A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, 2nd Edition

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A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO STAGE LIGHTING

sample consoles in their offices, which are often avail-

able for preprogramming. Use an off-line editing appli-

cation for the console, if such an application exists.

Manufacturers gladly provide the software required to

perform this function. If the house console is going to

be used, contact the performance facility and request

permission to program the console prior to the load-

in. If a rental console’s unavailable until just prior to

the load-in, arrange to transport the console to your

home, preprogram the console on the kitchen table,

and then transport the console directly to the load-in.

Presuming that none of those options is avail-

able, the lighting console should then be packed to

be one of the first items taken off the truck. The pro-

gramming can then take place while the instruments

are initially being hung. The two activities can occur

simultaneously until the instruments and circuits

need to be patched. If the patching or channels

being checked is extensive, that may conclude the

preprogramming portion of the program. Efforts to

continue preprogramming, while being interrupted

by constant onstage requests, will become frustrating

for the board operator, the lighting designer, and the

electrician checking the instruments.

Attempting to read the information and then key-

punch it into a console without assistance can require

intensive concentration and consume a lot of time. If

possible, an assistant should be assigned to the console

operator. The assistant reads the information out loud,

while the operator physically programs the informa-

tion into the console. Ideally, the assistant is familiar

with the documents. If he or she has never seen them

before being assigned the task, unfamiliarity with the

layout may slow the process.

Typically, a notebook is assembled that contains

current copies of all of the paperwork, a light plot,

and storage devices clearly identified with the name

of the show, the date, the type of lighting console, and

the system size. By labeling the disk in advance, the

lighting designer and the console operator will always

know its contents. Spare disks or storage media are

also included in order to provide the console opera-

tor with some amount of comfort zone. The note-

book should also contain board operator sheets, and

may include a preliminary copy of the cue master.

In most cases the production should not expect the

house to provide the disks or storage media. By pro-

viding the storage media, there will never be an issue

regarding how many copies of show information can

be afforded to the production when the show loads

out. By providing a storage location for the external

show backup media, there’s also less chance that any

disks or flash drives will be left on speakers, under

soft drinks, or underfoot, resulting in the possibility

of lost data.

If there is concern that the number of cues in the

show may be larger than allowed on a single disk

or storage device, the production can be segmented

between acts. When possible, though, it’s advised

to refrain from “splitting” the show between disks.

Although the original infrastructure cues, groups,

subs, and patch information can be duplicated on

each act disk, any updates to the softpatch or infra-

structure information will require careful monitoring

so that the changes will be reflected on each of the act

disks. Productions involving multiple repertory pieces

may not have the luxury of this choice.

Ideally, all of the show information should fit

into the one notebook that will be placed in the board

operator’s care. Not only will this make it simpler

to store for archival purposes, but many light booths

often contain extensive paperwork left over from dif-

ferent productions being presented in the facility. By

providing a single information repository, including

plastic sleeve jackets for the storage media, the possi-

bility of losing paperwork or backups will be reduced.

If there are disks from a previous incarnation of the

show, those disks can be used to initially load infor-

mation into the lighting console, but they should then

be removed from the booth, to prevent accidental

re-recording and loss of archival information.

Although many consoles are now being supplied

with hard drives, it is still prudent to save informa-

tion to a floppy disk or whatever storage medium

is available at the end of the calls. Like all comput-

ers, experience has shown that the possibility of hard

drive failure can occur at any time. It’s often suggested

that each segment of the show information should be

saved to three copies of storage media, floppy disk or

otherwise.Variousmethodsareusedinthesequence

of recording the disks, to avoid loss of data during

technical rehearsals. Often, the magic number of three

means one can be used for off-line editing, leaving the

remaining two as backup for the on-site console.

Set up the System

Presuming that the show is an original production, the

first action that is usually taken is to define the sys-

tem size that will be used for the show. The memory is

flushed of all previous unnecessary information. This

ensures that, during the current production, there

will be no confusion with “left over” information

from prior shows on the console. Then the individ-

ual system settings for the console are reset for the

purposes of this show. The number of channels used

by the show is reset in order to reduce the number

of screens. The number of dimmers is also redefined.

Once that’s done, the system size settings are now

complete. The sequence used to program information