Hanging lights?

[JD]

This thread makes me ponder how long active focus work will really be needed. I would guess that in the not too distant future we are going to reach a point where all aiming is done from the board. I used to enjoy aiming when I was young. I guess I still had a kid in me that enjoyed climbing the monkey bars! Somewhere around the age 50, the desire to climb high left me. Maybe it's my lower center of gravity

 

[gafftaper]

This thread makes me ponder how long active focus work will really be needed. I would guess that in the not too distant future we are going to reach a point where all aiming is done from the board. I used to enjoy aiming when I was young. I guess I still had a kid in me that enjoyed climbing the monkey bars! Somewhere around the age 50, the desire to climb high left me. Maybe it's my lower center of gravity

Imagine... not a dimmer per circuit system... but an instrument per circuit system... they are all ellipsoidals but can drop a fresnel-like diffusion lens in front of it at the push of a button... they all can move... all color mixing LED's of course... oh and I want zoom and shutters too... Yeah you're right the technology is already pretty much there it's just not affordable yet. Give it time.

 

[Charc]

Imagine... not a dimmer per circuit system... but an instrument per circuit system... they are all ellipsoidals but can drop a fresnel-like diffusion lens in front of it at the push of a button... they all can move... all color mixing LED's of course... oh and I want zoom and shutters too... Yeah you're right the technology is already pretty much there it's just not affordable yet. Give it time.

I think Gaff's day-dream might be drug (read: nyquil? 10% alcohol!) induced.

(Though I can see it happening in my lifetime.)

 

[SAWYeR]

If the other LDs are not going to focus then how are the lights getting focused? Also, if you have some secret about how things get focused without a designer, don't tell anyone because once potential employers hear that you don't need to be there for focus, they won't pay you for it.

They get focussed by one master electrician and two assistants, because I work in a Highschool, and the TD wants people to have jobs. In the past, the plot would get handed off, the ME would find the ares, and the AEs would do the focussing.

 

[SAWYeR]

ewww. never heard that one before. I have seen some gross things come off a truss, a dead bird for instance, but um... ewww.

Speaking of gross things...We rented some hazers for a dance show. Open the roadcase, pull out the hazer and WHOA! Birds head, right there. Pretty nasty. The dancers ran far, far away fro that one...

 

[Eboy87]

Speaking of gross things...We rented some hazers for a dance show. Open the roadcase, pull out the hazer and WHOA! Birds head, right there. Pretty nasty. The dancers ran far, far away fro that one...

My dog dropped a bunny's head in the family room once. [/hijack]

 

[icewolf08]

This thread makes me ponder how long active focus work will really be needed. I would guess that in the not too distant future we are going to reach a point where all aiming is done from the board. I used to enjoy aiming when I was young. I guess I still had a kid in me that enjoyed climbing the monkey bars! Somewhere around the age 50, the desire to climb high left me. Maybe it's my lower center of gravity

I don't think this is going to happen any time soon. It is amazingly cost prohibitive, and the technology isn't going to be there for a while. Until fixtures can hang them selves I wouldn't bet on this scenario. It is probably going to be a good long while before the death of conventional fixtures.

They get focussed by one master electrician and two assistants, because I work in a Highschool, and the TD wants people to have jobs. In the past, the plot would get handed off, the ME would find the ares, and the AEs would do the focussing.

Now, please explain to me how this works? How does your ME and Electricians know how you, the designer, want the lights focused if you are not there? The ME and electricians have jobs at focus. The ME should run focus, keep the crew moving, turn the lights on and off, and keep track of what has been done and what needs to be done. The Electricians should be the ones at the instruments focusing. The LD should be telling them where to focus the lights. If your TD thinks that the LD has no place being at focus then he may want a reality check. Most every where else the LD get paid to be at focus because the electricians can't do it without them.

I am an ME by profession. An LD can hand me a plot and paperwork, but even if I know where the areas are, I can't focus for the LD. How do I know what cuts they want or what direction the bottle should be in a PAR Can? How do I now if it is sharp or soft focus? Sure, I can assume some basic ideas, and rough things in, but the designer is the one with the vision, and most of the time that can't be fully expressed on paper.

