Design Your philosophy on assigning channel numbers
- Thread starterJChenault
- Start date
Almost every show I pull out of our rep plot here, and it goes as follows:
I started channels DSL for the other operators( I think different) and I just got used to it. I am a button pusher(big group guy), the others are fader programmers
g1 ch1-3 pit
g2 ch4-6 ds 7-9 us foh pink
g3 ch10-12 ds 13-15 us foh blue
g4 same as above reds
g6-8 box booms (l&r together to save channels)
g10 - 13 1e fronts 4 colors 3ch each(lcr)
g 14 ch 37-38 2e backs pink (l&r)
g 15 ch 39-40 3e backs pink (l&r)
g 16 -21 same as g14-15 3 colors
g 25-27 ch64-72 1,2,3 torms 3 colors
g 30-35 ch 73-84 1,2,3 pe 2 colors (l,r)
g40-43 ch 85-92 cyc 4 colors (l,r)
g50 -53 ch 93-100 GR 4 colors (lr)
foh 4 spec + 2 I-Cues
1st e 6 spec + 2 I-Cues
2nd e 3 spec
3rd e 3 spec
all specials own ch#
house ch 144
thats most of it
Sean...
sorry for the run on...
I started channels DSL for the other operators( I think different) and I just got used to it. I am a button pusher(big group guy), the others are fader programmers
g1 ch1-3 pit
g2 ch4-6 ds 7-9 us foh pink
g3 ch10-12 ds 13-15 us foh blue
g4 same as above reds
g6-8 box booms (l&r together to save channels)
g10 - 13 1e fronts 4 colors 3ch each(lcr)
g 14 ch 37-38 2e backs pink (l&r)
g 15 ch 39-40 3e backs pink (l&r)
g 16 -21 same as g14-15 3 colors
g 25-27 ch64-72 1,2,3 torms 3 colors
g 30-35 ch 73-84 1,2,3 pe 2 colors (l,r)
g40-43 ch 85-92 cyc 4 colors (l,r)
g50 -53 ch 93-100 GR 4 colors (lr)
foh 4 spec + 2 I-Cues
1st e 6 spec + 2 I-Cues
2nd e 3 spec
3rd e 3 spec
all specials own ch#
house ch 144
thats most of it
Sean...
sorry for the run on...
If I have enough channels I like to group things together and skip by the tens place for the next color, such as...
For a very large Musical I did earlier this year...
FOH Warm 1-16
FOH Cool 21-36
FOH Fill Warm 41-44
FOH Fill Cool 51-54
Down Warm 70-84
Down Cool 90-104
Down Mag 110-124
High Side Color w/ Break up Warm 130-137
Cool. 140-147
Mag. 150-157
CYC
R- 165
G- 166
B- 167
Full cyc break up A 182-183
Full cyc break up B 184-185
On stage cyc streak 185-186
Off Stage cyc streaks 189-192
Scenery Illumination 170-171
Conductor SP - 200
The board had about 1,000 channels Available so I did not have to worry about my channel count at all which was nice. I also had a total of 16 automated fixtures that I used for specials when needed.
For a very large Musical I did earlier this year...
FOH Warm 1-16
FOH Cool 21-36
FOH Fill Warm 41-44
FOH Fill Cool 51-54
Down Warm 70-84
Down Cool 90-104
Down Mag 110-124
High Side Color w/ Break up Warm 130-137
Cool. 140-147
Mag. 150-157
CYC
R- 165
G- 166
B- 167
Full cyc break up A 182-183
Full cyc break up B 184-185
On stage cyc streak 185-186
Off Stage cyc streaks 189-192
Scenery Illumination 170-171
Conductor SP - 200
The board had about 1,000 channels Available so I did not have to worry about my channel count at all which was nice. I also had a total of 16 automated fixtures that I used for specials when needed.
Last edited:
CMikaelian
Member
I have been a board up and ME for many years. I have worked with more designers then I can count and the one thing you can be sure of is that there is no industry standard on how to patch. I have found that Dance shows tend to channel DSL-USR wheras Concerts and Plays seem to be more often DSR-USL. I believe this is based on the viewpoint of the "Designer". Dance is designed from the stage or from the Choreographers perspective and everything else is usually done from FOH or the LDs perspective.
This does not always hold true though and I have seen all manners of channeling including a patch where the channels on the screen resembled the plot and stage layout. This meant that the channels were in the same relative position on the screen as the actual lights were over the stage. This designer also seperated out different systems by page so that he could simply page through the systems to see what was up and where.
I have adapted alot of these concepts into how I design and I actually use DSR-USL for most things so that I can tell from the booth which light is SL or SR easily. I also tend to run my front light starting with Ch 1 and try and seperate my areas into 5s so I can keep my next system in the same group of numbers. ie 1-20,21-41 etc... When you get into booms I prefer to channel all the top units on one side of the stage before all the top units on the other side. It helps in bringing up channels 81-84 instead of 81 + 83 + 85 + 87 just to get one side of side light.
This does not always hold true though and I have seen all manners of channeling including a patch where the channels on the screen resembled the plot and stage layout. This meant that the channels were in the same relative position on the screen as the actual lights were over the stage. This designer also seperated out different systems by page so that he could simply page through the systems to see what was up and where.
I have adapted alot of these concepts into how I design and I actually use DSR-USL for most things so that I can tell from the booth which light is SL or SR easily. I also tend to run my front light starting with Ch 1 and try and seperate my areas into 5s so I can keep my next system in the same group of numbers. ie 1-20,21-41 etc... When you get into booms I prefer to channel all the top units on one side of the stage before all the top units on the other side. It helps in bringing up channels 81-84 instead of 81 + 83 + 85 + 87 just to get one side of side light.
What's great about this statement is that he proves his point about industry standards.
I channel from the viepoint of the house...(which I think I allerady mentioned in this thread) DSR to USL. Currently all I design is dance but I stick to this standard whether I'm doing dance/musical/drama/comedy/rock and roll/coparate...whatever. I've worked with many many man a "theatre/concert" designer who cannel from DSL to USR.
What it comes down to is what makes it easist for you so you Q faster.
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