# Interchangeability of terms



## derekleffew

Standard QotD rules DO NOT apply for this one. Anyone may answer.

Inspired by these threads, Props FAIL and http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/question-day/21595-whats-name.html, I thought a list of terms that many think are interchangeable, but are really not, might be fun.

podium/lectern
socket/base
chain motor/chain hoist
cable/wire

Others?


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## CrazyTechie

I seem to always get plaster line and proscenium mixed up.


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## ruinexplorer

I would add pin rail/fly rail. I have seen several glossaries that will put them (incorrectly) as interchangeable.


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## Van

Does 'Extra' and 'Supernumerary' qualify ?


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## JChenault

Bulb / Lamp


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## gafftapegreenia

JChenault said:


> Bulb / Lamp


 /globe/bubble


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## Tex

Scrim / Cyc
I hear that one a lot...


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## zmb

Light/Instrument or luminaire


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## WooferHound

lapel - lavalier
wire - cable - cord
Light - Lamp - Luminary - Lantern - Fixture - Instrument

FOH (Front Of House) is actually 2 places: Lighting Coves and the Mix Position


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## sk8rsdad

WooferHound said:


> FOH (Front Of House) is actually 2 places: Lighting Coves and the Mix Position


FOH also gets used as the name for the group of people that staff the lobby and auditorium.


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## WooferHound

Pipe - Batton - Line Set - Headache


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## sk8rsdad

Dimmer - Channel - Fader - Handle


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## Van

Drop , Back drop, Cyc. 
Leg, Tab


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## chausman

Grand/Main/Curtain.


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## Van

chausman said:


> Grand/Main/Curtain.


Well for tha matter;
Grand / Act curtain
Drape / Curtain

Oh and another that drives me freakin crazy!
Dolley / Hand-truck


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## derekleffew

I feel some may be missing the point of this thread--which is NON-synonymous terms used interchangeably. 

Sure, call it a lamp/globe/bulb/bottle/bubble, but don't confuse podium with lectern.


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## Les

Teaser/tormenter, but that violates the point of this thread.

Tex, the scrim/cyc thing really bugs be!

How about Ellipsoidal/Leko/Profile, or worse yet, calling EVERYTHING a "Source Four". 

...Or calling every modern non-Source Four ellipsoidal a 'knock-off' 

Oh, intelligent lights/OBEDIENT LIGHTS. (No lights are "intelligent").


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## derekleffew

Les said:


> Teaser/tormenter, but that violates the point of this thread. ...


Actually, I don't see teaser/tormentor (when spelt correctly) to be in violation at all. Many use the two interchangeably, and one is vertical and the other horizontal.


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## Van

derekleffew said:


> I feel some may be missing the point of this thread--which is NON-synonymous terms used interchangeably.
> 
> Sure, call it a lamp/globe/bulb/bottle/bubble, but don't confuse podium with lectern.


 
well, a drape and a curtain are two different things. Act Curtain is very different from a Main. Leg, Tab, Tormentor, teaser are all differnet terms often used interchangeably to drive me nuts.


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## gafftapegreenia

Intelligent/moving/motorized/wiggle lights


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## MNicolai

The podium/lectern one is the one that bothers me more than most because enough companies that sell these products often mislabel them as the opposite one.

West/east-coasting is another bad one. I've known people who have done one or the other for over a decade who can't agree on which is which. Often leads to a great argument after a long night when someone starts shouting at the guy who's striking the soft goods who thinks he's doing exactly what he was told to.

People like calling a pipe a "bar," but one of my old bosses used to remind anyone caught saying that that a bar is something you sit at.


> Batton



And [user]WooferHound[/user], I believe the term you were looking for was _batten_.

Other great ones are DMX/XLR (for that matter, that people think that DMX cables actually exist), twist-lock/Speakon/Neutrik connectors, CAT5/CAT5E/CAT6, winch/wench, scissor/boom/vertical-mast/Genie lift, and one that causes lots of confusion when building a new facility, Telex/Clear Com system.


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## JChenault

derekleffew said:


> I feel some may be missing the point of this thread--which is NON-synonymous terms used interchangeably.
> 
> Sure, call it a lamp/globe/bulb/bottle/bubble, but don't confuse podium with lectern.



Derek - I'm not parsing your comment.
bulb = the clear envelope part of a lamp.
Lamp = the bulb plus base plus filament etc.
globe / blub / bottle - may be the different names for the same thing - but lamp is (IMHO) something completely different.


