So, I'm taking a bit of leap into this lighting thing...advice?

[StandbyWine]

So, I've been reading posts on this site for a while now, but I just registered for an account tonight. I guess that makes me new here. So, hello!

To preface this, I am a stage manager. I started stage managing as a sophomore in high school, and here I am five and a half years later with my label maker, color coded tabs, and an IV of black coffee. It's pretty much my life. I average about 6-8 shows a year right now as either an ASM or SM, so I've never had much time to explore other areas. Sad, I know.

Well, I've decided to take a break and finally nose dive into lighting. I bleeping love lighting, but I know next to nothing about it. I'm in a basic lighting class right now, and I can kind of tell you what some instruments do, what gels don't look like vomit, and I just completed my first hand drawn plot (holy mother of god...), but I need more. I did some talking around with some professors, and I am not enrolled in our movers class in the fall since it is the only time it will be offered before I graduate. I am TERRIFIED because I am two years behind everyone in my class. I am the only one that isn't nearly fluent in programmer language, so I'm feeling just a little overwhelmed. But I want this. I want to learn. I want to excel. We'll be mainly working with an E3, EOS, and GrandMA 2. So, I'm here asking you for advice. What would you tell some kid that's new to this? What should I do over the summer to prep myself so I'm not so behind?

 

[Les]

My advice is going to be two-part since I am having difficulty in understanding exactly what it is you're stressing over. On first read, I assumed you were afraid of not learning 'everything' (which is unachievable by anyone, regardless of training) in school and how to cope that in the field, so I wrote a good deal about why that should not be a concern. Then, after re-reading, it sounds more like you just don't want to be behind in the class, which is what the first part of my post is about.

For school advice:

If your biggest worry is just being behind in class, well, stop that. You're there to learn and the fact is, you have less training than the others. I (and others) will still attempt to help you with this, but you will probably still have some catching up to do, as one would expect by skipping straight from pre-algebra to algebra II for example. The plunge can be minimized, but probably not avoided entirely.

Now, define your long-term goals. Why do you want to do this? Is it a possible career path, or are you the type of person who wants to be the best at everything (I say that lovingly, by the way). If it's the former, read on. If it's the latter, slow down, stop expecting so much of yourself, and stop being so hard on yourself! After that, read on. . If you just want to learn it just for the sake of it, don't worry so much about the intricacies. Especially if you will spend most of your time SM'ing. You will find that programming knowledge becomes obsolete and while learning it perfectly in school is great, technology marches on and you will "lose touch" unless you actively participate in that field.

Hopefully others can chime in regarding other ways to get a good head start on the more involved side of things. Maybe you can download some user manuals or offline editors and experiment with those. I will say that these things are generally about as complicated as learning a musical instrument in that it can take some time and can't be expected to occur over night. A lot of it just comes from finding yourself in different situations and working through them. That said, surely we can help you nail down some of the basics so that you can at least 'speak the language'.

Now, for the long-term stuff:

Career-wise, my advice would be to stop worrying so much about being behind. It does sound a bit like you're running before walking by expecting yourself to be fluent in E3, EOS and GrandMA 2 before getting good at identifying theatrical instruments and gels. I understand that this is the only chance you will get in school, but you will get plenty more chances out in the "real world". Being well-versed in those areas may well help in getting a certain gig, but what if the show you want runs JANDS or Hog?

Learn as much as you can about the theory and equipment, and not get so bogged down with the technicalities. Do your best for the sake of your school work, but also realize that getting hired on as a programmer right out of school is unlikely. You will probably start on an electrics crew and move up from there, which will give you plenty of time to identify what you need to know - and to learn it. People typically "step" in to these positions rather than "fall" in to them butt first. Also, if your main goal is to be a designer, even more the reason to focus more on the art and not the programming side of it as there are certain people who will specialize solely in that. Again, learn it all you can while you can, but don't think that being a good button pusher will make you a good designer or vise-versa.

