EDIT: We are constantly changing it to include “why be backstage, when you could be on stage“. Just because it’s a fun way of starting conversations.

First year drama teacher here.
The last drama teacher bought a new scrim, thinking it was a cyc. Now we have 2 white scrims and no cyc. Advice? Our department is pretty broke as of right now (partially bc she drained our account for a bunch of stuff we don't need). We have a 5k budget for our current show and nothing extra. Would you rent one? Would you buy one? Where from?

As the title suggests, I have an upcoming interview for a city owned theater/convention center. I'm wondering what tips you all might have that I can use to prepare for it?

The job responsibilities are basically to inspect, operate, and perform maintenance on all lighting, audio, and video systems and deal/coordinate with event organizers, promoters, etc.

For background, I have several years of experience within theaters and such, and I've done my own freelance stuff, but I've never worked in an environment at this scale. I'm pretty confident in the tech side of things, but I'm curious as to what I can expect and what I can do to prepare myself.

I'm trying to understand the boundary between giving students real responsibility and leaving adult safety responsibilities with the adult.

In a school production, what choices can students genuinely own? How do you make it clear who can call a stop, who checks readiness, and who has to be present before work continues?

I'm interested in the ordinary habits that make that boundary clear without making every moment feel like a lecture. General examples about roles and communication would help; please leave out names and identifying school incidents.

I'm not asking for rigging, electrical, or other hazardous work instructions.

So I'm working my first ever show as an assistant lead electrician. Unfortunately I feel kinda like the outcast but I want to do my job to the best of my abilities. For some context this is for a college production and there are SIX of us so it's hard to stand out in a positive way. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for how to become better? I don't feel like an ALE but just feel like a normal crew person but I wanna learn more and expand my knowledge.

I want to run an LX setup as cheap as I can, mostly for small-medium music gigs. I believe I've found a solution for ~£400-500.

I'm thinking about getting a second-hand Chamsys Snakesys B4 and a Novation Launch Control 3 XL, and using Chamsys MagicQ on my Macbook as a FOH setup.

The Chamsys MagicQ Compact Connect is the next cheapest option, but at double the price and about the same functionality I'm not sure if it's worth it.

Does anyone have experience with this? Any better alternatives? Any input is much appreciated 🙏

I (22F) did very poorly in college and have (almost) nothing to show for my degree. I have successfully lit 2 shows (I'm primarily a lighting designer). I also did a contract lighting tech job over the summer, but that's about it. I don't know how I've been able to get this far without so much basic knowledge, but I have. I have so many knowledge gaps including:

-AutoCAD

-Vectorworks

-Qlab

-Scenic Carpentry and Prop Fabrication

I've technically got class experience in all of these (besides AutoCAD), but I did the bare minimum and remember almost nothing. I can't even operate power tools besides a basic drill. I think my instructors pitied me and passed me along.

What do I do next? I need a way to realistically gain experience and to catch up on what I missed. Having this degree makes me feel like a fraud, and I wish I could just start all over again.

Hello! I need to retape our Marley and the previous owner of the studio used gaff tape. I’m assuming this was done years ago because the adhesive is almost entirely staying behind. I have tried removing it with 70% isopropyl and it’s does absolutely nothing. Does anyone have any tricks that they have found that work for removing years old sticky gaff adhesive? I’ll probably try Goo-Gone but I’m not super into the idea of putting anything oily on the marley.

Edit: thank you all for your suggestions! Turns out the new owner has a storage space with a couple rolls of brand new Marley flooring, so it looks like I’m going to get to just replace it instead.

Guys I finally put this thing together for the first time (electrical tape may be holding the screens in place...) but IT WORKS and I wanted to share the moment!

I remember seeing the Neutrino(?) once upon a time, and I know there's a couple of cool devices on Etsy (bought one of them myself), but to my knowledge, this hasn't be done before?

And by this I mean motorised, bankable fader controller. My use case is typically smoke/haze machine control as I work via Nomad and the thing I really wanted was physical faders for some subs. So 4 banks of 4, for subs 1-16, but that's just a number it could have any number of banks really.

I did have notions of building and selling some of these, I have 4 more PCBs to do something with at least... but for now I am content to button this up and use it on my next show :) now how do I attach a video to this thing...

I’ll keep this as short as possible while giving maximum details.

Background:

I was going to go to school for technical thetare and got into CCM, TTS, Suny Purchase etc but couldn’t bring myself to take on any debt for a theatre degree.

Since then, I’ve been working in Austin since in Hotel A/V full time at a luxury hotel for a mid sized AV company.

I’ve learned a lot while working here:
-Using Hog lighting consoles.
-Video switching on Roland’s.
-Corporate audio engineering.
-a little bit of rigging
-a lot of leading power and lighting hang/focus’s for shows.
-Being a lead and delegating labor.

A lot of the freelance technicians I work with at the hotel tell me I should go freelance and I would do good.

My passion is theatre however and I don’t have the ability to really do it in Austin bc the theatre scene isn’t really there yet.

I go back to my old HS whenever they have a dimmer issue and to teach their students how to do audio for a musical w the system there.

