What Crew Training Costs and What Moves the Price
A plain look at how half-day and full-day studio training sessions are priced, which choices raise or lower the cost, and what to settle before you ask for a quotation.
Why the price is not one number
When people ask what a training session costs, they usually expect a single figure. In practice the cost of studio training depends on a handful of choices, and each of them is easy to explain. As the person who writes our lighting guides and often joins the sessions that cover stage lighting, I see the same questions come up when a production manager is planning a budget for new and junior crew.
Our Team Training Sessions come in two lengths, half a day and a full day. Both cover studio fundamentals for people who are new to the gallery or the floor. The length is the first thing that sets the price, but it is rarely the only one. This article sets out what else counts, so you can arrive at an enquiry with the right information.
The prices page lists the current figures in pounds sterling. Here I want to explain the reasoning behind them, so that a quotation reads as sensible rather than arbitrary.
Half a day or a full day
A half-day session suits a single subject taken properly: the studio floor and its safety habits, or the basics of how a camera chain, a mixer and a talkback system fit together. A full day gives room to move from one area to the next and to let trainees repeat each exercise until it feels routine.
Cost rises with length, but not in a straight line. A full day usually works out cheaper per hour than a half day, because travel and set-up are paid for once. If your crew has only a morning to spare, a half day is the honest choice. If you are bringing in several new starters, the longer format tends to be better value and leaves them with firmer habits.
Do not pick the full day only to save on the hourly figure. A packed agenda with tired trainees teaches less than a focused morning.
- Half day: one subject covered in depth
- Full day: several areas, with repeat practice
- Longer sessions cost less per hour, not less overall
Where the session takes place
Location is the second large factor. Training at your own studio means trainees learn on the equipment they will actually use, with the real cable runs, the real desk layout and the real quirks of the room. It also means we travel to you, and travel time and any overnight stay are added to the quotation.
If you have no studio free, or the room is in daily use, a venue we arrange can work, though it will not show your own signal paths. Lincoln-based crews can often reach us at no travel cost, which keeps the figure lower.
Be clear about which room you mean when you write. A session in a working gallery during a quiet week is simple to plan. A session squeezed around a live schedule needs more preparation and sometimes a split day, and that affects the price.
Group size and who is in the room
The number of trainees changes the price less than most people expect, because the trainer's time is the main cost whether there are four people or eight. What changes is how much each person gets to do. With a small group, everyone takes a turn on the camera, the mixer and the talkback. With a larger one, turns shorten, and we may suggest a second half day instead.
The mix of experience matters too. A room of complete beginners needs a slower start than a room where half the people have worked on a few shows. Telling us this in advance lets us plan the day properly and avoid padding.
We would rather advise a smaller group than run a crowded session that leaves people watching rather than doing. That advice is part of the quotation conversation and carries no extra charge.
- Small groups: more hands-on time each
- Larger groups: shorter turns, or a second session
- Mixed experience: tell us so the day is pitched right
Content, preparation and materials
Standard content covers studio fundamentals. If you want it shaped around your own shows, for example your running order, your lighting states or your talkback conventions, we need to read your documents beforehand. That preparation time is real work and is reflected in the quotation, though it is modest compared with writing a course from nothing.
Written materials are another choice. Some teams want only the session. Others want a short handout or checklist their crew can keep, which Tom Eastwood prepares from the day's content. Asking for these when you first enquire is simpler than adding them later.
What is included in a quotation is stated in writing, so you can see what you are paying for before you confirm: the length, the place, the subject areas, any preparation and any printed or digital notes.
How ordering and payment work
Nothing is bought on the site itself. You send an enquiry through the contact page, tell us the subject, the numbers and the place, and we reply with a written quotation. Once you confirm it in writing we issue an invoice, which you pay by bank transfer.
Cancellations and refunds follow the payment and refund policy, which is worth reading before you confirm a date. It explains what happens if a session has to move, so there are no surprises on either side.
Because the quotation is written, you can pass it to whoever approves the budget. It names the session, the price and what that price covers, in plain terms a finance colleague can follow without a technical background.
- Enquiry through the contact page
- Written quotation, then your written confirmation
- Invoice paid by bank transfer
The price of a training session comes down to length, location, group size, how much we tailor and what you want to keep afterwards. None of these is hidden, and each can be adjusted to fit a budget. If you know roughly which of them applies to you, a quotation is quick to write and easy to compare. Send your details through the contact page and we will answer in plain figures.
Get in touch
- Phone
- 01522 390417
- [email protected]