Wishes, Hopes and Dreams for 2013

All I want for 2013 is an accident-free year in the live event production industry. After that, everything else is just gravy. But it’s the gravy, and maybe some dessert, that make things interesting. Here are some of my wishes, hopes, and dreams for 2013.

More RDM

Remote Device Management has been around since December 2006, but it’s just now reaching the stage where it’s more common for new gear to support it than not. 2013 might be the year that we look back on in the future and remember that RDM made its “debut.” Why should we care? It helps make setting up a rig quicker and easier. No, it won’t replace planning and preparation, but it will make correcting mistakes as easy as changing intensity or color.

Easier Interfacing

If Siri can tell me how to get from point A to point B, why can’t she tell my lights what to do? Voice control and gesture control is in our reach, and all it would take is an enterprising individual or organization to put voice recognition technology with control technology and it will be the next generation of control.

Better Quality of Light

LEDs have come a long way in a relatively short time, but they still have that last mile to go when it comes to color rendering. Lots of companies are working on recipes for better phosphors that will render colors better, and it’s a matter of time before white LED light is indistinguishable to most people and cameras from white incandescent light. 

Self-Terminating Fixtures

In my experience, most techs think automated lights are already self-terminating even though they’re not. But it wouldn’t be terribly difficult or costly for automated lighting manufacturers to build in self termination.

Fractional-Load Transceivers

And while we’re on the subject of automated lighting, it would be nice if manufacturers started using fractional-load transceivers. The conventional transceiver has a load limit of 32 units, meaning that if you have more than 32 devices like automated lights or dimmer racks, then you need to use an amplifier or data splitter to avoid loading the data link too heavily. But there are transceiver chips that count as 1/4 load, allowing you to connect up to 128 units before you need to boost the data signal. 

Bigger Flexible Displays

LG Electronics will soon release a 55” OLED television that is much thinner, lighter, more efficient, and higher in contrast than LCD or plasma. It’s also much more flexible. When this technology matures, it will be ripe for application in the live event production industry. 

Smaller Luminaires

Ever since the first automated lights were commercialized in 1981, they have been getting smaller and more efficient. LEDs have helped extend the trend into the 2000s, and with any luck, it will continue for the foreseeable future.

Cheaper Luminaires

Just as LEDs have been better and brighter, they’re also getting less expensive. Can they continue to drop in price? I hope so, although I’m ambivalent about this because I think it’s important that manufacturers have enough profit to allow them to invest in R&D for the sake of innovation. 

Higher Pay for Everyone

Ticket prices are high, so why not let the entire live event production community share in the prosperity? I know it’s challenging to produce a show, and it’s often financially risky. Those who take the biggest risk should get the biggest reward, but part of producing an excellent show is having an excellent crew. And the best way to insure excellence is to pay for it. 

Lower Stress for Everyone

In our business, high production values and stress often go hand in hand. But it helps to keep everything in perspective. Years ago, David Davidian was the lighting designer on a huge concert tour, and I visited him during sound check. Things were not going well, as one technical problem after another presented itself, but Davidian kept his cool, never stressed, and exhibited almost perfect calm. I’ll never forget his words during that potentially stressful time: “It’s not brain surgery. No one is going to die if we mess up.” 

As we go through the New Year, remember the wisdom of one of the most prolific lighting designers/video directors in the business. Unless someone’s life, health, or safety is at stake, keep it in perspective. 

I wish you world peace, inner harmony, and lasting prosperity in 2013 and beyond. 

PS - Please support the Event Safety Alliance in 2013! (http://eventsafetyalliance.org)

PLASA New Product Innovations Awards 2012

When the sun rose in London Monday morning there were 47 nominations all vying for eight spots in the PLASA 2012 New Product Innovation Awards. By the time the sun set, eight of those products were placed at the top of the list with an additional one being recognized for its contribution to sustainability, and four more were commended.

Fourteen judges and I had spent most of Sunday listening to a series of 15 minute presentations about why the presenter’s product should win an award. The criteria was that the product should advance the industry by demonstrating innovation or improving technical practice. Other considerations are given to products that promote sustainability or safety. 