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## derekleffew

MNicolai said:


> ... that bothers me more than most because enough companies that sell these products often mislabel them as the opposite one.


Oh, that just reminded me of another. I think both Altman and Lycian (and Wybron)use "dowser" when they mean "douser". On a slightly different note, I once asked a theatrical drapery (or maybe it was a curtain [Van]) manufacturer the correct spelling of traveler. He told me no one in the company could agree.
-----

JChenault said:


> Derek - I'm not parsing your comment.
> bulb = the clear envelope part of a lamp.
> Lamp = the bulb plus base plus filament etc.
> globe / blub / bottle - may be the different names for the same thing - but lamp is (IMHO) something completely different.


Hence the "fun" part of this thread. Each must draw his own line in the sand, and pick his own battles. I don't mind calling a lamp something else (and might argue that globe/bottle/bubble are legitimate British terms), but misuse of base/socket really gets my goat (and you know who you are).

Just thought of another: porcelain/ceramic when referring to a MEP (GX16d) socket in a parcan. Or is it PAR can, or PARcan?


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## David Ashton

Pipe and tube, but pipe is measured i.d. and tube is o.d., so when 50mm pipe is specified it completely stuffs up a job.
"Conventional" and "generic" really annoys me, to me conventional means standard incandescent units, while generic means "no name" [Chinese] manufacturer, so when someone mentions generic lighting do they mean standard theatre lights or movers made by Great Wall of China lighting company.


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## gafftapegreenia

MNicolai said:


> Other great ones are DMX/XLR (for that matter, that people think that DMX cables actually exist),.


 
DMX cables exist, "DMX Connectors" are really 5 pin XLR's.


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## xander

gafftapegreenia said:


> DMX cables exist, "DMX Connectors" are really 5 pin XLR's.



I'm not sure, but his point might have been that DMX isn't the cable, that would be Belden #### or Cat5 or whatever you are using, DMX is the protocol. But yes, people saying "DMX connector" when they mean "5 pin XLR" really bugs me.

-Tim


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## xander

derekleffew said:


> I feel some may be missing the point of this thread--which is NON-synonymous terms used interchangeably.
> 
> Sure, call it a lamp/globe/bulb/bottle/bubble, but don't confuse podium with lectern.


 
Maybe, as part of the response, one should explicitly state what the difference between the two "NON-synonymous terms" actually is. Like, perhaps Derek would like to explain the difference between lectern and podium because I actually don't know and it is easier (read, "more entertaining") to ask you than actually use a dictionary 

-Tim


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## porkchop

Moving Head Fixture/Vari-lite. I get this a lot with older union hands that don't do electrics that often and it makes me cringe every time.


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## MNicolai

xander said:


> I'm not sure, but his point might have been that DMX isn't the cable, that would be Belden #### or Cat5 or whatever you are using, DMX is the protocol. But yes, people saying "DMX connector" when they mean "5 pin XLR" really bugs me.
> 
> -Tim



Correct. It's not any different than people saying "microphone cable," but in that case, people are usually smarter than to assume there's a "mic connector." 

DMX-quality data cables are marketed in a very weird way. A lot of places sell "DMX cables," that don't even meet the DMX protocol standard. Either they're not a data-quality cable, don't have XLR5 connectors, or don't specify whether or not the cable contains a second twisted pair. (And as Doug Fleenor says, they're really data-quality cables capable of transmitting signals based on the DMX protocol)

I don't particularly mind people saying CAT5, CAT5e, or CAT6 cables, but don't use one term to mean any of the other terms. They're not all the same, and while a lot of time whatever you use will be compatible, you don't want several hundred feet to just have been installed in your facility only to find out you used something that isn't compatible with the application you're using it for.

This is a very picky discussion, but in practice I'm not bothered when people say "DMX cable," but when they tell me that's what their gear uses, I'll show up with a data cable with XLR5 connectors and won't show a lot mercy when you look at it and note that your gear uses XLR3 connectors ("You know, like on a mic cable," they'll say, which clues me in that they probably aren't even using data-quality cables for DMX signals anyways.) XLR3 is specifically not allowed as per the DMX standard. If you ask for a DMX cable and don't specify the connectors, I'll rightfully presume you need XLR5 connectors. "How this works" pages like this one make me resent the XLR3 connectors for the purpose of DMX transmission even more.