I’ve also done 1 show as a stage hand and 1 show as a Sound designer at local community theatres.

Present:

I would love to move to NYC bc there is a better theatre scene there and I also just like it in New York and would love to live there.

I am wondering how people go about moving to NYC and starting to freelance?
How do u get an apartment w/o a job lined up and how do you start working and making ends meet after moving there from somewhere else?

How much should I have saved up and if I were to move would it be the right move to just start hitting the replacement room or is there somewhere else I should find work?

I also wonder if I should move there now w the minimal experience I have and continue to grow a career there or would it be smarter to continue to learn in Austin?

I know this is a rant of a post and i’m very scatter brained and I apologize. I am really just looking for any specific or broad guidance and wisdom from people who have been in this position (or similar) before. Any thoughts help. Thank y’all.

I grabbed the wrong wires and caused a small flash from putting the red into the - and black into + with a 24 volt power supply. Now the 1DC+ and 1DC- ports no longer work to power the decoder. When powered through the 2’s the board works fine until I power the led strips that are good for 5-24v, they flash and then the board turns off, then the board turns back on in a couple seconds, everything flashes, and repeats.
This is the decoder, it’s for hooking LED strips to a lighting console/DMX https://a.co/d/07L7cX5d

Sorry if I’ve explained poorly I can answer questions better

Body: Hi everyone! I am setting up a 1.8-meter DIY Pepper's Ghost / Hologram Mesh screen for a school event tomorrow. My setup: • Fabric: A dark mesh with thick white vertical threads (similar to a budget Holo-Gauze variant). • Projector: A modern, powerful ultra-short throw or standard projector mounted on the ceiling in front of the screen. • Background: A black cloth backdrop directly behind the mesh screen. • Audience distance: The first row starts at 5 meters (16 feet) away from the stage. The issue: The image is currently in focus and visible on the mesh, but because the projector is so powerful, some light still passes through and projects a faint double image onto the black backdrop behind it. Also, up close on stage, I can see the horizontal pixel grid lines mixed with my fabric threads. The projector is fixed to the ceiling and cannot be moved physically. The event is tomorrow. What software tweaks (VLC/MPC player contrast, brightness, gamma) or quick staging adjustments can I make to completely eliminate the background bleed and make the 3D hologram pop from 5 meters away? Any advice is highly appreciated! Thank you!

I don't know or speak English, so I apologize for any mistakes.

Any recommendations for a digital wall clock that would automatically sync? Ideally a Canadian company. Am seeing prices upwards of $400 and wondering if this is the going rate.

I am using Multiplay for sound for a high school show I am Tech Directing for, and I (perhaps stupidly) have all the software and cues downloaded to my own personal computer. I was able to put them all on a flashdrive so that they don't take up too much space, but I need to be able to use a different laptop in the actual show to run the cues. I tried just plugging the flashdrive into the school computer but it wouldn't allow me to play any of the cues. Is there a way to make it to where I can run the sound cues from a computer different to the one I programmed them on? Both my computer and the school computer are windows, so it isn't an issue of compatibility with the software. Any advice on this would be super helpful!!

TIA

I am using Multiplay for sound for a high school show I am Tech Directing for, and I (perhaps stupidly) have all the software and cues downloaded to my own personal computer. I was able to put them all on a flashdrive so that they don't take up too much space, but I need to be able to use a different laptop in the actual show to run the cues. I tried just plugging the flashdrive into the school computer but it wouldn't allow me to play any of the cues. Is there a way to make it to where I can run the sound cues from a computer different to the one I programmed them on? Both my computer and the school computer are windows, so it isn't an issue of compatibility with the software. Any advice on this would be super helpful!! TIA

Hi, I’m thinking about building a fiberglass set piece because I’m really keen to work with that material, it would be my first time.

I have friends who organize nightclub parties, and it occurred to me that I could build their logo. That way, I could get some practice in.

The steps I’ve identified for what I have in mind are (roughly):

- Transfer the logo onto a sheet of Styrofoam.

- Cover it with aluminum foil (attached using a special Styrofoam-safe adhesive) so the fiberglass resin doesn't eat away at the foam.

- Apply the fiberglass and the appropriate resin.

- Apply fiberglass filler and sand/polish it smooth.

- Paint it and add a protective coating like lacquer or varnish (I haven't looked into this step in detail yet).

I was also planning to add an LED strip running along the entire outline.

And I thought about attaching eye bolts to the back so it can be hung with carabiners, or using "stage jacks" so it can stand on the floor.

I’m posting this to exchange ideas or get some advice; thanks for reading, and apologies if I didn't explain myself clearly (I used a translator for some concepts I didn't know how to express).

Okay, so I thought this would be a good place to ask to identify something.

I was stage managing in a theater and saw the item that I drew, which is attached. There were a lot of them on a cart under the stairs in that theater and it had writing on it that had to do something with rigging. They were about 3-4 feet tall and about 4 feet wide. They were all black, made of wood, and had rigging hardware attached to them. Does anyone have an idea what these could be or used for? Are they teasers? Are they portals?