The 3 key descriptors for a
manual counterweight system are high
trim, travel, and weight capacity. I measure high
trim from the
stage floor to the center of the
batten (aka: pipe,
barrel, bar, light bar, and I'm sure other names) when it is as high as it can go. Put a tape on one and pull it all the way out and measure to floor. An inch or two is rarely relevant. Bring it all the way in and measure from floor, subtract, and that's travel. If you want to know capacity, there should be signage but if not, you can measure
arbor (the carriage or frame that holds the counterweights) top of bottom plate to bottom of top plate and width of
counterweight and I can probably tell you capacity.
Now, forgive me of this is too elementary, but
valance (not valence),
teaser,
border - all used interchangeably often. If you don't have any - the presumption is you do - its the usually fabric piece hung over head and the bottom hem is anywhere from 8' to 30' above the
stage floor, and it hides things behind it like lights from the audience view.
So, your options are to hang
drop on a
track and pull to side, use a shorter
drop or the lower portion of it and hide the top with a
border, use two linesets (two battens) and lift the bottom of the
drop along with top to same height, and a few other techniques that basically store a
drop overhead in less height than the
drop is tall.
Does that help?
For
safety and usually best "
stage picture" I'm guessing it would be hard to
beat a
track on a
batten and use it for two drops (or more if long enough) with one (or more) stored each end. Not as elegant as flying but it allows a taller
image which usually is a better proportion than a letter box view of the
drop.
