vinntec

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?

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?

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).

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)

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.

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.

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.

Those things were the work of the devil!

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).

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.

Nor the band showing up early or unscheduled ;-)

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!

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"!

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.

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.

The Stables theatre in Hastings (126 seats) uses some electric winches for lighting and raising cloths. Instead of going down the Stage Electric type route, which would allow the winches to be used for flying, they were more interested in lifting heavy things so they could be rigged at ground level. The solution they came up with cost about £100 per winch (at 100kg) so £200-£300 per bar depending on how many mounting points (I believe they have only two per bar and put up with a lot of bend). They use commercial scaffolder’s electric winches (the one I looked closely at was a Parkside PSZ 250 B2 which was for 250kg). They can’t be used for flying as multiple winches won’t go at exactly the same speed but with a control for each one it is common sense to raise them roughly together then adjust (just like when using hemp). The controllers of each bar are gaffered together. The electric winches are fixed onto hemp-flown bars which then raise and lower a separate wired bar – and hold the wired bar once in position. I suspect the reason for this is that if a motor fails, they can lower the LX bar with the remaining ones then drop the hemp bar, change the motor, then reverse the process. They don’t use them FOH possibly because the two FOH bars appear to have a standard rig. It would be worth the travelling time to visit them if you are thinking along the same lines. I don't have a contact but they are on the internet http://stablestheatre.co.uk/ if you are interested.

Yes sorry - and of course reservists who would have been former regular soldiers.

Actually it's worse than that. In the scene supposedly on HMS Exeter he has the badge of an aircraft handler. So his action station would be to attend to the spotting aircraft which Exeter carried. Instead he is in the magazine. No flash gear - which has been compulsory since Jutland in 1916 - which would have severely restricted the severity of burns from a flash. Shell handling was a complex job and not one in which someone could fill in except for exercise. The film also showed a flash to the magazine of HMS Exeter when the turret above was hit - the only possible outcome of this would be for the ship to explode! However, between the magazine and the gun turret there were multiple flash doors expressly designed to stop flashes from the turret if it is hit or malfunctions - another lesson learned from Jutland. HMS Exeter was severely damaged during the Battle of the River Plate and limped to the Falklands Islands for emergency repairs before returning to the UK for a proper refit. It was possible to be sent to sea following basic training and a 2 week spell on a warship in a little over 3 months (during early stages of WW2). I would have expected an aircraft handler to be send on further training before being sent to a ship. So - at the Battle of the River Plate? Absolutely no chance as that would have been 99% regular RN and allied navies (notably New Zealand). HMS Keith at Dunkirk? Maybe - if he joined up on the outbreak of war. Most of the British soldiers at Dunkirk were regular soldiers or territorials. They would have been disciplined even during what looked certain to be defeat. So would not look and act like tramps (apologies to tramps). Finally - most of the acting is appalling. Much of the dialogue is circa 2019, not 1939-1940! A former naval reservist (RNR) 1979-1991

Although it seems to me that this particular case is nothing directly to do with counterweight flying, just that the person is in a precarious position while loading and unloading weights. So it is a fall hazard rather than a runaway hazard.

Actually the Philips Selecon PLPROFILE1 and PLFRESNEL1 can run in 3, 9 and 15 channel modes. The manual linked already tells you what you get in each case. You have to change both the lantern and the desk profile at the same time. We use both and run them in 15 channel mode in a single universe with everything else - but we are a tiny 77 seat theatre. What desk does the theatre use? Assuming it can handle more than one DMX universe, if there is no wiring possible to take DMX to your lanterns as a second universe you might consider hiring wireless DMX to use instead, something like ShowBaby? The theatre people should know what is possible and what has been done before to supplement their normal fit (as wifi might not work well in that venue). I would only consider changing their standard rig when it is absolutely essential and the theatre itself is comfortable for it to be done. Almost certainly you will have to put it back how it was in the early hours of your getout. We have taken our LEDs to hired venues this year, and they all advised us how to complement what they had with our stuff. In one case, they didn't care what we did with their kit as they didn't have a standard rig. In another, the standard rig was holy cow status but they provided infrastructure to run our stuff on a dedicated DMX universe. So I would speak to the resident technician at the hired space to discuss the problem from your point of view. They should know what would be easiest for both of you and any options available.

We still use our ones as backstage working lights!

Although Philips did say they were going to continue PAR56 and PAR64 production and they both show in their current product line.

We all know that Philips stopped manufacturing tungsten theatre lamps back in 2017. I checked what WhiteLight were currently selling for GKV and T26/27 we use and their's are GE Lighting BluePinch etc. However, when I look on the GE Lighting website there is no mention of them? Do I have to be afraid, very very afraid that the end of these lamps is basically until the stock piles run out?

It depends on what exactly you are trying to achieve. Here is a look I used for a 10 minute play about two prisoners in different cells. There are four downlights (CCT Minuette PCs if I remember correctly) which roughly mark out the confines of the two cells. There is the absolute minimum amount of facelight and sidelight added so their faces are just about visible. Of course this was for a 10 minute play (and the cell lights went on and off a number of times) which might not be comfortable to view for any length of time. But the audience got the idea very quickly. From one of the reviews: "‘The Worst of the Worst’ by Shaadi Rad also leaves us with unanswered questions. In this play, we are confronted by two men in solitary confinement. It appears that they might both be in prison for murder, but how long have they been there and why does their treatment seem more like that meted out to political prisoners than to common criminals? The sound of the lights in the men’s cells being switched on and off is particularly effective and disquieting."

Thanks for the comments everyone. It is not an easy problem to sort out. My electrician is thinking that some sort of sequential switch on unit might be needed which he has used in the past in broadcast applications with lots of CRTs coming on at the same time, but not something we were expecting with LED. The hot power wiring is all new and certified so we are fairly confident this is not to blame (and where the fixtures are physically rigged also varies a lot). It is not totally impossible that there is a rogue fixture(s) out there, as one or two are pre-production as we were very early adopters of this range. On the other hand, if we ever have moving fixtures, then we probably need a robust hot supply able to take knocks so planning an upgrade for this as well having all LED might not be such a bad idea as long as the cost is containable. But as @indyld says, it would be good to know exactly what is causing this before heading down a major rewiring exercise. Oh my head!