# Organising a show as TD



## calwalker1 (Feb 19, 2011)

Hello all, My school has recently had it's hall knocked down as part of some construction works and so for this years performance we have booked another venue. for our shows I am the head tech guy who designs LX and audio and then usually runs one of them on the nights. however this is a new for me designing for another venue and just planning things which I usually don't have to plan. such as seating and just general venue technical details. do you guys have any resources that you use to organise shows and work out all the details. such as excel spreadsheets and other files.

As I am unsure ion what the best way is to go about planning and designing for another venue (eg, even schedules)


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## Footer (Feb 19, 2011)

Have a plan. Have a schedule that is reasonable. Have an order of events in which things need to happen. Make sure everyone knows the plan. If you are trucking, think about what needs to go over first, what can wait, what needs to go over before something else goes over... etc. If you are hanging lights, make pipe tapes. Otherwise, just have a plan. I use google docs for everything from show budgets, inventories, piece lists, all that type of stuff. Not only can I get to it on my phone while sitting in home depot, I can also share it with my volunteers and my general manager. Any bit of pre planning you can do will save time and frustration in the venue. Gantt charts can also be useful in these situations.


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## calwalker1 (Feb 20, 2011)

Footer said:


> If you are hanging lights, make pipe tapes..


 
Everything you've said sounds really good but I am unsure what pipe tapes are (I usually have a hang plot)

Would anyone be able to recommend some form of CAD programs for planning this all out as we have a very small window to hang and program lights so at least if I can have a rough idea before hand we will be in luck. I was thinking of use Grand MA and the 3d Visualisation software. but as we aren't using an MA desk for the show (we are using a hog desk) I thought there would have to be something better out there.

MY only concern is prices (eg. I don't wanna pay hundreds for WYSIWYG if I only intend to use it for one show) but at the same time I may look at getting WYSIWYG


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## ArthurRiot (Feb 20, 2011)

What is your current timeline? What is the show? What are your materials and budget? The outside venue, does it have house audio or house lighting, or are you renting a blank space?

You have a LOT of work on your shoulders right now. It's entirely doable, but teamwork will get through the hardest times.

I have some stuff in hard copies at my office. I can see if I can scan some in, or if I have digital copies, which could help you organize. Let me know...


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## Footer (Feb 20, 2011)

calwalker1 said:


> Everything you've said sounds really good but I am unsure what pipe tapes are (I usually have a hang plot)
> 
> Would anyone be able to recommend some form of CAD programs for planning this all out as we have a very small window to hang and program lights so at least if I can have a rough idea before hand we will be in luck. I was thinking of use Grand MA and the 3d Visualisation software. but as we aren't using an MA desk for the show (we are using a hog desk) I thought there would have to be something better out there.
> 
> MY only concern is prices (eg. I don't wanna pay hundreds for WYSIWYG if I only intend to use it for one show) but at the same time I may look at getting WYSIWYG



Hang Tape - ControlBooth

For free, there is always Sketchup. For making a light plot, you can also always use templates and pencil/paper.


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## calwalker1 (Feb 20, 2011)

ArthurRiot said:


> What is your current timeline? What is the show?....


 Thanks for that. one of the main advantages of the venue we are renting is that I am the head lighting dude at the other theatre company that primarily uses that place so I know the building fairly well. as that theatre company has some fairly ancient gear (analogue dimmers, pat23's and old sound gear) we have decided we are bringing in all our own stuff (LX and sound) mainly because we have a budget of around 9 thousand (AUD) so we will also be renting in a fair bit of stuff (such as moving lights and a hog control desk)

I'd love to grab any paperwork you may consider useful as I don't want to completely re-build the wheel. and if people have tried and tested ways of organising this sort of stuff I may as will use it.


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## chausman (Feb 20, 2011)

Hope you enjoy this because my magic mouse just thought I wanted to backspace, so I lost everything.

To echo what other people have said, things that multiple people will need to be able to see are best put on either GoogleDocs or Dropbox and everything in excel/word format so most people can open them.

Keep lists of EVERYTHING that goes in the theater that you want back including equipment, costumes, and props. Not things like tape, unless you are making an expense report.

I would personally suggest having sign in/sign out sheets do that you or anyone else can tell who is there and who isn't.

For a light plot, MacLux Pro is fairly useful. You may be able to get a rep plot from the space you are going to that you could use to help make the layout of the plot. Or, you may even be able to use the new drawing tool in GoogleDocs. I have never used it, and tried to but google wouldn't let me on.

And never think "Oh, I can remember that". Things will get very stressful fast and you will regret it when you can't remember important things. It never hurts to have a clipboard and notepad handy to just write things down as you go.


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## LXPlot (Feb 20, 2011)

If you don't want to shell out for Maclux Pro, they also make a light plot software called Lxfree which is easy to use and makes decent plots.

LXSeries


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## jwl868 (Feb 21, 2011)

This may repeating what's already here but:

The need for lists sounds like a stage manager’s mantra. You might check over at SMNetwork.org for lists that may fit what you are doing.

For the dance studio that I used to volunteer for (not so much anymore, but that’s another story), I was in charge of getting things from the studio to the venue, getting it set up, then striking, and returning it all (and all this with other volunteers). Unlike other studios, the owner always thought big for the annual recital, which included a large production number, and we did a performance of Nutcracker each year. (For light and sound, we relied on whatever the venue could/would give us,) Anyway, the logistics required organization, and I just used my own lists created as Word documents or excel documents. For me, the key list was a props/scenery/technical equipment list that included everything that I had to take to the venue. It was a table with a few extra columns. One column was a check that it went on the truck (or by some other mode, like me hand-carrying). Another column had where to put it at the venue when it was unloaded (for example, on-stage, off-stage wing, dressing room, green room, FOH). There may have been another column for quantity. But I also kept track of “disposables” (like tape, zips ties, garbage bags) just so I would make sure they made it to the venue. My technical equipment list even included crates/tubs/containers that held small props and the like.

Another thing you’ll probably have to do is supervise the unloading because you are probably the only person who knows where each item needs to be, and you’ll have the list in hand. That means directing and not lifting/moving things. (That was tough for me to do.) You may also have to supervise loading the truck (both before the show and during strike) just so everything fits and so fragile things don’t get damaged. (Again, more directing than real work.) (There were a couple occasions where a volunteer were put off by this.) 

I also had a list of the tasks that had to be performed at the venue (granted my list would be shorter than yours), but with that I could assign people to do the work, do some it myself (as was often the case), and keep track of things. When possible, the tasks were assigned before we got to the venue.) No task was too small to list.

Hope that helps.


Joe


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