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vinntec

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    Amateur theatre practitioner
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    Lighting in amateur theatre since 1968! See ALD entry for recent credits.
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    Associate member of ALD #1774
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    Peter Vincent

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    Basingstoke, UK

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  1. Its on the playback's Advanced options. If it is a reasonably recent version you can also set the default move when dark time in the Setup options (we have fixed LED so these are allowed to SNAP). Does that help?
  2. The Dolman Theatre in Newport is not too far away from you, which is amateur owned and operated. I believe they have a youth group 11-17 which includes opportunities for backstage work, including lighting. Might be worth having a look at their website and getting in touch?
  3. That's not proper lighting - what about this board we had at school? A Strand Electric Senior Sunset with 27 dimmers plus a Spare (on/off only) There were an additional 10 dimmers on the right-hand wall in my time plus 6 x gel changers on Patt 23. So cues were multi-people hands, knees, feet, and bits of wood affairs - more fun when girls joined the team a few years after I started in 1968! This was in a tower SL in a nice old fashioned way. We loved it and understanding tracking was no challenge, as that was every cue (changes circled in red on cue sheets).
  4. I don't think anyone has mentioned it yet, but you could join the Association of Lighting Production and Design (ALPD) as a student member (provided you are in the UK). If you apply BEFORE CHRISTMAS, you can have free membership from now until April 2023 by selecting "Student (Sponsored" as the membership type. Just go to the website and fill in the application form. You will be told what evidence you need to provide. For "course tutor", give the details of a member of staff that knows about your interest in lighting (or might be an adult outside school but not a relative). As far as proving you are a current student, you probably won't have a school id card so think creatively what evidence you can provide (photo in school uniform perhaps?) If I need to check anything, it doesn't matter as long as your application arrived in time. By the way, any other UK students listening who have not been members of the ALPD (or ALD) before, can join in the same way - but the offer for free membership expires at Christmas. Peter Vincent (ALPD Membership Secretary)
  5. Sorry can't help with the ADB console as I have never used one. As a now retired amateur LD for over 200 productions, I lit shows all over the place in hired venues and always had the option of using the house console - which were mainly Strand 500 or ETC Ion in my time. It was fairly normal for the desk to be returned to some starter state with a show folder for my show already created and a blank show file saved for when we arrived. So I would have to go to a lot of trouble to trample on anything! I would check again with the venue (especially if you haven't been there before) as this doesn't sound right to me. I think I had one case of a venue being precious with a brand new Ion and they wanted me to use their old desk instead (ETC Express). When I told them I had attended the ETC Ion training and had used one before, they relented and I got the Ion after all. Don't let them confuse you with the local dance school teacher.
  6. vinntec

    Strand Mini 2?

    About that time, from school I was picking up some hires from Strand and an old gentleman kindly showed me around all the latest kit in their showroom - which included a prototype desk (which some time later morphed into MMS). No idea who he was and all way beyond anything my school could afford but fun to be able to play with a console years ahead of its time.
  7. vinntec

    Cinemoid

    I have an ancient Cinemoid swatch which has 8 "Deep Salmon" on it if that's any use? No idea how old it is but has Rank Strand's address as Great West Road, Brentford, Middx, TW8 9HR but I would guess is mid to late 1970s.
  8. Although the advice might translate to making sure LX is properly rigged while still at ground level - G-clamps are properly tightened, safeties on, gels properly fitted, barn doors safely fitted and open, shutters open on profiles (so you don't waste time trying to fix a lantern that is actually working!) and loose cabling correctly taped. If possible, each bar should be flashed before it is flown out as it probably won't come down again until getout and fault finding 6m high is a lot harder. If you can't flash out at ground level, which you can't do at my local theatre, then you do it immediately after the bar is raised and connected to dimmers, hot power and DMX (while you can still bring it down again).
  9. I'm with paulears - Assuming that you or one of your colleagues does the weighting, then you need only ensure that the Dance Dad is capable of operating ins and outs correctly and safely to your satisfaction. This need only be a short refresher if he doesn't do it between annual shows and might include a formal check on how flies are called and who is responsible for safety onstage (Dance Mum by the sound of things) as flyman's view is usually very restricted - and how flying can be immediately halted if a problem occurs (usually both on cans and anyone, including LX who might have a better view from FOH, can call a safety halt). If he expects to do the weighting as well, then this is a whole different ballgame although I would expect it to be a theatre rule that the resident techs (or other person they have authorised such as a casual) should do this and ensure each line is properly balanced with ins and outs marked in the appropriate manner (usually white tape in the UK). They should also take additional precautions to ensure that other bars, especially heavy ones like LX, cannot be accidentally moved usually by putting additional brakes on or clear marking. It is all too easy to release the brakes on the wrong line when in the dark and not experienced! I am not a flyman but have been a production manager several times at hired venues but have production flown like the Dance Dad and know what works safely - although it is always up to the resident tech to confirm precise local arrangements.
  10. Nor the band showing up early or unscheduled ;-)
  11. Unfortunately in my main venue with fixed bars, the set is built in situ as soon as the previous production closes. We did campaign a few years ago for the day after get-out to be for rigging LX (partly as business case for motorised bars) - but very few of our directors are used to working things out in their heads before the set is in place and they have rehearsed on it from a shell. This presents some interesting challenges for rigging, and focusing which is always a challenge anyway!
  12. The biggest lesson I learned in my first big show at a hired venue was that you cut the gels beforehand and bring them with you. Cutting 100+ gels during the get-in is a real time waster! Since then do it for all shows, small and large.Expect the unexpected!If you have agreed a get-in schedule with the SM, then make sure everyone sticks to it. It is very easy to shove LX closer and closer to the band call or in the case of a youth show, the cast arriving!Rig LX first on a bare stage. As a travelling amateur LD (in my younger years) it was amazing how many societies put the set up first so LX had to be rigged on ladders - when the bars could have come down and the rigging done in next to no time. "We've always done it like this"!
  13. Depends on what you mean by non-functional. If it is the whole fixture panel completely dead, there is a single ribbon cable connecting it to the main board IIRC which would be worth checking in case it has become unseated? Has it worked before or is this the first time you are trying to patch a fixture? If so, it is a long time since we had an FF but have you tried patching one of the dimmers as a fixture and check if that works? Also, remember that if you are patching LEDs you normally need both intensity AND colour before they light up. That's about all I can think of.
  14. I am pretty sure the Strand Sunset dimmers I used in the 1960/70s would dim white LED lamps perfectly well as they would reduce voltage without adding any harmonics (unlike electronic dimmers) - shame we can't try it for real! See http://www.theatrecrafts.com/archive/documents/1953_theatricallighting_69.pdf for the sort of dimmer I am talking about.
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