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## derekleffew

xander said:


> ... Like, perhaps Derek would like to explain the difference between lectern and podium because I actually don't know and it is easier (read, "more entertaining") to ask you than actually use a dictionary


If only this site had a way of distinguishing terms that may not be familiar to all. Then one could simply click on the words lectern or podium to be taken to the definition. The entire discussion could be elevated.

/sarcasm


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## cdcarter

derekleffew said:


> If only this site had a way of distinguishing terms that may not be familiar to all. Then one could simply click on the words lectern or podium to be taken to the definition. The entire discussion could be elevated.
> 
> /sarcasm


 
Unfortunately, this doesn't always help out. See the Act Curtain vs. Main rag pages. It's noted that there is a minor difference, but I still have no idea what it is.


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## derekleffew

cdcarter said:


> Unfortunately, this doesn't always help out. See the Act Curtain vs. Main rag pages. It's noted that there is a minor difference, but I still have no idea what it is.


You're right--that was a lousy definition, and I have attempted to improve it.


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## ColbyAtTroy

Les said:


> Oh, intelligent lights/OBEDIENT LIGHTS. (No lights are "intelligent").


 
Automated lights are pretty intelligent to me.

On the topic, however, Scrollers and intelligent fixtures. Mostly talking about scrollers as intelligent lights.


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## ColbyAtTroy

What about Drill Driver vs. Screw gun? My entire High School career, it was a drill driver. However, now it's a Screw gun. I prefer the term 'driver' in reference to a 'gun'.


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## museav

Safety ground/signal ground
Electrical Engineer/Electrician
Speaker/loudspeaker (the speaker talks and is reproduced through the loudspeaker)
Line array/curvilinear array/constant curvature array/multiple loudspeakers mounted vertically
Camera/projector (amazing how many people ask for a camera to display video and graphics)
Input/channel and output/bus (digital consoles make these an important distinction)
Choir mic/hanging mic (there are other ways to mic a choir)
VGA/VGA (actual 640x480 VGA or video/graphics on an HD15 connector)
CAT5/CAT5e/CAT6 and UTP/STP (how many people use "CAT5" generically?)
RJ11/RJ45/8P2C/8P8C


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## gafftapegreenia

1/8" - 3.5mm - mini 

jack/plug

Often used to mean the same thing, such as in the wikipedia article - Filehoto-audiojacks.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However, the jack is the "female", and the plug the "male".


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## mstaylor

ColbyAtTroy said:


> What about Drill Driver vs. Screw gun? My entire High School career, it was a drill driver. However, now it's a Screw gun. I prefer the term 'driver' in reference to a 'gun'.


It depends on what it is, they are different tools. A drill/driver does both things and can be either corded or cordless. A screw gun is does only drive screws and is usualy corded. I don't know that I have seen a cordless version. Screw guns are usually used to drive large volumes of screws as in a drywall contractor. 
It sounds like your HS had it right and where you are now is using the wrong term.


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## gafftapegreenia

MNicolai said:


> This is a very picky discussion, but in practice I'm not bothered when people say "DMX cable," but when they tell me that's what their gear uses, I'll show up with a data cable with XLR5 connectors and won't show a lot mercy when you look at it and note that your gear uses XLR3 connectors ("You know, like on a mic cable," they'll say, which clues me in that they probably aren't even using data-quality cables for DMX signals anyways.) XLR3 is specifically not allowed as per the DMX standard. If you ask for a DMX cable and don't specify the connectors, I'll rightfully presume you need XLR5 connectors. "How this works" pages like this one make me resent the XLR3 connectors for the purpose of DMX transmission even more.


 
And this is, I think, at the heart of this discussion. We work in an industry dominated by people that use terms incorrectly, often because of a simple lack of knowledge. As professional entertainment technicans, it is our job to know the proper terms, know what they apply to, know the standard "generic" or slang usage of such terms, know the local meanings of such terms, know the assumed or implied meanings of such terms, be able to remember to always ask plenty of questions to decode what the client wants instead of just assuming, AND have enough resources and foresight to be able to cover when the client walks up to you during a set up and asks "I want X".

With these terminology discussion, I think it's my own personal goal, and the goal of most of the CB team, to not always insist that one term is right or proper (althought some are certainly more concrete than others) since we can never seem to agree on some terms, but rather, our goal is to widen the base of knowledge concerning terminology and its usage by discussing both intended and proper use, as well as all other usages. Perhaps we can do our part to help foster correct and proper terminology usage, but really, that dream is still a ways away, and till that day, we will all have to know the slang.