 

[JD]

I don't think this is going to happen any time soon. It is amazingly cost prohibitive, and the technology isn't going to be there for a while.

I bought my first computer for $2,850. I paid $950 for my first CD player. A month ago, I bought a computer that was 100,000 times as powerful (true) for $399. Things change. Sometimes they change faster then we would think. In the end, hardware investments almost always end up cheaper than labor investments. Its a brave new world! Now I'm just waiting to see if someone can build one that will fly up there and hang itself

 

[Grog12]

Now, please explain to me how this works? How does your ME and Electricians know how you, the designer, want the lights focused if you are not there? The ME and electricians have jobs at focus. The ME should run focus, keep the crew moving, turn the lights on and off, and keep track of what has been done and what needs to be done. The Electricians should be the ones at the instruments focusing. The LD should be telling them where to focus the lights. If your TD thinks that the LD has no place being at focus then he may want a reality check. Most every where else the LD get paid to be at focus because the electricians can't do it without them.
I am an ME by profession. An LD can hand me a plot and paperwork, but even if I know where the areas are, I can't focus for the LD. How do I know what cuts they want or what direction the bottle should be in a PAR Can? How do I now if it is sharp or soft focus? Sure, I can assume some basic ideas, and rough things in, but the designer is the one with the vision, and most of the time that can't be fully expressed on paper.

Very simple. They're called focus charts.

Yes an LD or ALD should be there to focus. But it can be done without them.

 

[icewolf08]

Sure, focus charts are great, but when you work with designers who have only worked off the model and not been in the space to see how much the sets have changed from what is on paper, you might find focus charts not as helpful as you might like. Most of the time we are making focus charts as we focus so that after the designer leaves we can maintain the plot for the run of the show.

 

[Grog12]

Too true ice. I'm just giving you an answer as to how it can be done without them. Never said that was the way it should be done. Just that it could be done.

 

[SAWYeR]

I never said I leave once the plot is handed off, I stick around because I show the ME where things need to go. I train every ME that works with me on how to be an LD so that there will be more than one person to take my place once I leave for college. Like I said though, I am very hands on, and do a lot of the physical focussing myself.

 

[SAWYeR]

Most of the time we are making focus charts as we focus so that after the designer leaves we can maintain the plot for the run of the show.

Oh, I also am sometimes my own ME, so don't have to worry about handing the plot off, or having someone program the cues or patch the lights into our board incorrectly.

 

[SAWYeR]

Now, please explain to me how this works? How does your ME and Electricians know how you, the designer, want the lights focused if you are not there? The ME and electricians have jobs at focus. The ME should run focus, keep the crew moving, turn the lights on and off, and keep track of what has been done and what needs to be done. The Electricians should be the ones at the instruments focusing. The LD should be telling them where to focus the lights. If your TD thinks that the LD has no place being at focus then he may want a reality check. Most every where else the LD get paid to be at focus because the electricians can't do it without them.
I am an ME by profession. An LD can hand me a plot and paperwork, but even if I know where the areas are, I can't focus for the LD. How do I know what cuts they want or what direction the bottle should be in a PAR Can? How do I now if it is sharp or soft focus? Sure, I can assume some basic ideas, and rough things in, but the designer is the one with the vision, and most of the time that can't be fully expressed on paper.

Good point. I apologize for seeming slightly...st00pid. I don't always express myself best with words.

 

[CPCTtechie]

For the community theatre group that I'm a part of, it's been 1 to 2 people doing the lighting for our shows. I'm all for 2 people. Especially when you are on a roundtable that has some flats or more tables stacked on it so that you can get to the top of the lighting tree without killing yourself in the process. Roostering I like having another person there with me so that for starters the fixture won't fall, and secondly, it goes a lot smoother hanging as opposed to hanging a heavy light yourself hoping that you don't drop it or the wrench or bump another light out of wack. On the older lighting trees which have the tendency to tip while hanging, two or more are helpful as you can have someone being used as a weight and balancer until there an equal number of lights are on both sides of the t-bar.