Looking for help to know what to focus on to learn this console. Console is in a rented space and everything is patched and I'm going to edit there show files. I'm planning on using the Etc tutorials on YouTube and tutorial demos on a PC, but they are to expansive for what I need to know. I just want to be able to edit a show files scene, find fixtures, set buttons and blackout. Any direction of where to start or terminology of what I'm looking for would be appreciated. Coming from MA Dot 2.

We need to simulate magic chalk for Matilda. We’re low budget, but we are a school and have promethean boards in our classrooms ( basically giant flat TV screens). Is there a way to do this without having glare?

Very hastily. Haha.

I was rushing to get some last minute work done on deck today, and really needed to get my hair out of the way, so I snipped off a chunk of elastic and ran (poorly) through the serger.

It did the trick. 🤣

Hi. I'm a stage manager and I'd love to work in live production/freelance and move out of the theatre. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Please and thanks!

anyone know how I can get some texture, like tree branches with leaves? Where can I order it? Do I need to make it?

-stressed out director

A local theatre has Lycian 1271 follow spots that are completely empty. Right now the spot is a harsh white that cuts through a warm wash on the stage, and I'm looking for some guidance on what gel I can get to make it a neutral warm. Can anyone recommend an "everyday" gel, some kind of natural amber perhaps? I don't necessarily want a "warm" spot but it's so harsh and white that I want to make it look a bit more cohesive with the plot when the standard warm wash is up. All of the stage lights are the Altman PHX series, for color guidance.

This frame sits in front of a 350w halogen bulb. I want to replace the thin glass piece. It's square and has a straight line going right through the center. It comes from an un named Chinese manufacturer. In a 17R Tripod Mounted follow spot.

What's the glass piece called? Where, besides the manufacturer can I source one?

Hey everyone I've done my research but Id love some clarification.

My school is looking at repainting our auditorium stage which is modular and occasionally (max 2 times a year) moved to various different locations for events. Should I paint the stage whole or separate the modules and do each one individually?

Painting process = Remove tape, sand, cheap black interior paint and matt finish ceiler.

I want this to be done cost effective ish while being a really good paint job. Last time it was painted was well over 7 years I believe so its all chipped.

I'm also thinking of putting a white tape line at the front of the stage.

I’m working as a stage manager on a musical right now and I really just don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing in music rehearsals. I feel kind of useless, but the music director runs the tracks obviously, so I feel like I’m not doing my job during them. So…. What do the professionals do?

I want to be a part of crew for next year, and I don't know what I need to know before joining. I'm currently in 9th grade and have never done theatre before, so I feel really late to the whole thing.

Questions include:

• Do I need to know how to do makeup/ basic makeup at least?
• Do I need to be able to design clothes/ make clothes?
• Do I need to be able to paint really well?
• Do I need to know how to handle cutting wood?

After saying all of this, I feel like I'm not good enough to join theatre. I'm more than willing to learn/ do anything. My biggest worry is that I won't be accepted at the stage I am at now.

Thank you in advance to anyone who replies, seriously.

I have 2 Ion Ex’s on the same network and i was wondering if there is a marco or something I can program so save the show file then shut down both boards? I’m new to marco’s :)

Gather around and hear my tale of woe, and misery. This tale involves human feces, and Dave Mathews Band...

Feel free to spread my tale of woe.

I want to preface that the band and its crew had nothing to do with this situation and the roadies were at the mercy of local hands. It just happens to be involving Dave Matthews Band.

Ok! It begins one fine summer morning, and I was a over hire local hand for one of my local concert venues in town. I was on the lighting team, and everything was going swimmingly. The yellowjackets that normally plague us, and disrupt the peace, were at a minimum. The breeze was gentle, and the air was a comfortable temp, a rarity at the time of year that this concert fell upon.

Front of house was being setup, and we achieved this quickly, and efficiently. Things were looking up! The concert gods were smiling upon me. I felt at ease, and no need to sacrifice more to appease them.

But alas! I should have known the clouds of darkness were soon to descend upon us!

The snake needed to be run out to FOH, and the crate sat on the stage. Like a mimic, the crate was not all it seemed.

From the darkness, of the furthest reaches of the stage, the crew member who was guiding us, came bearing cleaning supplies, and a demented look of dismay, and guilt.

The words he uttered next still haunt me to this day...

" The last city we were in, someone fucked up." His gaze grew dark. " Someone had shit in the lawn area, and the locals up there, while coiling it, let it run through the pile of shit."

Those last words, he couldn't have said that!? Who would do such a thing!?

" They put it back it the case, and it was loaded on the truck." He whispered somberly, his eyes looking for some sort of humanity in the news he just spoke to us. " They didn't tell anyone to it was too late."

The crate was loaded deep in the truck, its contents bound for my city.

We hoped maybe it was a fluke, that the crew in the previous city were making a cruel joke!

We donned our PPE and opened the case.

Nothing visible, and our hearts leaped!

We continued the uncoiling, and then it appeared,

Brown shit on the coil. It was smeared on the cable, and in every nook and cranny the coil had.

We groaned and cleaned the cable till nothing remained. Only memories will keep this tale going.

I hope the cities after us appreciated us defeating this feces beast.

We normally with everyone, but they gave us meal tickets as a thank you.

We dined like kings.

Thank you for reaching the end of my tale of woe. Please spread it like the crap on that cable, so that Dave Matthews may be enshrined with another story of human shit.

