FUTURETECH Featuring RZI Lighting - Stage Lighting Rental Innovations

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Hey everyone.
Welcome back to another episode

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of Geezers of Gear Future Tech.
I'm Chris, and as always, I'm

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here with Lacey.
Today we're digging into stage

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lighting rentals and especially
what makes RCI kind of stand out

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in the sea of gear providers.
Hey y'all, So Chris, this is a

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bit of a softer spot for me
because, well, I've run more

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than my share of festival sites
where rental can make or break

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your stress level, especially at
7:00 AM when you realize you

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forgot the hazers, you know?
Oh mate don't even get me

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started.
There was a festival back in

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what, 2015?
Ran out of hazers with 12 hours

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notice.
I'm fairly sure I lost a decade

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of my life making frantic calls.
If I'd had RCI's kind of turnkey

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experience back then, well, I
probably wouldn't have half

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these white hairs.
The thing about RCI, they make

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the whole process ridiculously
seamless.

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You're not just getting a
shipment of lights thrown in a

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truck.
From browsing their mammoth

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inventory to getting the gear
prepped and delivered, you get

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personalized support every step.
Actual humans, shockingly hard

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to find sometimes.
That's the part I liked too.

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Their team actually walks you
through first you pick your

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stuff from the list, put in your
order, and then they step in and

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handle the details.
It's not just here's your moving

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heads.
Good luck.

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Doesn't matter if it's automated
fixtures, strobes, crowd

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blinders, or snow machines.
Seriously, snow in Louisiana

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they've got it.
And flexible rigging too, so

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setups covered.
And they've got scale right?

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It's not one of those oh sorry,
we only have two LED pars left,

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everything else is out with
Springsteen.

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There's this feeling that
whatever the event, corporate

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show, tiny club, full blown
festival, you just tick off the

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boxes and it lands show ready.
They even prep all the cables

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and little silly adapters you
tend to forget.

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I mean, I know I should own more
5 pin to 3 pin DMX dongles by

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now, but well, here we are.
That personalized side I think

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is what sets them apart.
You're not DIY ING the

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logistics, they take care of it
so you can just focus on the

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show, which is refreshing.
So let's talk toys.

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I mean gear.
Doesn't matter how slick the

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process is, you still want cool
fixtures.

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RCI is loaded with the heavy
hitters.

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Stuff like Elations, Proteus
Maximus, an absolute brute of a

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moving head, IP rated great for
festivals or honestly any job

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you can throw at it.
OK so I got to ask because I

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always get these terms jumbled.
Is the Proteus Maximus an

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automated fixture or?
Yeah, spot on.

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It's an automated fixture,
meaning full pan tilt, gobos,

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color mixing, you name it.
Compare that to conventional

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lights, which are your old
school pars or Lecos static.

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They just go on or off, no fancy
moves.

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If you want to wash a wall,
there's Chroma Cues Color Force

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2.
That thing's brilliant for

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cycloramas or any big throw and
no weird color shadowing.

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And for some creative spice, the
soul I Blender from Elation.

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It's modular.
You can link them, stack them,

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shape them into lines or wild
pendants.

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Eye candy all day.
So for automated stuff, Mac 1

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and the Colorado PXL Curve 12
keep coming up.

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Are those super different or
kind of the same idea?

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Both definitely pack a punch,
just in different flavors.

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Martin's Mac 1 is a classic.
Compact, big punchy beam, lots

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of movements.
The PXL Curve 12 by Chouvet is

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this pixel mappable baton 12.
Independently controlled heads,

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loads of edge to edge effects
and it's all IP65 rated so

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outdoor gigs no problem.
It even does virtual gobos and

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macros for those fast dramatic
look changes.

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Super flexible and perfect if
you want to get nerdy with pixel

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mapping.
You said in another episode,

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what was it, the RZI rental one
that wireless control is getting

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easier now.
What's out there right now for

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that?
Like some of this just runs off

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an app or?
Oh, totally.

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And it's come a long way.
A Steer's AX2 pixel bars are

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completely wireless.
You get a built in battery, you

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can address every pixel, and it
all talks wirelessly via Apple

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controller.
No more tripping over DMX

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everywhere.
Same story for comms.

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The free speak wireless intercom
system.

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It's kind of the gold standard
now.

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Multiband rock solid RF belt
packs that actually work even

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when everyone and their nan has
a walkie nearby.

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Between wireless lights and
comms, those last seconds shift

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the whole set downstage.
Nightmares are about manageable

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now.
Well, almost.

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One thing I think people
overlook is all the support

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gear.
You know, the unsexy stuff like

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rigging and power.
I can't tell you how many times

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the lights were perfect, but the
power distro was not.

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You ever remember that fest
where nothing lined up and it

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took us like an hour just to
sort out where the feeder cables

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were?
Don't remind me, it absolutely

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eats your setup time.
That's the thing, RCI does more

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than just the flashy lights.
They're rental menus full of the

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actual essentials.
Rigging motors, chain hoists,

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modular Truss, and big power
solutions like the Presidential

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power rack.
That power rack's got you sorted

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for every possible connector,
Cam lock, LSC Edison so you

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don't have to carry a bag of
sketchy adapters hoping

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something will fit.
The modular Truss like Tyler GT

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pre rig means you can light and
load much quicker.

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No that trust pin's bent.
This piece doesn't fit proper

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kit preps right every time.
I think the big win is you just

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select what you need, send off
your request, and someone there

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handles the puzzle.
No hunting for extras, no 4:00

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AM supply runs.
It's the kind of service that

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honestly makes you want to come
back, especially if you're like

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me and don't want to chase
cables all night.

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Absolutely.
I mean, we talk about tech

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constantly on this podcast and
it all comes back to service.

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You want to know that after you
click submit, someone's making

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sure the rig is right, user
friendly and headache free.

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And Speaking of which, big
thanks to RCI for supporting

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Geezers of Gear podcast.
If you're on the hunt for

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lighting, power rigging, or just
a properly show ready set up,

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definitely check out their
stuff.

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And if you forget your hazers at
the last minute, well, you know

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who to call now anyway.
Laci, it's been a good one.

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Shall we wrap?
I think that covers it.

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Thanks Chris, and thanks
everyone for listening with us

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again.
We'll be back with more gear

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talk and some new tech next
time.

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Bye y'all.
Cheers Laci.

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See you folks.
Take care until next time.