Chauvet Professional’s own Mike Graham is back for another issue of TECH TALK!  This time, Mike brings us insights on the pitfalls of convenience with respect to lighting design and programming.  Mike?

SENSORY UNDER-LOAD

Without the ability to make our senses work together, designing a show is impossible.  In today’s fast paced “Information Now” world, it is really easy to let our senses get dulled by superficial glitz provided by the dreaded interwebs.  I think that it is important to unplug and rethink the approach that we take in show design.

In my second semester of college, I took a (please, do not hold this against me) sound designers class.  I wanted to try to have a better understanding of what sound design actually was, and it was a required class as part of my curriculum. In that class, our instructor would give us each a cassette tape with a song on it.  Our job was to learn how to pick out individual sounds from those recordings.  Essentially, to stop listening to the song, and start listening to the sound of the instruments, the hiss on the tape, and any other noises that were present.  This exercise went on for the entire semester.  Every week it was a different tape with a different song.  By the end of the class, the goal was to be able to pick out the smallest details of sounds.  Goal achieved.

The obvious question is how does this apply to lighting design in today’s world?  The truth is that we as a species is becoming much less detail oriented because of the instant gratification of being able to Google an answer to any question.  The fact that we can use software like WISYWIG or Vectorworks to design shows, then use a control platform like the Hog 4 or GrandMa 2 to program and execute the same show is a great thing, but be careful of the pitfalls of convenience.  I am by no means putting down these state of the art technologies, but what I am saying is that they are tools in the same way a good Crescent wrench (spanner for my UK friends) is a tool. Don’t let these tools decide the show for you.   While I do realize that time is a commodity that we are typically very short on, slow down and listen to the show that you are designing.  Just because you can pixel map every LED on your stage, does not mean you have to run pixel effects for every single cue.  Take a deeper look and see if you can program a slight nuance into a look that will spark the imagination of your audience.  Design is not all about hitting your viewers with a sledge hammer.  Sometimes it is about the slow and subtle cue change that takes two  minutes or more to complete.  You don’t need to use the effects generators to create every look.  Take some time and add in some personality to what you are trying to accomplish.

As a test to yourself, try this; Sit outside and close your eyes. Take a deep breath and listen.  Pick out every noise from the birds singing, the breeze blowing, cars in the background, to a dog walking by. Now feel the sunlight on your face and imagine what that scene should all look like.  With some practice, your mind will once again become the best visualizer you have ever used.  By accessing your imagination and linking it to your senses of sound, sight, touch, taste, and smell, you will become a better designer.

Its, funny, but I was just reading Justin Lang’s Blog (http://www.prolightingspace.com/profiles/blog/list?user=3hylm036yw15r)  and came across the below:

While it is totally true, we can’t ever totally understand everyone’s vision, you can absolutely control yours.  By having a better understanding of how your senses work, you will start to associate your senses to colors, effects, and light cues.  It will make designing shows much easier and much faster.

Every time we look over at Mike Graham, one of our resident human walking awesomesauce packets, we can’t help but wonder how he fits all of that knowledge into one polo shirt wearing container.  Mike provides great articles for Tech Talk here on the Chauvet Professional Blog, full of insight and hard work from his years in the business.

We decided to look through the last few years of Tech Talk articles and pick our five favorites.  Check them out!

TECH TALK:  How Many languages Do You Speak?

TECH TALK:  Video in the World of Lighting
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

TECH TALK:  Keep Your Movers Moving

TECH TALK:  16-Bit Dimming for LEDs

 TECH TALK:  LED Lights, Camera, Action!

 Stay tuned for more Tech Talk articles and more from the Chauvet Professional Blog!

LOAD OUT

One of the happiest times of any show is the completion of load out.  Especially if it is complete before  last call at the nearest bar.  However, load out is also, in my opinion, is often an overlooked event of show planning.  By organizing your load out in the same fashion as your load in, you can be sure that there is a cold beer with your name on it waiting for you.

The best time to start thinking about load out is during your show design.  At the same time you are thinking about how cool your show will look, and how much it is going to cost to load it in, you have to already be thinking about how much it is going to cost to load it out.  Typically, your goal is to make sure that your rig can come down in less than the four hour minimum that you often time have to pay your crew.  So, in the same way you can estimate how long it will take to load in, estimate the load out as well.

During your show pack, keeping track of exactly what goes into what box is really important.  Having a complete and accurate packing list as critical for load out as it is for load in.  Knowing what needs to go back into every box will greatly assist you in keeping your pack time down.  This will also help you to make sure that everything that you brought to the show goes home with you.  It is also a great idea to label each case that you take with you.  On that label, you should have the following listed:

• Your show name
• Names of items
• How many of each item
• Road case number (of total cases)

When you get to the venue and start setting up, As you empty cases, use the empty cases to store your truss carts.  Make sure that you label the cases your truss carts are in so you can easily find them, but this will keep them all in one place and save you time in looking for them at the beginning of load out.  Making sure that all of your cases are prepped to return in the order that you will need them is also really helpful.  I also suggest that having all of your spare items in its own case so you can easily find them if you need them.

As you get to load out and your cases start showing up, keep them in order.   As you load one up, the next one you need is there for you to use, this will also keep your “case clutter” to a minimum.  Once you load a case, get it moved away from your work space and staged for packing back into your truck, then load the next one.  As to cables, I suggest taking all cables that five feet and under and bundling them in packs of 10.  This will make counting them easy and they can be easily stored.  Typically, the most common lengths of cable are 5ft and under, so you will save tons of time by not rolling them up individually.  As you get to your trussing dollies, set them up and keep them to the side until you need them.  Always load your cases outside of your rig s footprint.  This way, you can keep dropping your rig to the ground without having to move a bunch of half full cases around.

Keeping the process moving is important.  By the time that load out comes, everyone is getting worn out and could be getting a little complacent.  Keep an eye on how your gear is being packed is important, especially if you are working with a local crew that is not going with you to the next show. Firstly, you need to know where your gear is getting packed, but you also have to make sure that they are not just jamming it in a case with no care.  Also, because it is the end of a long day, or in many cases, a long few days, your crew will be tired.  Make sure that they are still following safe practices and not standing on the “OSHA approved chair” for taking lights out of the rig.

Remember that load out is not complete until all of your gear is on the truck and the door is dropped.  It is important that not only is all of your gear in on piece, but so is your crew.  Keep safe and stay organized and you will all make it before last call.

Stay tuned for more Tech Talk articles from Chauvet Professional — we’re here to help you own the road!