Also, if you really want to know what annoys me, its the equation of "anything pre Source 4 = junk"


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## Grog12

derekleffew said:


> Just thought of another: porcelain/ceramic when referring to a MEP (GX16d) socket in a parcan. Or is it PAR can, or PARcan?


 
Everyone knows its a Parabolic Aluminized Reflector Can...silly.


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## gafftapegreenia

Open white/no color/clear


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## What Rigger?

derekleffew said:


> Standard QotD rules DO NOT apply for this one. Anyone may answer.
> 
> Inspired by these threads, Props FAIL and http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/question-day/21595-whats-name.html, I thought a list of terms that many think are interchangeable, but are really not, might be fun.
> 
> podium/lectern
> socket/base
> chain motor/chain hoist
> cable/wire
> 
> Others?


 Cable/wire irks me the most. It's wire rope! Egads!


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## What Rigger?

And here's one that nobody will get, but I'll put it up anyway:

SPRAT/Rope Access

(One is a governing body, the other is the method they govern)


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## museav

xander said:


> I'm not sure, but his point might have been that DMX isn't the cable, that would be Belden #### or Cat5 or whatever you are using, DMX is the protocol. But yes, people saying "DMX connector" when they mean "5 pin XLR" really bugs me.


Much like "microphone cable", which may commonly reference a shielded, twisted pair of 22-24AWG conductors with three pin XLR terminations. Yet I've used that same basic cable and connector for microphone signals, line level analog audio signals, AES digital audio signals, intercom, low voltage control (contact closure, logic inputs, remote pots, RS-232/485, etc.) and probably a few other uses. It is the application, not the physical devices, that is often being referenced. Thus a cable with shielded, twisted pair of 22-24AWG conductors and three pin XLR terminations is not really a "mic cable" when not in use but it is what you might grab when someone asks for a mic cable.


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## pmolsonmus

To help define and enlighten....as a conductor I stand on a soap box occassionally, and a podium regularly, but never on a lectern unless I'm going to jump over the violins to strangle the violas. 

It would be very rare that I would ask for a lecturn set up before the rehearsal began. That would be a game time decision.


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## derekleffew

pmolsonmus said:


> ...as a conductor I stand ...


Do you ever get shocked or electrocuted when being a conductor?


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## pmolsonmus

*OHM*y no, I have a very high resistance


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## gafftapegreenia

Whip/leads/pigtail/cord

Gel/color/color media/filter

diffusion/frost

silk/spreader frost


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## cmckeeman

truss condom/ truss sock


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## cmckeeman

What Rigger? said:


> And here's one that nobody will get, but I'll put it up anyway:
> 
> SPRAT/Rope Access
> 
> (One is a governing body, the other is the method they govern)



I have fallen to this one before and to add to some rigging ones:

knot/hitch/bend
spanset/GACflex


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## n1ist

shocked/electrocuted. If you are telling me that it happened to you, it was the former, or you are speaking from beyond the grave...
/mike


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## mstaylor

In my area motor/hoist get used interchangeably. Also rigging wire is generally called rigging steel. Accurate but not really correct.


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## Blake

Not common but we have ratchets and my manager just says "get the tool" 

Sent from my Galaxy S3


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## museav

One of my pet peeves - phase versus polarity. It's amazing how many manufacturers and 'experts' apply them improperly.


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## BillConnerFASTC

mstaylor said:


> In my area motor/hoist get used interchangeably. Also rigging wire is generally called rigging steel. Accurate but not really correct.



winch and hoist - frequently improperly used interchangeably

cyc or cyclorama and sky drop - a pet peeve - but a cyc is curved

but then I'm still stuck in the jumper vs cable era

I suppose 6X9 Leko is nearly interchangeable with 36 degree Source4 - or not - depending on how you are meaning it.

Wish there was something interchangeable with a dynabeam today......


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## shoodtd

How about cat5 with UTP... Cat 6 is also UTP. There is an STP version of Cat 5, and Cat7 is also fully STP.

Cyc vs. Bounce or sky drop bugs me, too... Very few places have true cycs anymore. W&M has one, including a pit for their floor cyc lights to live in and the bottom of the cyc to land in. It's way cool to see lit...

chop saw vs. powered miter saw

the list goes on, unfortunately.


