paulears

I think Tony's non-dim idea seems most likely - and is as you said, set on the control end - BUT - could somebody have set a similar feature on your dimmers? I don't know them so can't say if they even have this feature.

Are we still talking about when you accidentally used Magicq software or the quickQ? I'm confused now. (easy done, to be honest)

If you are using magicQ, then if you are using a 1:1 patch, the control syntax is asn you found - straightforward and it actually copes with many mangled syntax attempts too. Not sure what you mean by 'patch program'? Was Magicq can handle thousands of fixtures or dimmers in a patch - seeing everything is always impossible - but you normally would never want to - especially with heads with attributes when out of maybe 20 attributes, only one - intensity is kind of useful to see? You need to get used to the concept of palettes - clumps of similar useful things. So while 1 thru 90 full works fine, in groups you can cluster useful things together - so maybe bars, if you work that way. a group for Foh bar 1, or circle bar or lx1,2,3 etc - add in booms, or stuff on the ground, and to make things happen, bash bar 1,2,3 and 4 and press full. I suspect you are setting things up your own way so we can't quite think what you mean. Magicq even lets you set up and output screen with a graphical representation of where each light is - you can then even select the this way. Worth also noting that DMX numbers and head numbers will end up different when you start adding lots of lights. What are you stuck on that we can help with - not quite sure from your description of the problem. have you patched them, but can't see them, or not patched them?

Full white then add a touch of red or blue and it works quite well. They do make the strand profiles look a bit yellow but the source 4s match better. Amber seems pretty good too. Our trim height is quite low and straight down you can just see the blending but once you get to 5 or 6m it’s pretty flat and colour constant

I think most of us kind of forgot that movers don’t have to actually move when they’re lit. Being able to grab one, point it, zoom it and colour it makes them very versatile things and how many Fresnels are needed to do the rider common 3 colour wash? My gel consumption is a fraction of what it was yet when somebody wants a pale pink or a light amber it’s a few seconds. I also quite like the look of light from one place. With Fresnels you put perhaps a pair up in the right place and they’d be great but when the villain entered and direction called for colder you’d switch to another pair in less ideal location and see shadows change. LED can also do your fx like lightning in the storm by flicking to full white and back so much better than a filament can. My environment is quite damp here and out of ten left up permanently through the closed winter I lost just one on startup when a power supply failed that’s pretty good for three years. The replacement was less than a few sheets of gel! I bought a few that also offered amber and UV which I thought would be good but haven’t really used those much.

No the 36 x 10w is brighter than a 1k in anything other than open white and with rgb and white all on its brighter. Yes they’re movers but that has no price premium over a tungsten fresnel and they’re just so useful, you our space, like mine would take a lot of filling for even cover in just one colour. My leds can do any colour meaning a third the quantity of actual fixtures

For one show three years ago, I put up 8 cheap Chinese RGBW zoom 36x10W. Our stage is 12m x 10m and for the first time ever, we had an even and VERY bright wash. They never came down! I've subsequently bought quite a few more. The only downside to them is that they're a bit noisy. The current show we finish tonight has for a couple of scenes our 1K Fresnels and while I still like them, I'd almost forgotten how difficult it is to get and even wash without hotspots the video cameras reveal! Nudging the movers can cure all the issues you'd normally barn door them, although obviously you can't do a semi-hard edge. The disadvantage, is that the 8 LEDs give Source 4's on the truss a harder job when used as specials or face lights - they just manage, but our older Strand 1.2Ks struggle with brightness. Our 1200W discharge followspots also look dim, so brightness in any colour is now normal. I can't think about going back.

Opening the mic stand case and finding naked stands that somebody has taken the clip off means the clip is lost. I understand those that pair the clips with the mic, but I don't and find it so annoying. It also means that I recognise where the stand is going. Grab a stand, look at the clip and know that's front line, or snare, or hats, or overhead etc etc etc. The clips kind of label the stand once you see if it's short, long, extendable boom or something else. Like everything else - one persons solution is somebody else angst!

