I'll agree, you can take all the classes you want, read all the books you want, but nothing can replace actual experience at height pulling and making points and fixing mistakes.
Also looking at the video, it is going to be more common for the
high rigger to have the rope himself, tie the
bowline in, step it over the beam and
drop the
point himself. but that is the nature of rigging, no two buildings are the same and there have been many times in which i have used a
catwalk guy to help lower a
point. The only constant in rigging is gravity.
I agree with, cmckeeman, Most rigging that is done in arenas by the high riggers are pulled by them alone on the beam without being assisted by another rigger. But there are those facilities that the rigger that is on the bean are assisted by one to three other
catwalk riggers pulling up the points so the beam rigger can attach the cable to the beam.
I just go through doing a rigger
call at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. for the Trans Siberian
Orchestra that had 115 points and most of them were bridles and a lot of 2 ton hoists.
In that building the steel structure is 90 ft. to pull the points up to so that local IA union normal way of rigging is have a person on the
catwalk pull the points up to his partner that is on the beam.
If cmckeeman is old enough he would remember the McNickles
arena in Denver which all the points had to be rigger from bucket truck,
Condor, JLG type lifts because all the I-Beams to rig from were flush to the ceiling so all the points were rigged using their beam clamps. I have rigged in that
arena many many times when I was on concert tours with my company Rigstar Rigging. I use to go in there every year when I was with Ice Capades as well.
When the building steel structure is not too high it is normal for the rigger on the beam to pull up and lower the rigging points themselves. It really depend on the strength of the
high rigger. Strength conditioning to be a
high rigger to pull up the points yourself is very important. I'm in the gym 5 to 6 days per week for 2 hours and most of that time is free weight training, abs and pull
ups. I have trained many people from around the world to prepare for
arena and theater rigging year round. 7 days of learning all aspects of rigging hands on our steel structure for open steel rigging as well as on a theatrical
grid we installed in our facility. Reading books is a very good start, but thats all that is, is a start.
You have to have the personal hands on training and experience to become competent to perform rigging on the
ground as well as on the steel structure. The round rigger to me is as important as the
high rigger because if the
ground rigger screws up making up the rigging points with the cables and
shackle and
deck chain, then the
high rigger is going to be pissed, because the
high rigger will have to change it up in the air to make it right or
send it back down to the
ground rigger to be fixed and then pull the
point up a second time. Where ever you go to get professional training for live entertainment rigging make sure it's a
hand on course with a lot of hours so you have the time to practice there what you are learning.
Most high riggers in the building do not know how to calculate the bridles for a show that goes in their building, it is normally the head rigger from the show that will calculate that out or the head rigger of the
stagehand local will assist in calculating the
bridle lengths with the show rigger.
The head rigger of the building should know the ins and outs of the steel structure and calculating bridles for the show rigger. A lot of the times the head show rigger will let the building head rigger calculates most of the
bridle because he feels that the building rigger knows his building better than he does. For the most part, LOL...
We offer a 7 day hands on certification rigging course that is 12 hour days and usually more that 82 hours logged in for training for the 7 days. You are on a steel structure rigging on I-Beams as well as H-Beams and double
angle iron trusses and hanging underneath the steel structure as well to pull up points. We had at least a 50 weight on the apex of the
bridle to pull up so it simulates pulling up at least 50 ft of chain of a 1 Ton
hoist. We add 100 lbs of a 2 Ton simulation.
There are many techniques that have to be learned to be competent in rigging on the high steel....... You can learn more about the course at:
www.rigstar.com
and see a lot of pictures of the rigging facility and students, male & female performing...... There is no other place in the world that is dedicated and set up to conduct a complete hands on and class room training course.
What a student learns here in 7 days could take them years to get a chance to learn and have the hands on experience of rigging on a steel structure. The problem of trying to learn rigging on your own is to find someone with years of experience to take you under his or her wings and even then they only have so much time to give to you at any given time and thats why it may take a person quite a long time to be proficient and not dangerous to rig on the high steel alone.
The course outline for the "Complete Rigger" course:
http://www.rigstar.com/schooloutline.html
The course outline for the "Right To the
Point" course:
http://www.rigstar.com/righttothepoint.html
Certification details:
http://www.rigstar.com/Certification.html
Application form:
http://www.rigstar.com/trainapp.html
You can see a video trailer:
http://rigstar.com/RigstarVideoTrailer.html
The bottom
line to have Certification first or professional hands on and class training? I would take the professional hands on training any day to start.
Is Certification important you might ask. Whether it be a Rigstar Certification or a
ETCP Certification it doesn't really matter. Certification is not going to get you more pay above someone else that has a lot of years experience rigging in a
stagehand local or is well known for rigging. I know, I belong to Local 53
IATSE in Springfield, MA.
I can tell you that most riggers that are
road riggers on major tours do not have any rigging certification and don't even care to. They are known for their years of proficient rigging experience that gets them the work.
The important part for Certification for those that are beginning and have a few years under their belt, it gives them proof to a company that you have knowledge in rigging and you are not just anybody. Instead of you saying you have knowledge in rigging, the certifications lends proof of your words because you have been tested on your abilities for rigging.