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## tyler.martin

JChenault said:


> Bulb / Lamp




If only I could "Like" this many times over...


> including a pit for their floor cyc lights to live in



cyc troughs can be common depending on the venue... I worked in/on one where we had a midstage and an upstage cyc trough. I've worked with a few theatre consultants who are putting them in new venues with LED cyc lights... as for true cyc's. my venue has a vinyl projection surface as a cyc... I hate it... impossible to get the wrinkles out of...


> In my area motor/hoist get used interchangeably.


+1, but then you throw in the "chain hoist"


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## MPowers

BillConnerASTC said:


> ..............cyc or cyclorama and sky drop - a pet peeve - but a cyc is curved............



I've given up on this one. I deal with architects who insist on calling the blacks as a group, (legs, traavelers, borders) as the "Cyclorama Curtains" or a flat drop either white or light blue as a Sky Cyclorama or any back curtain as a cyclorama............... Drives me crazy!


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## gafftapegreenia

crimp/swage/sleeve/nicopress


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## Blake

MPowers said:


> BillConnerASTC said:
> 
> 
> 
> ..............cyc or cyclorama and sky drop - a pet peeve - but a cyc is curved............
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've given up on this one. I deal with architects who insist on calling the blacks as a group, (legs, traavelers, borders) as the "Cyclorama Curtains" or a flat drop either white or light blue as a Sky Cyclorama or any back curtain as a cyclorama............... Drives me crazy!
Click to expand...


Can you explain to me the difference with cyc vs sky cyc

Sent from my Galaxy S3


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## BillConnerFASTC

A cyc or cyclorama was always concaved until sometime in the last 50 years when the term was also applied to flat drops. its simply one more bastardization of the language.


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## MPowers

Blake said:


> .......Can you explain to me the difference with cyc vs sky cyc.........



First, the classic "Cyclorama" often reffered to in my youth as a"Sourround Cyc" was usually tall enough, often 30' or 40' tall not to need any borders or teasers to mask the top. It was also hung on a looooong pipe bent into a half circle, starting on one side, close to the back of the proscenium, and going up stage, curving across the back and then down the other side until it was again past sight lines. So your old school cyc lights were very high and fairly far down stage but you got an incredibly even wash due to the distance. The stage could look like nothing but endless sky (or other colored background) beyond the proscenium opening with absolutely no black masking anywhere. 

Of course entrances were limited to DL and DR unless there was a trap from below or flown in from the light bridge. Or if free standing scenery in front of the cyc did the masking. This typ of cyc was quite expensive, and real exercise to rig with as many as 20 or more lift lines from the arbor(s) or winch drums, miles of GAC and a ton of mule blocks and idler pulleys. This description might clear up some of the photos you may have seen in history books of Appia, Belasco et.al. and some of their scenic/lighting designs from the early 20th century that appear to have miles of landscape behind the scenic units to the "sky".


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## gafftapegreenia

A truly historical cyclorama: Welcome to the Atlanta Cyclorama

But I have to admit, my favorite part about going to the Atlanta Cyclorama is the original early 80's Kliegl board and lighting rig, running to this day.


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## BillConnerFASTC

Contrary to Michael's experience most of the classic cycs I've seen and lit have been plaster. My favorite was in Yale's 'X' which included an illuminated star system designed by a Yale professor of astronomy, I think as a favor to Stanley McCandless. They have limitations but also some great potential.


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## MPowers

BillConnerASTC said:


> Contrary to Michael's experience most of the classic cycs I've seen and lit have been plaster.......They have limitations but also some great potential.



Yes, I've had the love/hate affairs with plaster also. Though I've seen full round (well, half round....)The one's I actually worked in were all deep dished or flat, back walls. IIRC there are (were?) some in Europe that also domed over, kind of like the inside of a verrrrry BIG , half igloo.


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## Blake

Wow! Thanks for the history lesson! I feel so young and very very green! 
Michael: That's sounds like it would look amazing! But I definely see the downsides! 

Sent from my Galaxy S3


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## BillConnerFASTC

The "X" was like that - maybe 12' deep on an 18' deep stage - sides and top. The other thing was they were shaped in section to achieve more even lighting - kind of opposite of an asymmetrical reflector. The two I recall most - Dartmouth College and Bates College - sloped back for maybe 20' - so there was a crossover at floor level but at 20' it touched the US wall - and then curved DS. Fun to light. Soft ones are of course vertical in section. And the rigging was more complicated by the fact that both the cyc if soft as well as the lighting for soft or hard cycs was the curved batten that Michael describes.