If you saw any of the 3,500 hours of the Olympic broadcasts, then you know that when world-class contenders compete, the winners are often decided by a matter of a thousandth of a second. That’s what it felt like trying to decide who should win the awards except we didn’t have the benefit of slow motion replay. Technology is advancing at an exponential rate and it’s far more accessible than it has ever been. So many products on the show floor take advantage of cutting-edge technology and it’s not hard to find innovation everywhere you look. It seems like much more of an even playing field. But there is a difference between taking advantage of existing technology and true innovation. Sometimes you have look under the hood (is that called raising the bonnet in the UK?) to find it.

Of the 47 product nominations, the judges fairly quickly whittled it down to a short list of 19 with only one that everyone felt was a clear-cut winner. Then we spent the next couple of hours debating the merits of each of the 19 products. We slowly carved out a list of six winners and agonized over the last two. We second-guessed ourselves, rearranged the list, and eventually arrived at our eight winners plus one award for sustainability, and four special commendations. 

Then we asked the question, “Is any one of the winners deserving of a Gold Award?” A Gold Award is sometimes given to an exceptional product that is recognized as a “game changer.” It’s that widget that will redefine the industry or shake the pillars of the industry. If you were to take a snapshot of the live event production industry today, what you’re likely to see is the convergence of automation, networking, control systems, video, wireless, battery-power, and robotics. After much debate and deliberation, the judges decided to award one of the eight winners the Gold designation. It’s a product that is likely to lay the foundation for the future of these technologies.

Deciding these awards was like watching Usain Bolt run the 100 metres. These companies put in hours and hours of hard work and training to get to the starting line, and in a flash, it was over. In the end, they all crossed the finish line, most within a hair’s breadth of the leader.

PLASA New Product Innovations Award Winners 2012

Gold Award Winner: 

Cast BlackTrax — BlackTrax V1 is an Ethernet-based solution that tracks objects or people in a defined 3D "space" and delivers the dynamic positional data in realtime in up to six degrees of freedom— X, Y, Z, plus roll, pitch, and yaw— to audio, lighting, motion control, and media technologies, as well as CAST's new BlackBox production coordination technology. The onboard gyroscope communicates the orientation of a moving piece or performer at over 250 frames per second. Control can be located up to 100 feet (30 metres) away with ¼" tracking accuracy.

What the judges said: “The level of integration with other tools and the potential for applications across the industry is incredible.”

Stageco Arena Lift — Stageco's Arena Lift is a bespoke hydraulic lifting system that allows large-scale ground support truss systems to be built at ground level and then raised to increase the rigging capability of an indoor venue. By adapting knowledge and expertise in lifting heavy equipment from the specialist construction industry, Stageco developed the Arena Lift to integrate high end hydraulic technology through adaptations and redesigns into custom built equipment suitable for touring. Four hydraulic lifting units form anchors at the base of ground support towers, the product features Smart Cylinder Control technology to synchronise these individual bases.

What the judges said: “It’s very safe and saves a lot of time. It increases options for touring shows and lets more shows play more venues. It’s very well thought through and very well implemented.”

Digital & Future Technologies Super2fer — Super2fer lets you send anything anywhere including HDMI video, composite, SVGA, audio, DMX...Just plug in an input box at one end using normal 16A cable, then 500m later plug in an output box and the data turns up. The system modulates the data onto the mains carrier and encrypts all your data using AES128 strength encryption. Each of the systems are impervious to the others. The Super2fer also has a Wireless Option, so you can now route all your video, audio or lighting data across a wireless link, with full redundancy.

What the judges said: “Why hasn’t this been done before? It’s a game changer. It’s packaged really well, so they’re instantly useful.”

Tait Technologies Pixel Tablet — The pixel tablet is a 3x3 RGB display unit, 135mm x 135m, weighing 0.5kg. Tablets can be hand held, placed in adaptable holders or mounted on a netting system to allow coverage of any landscape or architectural façade. Traditional 2D video screens are now able to be expanded and turned into a 3D screens. During the L2012 Ceremonies the pixel tablets were placed in holders on every seat in the Olympic stadium allowing the entire stadium to become the world’s largest video screen to date while incorporating the audience into the screen and show.

What the judges said: “It’s absolutely stunning. It’s the ultimate in audience participation.”

Avolites Sapphire Media Infinity Video Control System — Sapphire Media offers video operators an intuitive live, hands-on, show control surface enabling seamless integration of all visual elements. It connects to and allows control of multiple Ai Media servers. Two wide screen, touch surfaces are provided for easy access to the user interface and Salvation Engine control. Additionally, four switchable and assignable, touch preview monitors are available to the system operator. These preview monitors may be mapped to any inputs, outputs or video layers. 