I've always thought that risk assessment is something everyone does throughout their lives. Using your current skills and knowledge levels you set your own safe limits. we then started formalising it in a sensible attempt to minimise the risk. It takes a great deal of thought to determine somebody else's risk assessment is over zealous or far too casual. If you visit a venue that requires PPE equipment, then only the foolish try to get around their rules. The key element in all discussions is the "we have been told......" issue. If that person is in a position of authority - then it's their call. However, often the person saying this to you may have got it wrong, so you need to just check the rules and follow them. My own venue has no clue whatsoever about anything - rules wise. Over a thousand pounds worth of PPE sits in a box in the roof, long out of date. They were told to buy it, so they did. However, nobody told them how to use it, when to use it, or what it's purpose actually was. They have not risk assessments of any kind for the theatre. They have no regular and verified system to have their flying systems serviced and checked, and not even a workable evacuation plan. Luckily, I have - and I make sure that if it came down to a Hillsborough moment, everyone would be as safe and protected as they can be. Not even really part of my job. It's funny that after one visit from a fire expert, a load of fire safety action notices appeared all over the place. Two years later, I discovered that the repeated mentions of the Technical Manager on the notice was actually me! I assumed it related to a proper full time employee - the guy with the keys, and a set of screwdrivers, but he told me it was me. Amazing.

Maybe if I go for just the fitting with dimmable lamps there's some hope. There were just some very attractive ones that were odd shapes and designs, and these seem to use either tape, or randomly placed LED clusters.

Yes - that's pretty much it! This still seems to require the decorative light fittings to be opened and rewired to be able to use a PWM driver, so more complicated than I hoped. Clearly the people selling these things seem to be pretty clueless. I had hoped there was a simple solution, but looks like all the nicer fittings will need mods - which won't please the owner I suspect. I think I need to find a way to not be involved, but a relative at the hotel put me in the frame thinking my lighting is similar to their lighting!

Er, you work for an educational establishment, so the most up to date and relevant data is in your own building! Not sure what an equivalent to A Level physics means, and sadly the incomplete degree also doesn't really count. The good thing is that schools are always looking for their staff to gain qualifications and usually fund them because it looks good in the inspections and on their 'score card'. Are there any 6th form courses that currently run, that you could do in spare time? Looking really at Level 3. You must have some paper quals to have got on the Bsc course? Is there a chance you could complete that while working in the school - remote learning and then just go for the exams? There are always courses on offer to educational employees. If your Physics is some kind of equivalent, why not take the exam in that - you probably wouldn't even need to go to classes. Any BTECs at your place? How about doing a teaching qualification - schools often promote these to staff so you can legitimately take a few classes for them. Cert Ed/PGCEs are usually available. Maybe you could do a 'real' electricians course if you fancy something practical - maybe your local college, and paid for by your school. You have tons of options - who's in charge of staff development? Go and bang on their door.

Got a strange request. A hotel with a smallish stage - think function band and weddings. They have some old Act 6 dimmers, but as their stage lighting is all now LED DMX, there is nothing plugged into the dimmers, but they are still wired in. The audience area is having new aircon, needing a new ceiling so they're wondering if they can source some 'posh' looking interesting fittings that are 1. LED, and 2. Able to be powered and dimmed from the Act6 dimmers. I'm really struggling as I've found plenty of larger nice looking interesting panels, pendants and in ceiling LED units but hardly any can be dimmed. The spec usually simply says Dimmable:No. The few that are multi coloured have useless small remote controls and need proper 240V permanent supplies. my enquiries to the manufacturers seem confused. A couple responded with lists of dimmable fixtures, but they're mainly in ceiling downlighters and I'm looking for larger, with odd shapes and just a bit more special to look at. there must be dimmable LED fittings out there, but I'm back useless answers from most - Yes our XYZ fitting does dim but cannot be dimmed. Doesn't help at all. I found some that were multicolour and looked like a musical clef, but turned out to have a remote control and NOT be remotely dimmable. I suspect Google translate is the culprit at the other end.

