A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, 2nd Edition

The Parameters

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103

A Basic Checklist to Help Define the

House Lighting Console:

•Themanufacturer,model name, and software

version of the console.

•Theactualconditionoftheconsole,including

any history of problems and the last date the

console was serviced.

•Thelargestnumberofdimmersthattheconsole

can address. The number of dimmer outputs

located on the back of the console.

•Thelargestnumberofchannelsthatcanbe

controlled at any one time by the console.

•Thelargestnumberofcuescontainedwithin

each RAM allocation (or disk).

•Isthelightboardatrackingorpresetconsoleor

both? Can cues contain hard zeros?

•Theabilityofpointcuestobeinserted.

•Thenumberofchannelsseenoneachrowof

the channel intensity screen and the number of

channels seen on each page of the channel intensity

screen.

•Thenumberofcues(listedwithtimedurations)

seen on the cue list screen.

•Thenumberofsplitfaders.Thenumberofcues

that can simultaneously occur.

•Thenumberofphysicalsubmastersandtheir

possible attributes. If the capability exists, the

number of pages.

•Thenumberofpossiblegroups.

•Numberofmonitorsrequiredforfully

functional system (showing channel intensity

and cue list information).

•Theexistenceandtypesofmonitorsforthe

production table (black and white, or color).

The existence, condition, and length of monitor

cable. Typical path and destination of monitor

cable runs in recent past.

•Theexistenceofafunctioningalphanumeric

keyboard to label the cues.

• Theexistenceofafunctionalprinter,anda

printer cable to interconnect with the light

board.

•Theexistenceofafocusremote.Itstypical

location, condition, and history of problems.

•Thetypicallocationofthelightboardinthe

theatre. The distance to the stage, to typical

rental dimmer rack locations, to the center of

thehouse.ThelocationofanyDMXlocations

withinthetheatre.TheexistenceofanyDMX

cable within the theatre.

•Anyhistoryoftheconsole’susewithanyoff-line

editing programs. If so, can such a program be

used?

•Namesofotherproductionsthathaveusedthe

console in the recent past. Names of the lighting

designers or production electricians, who, when

contacted, may provide additional insight to the

console or the personnel operating it.

A Basic Checklist to Help Define the

House Manual Light Board

•Thetype,manufacturer,andmodelnameofthe

light board.

•Theactualconditionofthelightboard,

including any history of problems and the last

date the board was serviced.

•Numberofpersonnelrequiredtooperatethe

light board.

•Thenumberoffunctionalscenes.Thenumber

and identity of nonfunctioning sliders, handles,

or knobs in each scene.

•Thenumberofscenemasters.Thenumberof

scenes that can be simultaneously active.

•Thenumberoffunctionaldimmers.

•Anyspecificswitchingrequirementsneededto

allow for independent control of the scenes.

•Thetypicallocationofthelightboardinthe

theatre. The distance to the stage, to rental dimmer

racks, to the center of the house. The type of plug

connected to the cable controlling the dimmers.

If the condition or functions of the house lighting

console initially seem inadequate to the needs of the

production, the entire situation should be carefully

analyzed before the choice is made to reject that con-

sole and replace it with a different board. If install-

ing a replacement console is viewed as “breaking new

ground,” the issue of compatibility in every connec-

tion and protocol must be seriously reviewed. The

apparent advantage of working with a more pow-

erful console may not be worth the additional cost,

effort, and potential time that may be lost making the

replacement board function within the house system.

If this seems to be a possibility, it may be prudent to

consider the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and

every work-around allowing the house lighting con-

sole to be used should be considered. The replace-

ment console can easily become a disruptive element

to a previously functional system.

Other situations may preclude this issue. When a

production utilizing color scrollers is to be presented

in a performance facility that has a two-scene preset

light board, there’s no question that the house board

will be unable to control the scrollers and create the

cues required. The performance will require the use of

both the house board controlling the house dimmers