So, I guess it comes down to what you want your focus to be on. The three major areas are Electrics, Design, and Programming. You don't have to do all perfectly (few people can), but it is a good idea to do one very well and focus on that. Once you get good at your primary focus, go learn the next thing. When dealing with such a broad focus, one tends to overlook the details of each subcategory. Lighting is one of those things that needs to be absorbed slowly over the course of working on several shows, and in different capacities, with the lighting crew. Class work is really only a small fraction of it.

While there are those who have progressed further than you, and maybe even further than you will during your college career, know that in the end you will both have similar odds at getting hired somewhere since you will probably come out with comparable degrees. Then there are those who are very successful without any formal lighting education. Keep in mind that you have plenty of time to learn these things, and no one expects you to know it all right out of the gate.

If you want to prep over the summer, go work with some community theatres or similar to get the basics down. You will surely be up to speed on the fundamentals once you get a lineup of summer musicals under your belt. Otherwise, just have fun with it.

Welcome to the booth!

 

[bishopthomas]

As far as everyone already knowing how to program... I understand how that is. I went to school for computer science and my classes were made up of your typical computer geek that lives in mom's basement and plays games and writes code until the sun comes up. So they already knew C+, Java, etc and there I was struggling to build simple tasks. How it goes for you really depends on the teacher. Hopefully your professor will teach the basic course in its basics. I had professors that taught to the level of the guys who knew it already and in turn I didn't do too hot. Either way, I'm sure you'll get a lot of the class. And it should be quite a bit more fun than computer science.

 

[derekleffew]

... What should I do over the summer to prep myself so I'm not so behind?

Reading, and comprehending, the following books should put you level, if not ahead, of the rest of the class.

Amazon.com: The Automated Lighting Programmer's Handbook (9780240815534): Brad Schiller: Books

More at Theatre Books - ControlBooth If budget-challenged, look to your local library, or to used or older editions.

EDIT to add: I'd worry less about the actual programming of one console or how a particular moving light works, and more about the theories and practices of design. Consoles become obsolete in a few years, moving lights sometimes less. But many are still using the McCandless Method of Lighting the Stage some eighty years after its publication. There will (most-likely) eventually be a gMA3, but the five Purposes an four Controllable Properties of Stage Lighting shall live on forever. Nothing worse than a lighting programmer who knows what every button on a console does, but can't use CMY mixing to create Bastard Amber to save his life. I know; I've met him (several hims, as a matter of fact).
.

 

[StNic54]

Good thing for you is that largely a lot of the moving light consoles have software that you can download for free and try out. GrandMA2 has the OnPC software, paired with the MA3d that is a visualizer for the MA, you can setup lights and control them, and see what they do as you run them.

Otherwise, check out any of those textbooks, download the LX Handbook app so you can have a handy reference, and read up on this forum. We're all information-sharing nerds here.

 

[gafftaper]

I agree with much that's been said above. To summarize don't worry so about learning to program, these things change constantly. Focus on reading about the big ideas behind why you design and how you program. I would definitely read the three books Derek listed above and read them in that order.

If you can find a summer stock theater production to work on and help with the lighting crew that would be great too.

After you've done those things, spend some time messing around with the offline editors and reading the manuals for EOS and GrandMA. They will help you, but they really aren't as important as having a full grasp on the concepts behind the programing. Remember you are taking the class to learn how to do the programming, you aren't expected to learn how before you get there.

 

[ship]

Thanks Les in possibly the most elequent and best written "oh' my God" response I have ever read and certainly puts me to shame in my past responses - love the also read on cautions. Agreed with all especially with choosing a focus but some sub-notes.

Have a minor in as above a sub-catagory or different field of study in theater or even something else completely - all will be useful. As per Bishop and myself, you might find a large average of people that studied as a primary one field, and years later gained a profession thru another one than what was the primary focus.