Whatever way the rest of the clamps on that pipe are...
- Consistant across the position
- Opening towards whatever side the focusing electrian is on when "typically" and most often focusing the units. This allows easier access to the clamp bolt in the event the unit needs to be moved on the pipe. This logic follows with box boom units and other positions - whatever allows easier access for the electician.
- Opening towards the deck on a flown pipe, if the unit is yoked out. This may require the clamp/unit be reversed if the clamp is facing the other way on the position.
... I say open end facing you when you hang it.
I like it open towards me when I hang it.
- Consistant across the position
- Opening towards whatever side the focusing electrian is on when "typically" and most often focusing the units. This allows easier access to the clamp bolt in the event the unit needs to be moved on the pipe. This logic follows with box boom units and other positions - whatever allows easier access for the electician.
- Opening towards the deck on a flown pipe, if the unit is yoked out. This may require the clamp/unit be reversed if the clamp is facing the other way on the position.
Yep. Always like the open side facing me when I hang 'em.
If you are standing on deck, where it's relatively easy to hang the unit, then you must take into account the person on the bucket, in the dark, focusing the unit. If you happen to be standing downstage of the electric while hanging and find it easier to hang the clamp with the bolt facing you, while the plot - and if done correctly, the hanging sheet/card indicates that the majority of the fixtures are focusing downstage, then you can should know that the Genie/JLG is most likely going to be upstage of the electric and that the electrician is going to have to reach around the unit - in the dark, and find the clamp bolt, so as to loosen it to move the unit a bit. That's a pain and is bad practice on the part of the electrician that hung the unit.
I have to agree with SteveB. This is a craft we practice and there is a right and a wrong way to do just about everything. When we hang a show, the first thing that I tell my crew is the orientation of the C-Clamps for every batten. Since we do a lot of our focus work using focus chairs, the c-clamps always open towards the nearest track. This means that if we have one track servicing the 1E and the 2E and the track is between them then the clamps on the 1E will open upstage and the clamps on the 2E will open downstage. Every clamp on the pipe will open the same direction. There are no two ways about it and I will make people re-hang units if hung incorrectly.
Why do I do this? For exactly the reasons that SteveB gave. When you are sitting in a harness in a focus chair, the goal is to be able to move as quickly (and safely) as possible. It is a very efficient means of focus when done right, but if my crew people sitting in the chars have to reach around the batten to loosen a c-clamp to shift a fixture it can be a huge PITA. It could mean that they bash other fixtures that have been focused, or it could put them in an unsafe position in the chair, putting them at risk of falling. This is of course besides the fact that when you have a batten packed with fixtures hanging on 18" centers and a bundle of cable tied across the batten it isn't always easy to reach around to the other side and manipulate the clamp.
For fixed positions c-clamps should open in the direction that is easiest for the technician, but whatever that orientation is should be maintained across the entire position. Consistency is very important as it makes working on a fixture easier down the road since you always know what to expect when you come up to a fixture. Also, consistency will speed up your strike as you can maintain a singe orientation between yourself and the lighting position as you walk down it removing fixtures.
On a related note, when hanging fixtures one should always make sure to leave focus slack. The only appropriate amount of focus slack is the length of the pig-tail of the fixture. This means that the connector of the fixture should always live tied off next to the c-clamp. However, you never tie the pigtail itself, you only tie the female end of the cable, pigtail, or twofer. This allows a technician you easily swap out a fixture if the need arises without having to hunt for the connector in a bundle of cable and without having to untie any cable ties.
Once you get in the groove of orienting your c-clamps, it doesn't take up any extra time and it does save you time down the road. Most of my crew has been working for me for multiple seasons, so when I give them a clamp orientation at the top of the call no one thinks twice about it, it just happens. Just because no one will see most of your lighting battens doesn't mean that you shouldn't hang them cleanly. Having a consistent c-clamp orientation is just as important as dressing your cables nicely. I would rather take the time to hang my shows in a nice, organized, uniform, and clean manner than come in for a focus call and have my crew fighting with the fixtures and the positions. I have plenty of time to hang a show, but I hate wasting an LDs time during focus trying to shuffle a fixture this way or that because the clamp was hard to reach or the cable was dressed poorly.
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