The entertainment industry has higher and higher requirements for the landscape, which means that the requirements for stage lifting technology are getting higher and higher. Julian Champkin is fascinated.

Maintaining the illusion is a necessary condition for stage craftsmanship. The machines involved should not distract entertainment. Lifting equipment for stages, concerts and entertainment venues must be safe; it must also be inconspicuous-quiet and almost invisible. We certainly know that when Peter Pan and Wendy fly off the stage at the end of the pantomime, they are actually hanging on the wires of some kind of crane, but the less we know about these mechanisms, the happier the audience will be.

Wirral-based Hoist UK has been working in the field of drama promotion for ten years. In addition to being a distributor of Verlinde stage lifting equipment, they also manufacture and supply their own products, including professional products such as winches for aerial performers (acrobats, circus performers, Peter Pan, etc.).

They can be used for single-wire pendulum flight from a single winch, which is a standard configuration for aerial performances or single point lifts in theaters. Or, the 2D rein flight with two winches can better control the actor's direction; or the 3D rein flight with four winches can fully control the height, attitude and direction.

Hoist UK also recently launched a compact integrated lighting pole winch solution for lifting lighting equipment, audio equipment, curtains, scenery, etc. The system is based on their Pilewind winch, which is installed as a whole in a 30 cm or 52 cm truss with no internal diagonals.

Pilewind is manufactured by Hoist UK, while the aluminum truss is manufactured by Hoist UK's sister company Truss UK.

The standard light pole winch can withstand safe working loads of 125 kg and 250 kg, but an integrated light pole winch with a load capacity of up to 990 kg is also available.

The winch can accommodate up to 6 ropes from the drum to support the lighting pole, and an integral safety device is installed in the gear box to serve as a secondary safety device when the main gear drive fails. When the secondary gear meshes, it locks the drive shaft to prevent the load from falling.

The integrated lighting bar winch also has a six-position gear-driven electrical limit switch (up and down work and safety limits, and two additional limits for auxiliary switches).

They said the system is designed for small studio, theater and school applications, where installing a separate winch and pulley system is problematic and a single unit is preferred. It is also very suitable for rental solutions. There is no need to fix the pulley load on the ceiling, and the coupler can be fixed to an existing truss to hang the integrated lighting bar winch. Therefore, there is no need to drill on site, thereby saving time and expense.

Film and TV studios rely more on precisely controlled lighting equipment, which is individually positioned for each shot. The installation of the Verlinde crane greatly simplifies the working practices of the Glavinko TV and film complex near Moscow. Glavinko was founded in 2008 and has more than a dozen sound fields, of which a 33,368 square foot sound field is the largest in Eastern Europe. It has nine well-equipped movie studios with an area of ​​more than 21,000 square meters, hosting popular TV shows and major film productions.

Even a year ago, adjusting the lighting equipment and scenery in the shooting gallery involved climbers laying lines, lifting equipment, and solving other tasks at high altitudes and dangers. This program has a name in the entertainment industry: it is called a "filled" studio. This takes time and is expensive. The system needs to be modernized. 224 Verlinde Stagemaker SR5 hoists were used to complete this work.

"We hope to provide customers with the opportunity to use the automatic suspension system, because the ceilings of the various pavilions are very high, not everyone can enter the tall rigs, but every new pavilion needs to be in touch with them frequently-and During the filming," said Vlad Mazurov, Sofit Light's customer operations director who provided the installation.

The installation was carried out under difficult conditions: the equipment had to be placed in an exhibition hall that could not be cleaned up for shooting. "In some pavilions, we only need to work between shooting. All the scenery remains the same, while the climbers work on it.

"The complete installation took four months; during this period, approximately one kilometer of trusses and 216 cranes were installed."

The stagemaker SR5 model has a load capacity of 500 kg; for this project, the D8 version with dual brakes was used. Their lifting speed is 4m/min. The patented chain guide system eliminates chain twists and jams and keeps the noise level below 60 decibels.

The hoists have their designated default positions, there are switch boxes on the wall-one for every two hoists, and all points on the ceiling are laid out. The client gets a prepared layout plan, but if they are not satisfied with the standard plan on the ceiling, they can lower everything to the floor, rearrange them according to their requirements, and then restore it to the ceiling height.

Denis Chuvilkin, Glavinko's head of hardware, said: "We are surprised by the quiet motor work of the crane." The preparation time for shooting has been reduced by at least half a shift compared to before, and the facility is very attractive to customers. Is increasing.

As we said, low-key is everywhere in stage technology. The purpose is to let the audience see only part of the program. To this end, CM-ET, the entertainment division of Columbus McKinnon, adopted a new black phosphate finish on the chains of its Lodestar and Prostar theater cranes. The dark black surface is specially designed for the entertainment industry to absorb light and reduce reflections and visibility during performances. Despite the matt appearance, the chain still has a smooth running surface and, when properly lubricated and maintained, meets the same corrosion resistance specifications as the company's standard galvanized chain. CM-ET's Lodestar has a capacity of up to 2 tons, and they say that it has been the main force in the industry for several generations. The D8+ version can reach up to 1t, has dual brakes and clutches outside the load path, and has a design safety factor of 10:1.

