I may be wrong, but I assume Rochem is talking about long term tours or installs such as broadway tours. I've seen those use
paint pen on fixtures. I assume the shop is okay with it since it's usually 1+ year rentals which probably pay for the fixtures and some.
That's partially true, but not for the reasons you'd think. It's generally not worth the effort to put all that info on a
unit for a shorter run, but I've done it even for very complicated, short rentals (like fashion week stuff). Even for one-day corporate gigs or theaters just renting a few extra source fours, we always write
circuit information right on the
connector, and sometimes write position/
unit on the
fixture yoke, depending on the PE. Same with cable - you just label right on the
connector. Frankly, if a guy comes in and starts to label the rental gear with
gaff tape, we tend to assume he's new, and if I'm in charge, I'll probably chastise him for wasting time and
gaff tape. I've literally never even heard of a shop taking issue with writing on fixtures, and I'd probably try to stay away from that shop if any said something like that.
I'm curious - in other areas of the country, do you guys use
gaff tape to label your rental gear? Does that even include
fixture connectors and cable? I, too, am fascinated, as I always assumed that was pretty standard.
I figured that was the likely scenario, but isn't paperwork easier to update?
Don't even get me started. The labeling is fantastic for speeding up big loadins - you can hang and
circuit entire positions without needing any paperwork at all. But I could tell you a story about a light on a particular show that was prelabeled in the shop, but by focus, the
Channel, Position,
Circuit,
Dimmer, Color,
Gobo, and Wattage had all been changed. What a mess that was.