary discussions, it is often beneficial to bring in an outside perspective to sit down and have realistic conversations about costs and benefits.


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## Rosie (Apr 24, 2015)

Thank you everyone! This is really helpful! 
We are currently able to handle the small tours that we bring in (1-3 truck shows) with the only exception being some sound equipment that could use replacing because I've been renting recently instead for better reliability. School productions are fine since what we have in our facility exceeds what most schools use in the area though directors always seems to want more (moving lights, lav mics, etc...). As far as rentals, this is the area that I want to be sure that we are meeting standards so that we don't lose out on money if we don't have what people are looking for. 
I guess I really need to try to change the vocabulary of the "powers that be" to something better fitting such as what Footer suggested as "rider friendly". That may give us more realistic expectations. I think that our facility is currently "industry standard" (with some repairs needed) but it seems like "state-of-the-art" may not be an appropriate goal for anyone.
Thanks again for your input everyone!


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## Footer (Apr 24, 2015)

Rosie said:


> Thank you everyone! This is really helpful!
> We are currently able to handle the small tours that we bring in (1-3 truck shows) with the only exception being some sound equipment that could use replacing because I've been renting recently instead for better reliability. School productions are fine since what we have in our facility exceeds what most schools use in the area though directors always seems to want more (moving lights, lav mics, etc...). As far as rentals, this is the area that I want to be sure that we are meeting standards so that we don't lose out on money if we don't have what people are looking for.
> I guess I really need to try to change the vocabulary of the "powers that be" to something better fitting such as what Footer suggested as "rider friendly". That may give us more realistic expectations. I think that our facility is currently "industry standard" (with some repairs needed) but it seems like "state-of-the-art" may not be an appropriate goal for anyone.
> Thanks again for your input everyone!



The big thing here is you don't have to have the best gear. However, what gear you do have needs to actually work and work as it was designed. When you advance shows with touring acts let them know what you have and see if they will take it or not. If they won't, you have to rent. If they will, your good to go. My house PA is 15 Meyer CQ boxes, not a line array. It never fills a rider. However, it fits the room and is a good quality brand. Everyone takes it. 

If you have something broken, get it fixed. Anything with reliability concerns needs to either be replaced or fixed. Ensure that everything in your tech specs for your building is in good working order at all times. After that point you can start to do improvements.


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## RickR (Apr 24, 2015)

A specific answer to one of your first questions: How to prepare for LED?

No, you are not going to throw out your inventory (and dimmers) and buy all new fixtures. You do want to add LED and movers to your inventory as funds, benefits and needs require. So you add real (relay or unswitched) non-dim circuits all over the stage. And you get lots of DMX out to those same places. A local (in the building only) network with gateways can be helpful but might be overkill. One or more good reliable splitters and lots of cable are a minimum. Also, look into how well your console can work with these complex fixtures. You will likely have to spend $3-10 thousand on a new one, so start gathering funds and getting familiar with the choices available, rider friendly and otherwise. 

One last thing, keep stopping by Control Booth. Opinions are easy to come by anywhere, but hands on knowledge and experience are much more rare.


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## TimmyP1955 (Sep 27, 2015)

An acoustically treated room with average quality gear will sound a lot better than a typical room with the best gear.


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