Geezers Of Gear - FutureTech Featuring ETC's Prodigy Balance

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All right, welcome back to
Geezers of Gear Future Tech I'm

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Chris and as always, I'm joined
by Lacey.

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Today we're talking about
something that's well been a bit

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of a headache for stage crews
for what centuries now.

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Rigging specifically how ET, CS
prodigy balance is shaking

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things up.
But before we get into the new

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stuff, let's talk about the old
ways.

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Laci, you ever have to deal with
those old counterweight systems?

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Oh absolutely.
I mean, I didn't do the heavy

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lifting myself, but I've watched
enough crews sweating it out,

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climbing up those terrifyingly
narrow staircases to the loading

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bridge.
And honestly I always thought,

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how is this still a thing?
Like you're up there balancing

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bricks hoping nothing slips.
It's wild.

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Yeah, it's mad, isn't it?
The first mentions of stage

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machinery go back to the 1600s,
and counterweight rigging's been

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around since, what, the 1800s?
And yet the basics haven't

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changed much.
You've got these loading

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bridges, sometimes two or three
stories up, and you're leaning

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over railings, stacking heavy
bricks, just praying you've done

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your maths right so the set
doesn't come crashing down.

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I mean, I remember early in my
career I was backstage at this

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old theater and someone above
dropped a weight.

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I swear it missed me by about a
foot.

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Scare the life out of me.
That's the reality.

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One slip and it's a disaster.
That's exactly it.

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And it's not just the pros,
right schools and students.

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Most places won't even let
students near the rigging

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because it's so risky.
I've seen teachers just flat out

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refuse to use the system.
It's always been one of the most

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dangerous parts of working
backstage and honestly, it's

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kind of amazing it's taken this
long for someone to rethink it.

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Yeah, and it's not just the
heights, it's the whole process,

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climbing up, balancing bricks,
hoping you're not the one who

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gets the math wrong.
It's a bit of a relic, really,

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but you know, there's something
almost artful about running your

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own rigging, bringing battens in
and out by hand.

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It's just, well, the danger's
always been part of the deal.

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Or at least it was.
So let's talk about what's

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actually changed with Prodigy
balance.

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Because honestly when I first
heard about it, I thought OK,

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another fancy gadget.
But this is more than that.

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The self-contained weight stack.
That's a game changer.

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You're not climbing up to load
bricks anymore.

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Everything happens at stage
level.

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You just use these pins to add
or remove weight.

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Kind of like a gym machine.
No more hauling bricks upstairs.

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I mean, that alone would have
saved so many headaches.

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Yeah, and the detachable clue is
brilliant.

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So you've got this drill.
Well, it's a dedicated tool, but

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it's basically a drill and you
use it to raise the clue, which

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disconnects the weight from the
batten.

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You can load the Arbor and the
batten at the same time, right

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there on the ground.
No more leaning over railing, no

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more hoping you don't drop a
brick on someone's head.

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And the bricks themselves,
they're designed to nest

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together with these laser cut
pins that lock them in place.

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It's also much more stable.
And the safety features, there's

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a position sensor built into the
rope block.

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So if the rope moves too fast,
like if something goes wrong and

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the Arbor starts to run away,
the brake kicks in

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automatically.
It slows everything down, so you

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don't get that terrifying
runaway effect.

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I mean, it's almost impossible
to have an out of weight

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situation now, and if you do,
the system's got your back.

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Exactly.
And then there's the modular

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guide wall.
That means you can install the

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whole thing in a fraction of the
time it used to take.

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No more building massive
structures just to hold up the

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rigging.
And if you're retrofitting an

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old space, you can use
compression tubes so you're not

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relying on the building's beams
being in the perfect spot.

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It's just so much more flexible.
I read about a school that

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retrofitted their theater with
Prodigy balance.

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They cut their install time way
down and the staff said it was

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just so much safer.
Plus with ETC site link, they

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can monitor everything remotely,
get alerts, lock out the system

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if needed.
It's like, finally someone's

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thinking about the people
actually using this stuff, not

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just the engineers.
Yeah, and that's something we

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talked about a few episodes back
with ETC site link, how cloud

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based monitoring is changing the
game for lighting and rigging.

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Now you've got that same level
of control and safety for your

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rigging system.
It's all about making things

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safer and easier for everyone,
from the seasoned pros to the

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students just learning the
ropes.

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So let's get into what it's
actually like to use this thing.

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You're at stage level, you've
got your pins, and you just

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adjust the weight stack to match
whatever you're putting on the

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baton.
No more guessing, no more

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climbing.
And the integrated LED lights,

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you can control the color and
brightness from the same

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controller you use for the
hoist.

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It's all right there.
I mean, I remember being on tour

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trying to figure out which line
set was which in the dark and

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just wishing for something like
this would have made my life so

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much easier.
Yeah, and you can monitor the

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line sets remotely, run reports,
even lock out the system so no

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one can mess with it when you're
not around.

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The Prodigy Balance has a 50
foot travel and can lift up to

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one £200 which is pretty
impressive for a manual system.

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And if you need to go heavier
you just pair it with one of

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ETC's automated hoists.
It's all compatible so you get

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the best of both worlds.
Manual control where you want

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it, automation where you need
it.

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And honestly, just being able to
stay on the ground, that's huge.

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I mean, I'm not afraid of
heights, but I don't love the

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idea of balancing bricks 3
stories up.

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I remember my first time working
a show, someone handed me a rope

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and said don't let go.
I had no idea what I was doing

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and I was terrified I'd mess it
up.

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If we'd had something like
Prodigy Balance, I probably

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would have slept a lot better
that night.

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Yeah, it's a massive leap
forward.

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It's safer, it's faster, and
it's just, well, smarter.

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And it's nice to see the
industry finally catching up to

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what people actually need
backstage.

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I think we'll be seeing a lot
more of this kind of tech in the

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next few years.
Absolutely.

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And you know, it's not just
about the gear, it's about

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making the whole process better
for everyone.

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I'm excited to see where it goes
next.

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All right, that's all we've got
for today on ET CS Rigging

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Reinvented.
Thanks for listening everyone.

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Lacey, always a pleasure.
Thanks Chris, and thanks to

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everyone tuning in.
We'll catch you next time on

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Geezers of Gear Future Tech Take
care.

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Oh, La La with music to your
ears.

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Hey, hey, hey, let's.
Go.

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New gear vibes, new tech jive
gearheads unite.

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We keep it live.
Oh yeah, the lunar ski.

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The lunar ski.
We got it here.

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Got it here.