What the judges said: “It’s well thought through and well designed.”

video link: http://www.avolitesmedia.com/

Robe Robin DLF Wash — The Robe Robin DLF uses an RGBW LED source and includes a unique internal barndoor assembly and a 5.5 to 60 degree zoom. Each motorised barndoor is individually positionable to control the light edge, with the complete assembly rotating through 90 degrees. Multiple colour shadows associated with an LED source have been eliminated allowing both rich and pastel colours to be reproduced at high output levels. Pure whites are available at pre-selected 2700K, 3200K, 4200K, 5600K and 8000K. Tungsten emulation allows the fixture to be integrated seamlessly with existing traditional lanterns. It comes with a three-year/20,000 hour light source warranty.

What the judges said: “It’s an LED wash light that behaves like traditional Fresnel. It will fit straight into the lighting tool box and we can use it. The internal barn doors are exceptional. beautiful color mixing, looks like a generic wash light but it’s LED.”

JBL VTX V25 Line Array with D2 Dual-Diaphragm Driver Technology — The VTX V25 is a full size 3-way high-directivity line array element.  It features two 2000W 15" Differential Drive® dual-voice-coil/dual-magnetic-gap woofers mounted in die cast aluminum baffles, with four 8" Differential Drive midrange transducers and three new D2 Dual-Diaphragm Dual-Voice-Coil Compression Drivers mounted on a third generation waveguide and patented RBI - Radiation Boundary Integrator® assembly.  Patented rigging, Crown VRack DSP and amplification, and JBL HiQnet Performance ManagerT configuration and control software complete the system package.

What the judges said: “It addresses a lot of the traditional problems with loud speakers by addressing the problems at the driver engineering level.”

Martin MAC Viper Profile — The MAC Viper Profile features a highly efficient optical system and 1000-watt HID source that outperforms market-leading profiles in the 1200-watt range. With over 26000 lumens of output, it is over 30% brighter than 1200-watt fixtures and also outperforms them in terms of speed and compactness. Power consumption is lower and output is approximately 55% more efficient than the 1200-watt fixtures it replaces. Features include CMY color mixing plus 8-slot color wheel and linear CTO, 1:5 zoom with auto-linked focus, 2 x 5-slot rotating gobo wheels plus FX wheel, combined dimmer/shutter, and more.

What the judges said: “It’s a new benchmark for automated lighting spots.”

Green Award

ETC Source Four LED — Source Four LED features the same size, look, optics and beam angles as a traditional Source Four®, with the efficiency and energy savings of an LED. The Source Four LED Lustr®+ luminaire features the capabilities of the x7 Color SystemT to offer the most flexible range of colour. From high-intensity whites to soft tints and supple, vibrant colours provide you with theatre-quality colour rendering. The Source Four LED Lustr+ also produces an adjustable white light that flatters any skin tone. Source Four LED is also available in 3000K warm white tungsten and 5600K cool white versions.

What the judges said: “It enables us to put professional quality stage lighting into naturally ventilated spaces. It has a highly efficient optical system and you can reuse existing lens stock.”

Commendable

d3 Designer — d3 Designer is a real-time 3D stage simulator, timeline based sequencer, video playback engine, and content mapper, all integrated into a single piece of software that runs on your own PC or Laptop. You can import stages from the CAD program of your choice, add screens, props, and content to get a true simulation of your production, well before you actually start your build, then easily transfer your show to a d3 Production system for show-time.

What the judges said: “It’s a fantastic pixel mapper and a fantastic visualisation tool that designers are going to love.”

Sennheiser Digital S9000: Digital S9000 is a UHF multi-channel digital wireless system that transmits audio in a compression-free high-definition mode, thus maintaining the full audio data.  For environments with much interference, the system is fitted with a long-range mode that uses a proprietary codec for an exceptionally good audio quality. The system does not generate any intermodulation artifacts. Frequencies can be placed in an equidistant grid. Designed for high band efficiency and high channel counts even in crowded RF landscapes.

Shure ULX-D Digital Wireless — ULX-D provides 63 channels of wireless in 8MHz. The 20Hz-20KHz frequency range and flat response captures details with clarity, presence, accurate low end and precise transient response. It has >120dB dynamic range and the Shure Gain Ranging optimises thie dynamic range for any source, eliminating the need for transmitter gain adjustments. Minimised intermodulation allows simultaneous operation of significantly more transmitters, and AES256 encryption ensures secure transmission. Lithium-ion rechargeability provides extended battery life, metering in hours/minutes (accurate to 15min), and detailed tracking of battery health. 

