# Road Case for Lights



## Edrick (Mar 30, 2012)

Has anyone built a roadcase for their lighting instruments? I'm thinking of building a box that we can hang our lights on poles inside the case and bring them to events. Anyone have something like this have any recommendations of what to do and what not todo?


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## Footer (Mar 30, 2012)

Most shops go with open meat racks or double door cabinets with movable shelves. I personally like the cabinets. They truck pack nicer and catch the little bits that vibrate off. For moving lights you are almost always in cases or truss. Cirque does have shows out with custom meat racks for alpha spots. 

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## Edrick (Mar 30, 2012)

Yeah that's what I was thinking is a case with two doors and some pipe although the shelving might be a better idea.


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## derekleffew (Mar 30, 2012)

Shelves allow for more fixtures in less room. Hanging on pipes wastes a lot of space. A standard box should hold about 40 ERS s, plus accessories, on two levels.


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## Morte615 (Mar 30, 2012)

When we get source 4's from 4Wall they send them out in a box that we call the Tall Boy. Not sure if that is a standard term or just something we started saying. The box is made of plywood, stands about 6 or 8 feet tall and has heavy duty castors. There are 2 doors that hinge open from the bottom (one on each side). Inside is a pipe along the top to connect the fixtures too. Some have shelves in the bottom to house cables, safeties, clamps, ect. Others have another pipe for another level of lights. I don't know off the top of my head how many lights you can fit in one box but we usually get our entire rental out in 2 boxes (per theater).


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## gafftapegreenia (Mar 30, 2012)

I tend to see this style of case a lot, either for 8 or 12 lights.


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## len (Mar 30, 2012)

If they are hung on pipe, or par-bar type things and you intend to leave them that way, there are things called meat racks you can buy/build, if you can weld. You don't want to spend the money on cases for lights already on bars, unless they're cheap pars on a speaker stand type thing. If that's the case, there are fiberboard cases you can get relatively expensively.

But if you're taking the fixture off the bar at the venue, then get cases. They pack better on the truck.


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## Edrick (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm looking to pack some SourceFour Jrs and some Par LED Lights to move from show to show. I suppose since they wont always be hung lights (the pars more so) shelving / cubby holes would be better or the photo of the


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## shiben (Mar 30, 2012)

gafftapegreenia said:


> I tend to see this style of case a lot, either for 8 or 12 lights.



I see that a ton as well.


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## Footer (Mar 30, 2012)

shiben said:


> I see that a ton as well.



With a cabinet you can get about 4x as many fixtures in the same truck pack... No need to separate these units out, nothing is going to hurt them if they touch. I


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## Sony (Apr 1, 2012)

At the School we have lighting cases from this company:
ATA Cases, Road Cases, Flight Cases, Custom Fabricated Cases | IMAGE Production Services MA

We have two of the cases on the left of that image. They hold 36 units each on two levels. Love em, they are easy to use and keep stuff from getting damaged.


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## Pie4Weebl (Apr 2, 2012)

When debating case style think about the venues you will be bringing them into, if its all theaters and places with a clear path of the space, the bigger cases are great. If you need to get your lights down narrow halls with tight turns or up hills in backyards to tents, the smaller guys can be a lot easier to deal with.


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## BillESC (Apr 2, 2012)

Valuable statement right there. ^^^^^^^

The "best" case is dependent upon application.


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## shiben (Apr 5, 2012)

Footer said:


> With a cabinet you can get about 4x as many fixtures in the same truck pack... No need to separate these units out, nothing is going to hurt them if they touch. I



I suppose it does, but Im not really in a position to tell pretty much all of the suppliers to corporate events here in Chicago that they are doing it wrong.


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## shiben (Apr 5, 2012)

Pie4Weebl said:


> When debating case style think about the venues you will be bringing them into, if its all theaters and places with a clear path of the space, the bigger cases are great. If you need to get your lights down narrow halls with tight turns or up hills in backyards to tents, the smaller guys can be a lot easier to deal with.



Its worth mentioning that even in a hotel, a 12 pack is far easier to navigate than a larger cabinet, what with plate carts, tables, bar carts, chairs, and the like cluttering the back hallways.


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## JCarroll (Apr 5, 2012)

The cases we use fit 12 lekos, but its a modular case with removable dividers and you can fit 3 in each section. If you only have 6 lekos pull out one of the dividers and throw your soca in the other side of the case.


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## ruinexplorer (Apr 18, 2012)

Again, back to use, but many corporate event companies prefer to keep their equipment as nice as possible since they are in sight of the client. If you have the cabinet packed units, they get scratched and dented which does not look that attractive on floor mounted truss or a light tree in the ballroom. It's a different story when your lights are up on a truss out of sight. It's not always rock and roll.


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