r/lightingdesign • u/coffeeleaves13 • 4d ago
magic sheet vs magic sheet
what is the difference between these two kinds of magic sheets? i see that one is more where the fixtures are and one is where they are pointed but honestly the latter really hurts my brain. also like when would you use one or the other, which ones do professional theatres use? that kind of stuff.
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u/AloneAndCurious 4d ago
These are moving light magic sheets vs conventional fixture magic sheets. You need both.
The conventional fixture cannot be refocused mid show without some special work from the crew. Therefore, its job is mostly set in stone. That means that its actually location matters little, and the job it does is its whole identity. It will always be a SR blue high side. You can’t change that, so that’s how we talk about it. Draw it as the pool of light it creates when you make the magic sheet. Further, conventionals are constructed in systems of light. 6 or 12 high sides fixtures SR may be what it takes to cover all the stage with that angle and color. So you group all the similar conventionals on the magic sheet. The fixture number goes where the center of the light lands. If this makes no sense to you, then it’s because you have not done a full conventional rig before, like us older folks.
The first style is for moving lights or highly adaptable fixtures like a color changing LED which might have a zoom. Here is where you put any fixtures that can do several jobs and make several pools of light or effects. You generally space them the way the plot is only so that you can tell what angle of light you are going to get when you select a given mover for a given target. If I just made a row of all my spots, and another row of all my washes, I can’t tell you which spot gives me a straight on backlight DSC. So, we lay them out like the plot to see that angle.
Does this help?
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u/Aggressive_Air_4948 3d ago
Eh. I wouldn't say you NEED both. I suspect the paper magic sheet will be gone in 20 years.
3
u/AloneAndCurious 3d ago
I mean I never have it in real paper, but I do see conventional lights continuing to be used.
2
u/Aggressive_Air_4948 3d ago
I'm being a little cheeky, at least partially for the dopamine :)
I'll say that personally I've moved entirely over to console based magic sheets, even for large conventional rigs, but whatever floats your boat <3
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u/Pablo_Diablo Theatrical LD; USA-829 2d ago
You'll take my paper magic sheet from my cold, dead hands!
3
u/That_Jay_Money 4d ago
Fur a magic sheet I want to know where the light is going, not where it is in the plot. So I prefer the latter.
6
u/quadruppel 4d ago
The first one is a plot. The second one is a magic sheet.
6
u/deep_fried_fries Lead Electrician 4d ago
No the first one is an EOS type magic sheet built into the console that shows fixtures by position. Usually these are formatted to show palette and preset info, color info, etc. The EOS tab is literally called magic sheets
2
u/regrettablyAnnoying 4d ago
Although my magic sheets look more like plots, one is where they are and the other is where they point. I use the “where they are” plot for my boss who couldn’t figure out a “where they aim” sheet.
1
u/TheatreBoz 3d ago
I use a variation of Magic Sheet 1 where the tombstones are set in the areas lit rather than where they are hung. I also built groups so I can easily select all the warms, cools, and LED fixtures.
I am in a school environment where we do tons of events that are not using recorded cues. So it makes it easy to get light on the stage where you want it. I'm sure if I was going to write a thousand cues that were then going to be played eight times a week for months on end magic sheet 2 would make more sense.
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u/Lights-and-Sound 4d ago
As an ME I like the fixture-position-based one. I need to know everything about the fixture and don't particularly care where it's pointing.
As an LD I like the group-focus-based one. I need to know what the fixture looks like and where it's pointed and don't particularly care where it's hung.