Highlights WENTEX Pipe and Drape System — The  WENTEX system setup can be completed in half the time and with half the labor cost. Not only can a 20' high WENTEX pipe and drape kit be easily assembled by one person, it can be done without the risk or liability of anyone having to climb up a ladder. Additional features can be easily mounted to a WENTEX pipe and drape system such as speakers, lighting, cameras, emergency exits and track systems.

What the judges said: “It’s a one-flight-case solution and it ticks the health and safety box.”

About the Judges

Liz Berry, Lighting Designer (Belinda Carlisle, Madness, Bryan Ferry, etc.), London, UK

Richard Cadena, PLASA, Austin, Texas, USA

Jim Cousins, Audio Engineer, Sound Improvement Services, London, UK

Gerry Francke, Project Manager, Creative Technology, London, UK

Paul Franklin, Theatre Design Consultant, Charcoalblue, London, UK

Tapio Ilomäki, Designer at Akukon Consulting Engineers, Finland

Mats Karlsson, Development Manager at VER, Belgium

Marc Kocks, MD of sales division, Ampco Flashlight group, Utrecht, Netherlands 

Ed Manwaring, EM Communications, Kent, UK

Steve Moles, Journalist, Lighting Designer/Tech (Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Tina Turner, etc.), Doncaster, UK

Ola Melzig, Technical Director Eurovision Song Contest, M & M Production Management, Stockholm, Sweden/Austin, Texas USA

Nick Read, entertainment and theatrical special effects & large scale lighting and electrical systems design, installation, testing and project management for stadium events, tours, shows and corporate events, Brighton, UK

Ben M Rogers, Lighting Designer/Video Designer, London/Cyprus

Cat West, Lighting Designer, Flash & Trash Productions, Los Angeles, USA

Show Networks & Control Systems

The new book from Professor John Huntington, "Show Networks & Control Systems" reminds me of my iPhone—each version is even better than the last. This one builds on the first three versions of "Control Systems for Live Entertainment," except this one is self-published, which means he had complete control over content, layout, size, and everything else.

I just returned from a seven-week run on the road to find a fresh copy in the mail. I was going to spend 20 minutes flipping through it and I ended up reading it for an hour. It seems to be even better organized than the first three of his books. It starts with a broad overview of control systems and then it hones in on the finer details of entertainment control systems from the very basic (binary and hexadecimal numbers) to the nitty gritty of networking.

Huntington's writing reflects his mastery of the subject and his years of experience in the field. I particularly like the chapter on System Design Principles with the seven principles including: ensure safety, the show must go on (redundancy, reliability, data backup, etc.), simpler is always better, strive for elegance, complexity if inevitable but convolution is not, make it scaleable and lear room for unanticipated changes, and ensure security. I also like his troubleshooting steps which include: verify the tester, quantify the problem, check the obvious, determine "verified," "unverified," and "suspect" devices, go through the systems until you have verified every device, if your stuck, clear your head, and consult others.

I live by the last step, and having Huntington's email addresses is the best lifeline. The second best lifeline is to own the book. If you are in the entertainment industry, then you need to know about show networks, and he covers the topics very well. In addition to covering big topics like Ethernet and Wi-Fi, the book goes into depth about networking protocols, IP addressing, subnets, troubleshooting networks, and more. The middle chapters go into depth about DMX512-A, RDM, ACN, MIDI, MIDI show control, SMPTE, open sound control, and more.

There are only a handful of books that I refer to over and over, and this is one of them. There are even fewer that cover these topics and of the one or two that do, this is by far the most current and up-to-date. It's easy to read, very well illustrated, and the explanations are very clear.

I would love to see an electronic version of it so that I can read it and access it where ever I am. Plus, I like having the ability to electronically search without having to thumb through pages. For now, there is only the hard copy. But I wouldn't think of not having it.

For more information, click here.

Technology and Art

Anyone who knows me knows that when I want to figure out how something works, I like to have a look inside. When I was around 10 years old, I was completely and utterly perplexed by television and radio technology. I could not for the life of me figure out how a person’s voice could come out of a box plugged into the wall and it almost drove me crazy thinking about it. But I just knew that if I could just get a look inside of a television or a radio that I could figure it out. After all, I was a smart 10 year-old boy. 