I don't have a specific fly gallery type risk assessment - it's covered within another but I pulled out the only sentences that would seem to apply to what we do. All equipment used for the suspension of scenic items and other material that may be flown shall be safe for use by virtue of strength and suitability. All items shall be compliant with the requirements of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 Competent and qualified personnel will be engaged to work on the installation and operation of the flying equipment Equipment shall be provided and maintained i.e. suitable flying bars and associated equipment Production Company advised on the load capabilities of the theatre (including the SWL of fly bars and the location of fixed load points in the roof) Provision of competent staff to oversee the operation of fly’s and the installation of lifting equipment Inspections of all house lifting equipment and lift assemblies and necessary maintenance carried out System in place to prevent unauthorised access to the flying system, control etc Nothing whatsoever about harnesses - although if the flys were of a strange design so people could perhaps fall, as in the grid where there could be open voids, then a harness requirement could make sense?

Any socket is a usable socket - is the mantra of everyone who is NOT a lighting person. I found yesterday a good example. While we were all at lunch, a group of dancers needed to plug in a small amp, and their computer to play some music, because the sound op was with us. Should have been a break, but wasn't for them. 4 way 13A strip, with a 16A plug. They'd found a cable with a 16A socket going to a 15A plug, and were happily playing their music when we got back. By sheer luck, they had plugged it into the one obvious socket near the computer - which luckily was hard power! every other 15A would have been from our dimmers. You can't expect people to understand this. Switch mode power supplies really don't like being dimmed!

Most bands that have been touring to my kind of venue have that spec as standard. the basic idea is that most theatres DO have profiles FOH, so lighting the band members glued to mic stands so the audience can see faces means the rest of the lighting can be practically anything - in the bigger and better equipped venues you get flash-flash with perhaps movers and beams, but in lesser equipped for staff places, a 3 colour ash that will be static, and might come from overhead, making face light essential. Put the lights low on stands and the people on stage can't see anything - face lights from stands out front will be low - and horrible. I don't think these demands are wish lists, as face lights from profiles and colour washes is probably the least complex thing that could be asked for. for venues of maybe 150 upwards.

Perhaps we need to recognise that sometimes, there are two methods to do things. The official, correct, in the know route that involves LOLER, and the other route - the well meaning, jury rigged, best intentioned and totally distanced from professional practice solution that might, or might not be dangerous. However, most of these general knowledge based solutions can be safe when the person doing them is somebody with common sense. Not all bodges are dangerous, many, lacking knowledge, are over engineered and can be perfectly functional and long lasting. I know a theatre where the proscenium wall was built as a later add-on, and is a freestanding wall made of lath and plaster that is effectively freestanding. It's secured to the structure at the top, in the centre, with 2" diameter marine style rope, with many layers of varnish, put there I think in the 1920s, and not visible from the ground. Been like that for nearly a hundred years. I'm sure if a structural engineer saw it, then it would be condemned straight away. As it's stood with no detectable movement for all these years, it's a pretty decent bodge I think.