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## Blake

So not only is the cyc on the curved batton but the electric for the cyc lights is also curved? 

Sent from my Galaxy S3


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## MPowers

Blake said:


> So not only is the cyc on the curved batton but the electric for the cyc lights is also curved? .......



Curved or in angled segments.


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## Blake

Wow. That sounds like a lot of trouble but resulting in a cool affect. 


So question on cycs. My church is a small mega church and they broadcast the sermon to multiple venues and multiple campuses. I go to the campus they broadcast from. Now I went to the venue where they film and they had cyc like material that they have stretched in triangle and odd polygons - it look amazing - would that be considered a cyc? Or what would it be called? 

Sent from my Galaxy S3


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## derekleffew

"White spandex shapes", one trade name TransFormIt. Not considered a cyc, sky drop. Arguably, might could be called a backdrop, but doesn't fit the definition of "full stage backdrop.
.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## sk8rsdad

Blake said:


> like material that they have stretched in triangle and odd polygons - it look amazing - would that be considered a cyc? Or what would it be called?
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy S3



The term you are looking for is "splat". It should be in the wiki. Rose Brand calls their fabric of choice Trivera.


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## ruinexplorer

I thought "splat" was unique to Rose Brand. I used to hear Transformit as the generic name (as Kleenex is for facial tissues or Leko for any ERS). 

Here's another one: VGA cable for a video cable with D-sub 15 (DE-15) connectors.


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## TheaterEd

I couldn't get the last director I worked with to stop calling the cyc a skrim. (I died a little every time).
Now you're telling me I should have been calling it a sky cyc all along?


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## techieman33

When I hear skycyc I think of cyc lights, not the piece of fabric.
.


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## n1ist

ruinexplorer said:


> VGA cable for a video cable with D-sub 15 (DE-15) connectors.



No such critter as a DE-15. The "E" shell takes 9 pins (or two coax/hi power ones). The "A" shell takes 15 in two rows; it was used for the joystick connector on the PC before USB. HD-15 is what you find on a VGA cable (3 rows of pins in an E-sized shell). Likewise, the "B" shell is used for 25 pins (DB25 - early serial ports or printer ports), 13 pins and 3 coax (used on early hi-res monitors) or 5 coax/hi volt/hi current pins.

Another trip down memory lane, wondering why so much cruft has collected in my brain...
/mike


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## gafftapegreenia

n1ist said:


> No such critter as a DE-15. The "E" shell takes 9 pins (or two coax/hi power ones). The "A" shell takes 15 in two rows; it was used for the joystick connector on the PC before USB. HD-15 is what you find on a VGA cable (3 rows of pins in an E-sized shell). Likewise, the "B" shell is used for 25 pins (DB25 - early serial ports or printer ports), 13 pins and 3 coax (used on early hi-res monitors) or 5 coax/hi volt/hi current pins.
> 
> Another trip down memory lane, wondering why so much cruft has collected in my brain...
> /mike



How about making some wiki entries with those


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## Blake

Just remembered the worst one ever! My director for our current production who has an AA in theatre arts calls the main "The red" 
Drives me bonkers! 

Sent from my Galaxy S3


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## ruinexplorer

n1ist said:


> No such critter as a DE-15. The "E" shell takes 9 pins (or two coax/hi power ones). The "A" shell takes 15 in two rows; it was used for the joystick connector on the PC before USB. HD-15 is what you find on a VGA cable (3 rows of pins in an E-sized shell). Likewise, the "B" shell is used for 25 pins (DB25 - early serial ports or printer ports), 13 pins and 3 coax (used on early hi-res monitors) or 5 coax/hi volt/hi current pins.
> 
> Another trip down memory lane, wondering why so much cruft has collected in my brain...
> /mike



I disagree. The DE-15 is the D subminiature 15 pin connector. I believe that the HD15, which stands for high density 15 pin connection, was yet another classification, but is the same item as DE-15, possibly designated by the different manufacturers. It is also very likely that there were some specific classifications which separate those connections similar to calling all Ethernet cables Cat-5, when there are many category standards.


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## gafftapegreenia

Blake said:


> Just remembered the worst one ever! My director for our current production who has an AA in theatre arts calls the main "The red"
> Drives me bonkers!
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy S3



Well, is the main drape red?


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## Blake

Yes. 