One day, when my parents left me alone in the house, I decided I was going to solve this mystery once and for all. I took an old radio into the garage and got into my dad’s tool box. With the help of a Phillips screwdriver, I took it apart. What I found inside was a circuit board and some parts—transistors, resistors, capacitors, a speaker...but none of it helped solve the mystery of how a person’s voice could come out. I didn’t give up. 

I took some pliers and wiggled a resistor free of the circuit board because I just knew that if I could only get a look inside of it, surely I could figure it out. Then I picked up what to this day remains one of my favorite electronics analytical tools — a hammer — and that hammer and I ganged up on this resistor. Together, we smashed it open. Unfortunately, all that was left was a pile of black carbon powder on the garage floor, and it did nothing to help solve the mystery.

But that incident helped intensify my desire to understand how electronics worked, and when I got to high school and learned that they offered an electronics class, I eagerly signed up. That was the beginning of my lifelong pursuit of the knowledge of technology. 

I still think that looking inside of something is the best way to figure it out, and to me, art is as perplexing as technology. Does art and technology work the same way? Can you look inside of art and figure out how all that emotion can come out of an object of art? Whether for art or technology, it seems that I’m always looking for a hammer that can show me the inside of a mystery. 

Henri Matisse said, “Light is the future of art.” Like that 10 year-old kid who wondered about electronic technology, I often wonder about the art of lighting. What does lighting and scenery bring to the live event production table? What does add to the concert experience? Does it really help to heighten the emotion of the show or is the live event production industry simply fooling ourselves into believing that it does add meaning and it has a higher purpose? Since our livelihoods and our artistic sensibilities depend on it, can we really evaluate it realistically? 

Go online and search YouTube.com for James Taylor on the BBC in 1970 and you’ll find a well lit but very simple show from a lighting standpoint. It is thoughtfully and tastefully lit with light and shadow, color, form, and texture. There are no flashy moving lights, no fog, no beamage, no strobes, no chases, projections, fades, or bumps. Yet the show is highly entertaining and very aesthetically pleasing. Is it higher art than today’s over-the-top shows? If so, what does that say about the art of lighting?

Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. I’ve never been a fan of Diego Rivera, but when I saw the exhibition, I gained a new perspective. Just by looking at his work, I felt very strong emotions. At the same time, I was a bit perplexed by this sudden revelation and I wondered what it was about his work that was so striking.

Until then, I thought Rivera’s renderings were simplistic and uninspiring. I have always been a big fan of the impressionists like Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, and Dega. I think they had these mad skills that allowed them to interpret the world through the lens of someone who looked at ordinary life and saw extraordinary things. I also appreciate the work of the realists like Rembrandt, da Vinci, and Michelangelo. They were amazingly talented at rendering incredibly realistic paintings and sculpture that mimicked real life to the point that they captured the spirit of a subject. Rivera seemed to me to be neither of these.

But the Rivera exhibit at MOMA captured my imagination right from the beginning. At the entrance to the exhibit there was a large fresco entitled “Agrarian Leader Zapata.” It showed the Mexican Revolutionary war hero Emiliano Zapata holding a white horse in his right hand and a machete in his left. Rivera said the horse represented that of the Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortes. Under Zapata’s left foot is the sword of the fallen Cortes, who is shown on the ground at his feet. Behind Zapata is a small crowd of peasant soldiers carrying the tools of the local farmers including hoes, shovels, and machetes. 

Cortes died more than three hundred years before Rivera was born, but this work, originally painted in 1931, represented the hope of the Mexican people at the end of the Mexican Revolution. It was the end of the era of the colonial Conquistador and the beginning of a new political and social era.

The painting looks a bit two dimensional to me when I see pictures of it, but in real life it has heart and soul. That’s what originally drew me to it, but what riveted me to it was the technique. I learned that it was painted using traditional Italian fresco techniques but that Rivera used new and innovative ways to apply them. He was a technology leader in his time. 

That inspired me to take a closer look at his work. Another mural that really captured my imagination was entitled “Man at the Crossroads.” It was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller and Rivera was given the theme, “Man at the crossroads looking with uncertainty but with hope and high vision to the choosing of a course leading to a new and better future.” 