It would be very much different if it was a theatre - Places of entertainment have lots of additional safety related issues. Status wise, Churches are considered private, not public. Church goers are considered as guests, and are there by invitation. Churches could throw people out they don't like, but of course won't. Interestingly they are technical considered as private, but used as public spaces. This has been established in the quest in some areas to ban photography. Many shopping centres are private property to which the public are invited and this apparently gave the the right to restrict photography. However, with the rise in street photography the advice now being given to the Police is that people have the right to take photographs in any public space, or (importantly) private space, used by the public. This means that taking pictures on railway property - a common pastime by the train spotters is now actually protected and legal, as is Canary Wharf, where a camera identifies you as a potential terrorist. A bit OT, but it means that churches are simply private space, used by the public and this brings with it as mentioned above, the duty of care. You see some simply terrible lash ups in churches, but if somebody there has the role that carries H&S responsibility, then it's a responsive issue - when something goes wrong. Most installers, with their responsibilities, take the proactive approach and won't do bodges but proper installs where loads are calculated and displayed. The churchwarden will probably use angled 6" nails and hang the truss happily on them. I do quite a few jobs in churches and my most common 'risks' are simply cables and hanging things. I've got pretty good with aircraft style 3mm wire rope. A simple ladder lets me wrap them, pad them to protect the stonework.timber and then hang microphones. I'm happy with any potential failures or incidents, but that's a decision for me. No law I'm aware of says you cannot do what you wish to do, but it's up to you to accept or reject the risk and consequences. Our laws around safety all centre on competence to do things, which kick in with injury. Insurance for this will be tricky as it will be risk based. Your premium would be calculated on you. I've tried a few insurance solutions and one explained it rather well. If you take out a new policy for an event, or a single process or specific job - this is actually bad for you. You are asking for insurance because you believe there is a chance it will be needed, and this puts the price up drastically when viewed by actuaries. So Insurance to install some truss with a heavy projector could be very high because the only reason you are doing it is to protect yourself. Annual insurance to install unspecified equipment for congregation audio-visual support could be cheaper! When I do these kinds of things, I use an engineering company I've worked with loads of times. They visit and determine how it can be done based on the budget, and offer a loading solution. One we did in an old church turned into an arts centre simply involved them welding up some custom built brackets that were attached discretely to suitable places that allowed a 50mm tube to be clamped to the front - we used two chord black painted flat truss and it took them around 30 minutes and no tools to mount it each week. They rated the load at 125Kgs evenly distributed, and stuck some small labels near the clamps. I think the three brackets and the fitting and a nice document saying the limits cost less than £500. The buildings insurance didn't need modification as the install had been done by 'proper' people. Afterwards they actually told me they'd have been happy rating it at 250Kg if I'd asked for that, as the timber was very substantial and anchored in the building stonework. 125Kg was fine for what was normally hanging on it.

Install an app called zello on the phone - it's free. create your own private group. This makes the phone appear to be a walkie-talkie and you can send to it from another phone, or application running on a PC - might be a fudge to link the audio routing, but pressing transmit on the other device makes the audio pop out of the phone. Quality is pretty decent and with a private group you have a no fear of strangers and the only issue a tiny bit of latency. It's meant for two-way radio users or forum type groups where you can have a kind of world wide CB - but it works pretty well and it's free!

These kind of soft lights are very common now in the bigger studios to produce this very even sort lighting. spaceflights

You can't see they used backlights, because they didn't! That's surprisingly easy to do in After Effects and to a degree in the usual popular editors. Colour replacement is quite advanced now - you pick a colour and then tell the software to change it, and it gives you amazing control over the hue, saturation and shading. You could change the colour of a football strip, or make all the leaves on a tree orange to suggest autumn. The variable is time. The basic effect is easy, but then you get left with tidying the edges and putting right areas where the colour went astray. The important thing, and the only real job of the lighting is to be even and similar levels. The software that did the warp effects also did the colour changes. No blacklight needed, and anyway it wouldn't work very well because the colours of the fluorescing materials would have been fixed, not able to be varied. I'm surprised you even thought it was UV? Watch this.

The stuff is methyl mercaptan, but apparently the amount they add has been dropped over the last few years. Still stinks - just not quite so much.

I thought they'd stopped introducing the fake smell into real gas? I thought they'd stopped introducing the fake smell into real gas?

Matamp! Still got two empty cabinets somewhere, and a working 500W amp too. Rosko and the Orange gear with SP25 Mk2, or was it 3? Amazing the daft things you remember - Blue Fuzz lights and 3 channel sound to light boxes! Rosko had an afghan coat he refused to take off and it stank like a camel!

Remember the WEM stuff well. My first system - 40w, 2 Shure 515 High impedance mics, and 2 4X12" columns. 1973 - I think and my school caretaker lost the mains cable. I bodged it feeding in a piece of cable through the line output jack socket. Still in use in 1995 when I did a little job there. In 76 we had Slade with 1 WEM 100W mixer/amp and two or three 100W slaves in old beer crates with a pair of 4X12" on each amp. We thought that mega loud.