Recent content by click

Project is an existing high school auditorium. Their back wall is cinder block. The stage is very shallow (adding rigging for a fabric cyc would kill precious inches), so I am suggesting they convert that wall into a permanent hard cyc, which can be painted (and re-painted) as they want—either a...

I’m hoping to learn if there are any rules-of-thumb regarding a permanently-installed breaker panel and the quantity and capacity of the breakers located within it. The space in question is a soundstage for single-camera film/video shoots (within a commercial office building), which under normal...

I’m designing the lighting for a tour of a one-man show. To explain it bluntly would be to call it a glorified Powerpoint presentation—elements include a rear projection screen, a lectern and a table with some props, all set against black. The show is going to travel with a laptop running QLab...

I'm designing a pipe grid layout for a basement space below an existing theatre. The coffered concrete ceiling is between 7'-6" to 9'-0" clear to the floor. The grid will be installed professionally by a theatrical rigging company.There's no question that I am asking for a 1.5" ID Schedule 40...

Thanks, this makes sense. The upstream breaker panel is in the basement, certainly accessible but not convenient to the stage. Given that one cannot have two overcurrent protective devices of the same rating in series, how could one put fuses at the connection point?

I am attempting to explain to a licensed electrician why an onstage switch would need to be fused.In our example, there is a 100A 3-phase (4 wire + ground) feed to the stage, which is directly wired from a 100A 3-pole breaker in a separate panel. That panel is in another room.The box they...

This was the white-colored version of Blacktak made by City Theatrical--a high heat aluminum adhesive tape. We would use a Sharpie to write the channel number on the tape and attach it to the body of the fixture. The tape had a very good matte surface which was ideal for writing with a marker.

Whitetak is apparently no longer available. Can anyone suggest a replacement product? We use this for labeling fixtures. Many thanks.

I'm working with an ETC Express 250 console which recently developed a problem formatting or recording floppy disks. Either operation yields a "Bad Disk" error.The floppies are DS/HD and have worked in this console in the past without issue.I'm about to try cleaning the drive with...

I appreciate all the replies. Does anyone else have photos of a cable chase to post? Any other advice about firestopping pillows and related topics?Thanks.

Might you be able to upload a photo of these pipes? This will help in explaining the concept to the contractor. Many thanks.

Can you let me know where you found this information? Is this the NEC? This is quite useful, and I'd like to read more. Thanks.

I’m designing a production taking place in a church basement gymnasium. This will be the first theatrical production to happen in the space.There is ample power available, although the existing switches are in an electrical room which is not near the performance area. The existing...