I liked it from the moment I read the theme. I liked it even better when I examined it more closely and discovered how technology was an important part of the theme. In Rivera’s own words, the painting shows “human intelligence in possession of the Forces of Nature, expressed by the lightning striking off the hand of Jupiter and being transformed into useful electricity that helps to cure man's ills, unites men through radio and television, and furnishes them with light and motive power.”

The words struck a chord and the depictions in the mural harmonized with them. Slowly, I began to realize the deep thought and passion that went into the artwork. Maybe that’s what art is, the expression of deep feeling. Maybe that’s why the work rings true; it expresses true feeling, strong emotion, and deeply held convictions.

On my way out of MOMA, I stopped into their book shop and picked up “Diego Rivera: My Art, My Life,” an autobiography with Gladys March. Only 18 pages into the book, I came across this passage: “It was (José Guadalupe Posada) who taught me the supreme lesson of all art—that nothing can be expressed except through the force of feeling, that the soul of every masterpiece is powerful emotion...Looking back upon my work today, I think the best I have done grew out of things deeply felt, the worst from a pride in mere talent.”

You could replace the word “talent” in the last sentence with “technology” or “technique” and it would fit like a glove. The streets are littered with master technicians but when you mix technique and emotion you get a rare individual like Miles Davis or Rembrandt. A thousand years from now, Davis will still be highly regarded while many masterful technicians will be a footnote in history.

I can’t say with any certainly what art is, but I know that using lighting for no good reason other than to create an effect is not art; using it to help you convey emotion and reinforce a performer’s passion might be. Technology can be used to enhance technique, like Rivera creating a mural, or it can be used as a crutch. The difference is purpose, meaning, emotion, feeling, and substance. 

Every cue of every show colors the presentation, and as such it should have meaning and purpose. Each look, every movement, every scene should be there for a reason. The absence of light is shadow, and that too can have meaning and purpose. Adding light where it is not necessary not only crowds the scene, it also detracts from the contrast between light and dark.

Low-tech lighting, as in the James Taylor performance on the BBC, can be very powerful. So can high-tech lighting under the right circumstances. Do a YouTube search for just about any Trans-Siberian Orchestra show (warning: most of the YouTube videos are of poor quality) and you’ll see an example of great lighting using lots of technology. Brian Hartley and the rest of the TSO crew are masters of reinforcing the emotion of the music. 

Conversely, go watch any Jonny Lang show where Greg Classen is running the lighting console and it won’t matter whether he’s using high-tech or low-tech, you’ll see a masterful performance. 

In his autobiography, Rivera talks about the source of his power as an artist. “Deep inside me, I had discovered an enormous artistic reservoir. It was of the kind that had enable the American genius Walt Whitman to create, on a grander scale than anyone had before, the poetry of the common people, working, suffering, fighting, seeking joy, living, and dying.” When Lang plays, his suffering is written all over his face, and Classen knows how to connect with it and amplify it using nothing but light, shadow, color, and movement. I don’t know if that’s art, but it’s definitely powerful and it’s moving.

Technology, like art, can be powerful and moving. If it resonates with art it can add another layer of expression, but if it’s applied indiscriminately it can get in the way of artistic expression. I think technology in production does matter if it contributes to the story on the stage. 

Light, Art, Technology and Education

There was recently a segment on NPR about an art installation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art called Levitated Mass. It’s a 340-ton boulder supported by two beams under which people can walk. When the interviewer asked the question, “Why is this art?,” the artist avoided answering the question directly. 

The truth? Art is subjective. One person’s art is another person’s rock. Is a rock light show art? Is it technology? Is it both? 

That was the subtext in the 3-day class I recently led at Chauvet Lighting in Sunrise, Florida. The class started with the fundamentals of lighting, technical things like understanding lighting metrics, how to figure out what kind of instruments you need to achieve your objectives, and what a basic lighting rig looks like. Then we spent a full day exploring art and lighting. We discussed things like color theory and how painters have been using color for hundreds of years, how Hollywood uses light and shadow, and how there are certain design principles that can be used as a starting point for lighting design.

All of this was just laying the foundation for the climax of the class, which was designing and cueing a rock show. We took one song and blocked it, identifying the intro, lyrics, choruses, bridges, and outtro, and then we split up into three groups, each of which had to program their own rig. The assignment was to program this one song and in the end we were going to play back our work in order to see what everyone had done, and critique what we saw.