TLDR- Cable was coiled in previous city through a pile of shit. It was loaded on to the truck without telling anyone. We as the next city, had to clean it off.

I have a GC to Lowes for set materials and I need to build a couple decks.

I usually go to the builders supply but since it's gift cards to Lowe's specifically I have to go there.

I'm building some 4x8 decks with 3/4 ply tops.

Is this 23/32 sheathing my best best or should I pay more and get BC?

These are just basic 4x8 decks that we are going to use for set stock.

We are creating some boxes to hold show-specific (also sometimes referred to as specialty) props.

Some examples: Thing T. Thing (the disembodied hand) from the Addams Family, cast with "CONNOR" signature from Dear Evan Hansen, Alladin's Lamp, Sets of identical newspapers from Newsies, Laura's unicorn from the Glass Menagerie, Cinderella's Glass Slipper, Burn Book from Mean Girls, chimney sweeps from Mary Poppins (the objects, not the people!), Golden TIckets / Wonka Bars, Giant Candies, TV Helmet from Willie Wonka, the cod from Come from Away, broken locket from Annie, etc.

I realize that some of these could be considered parts of a costume, and that is fine. I just know that this community can come up with a lot more than I can on my own.

Thank you in advance for helping me come up with a list!

Adjust size and framing of HDMI output?

Hello, is there software that can adjust the framing of video output? I project video and slides for educational materials at schools. But often times, I get to the school and their projectors are pointed slightly away from the screen so the alignment is off, or recently I had to suddenly change all my slides to only project on the top half of a screen because the bottom half was projecting directly in the eyes of the musicians on stage. (I had 10 minutes to adjust 50 slides).

So it would be awesome if I could change the size, framing, and alignment from my Mac. Every school seems to have its own unique issues, and it would be amazing if I could just adjust myself instead of relying on overworked teachers who are not AV experts.

Thanks!

350W followspot.

I work in a PACA that primarily serves as a road house, and in my theatre and in my lobby we use spotify to play house/pre-show music. I was curious on the legality of this. We do pay ASCAP, BMI, SESAC fees, but is there a different streaming service or something I'm missing that would make the use a streaming service like this more "legit"?

The flexibility of having ad free music for preshow music and house music purposes is great, but I want to make sure there isn't an industry standard that I'm not aware of.

I'm doing a college production where the designer wants the stage to be painted to match the backdrop cloth and set pieces. Currently the stage is black and the design calls for it go light grey as a the base with some yellow, red, brown and black detailing on top of that. The designer suggested we get Rosco paints but these are way out of our budget. We were also planning to prime the stage in white first and put a sealing glaze on top of the paint.

We could use emulsion paint and it would fit our budget. Are there any reasons we shouldn't use emulsion over scenic paint?

What would you recommend using? Also, I've not even started looking at glazes/top coats yet. Any suggestions?

This needs to last about a week and a half. The rigging will all be done by the time we paint (everything is flown so it can just be flown out for painting) to reduce damage to it. We are only doing six shows and then we have to paint it black again.

Hello

I've got a problem with a brady label printer. It prints the labels, quality is gooed, but also sometimes 'prints' a blanc label. My first thought was that the senser needed cleaning but production assured me they cleaned it. Second thought is the label design but then i would think it would happen all the time. Anybody have experience with this? Could there be other reasons why this happens?

Hi fellow techs,

this probably does not bother the most of you but hopefully someone can advise me. I bought a bunch of used XLR and DMX cables yesterday. At home I found out that they came with a rather strong cigarette / nicotine smell. On a stage this wont be a problem, as I am more of a hobbyist myself, I would like to get rid of that stench. Any ideas to loose that smell?

thanks!

Hey all.

I need to seal off a toilets reservoir piping to keep it from draining. The trick is to fill the reservoir with water, attach a sump pump inside, and when it turns on it shoots water out of the reservoir and through the piping from the back of the toilet. I can't fit a bucket inside, so I'm trying to seal the opening in the reservoir to keep it from draining into the stage. Any thoughts? I thought sand, rubber cement, or plaster. Wanted to ask the experts.

In your experience is it typical for the assistant technical director to attend tech and the production meetings that follow directly afterwards? Either along with or in place of the technical director?

Edit: Thanks all, really appreciate the insight.

I've been in the industry for almost a decade in one form or another. Started as a regional lighting tech, joined my IATSE local, and had a lot of success there as a hand, electrician, programmer, LD, . I enjoyed my work to a point, but I wanted a change mainly due to the long intense hours (90+ hrs per week, long commute, usually getting 2 hrs sleep per night).

I moved to a new city in 2020 and been working an office job with one of the major equipment rental companies. Hours and benefits are greatly improved, but I'm feeling increasingly bored and disconnected from the industry. I'm reluctant to return to IATSE work, and regional work has laughable pay at the moment.

Has anyone found jobs in other fields where you felt like you were able to apply your tech skills? I'm thinking about stuff like museums or experiences that also have lighting/AV needs but are not live events. Would love to hear everyone else's experiences.

TLDR: Jobs where tech skills are in demand, but are not traditionally tech theater?

I have a question on using Network Cues to send light controls from QLab. I know MTI has their own track player. Is there a way to integrate all three. The only thing I can think of right now is to start QLab on a specific beat and use timing. Is there a way for the MTI player to start the QLab track or add network cues to MTI’s system?