Sent from my Galaxy S3


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## Blake

Just remembered another one. 
Syke/ cyc
(From the same person) 
Sent from my Galaxy S3


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## n1ist

You are right about the DE15, though I seem to remember one of the connector vendors insisting on HD15 to me years ago. Looks like
wikipedia has a good writeup on the D-series connectors.
/mike


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## ruinexplorer

No problem. I had to look it up to make sure.  
You know, that whole memory fade thing.


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## BillConnerFASTC

gafftapegreenia said:


> Open white/no color/clear


I was taught that no color meant no gel what so ever - empty - and clear means clear gel. At that time, a lens could crack and fall, so this was a safety consideration.


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## gafftapegreenia

BillConnerASTC said:


> I was taught that no color meant no gel what so ever - empty - and clear means clear gel. At that time, a lens could crack and fall, so this was a safety consideration.



I highly doubt Roscolux 00 could stop a falling lens.


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## JChenault

Perididles instead of periaktoi.


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## chausman

JChenault said:


> Perididles instead of periaktoi.



What is a perididle?


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## ruinexplorer

It's actually a paradiddle. Drum rudiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I was a drummer in marching band before I started theater in high school.


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## BillConnerFASTC

gafftapegreenia said:


> I highly doubt Roscolux 00 could stop a falling lens.



Roscolene and cinemoid probably could - especially if the lens breaks into small pieces. Was used on parcans as well and it would stop the small pieces of lamp. Think era of gel and piano boards.


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## JChenault

chausman said:


> What is a perididle?




A word made up by someone who once heard the term periaktoi , but did not hear it clearly and did not look it up.


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## gafftapegreenia

BillConnerASTC said:


> Roscolene and cinemoid probably could - especially if the lens breaks into small pieces. Was used on parcans as well and it would stop the small pieces of lamp. Think era of gel and piano boards.



Small pieces makes sense, but most of the lens failures I have seen have been pretty catastrophic. As in, the entire front falling off a PAR64, or a Fresnel cracking into two or three big pieces. But yes, 'Lene and Cinemoid was thicker stuff, so it could have better holding capacity. Still, I don't know if its worth the effort.


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## bdkdesigns

Shocked/electrocuted always got me too. Something I've wondered though, can one be electrocuted and still tell you about it. What if the shock caused death and then you were resuscitated. Technically you were electrocuted and then brought back.


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## MichaelPHS

Sorry to necro-bump, but a couple that grind my gears

Safe/"safe"
Work around/Bodge


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## josh88

JChenault said:


> Perididles instead of periaktoi.


Since we had a bump. 
pterodactyl/Periaktoi

This started because people couldn't remember the name or how to say it and once we learned we still enjoyed calling them that and confusing the normals in the room.


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## WestlakeTech

One of the guys at my church has a portable compound miter saw. It's got its own table that folds out. He calls it a table saw.

Irks me because a table saw is very different than a miter.


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## RickR

There is one at our rental shop that annoys me to no end. We have DMX cables and XLR cables!

What they really are is 5 & 3 pin XLR connectors on DMX rated cable.


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## JohnD

Back to the podium vs lectern question, even the dictionaries seem to have given up.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/podium
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/podium


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## StradivariusBone

WestlakeTech said:


> One of the guys at my church has a portable compound miter saw. It's got its own table that folds out. He calls it a table saw.
> 
> Irks me because a table saw is very different than a miter.



What about compound miter saw/chop saw?

That one I'll admit I'm guilty of from time to time, particularly when making an abundance of 90º cuts.


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## cmckeeman

StradivariusBone said:


> What about compound miter saw/chop saw?
> 
> That one I'll admit I'm guilty of from time to time, particularly when making an abundance of 90º cuts.



Can you clarify the difference?


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## StradivariusBone

cmckeeman said:


> Can you clarify the difference?



From my understanding a chop saw is a miter saw that only cuts at 90º and does not adjust to make mitered cuts. Some of them have adjustable fences, but the arm holding the blade is fixed. I've heard it and used it interchangeably though.


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## cmckeeman

I feel like that is close enough that if i was bringing a show in and the said they had a chop saw but instead had a miter i would be happy and probably the other way around, but if they said they had a table saw and had a miter i would be mighty angry.

Also i try to not call it a chop saw becasue new students might think you should "chop" the wood with it instead of a smooth easy cut, but chop saw is easier to say all day than miter.


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