Most of the people in the class had little or no experience with lighting design or programming. Two of the groups worked with a very simple controller with a simple rig so they could concentrate more on the looks, timing, and effects. Their rig consisted of two tripod stands with four SlimPAR 64 LED fixtures and two Intimidator Spot 250 LED automated moving yoke fixtures.

The third group had a more daunting challenge. They decided they were going to use a more advanced console, an Avolites Tiger Touch, even though none of them really knew how to program it. I was going to help them, but even though I have programmed and run shows on an Avolites Pearl, I had no idea whether or not the syntax was the same or even close on the Tiger Touch.

I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I’m not one to shy away from a challenge. I believe that the best way to learn is to leave your comfort zone behind and stretch yourself to your limits and beyond. Besides, the approach to programming a show is the same regardless of which console you’re using. You patch the fixtures, record palettes for positions, color, gobos, etc., then use those palettes to create scenes that you record as cues. The timing of crossfades, chases, and movement is very important but it can’t be that hard, I reasoned, to figure it out on any console.

The night before the last day of class, I had every intention of reading the Tiger Touch user manual so I could help the group using it. But the devil fools with the best laid plans, and in this case the devil was a great restaurant on the Intercoastal Waterway. I got back to the hotel too late to read the manual, so we were pretty much flying by the seat of the pants. 

At first, we had trouble just connecting the console to the lighting system in the demo room, which had a bunch of Chauvet Legend 1200 Spot and Wash fixtures, Legend 300 Spot and Wash, and various COLORado LED fixtures. But it didn’t take too long to figure out that the outputs of the console were looking for ArtNet clients and we were running straight DMX. Once we fixed that, we were up and running.

We programmed a few palettes and starting programming looks right away. This is where reading the user manual ahead of time would have really come in handy. The Tiger Touch seemed to want us to record one cue or chase per fader and use multiple faders for playback. I scanned the manual while the group was programming away, and it does tell you how to build a cue stack, but I didn’t want to kill their momentum so I let them continue. Besides, I figured there was more than one way to program and run a show and maybe this would lead to a new discovery. 

After a full day of programming, I asked each group to show their work and we played the music while they ran their show, one by one. The first group blew me away with their creativity and their impeccable timing. It turns out that one of the group, a product specialist named Nick Airries, had experience as a lighting designer/programmer. He took input from the rest of the group and programmed the console using an audio feed and very precise timing.

The second group captured favor right away by introducing their show with a poster they made that said “Show-Vay,” a play on the company name. Their show was no less spectacular. 

The third group had to play back their show manually, and they had to remember the accents and get the timing just right. To be honest, it wasn’t the best light show I’ve ever seen if you know anything about programming consoles, you will recognize their grand achievement. They started completely from scratch, learned enough about the console in an hour or two to program the song, crafted several cues, tweaked the timing, and come up with a strategy to play back the show. They were the real winners in my book because they took a big risk and their payoff was that they learned an awful lot.

In the end, I was really proud of the work everyone did. It was definitely art.

New! Practical Applications for Digital Audio Networking Seminar

Bob Vanden Burgt

We've just added a new seminar at PLASA Focus in Nashville on July 11. The free one-hour seminar is called "Practical Applications for Digital Audio Networking" and it's about audio networking protocols. There are lots of them out there, but they are brand-specific, so you need to use interfaces to connect different devices together. Bob Vanden Burgt of Link USA will speak at the seminar, and he'll cover the evolution of networking in the live audio industry, the transport protocol "wars," remote control and monitoring, and the challenges facing the audio industry today and tomorrow from a networking standpoint.

Nashville Municipal Auditorium
July 11, 2012
3PM-4PM

To register or to see a complete list of free seminars at PLASA Focus Nashville, click here.

Stage Lighting: The Technician's Guide

"Stage Lighting: The Technician's Guide" landed on my desk last week and I just got a chance to take a close look at it while I was on a plane today. It's designed to be a textbook for new lighting students in college or high school, but I think it's a great book for anyone in the lighting industry. I learned a lot from it just picking topics at random and reading.


The format of the book is simple. It's divided into three parts: Lighting Technician, Lighting Designer, and Lighting Resources. Part One: Lighting Technician has two subsections — Lanterns, Dimmers, & Control - getting down to basics, and Part Two: Lighting Designer also has two subsections — Lighting the Performance Space and Lighting the Show. As the first subsection implies, it is all about the basics but there is enough information to keep it interesting for any level of lighting tech, programmer, or designer.