The last point is very important. The sound field, filming, and theatrical performances are crowded with people — actors, technicians, stage personnel, and the public — whose minds are not at all scenery or equipment that might hang over their heads. The regulations impose different requirements on lifting equipment, which suspend fixed loads on densely populated areas and move loads on them.

For example, the European GV-D8+ (enhanced BGV-D8) classification is considered unsuitable for moving loads on people, but it is suitable for hanging (rather than moving) loads on people without secondary safety devices. Among other things, this classification requires dual brakes that directly act on the transmission system, a safety factor of 10:1, and non-load-bearing clutches.

For situations that require people to move, Globestock's UKmade G.Guard load arrester is a safety backup that can be used for lighting and audio equipment. G.Guard is a retractable and tensioned extra safety rope, which is installed on the reel and connected to the load. In normal use, it will expand and contract with the movement of the load. However, if the load enters a free fall state, the cable will be pulled out of the reel at an accelerated speed; when the starting speed is reached, the braking system is engaged to stop the load.

The fall protection brake includes a shock-absorbing element to minimize the force encountered when stopping a falling load; the stop is smooth and cushioned. The parking distance is about 0.0 to 0.7m; G.Guard load arresters are suitable for protecting static and moving loads. They can be used for maximum working loads of 300kg, 500kg and 1t.

“The installer’s risk assessment may also highlight the need for auxiliary backups,” said Sean Harris, Globestock’s marketing coordinator. “In this case, load arresters are usually the ideal solution. Interestingly, we’ve heard that Stage industry users deploy G.Guards as a means to reduce insurance premiums.” In order to specifically meet the needs of the stage industry, Globestock also provides G.Guards with black finishes to blend into the background and not distract the attention of the performance below.

He said that G.Guards is very suitable for temporary installation and permanent installation. Direct single shackle accessories allow them to be easily and quickly installed on a range of anchor types, and each unit is light enough to be carried by one person. The length of the cable can be extended up to 25m, but it does not need to be cut to length: when the cable is connected to the load, the retracting spring of the device will automatically tighten the slack.

Since 1992, GIS has been providing lifting equipment for the entertainment industry, but their first series specifically designed for this industry is the LCH series. However, this is largely based on their standard product line for industrial applications. In 2014, GIS began to launch their LP series electric chain hoist, which was their first development from scratch for the special requirements of the entertainment industry. LPM250, with a capacity of 400kg, was the first to be released; since then, GIS has expanded its scope through larger capacity models. The LP1000, the two fall models with a maximum load capacity of 2.5 tons, is their latest product, released in 2018. LTM, which was acquired by GIS last year, is distributed in the UK; LTM describes it as providing customers with cost-effective hoists with maximum capacity and filling the gap in the market for small and compact hoists with high lifting capacity.

"The square profile of the manganese phosphate chain is much lighter than the round chain and allows for increased capacity," said Alison Marshall, LTM's marketing coordinator. Under the same nominal rating as the round steel chain, the square cross-section provides about 15% of the capacity, which means that it now provides the standard D8+ requirement of an 8:1 safety factor. The larger cross-sectional area also reduces wear and extends the life of the chain. "The manganese phosphating process improves its corrosion resistance and dry running performance," she said. "The lighter chain also reduces the weight of the tour groups shipped around the world, thereby reducing costs and carbon footprint."

The final version and the highest capacity version of the LP series from GIS will compete next year. “GIS believes that it is very important to keep electric chain hoists as compact and light as possible,” said company spokesperson Lukas Bühlmann. "For example, the LPM250 has a maximum load capacity of 400 kg, but it weighs only 12 kg without a chain."

He said that this is especially appreciated by assemblers who use electric chain hoists for mobile stage structures. Usually the crane must be lifted by hand and placed in the working position. Many of these cranes are used in outdoor applications. “Here, it is very important to protect them from dust and spray water,” Bühlmann said. "All LP hoists meet the IP65 standard and have a cathodic dip coating that provides good mechanical wear protection and high UV resistance.

"For D8+ applications, the possible second brake is mandatory and can be easily added to an existing shaft without further modification. Since the housing extension is not required, the external dimensions of the hoist remain the same. Helps to achieve a compact design. The polygonal connection allows the LP series hoist to be quickly disassembled and reassembled. This saves time and cost, and service technicians and customers appreciate this."

He said that small adjustments can bring big improvements. "Recently, we have introduced a two-piece wear plate. Its great advantage is that there is no need to remove the chain when replacing the wear plate. This saves a lot of time for cranes with higher lifting heights.

"Several different options make it possible to customize the hoist completely according to the customer's requirements. If the customer's solution changes, in many cases the crane can be modified rather than replaced," he said.

As entertainment producers' ambitions and audience expectations grow, stage technology needs to keep up. This is a challenge that will keep manufacturers busy for some time to come. But, as they say, it is entertainment.

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