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So You Wanna Be a Crew Chief…

Russ Felton, crew chief at BML Blackbird

So You Wanna Be a Crew Chief…

Be careful what you ask for. A lighting crew chief is the one who has to take whatever “rainbows and unicorns” vision a designer has plotted on paper and actually hang the corresponding, functioning rig. The first person that a lighting designer has to choose, once the rig has been confirmed, is the Lighting Crew Chief. This will be the person who is in charge of organizing, assembling and managing all of the logistics involved with the lighting rig. Here is a short list of the major qualities that a designer looks for when selecting a touring lighting crew chief.

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How Do You GO?

Some people read palms, and others are into studying the structure of feet or bumps on a head to determine personality characteristics about others. I have discovered that lighting board operators each posses a unique style when it comes to pressing the GO button on a desk. The number and placement of fingers, method of pressing and other indicators point to psychological information about the operator. What follows is a guide detailing various methods of pressing the GO button and what they mean about the presser.

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The ONE Grand Show in Berlin. Photo by Bernhard Musil

Peter Morse and The ONE; Debating in the Best Light; Wonder in the Woods; More

Peter Morse spent the past two years designing the elaborate lighting for a large German production show, The ONE Grand Show, which runs for two years in residency at the Friedrichstadt Palast in Berlin. The extravaganza, called “the most lavish show in Europe,” started previews at the 97-year-old theatre on Sept. 22, with the world premiere set for Oct. 6 and more shows planned through mid-2018. With a budget of 11 million Euros ($12.3 million), the show aims to take the audience “on a dreamlike journey through time in search of the person who means everything to us: The One.”

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Illustration by Andy Au

The Great Library of Libraries

We need to come up with a solution for all of the elusive fixture profiles that are costing us countless hours of hunting down DMX charts and building our own hacked-together libraries. In the last few months, I have received several emails, text and even Facebook messages asking if I had a fixture profile for everything from a two channel smoke machine to a 48-channel beam wash hybrid fixture. These cries for help are coming from newbies as well as top-level programmers who are scrambling to find the correct profile for the current fixture that needs to be patched immediately so that they can get to programming.

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Stampede’s Big Book of AV and Conference Series will stop in Toronto on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

Stampede Brings Road Show Event to Toronto on Oct. 18

TORONTO — Stampede’s Big Book of AV and Conference Series will stop in Toronto on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The event promises to be the company’s biggest-ever Canadian event, with technology updates, training forums, industry insights, and one-on-one networking opportunities among the benefits to attendees.

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JABOR helps Pegasus help others with therapeutic horseback ridding programs.

Just a Bunch of Roadies Helps Therapeutic Horseback Riding Center Spruce Up for 2016 Fall Season

PALM DESERT, CA — Charlie Hernandez, head of the charity group, Just a Bunch of Roadies (justabunchofroadies.org) rallied the troops in Southern California for a day of volunteer work in support of Pegasus Therapeutic Riding, a Palm Desert. CA-based ranch that offers free rides to create memorable experiences for disabled and special needs children and adults.

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In Memoriam: Buddy Sokolick, 1956-2016

In Memoriam: Buddy Sokolick, 60

CHICAGO — Buddy Sokolick, longtime head of the production department for Jam Productions in Chicago, where he supported artists including Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Amy Grant, among others, died Oct. 13 after a long illness. He was 60. Sokolick began his career as a stagehand at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago and quickly rose through the ranks to become a production manager for Jam Productions. In 1987, he became head of the production department at Jam, where he stayed for most of his career.

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Verto Truss

Prolyte Presents Verto Truss at the LDI show

LAS VEGAS – Prolyte Group will exhibit at the LDI show from 21-23 October in Las Vegas, premiering the new VERTO truss on the North American continent.  Feel invited to visit the Prolyte stand and experience the Verto truss or meet the team. The Verto truss is a new revolutionary system, making truss connection fast, silent and safe. The Verto truss brings a totally new perspective on truss assembly and is described as a game changer in our industry.

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Madrix new products

Madrix Displays New Products at LDI 2016

LAS VEGAS – LDI will offer a first look at MADRIX 3.7. The upcoming update for the LED lighting software controller out of Germany will include a large number of diverse improvements for every user. Some of the highlights are: Effect, SCE Rotating Shapes, but also a completely new effect category. These TRI Effects are based on established effects but triggered manually by the user through trigger ports, which can be DMX-IN or MIDI input. Instead of using the FX engine or Sound2Light as source, the user himself can initiate when a visual is created on the LEDs. 

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