road case solutions without breaking the bank

[ecin]

with the abundance of gear involved in some VJ setups i was curious to find out what people are using for road cases. seems as though half the stuff we use doesn't have specific cases made for it and is so many different sizes. i've got some ideas and wanted to see what other people were doing.

i'm thinking of retrofitting one of these cases (http://www.intekinc.com/inteclink/products/prod_results.asp?mnuPlatform=xbox&mnuCategory=Miscellaneous&submit22.x=21&submit22.y=10#8260) with the required padding to fit a V-4 and a shuttle. i'm also thinking of getting another to put a 15" LCD in. i don't know what the exact size is but i remember seeing one somewhere and thought that the two would fit. anyone got any other ideas for an LCD monitor?

i checked prices on road cases around the net through all the top companies and they're somewhat expensive. i'm not putting any of my equipment on a plane, (yet) so i figure cheap cases being transported in my car will do the job.

so whos got the DIY answer to all this gear?

[invertedf]

If you are in uk try spider engineering in Tamworth,

http://www.spider-engineering.co.uk/

They can custom make stuff for you.

Or have a huge ever changing stock of used cases

or failing that you could buy the ally extrusion from
Adam hall or penn fabrications + buld your own

or even cheaper try Tesco Banana Box's for the best in security
for high end AV gear !
<g>

[NickT]

Here's my case - 85 litre, contains mixer, video, 9ftx12ft screen/cloth, videotapes, clamps, cables, assorted other crap. ?50 new. There's a hard case option for another ?10 but I didn't want it. If you're not using video you could fit your laptop in instead. Picked it up from my local outdoor/camping store, just needed some foam packing(?2 from the market). Easypeasy.

[syzygy]

We got some second hand flightcases which, with a bit of modification, work just fine for our kit.

We cased up our MX1 with a 5" black and white monitor so that we always have a preview screen dedicated to it. Our AVE5 went into a case on its own.

We cased one of our laptops up with a set of midi sliders, the midi interface and its scan converter, so that it is a fully self contained box.

Flightcasing does make everything a lot easier - we can just turn up, make the connections between the flightcases and plug the power in and we're ready to go.

Dan.

[unjulation]

personaly after years of shleping stuf about in make-shift cary cases etc i've now sold on the wonders of army serpless, check out my last thred on the subject

http://www.vjforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2327

they have some lovely sprung rack mount flight cases from the usa army, in fact ex gulf war stuf, and who said the army are no good anything lol

so i'm sure you could get them in the u.s. very cheep

[ecin]

heres some flix of what i ended up doing with some of my gear

i bought this plastic case from a company called "The Plastic Forming Co. Inc." in Woodbridge, CT. - http://www.pfccases.com/ - Its one of their stock sizes they sell for about $45. i use it to transport my shuttle PC, 15" LCD, keyboard, mouse and all assocaiated cables. i bought the foam from a local fabric store and glued it where i needed it. has a place in the handle for a pad-lock. i wouldn't use it as a flight case but its great for driving gigs.
http://www.merj.com/misc/shuttleBox.jpg

heres a case i bought from home depot for $15 that i now use to carry my V-4, cables & misc small stuff. it originally had cheap 1/4' foam lining but i pulled that out and put in 1/2" padding. it has a cheap luggage type lock.
http://www.merj.com/misc/v4case.jpg