Vectorworks, Building an Octagon Truss & Editing Truss hinge

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I've created a video showing how to build an octagon and edit hinged truss to 45°. Plus adding Braceworks settings to allow easy snapping.

Historic turntable at a Japanese Theater 1950's newsreel

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What is DMX? Part One

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A terrific set of videos eplaining the basics of what DMX is and how it works.

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Laying a Masonite Deck

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This article is by G. Patrick McCreary. He was my TD at Bennington over 30 years ago. Patrick wrote this while TD at Indiana University of PA in 2013.

It has been my experience over the past 25 years or so that "DURON", a product of The Masonite Corporation, makes an excellent surface for working stage floors. Here at Indiana University of PA, we use a Duron surface for our main venue, and use the same material on most of our stage decks, usually on top of a layer of ½" Homasote . Duron, however, is no longer available as a product name – the best you can do is ask for 1/4” double-tempered hardboard. I would want to see a sample before I placed my order.

Our Mainspace floor, roughly 50' X 75', is heavily built on, often re-configured, and abused at least four times a year - we replaced the entire top layer three years ago, after 11 years.

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Backstage view of set change at Royal Opera House

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A timelapse backstage showing just what goes on behind-the-scenes to change the set from the afternoon rehearsals of Romeo and Juliet to the evening performance of La bohème.

Times Lapse Video: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Opera | The New York Times

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Behind the curtain at the Metropolitan Opera. In order of appearance: set up for "La Rondine," set assembly for "L'Elisir d'Amore," stage rehearsal of "Rigoletto" and set up for "Le Comte Ory."

Constant Power for LED units

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WIth all the new gear people are using, Stage Directions asked me to write about the power needed for LED and Automated lighting units. Actually, any unit that has an internal power supply. Here's a PDF of the article published in the May 2015 issue.

Stage_Directions_-_Keeping_It_Clean.pdf

Here's a preview:
What type of power do we need for our new LED lighting units and systems? And how much of it? And how do we get it? 

The answers to these questions are changing every day with all the new technology being developed by stage lighting manufacturers. Movers have better optics and are using brighter lamps. LED technology is constantly improving along the lines of Haitz’s Law. And mixing all this new gear with traditional fixtures makes things even messier—because we need more and more constant power. 

Scale Ruler on a Light Plot

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How to use a scale ruler to add dimensions to a light plot. 

Here's the worksheet I created for the exercise.

Here's the paper version of the Scale Rulers. When you print these out, be sure you have the print output set to No Scaling. The pdf needs to print full size to be in the proper scale. I suggest you still check it with an actual ruler. Also, if you make copies, double check those as well. I've had copiers enlarge/reduce by just 1-3% and it knocks everything off.

Thanks for visiting.

Apprenticing

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THEATER; The Apprentices

Know your tech skills and you're more likely to work backstage.

"over the course of his 10 weeks there, a little taste of everything. Sometimes even that was too much; the job called ''Super'' meant picking cigarette butts and other garbage from the brilliant green lawn in front of the theater. Other jobs were hit or miss. ''Run Crew'' might mean operating a spotlight for the new musical ''R Shomon'' at the festival's smaller stage, the Nikos; or dressing its star, Audra McDonald; or mopping the deck or setting the props or filling actors' glasses with too much ice and getting upbraided for it. The best assignment was ''Lines,'' which meant helping one of the Equity actors (perhaps Ms. Tomei?) memorize her part."

Lighting “Design” Software

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While paper and pencil were the preferred method of many designers even ten years ago, today, designers are expected to use computer-based programs to support their design work. Current lighting technology has also increased the need for a diverse body of computer software applications.

Download the entire article originally printed in Dramatics Magazine.

Dimensioning Lights

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I use this worksheet  to help my students learn how to add dimensions between lighting units on a sample light plot. Adding dimensions while drafting a light plot saves an immense amount of time and during the lighting crew calls when the lights are being found in the theatre.

Super Simple how-to draw 2 point perspective boxes

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I've created a short totorial on making rough-sketched collection of 2 point perspective boxes. This was for my drafting and draing for theatre class at CSU.