Tension Wire Grid

[photographic08]

I have a production coming up in a theatre we havent used before. The theatre has a tension wire gird (or skydeck) to access the 6 bars in the roof, the other bars being perch bars and on the outer wall of the auditorium. I want to use 2 Mac500's but an concerned that the beams that the wires attach to will get in the way of the beam. Any idea if this will be a problem?

[Shez]

Without seeing the space, that's almost impossible to answer. Where exactly are you planning on rigging the macs and where exactly are the beams you're concerned about?

[Ynot]

If the wires are just that, wires, and they're pretty close to the lanterns, then there will be liitle or no visible effect on the beams from the Macs, or indeed any decent luminaire.

[photographic08]

the macs are going about 1m above the grid, about 1m either side of the centre. I know the wires wont be a problem, its the metal beams they are attached to. its if a have the macs light beam sweeping across the theatre, or im using it to follow an actor, when the light beam goes past a metal one, im concerned the metal beam will get in the way. There were too many 'beams' in that.

 

here's a better way of putting it, im concerned that the metal girders that the wires attach to will obscure the light beam if it moves across one

[andy_s]

I found when visiting a couple of venues with TWG recently that the steel support beams were indeed always where I wanted to point a light. I had drawn units (not moving lights) in the positions I would usually put them in relation to the stage, and frequently found there was one of these support beams in the way, necessitating an adjustment in the position of the lantern. Because of the nature of the rig and the focus, the variance from the usual relationship to the stage did mean that it was a little more difficult to get a nice, even general cover. I guess if you were a resident at a venue with this arrangement, you'd soon find the best place to rig your general cover... and rig and focus accordingly to make it work best.

 

I've yet to be convinced that the tension wire grid is being used in venues in ways which offer improvements over other methods of gaining access to rigging positions. So far the venues I've seen with them are a sort of "hybrid" - TWG above the audience for FOH positions, and more conventional fixed grids or LX winches / cw bars above the stage, requiring access via 'scope or ladder. And as they are constructed in panels, they don't give you an uninterrupted view of the stage (although I do vaguely recall that the TWG at RADA is an uninterrupted span, so it's not impossible.... and I can see that that would be a quantifiable advantage over convenentional FOH bridges (unless I've remembered this wrong, of course, it's a very long time since I saw it)

 

I'd be interested to hear about venues where all high access (i.e. not booms, perches etc, but everything aboove stage and audience) was via a TWG. I would think it would be useful for theatre in the round, or the Nouveau-Guthrie style stages. I can think of one venue I was in recently (built as a theatre-in-the-round in the 1970s) where a TWG with or without supporting beams would be a huge improvement over what is there now.

 

edited for appalling spelling and typing....

[back_ache]

I'd be interested to hear about venues where all high access (i.e. not booms, perches etc, but everything aboove stage and audience) was via a TWG.

 

The roundhouse in Camden, London.

 

It's a leap of faith first stepping out on to it but you soon get used to it. (and it doesn't have any beams in the middle its just one big span)

[andy_s]

I'd be interested to hear about venues where all high access (i.e. not booms, perches etc, but everything aboove stage and audience) was via a TWG.

 

The roundhouse in Camden, London.

 

It's a leap of faith first stepping out on to it but you soon get used to it. (and it doesn't have any beams in the middle its just one big span)

that's interesting - does it go all the way across? I was in the venue soon after it reopened, I was drafted in as an extra pair of hands when it all got a bit behind schedule - watching the riggers trying to erect the space rocket, which as I recall had a height equal to that of the centre of the building, so watching them get the last section in place was both scary and ..... scary (was going to write "amusing", but actually it wasn't.),but that would imply a hole in the TWG. The only other time I've been in there was as a punter at KT Tunstall a few years ago, don't remember looking at the grid on that occasion - the show was interesting enough to keep me occupied!

[Junior8]

Well if they get in the way they get in the way - it's really a case of suck it and see. One of the last spaces I worked in regularly had a lighting infrastructure that pre-dated a drapes grid installed when the architects realized that white painted block wall (not to mention a bright red cat-ladder to a plant room. I am not making this up.) wasn't the best thing as a background. It completely messed up the angles from some of the wall mounted pipes but -as Andy pointed out - after a while you get used to it. Mind you this was before the days of movers for all but I found with a bit of careful planning it was seldom an insuperable problem.

 

I wish I could say that I'd be comfortable using a TWG but even just looking at the pix of them gives me the shakes.....just as well I'm out of it!

[PDD]

I'd be interested to hear about venues where all high access was via a TWG.

On a smaller scale than the Roundhouse, the Junction in Cambridge has a clear-span TWG over the entire venue (including over stage) - which does of course make flying difficult, but they have some reasonable solutions for dropping lines between the wire mesh.

 

There are essentially two types of TWG - those made with pre-formed panels, which have the annoying horizontal supports or frames, and those made as a clear span with just a few intermediate hanger plates to stop it flexing too far. The latter of course is much better, as there is less likelihood of a bit of structure getting in the way, but they do flex a bit more. The reason some venues have the former is cost. I'm currently heavily involved with our new-build, and we've had to cost-cut from an open span TWG to a lesser one with frames. Because of the problems, I'm hoping that a slightly revised arrangement will allow me to go back to the open span, but the open span is more expensive.

 

To answer the OP, there's no way around it except some careful programming and design. Yes, the supporting steelwork will obscure the lightbeam as you pan across it. Not sure what else you expected people to say in response!

[David Lee]

the Junction in Cambridge has a clear-span TWG over the entire venue (including over stage) - which does of course make flying difficult, but they have some reasonable solutions for dropping lines between the wire mesh.

 

Having just started there I can only but agree. Love it, so much easier to work from. :)

[neild]

We have quite a lot of TWG at work, and generally it works well for us. You need to bear in mind that if you are shooting lights at shallow angles, close to horizontal then obviously the wires will have an impact on the light output, but generally it makes no real difference. - Keeping the nose of the lamp as close to the wires as possible helps things.

 

Its also worth bearing in mind that it can have a slight impact from an audience perspective. I become very aware of the blobs of light in the roof when we use our house rig.

 

We do have frames in ours which can be a bit limiting, but you quickly learn the where the constraints are, and as we have a reasonable throw distance in a fairly large space, tweaking a lamp a couple of feet doesn't tend to be a problem.

 

All visiting shows however tend to hang their own rigs underneath our TWG. Its a VERY easy rig if all you have to do is pull a chain up through a nicely sized whole right below you! - Its also easy to fit cee-forms through the gaps in the wire which makes it great for dropping cables without having to cross doors or walkways etc.