The Lighting Resources section is fairly ambitious in that it lists a lot of gear, manufacturers, and other information in a time when everything is changing. New products are being introduced at an incredible rate and the nature of the products is changing, especially in the area of LEDs. Nevertheless, there is a lot of valuable information and it's the kind of information that you'll want to keep at arm's reach, which is one of the reasons the author says the book is intended to be a reference as well as a textbook.


It also comes with a DVD that is very well produced and fun to watch. It shows very clearly how lighting instruments are hung, patched and run. It explains in a very easy to understand way a lot about lighting instruments, dimmers, control desks, color, gobos, effects, and safety. The chapter on lighting design covers lighting angles, focusing, color, terminology, design, lighting a scene, and more. The DVD is a pleasure to watch and it conveys a lot of information in a short amount of time.


The book and DVD are written by an Englishman named Skip Mort and it's published in London. Some of the terms and spelling is less familiar but it's not hard to get past that. It makes little difference to me if we're talking about color or colour, nor does it matter if the lighting instruments are called lanterns or fixtures. Light behaves exactly the same in Europe as it does in North America and the rest of the world. The song remains the same. In fact, it's a great way to learn more about how things are done in other parts of the world and, who knows, maybe we can learn from each other. Why not use a PC or profile zoom? After all, isn't that what a followspot is?


This is a great book and DVD! It's well worth the $39.95 price tag. 

Sandy Espinosa wrote about a tragic accident in Los Angeles where 21 year-old Jose Lucero Jr. fell to his death at the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal Studios. (http://bit.ly/KkRYIO) As long as there are fatalities and accidents on the stage, we need to work harder to get better at protecting ourselves and the people around us. There is not enough information about this particular accident to take away any lessons from it, but in general, we need to know where and when to draw the line between safety and danger.

Alan Rowe, the training director at I.A.T.S.E. Local 728 in Burbank, gets the credit for hipping me to something called "imminent danger." In our industry, we always say "The show must go on." But if it can't go on safely, then it's not only your right, but it's your obligation to make it safe or stop the show. But what is "safe?" And where do you draw that proverbial line we mentioned?

The answer is in the definition of "imminent danger." According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the definition of imminent danger is ".....any conditions or practices in any place of employment which are such that a danger exists which could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm immediately or before the imminence of such danger can be eliminated through the enforcement procedures otherwise provided by this Act." It goes on to spell out the criteria for an imminent danger and what to do about it:

"Requirements. The following conditions must be met before a hazard becomes an imminent danger:
There must be a threat of death or serious physical harm. 'Serious physical harm' means that a part of the body is damaged so severely that it cannot be used or cannot be used very well.

"For a health hazard there must be a reasonable expectation that toxic substances or other health hazards are present and exposure to them will shorten life or cause substantial reduction in physical or mental efficiency. The harm caused by the health hazard does not have to happen immediately.

"The threat must be immediate or imminent. This means that you must believe that death or serious physical harm could occur within a short time, for example before OSHA could investigate the problem.
If an OSHA inspector believes that an imminent danger exists, the inspector must inform affected employees and the employer that he is recommending that OSHA take steps to stop the imminent danger.
OSHA has the right to ask a federal court to order the employer to eliminate the imminent danger.

"Call (800) 321-OSHA immediately to report imminent dangers."

The expectation that you will go home to your loved ones each and every night is your right. That you will uphold the requirements in the OSH Act to remove or report imminent danger is your obligation. Have fun at your job but above all, be safe.

Workshop or Funshop?

We recently returned from a 3-day class and one-day workshop in Burbank, thanks to I.A.T.S.E. Local 728, who hosted the events. As Heather Hillmeyer-Newsome (former lighting programmer on "Desperate Housewives") said, Alan Rowe, who is the safety and training director for Local 728 and helped put it all together, "is responsible for the best damn education program any organization has ever put together!" After the class, Alan, Roger Lattin and I conducted a workshop at Dadco (Ron Dalquist's shop) and it was really a lot of fun because we had access to portable power generators, portable power distros, and lots of HMIs. It went so well that Alan and I have already decided to do it again next year. APT is also considering taking a similar event to other locations. If you have any ideas about where we can hold such an event, we'd love to hear from you. We look forward to your suggestions.

Electrics workshop (funshop?) at Dadco in the Los Angeles area, 2012.