Cue Documentation

[jmac]

In past small productions using a small Leprecon board as a memory console, I kept track of channel settings for each "preset" using a one-page spread sheet. I found this useful for quickly comparing settings among channels and different scenes, for making notes for settings that needed to be revised, and figured it might be good to have as a backup in case something crashed..

This seemed to work when the show had 24 channels and 24 presets. Last show was a bit bigger with maybe 60 channels and 36 presets, and I found it wouldn't all legibly fit on one page, even at 11 x 17, and I didn't have time to keep it up to date, so I ended up more or less winging it. The spread sheet seems unworkable at this point.

I now have graduated to my new Strand Classic Palette, and for next show will have about 50 channels (conventionals, strobe, two I-Cues and a few scrollers), and maybe 150 cues, which is alot for what I'm used to, but is now much easier with the new board.

So my question is- how do you (who likely work on much bigger rigs/shows) document channel settings for each cue? I guess with the new board, most everything that was on my spread sheet is now available on the monitor, just not all at the same time (remember, I had no monitor before..).

So do I still need written documentation, which seemed necessary before; if so, what? Or do I transition to just using the console and monitor?

What do you do??

 

[soundman]

Console and the monitor. If you want you can print out a hard copy every night but that seems like a lot of paper to deal with. Let the board keep track of what the channels are doing and keep your focus on the stage and the bigger picture.

 

[icewolf08]

There should be a spreadsheet view that you can pull up in the console. On the 500 and 300 it was called Xref, I don't know if they have changed it in the new software. Gafftaper would know. You can also print the cues out if you want to be able to see it all on one page.

 

[SteveB]

I cannot remember the last time someone asked me for a print-out and now-a-days I refuse. Given that most shows I do are on some form of memory console, usually with some form of off-line editor available, it's so simple to save the show file to a separate PC, that as far as I'm concerned, they can buy they're own paper and print the show at home.

I occasionally will get an e-mailed text file of cues and channel levels, almost always generated by some format of Express or Expression, that I request the .shw file and will generally not punch in levels a head of time from cue sheets.

Cranky is me

Steve B.