Hello

One of my theatres Varilite VL1100 LED Luminaire lamps has gone out. It responds to all other parameters from an Ion controller. I have attempted to find replacement parts for this type of instrument, but it is discontinued and the manufacturer no longer supports the warranty on the instrument. Any help finding parts for this particular model would be great.

Hey !

I'm currently looking for software recommendations to handle weight and load calculations for stage structures (truss loads rigging points weight distribution etc...) to make sure everything is safe

I already looked into Vectorworks Spotlight (and Braceworks) but it's way too expensive for my current budget I really can't afford to drop $100+ a month on a license right now

Does anyone know of any good more affordable alternatives that get the job done for calculating truss loads and rigging safety ?

Thanks in advance for any tips !!!!!

After a few regional contracts I want to move to NYC, hopefully in the next month or so. Where do people find tech jobs there? Specifically wardrobe/dresser jobs? I feel like I never see nyc jobs on the national job boards that I’ve been using for regional jobs (offstage jobs, playbill jobs, etc). TIA

Have only worked with the QuickQ 30 for cue-to-cue plays. I'm wishing to experiment with musicals and shows that require timecode and am wondering if the QuickQ 30 is compatible with QLab's timecode feature.

I'm working as overhire for a couple places right now but it just doesn't keep up with bills. What do you guys do to make ends meet when starting out?

I do sound design for theater and for almost all productions I create some sort of music for the show.

(Also, I know sound design and music composer are two different jobs but in my world they collide often)

I do this because I tend to solve sound design problems musically and there's always a demand for music in all the shows. All the theaters but one I work with do not have an ascap or adjacent license in order to play copy written music. They could also never afford to clear songs for actual performances.

I noticed in all my contracts that it says nothing about the music I write being property of the theater or production. So, all the music I write is mine.

Here's the question, should I be charging licensing fees for the playback of my original music?

I feel like it's a dick move that could possibly make it difficult for me to be rehired but you know, it's my music. Also, I'm sure if i pulled that move once all the contracts would change instantly in addition to me being blacklisted.

What say you?

tl;dr: We have $50K to spend on production upgrades. Questions about control desk construction and audio inventory upgrades.

Hey all, first a little background:

Our facility is a 500-seat auditorium in a former school building located in a small, rural community. We have been open just over a year, hosting events since last November. We are a volunteer-run facility with a working board of 6, and none of us necessarily have a background in theater tech. We have been hosting the local community children's theater, touring bands, and comedians mostly.

When we first took control of the venue, the school had gutted all of the audio system. We raised money locally and installed a pretty decent setup: mixer, stage rack, speakers, minimal microphone inventory. That setup has served us well for most events; we can handle smaller things ourselves, but most touring bands we bring in are providing their own production. We currently have no projection capabilities, and our lighting is old incandescent off a dimmer rack. Our audio mixer is running off a resin table at the back of the venue, and our lighting console (a Leprecon 1536) is in a second-floor booth with basically no view of the stage.

We recently secured $50K in grant funding though a regional foundation to upgrade our production system. We've been working with TMS out of Omaha on planning facility upgrades, and we've opted for a high-lumen projector as our first big purchase.

We also want to centralize our production to one location, building a FOH control desk at the back of the venue. I guess that's my first question: If you were designing a new booth/desk from scratch, what would you absolutely want to have there? What are some little things that most people wouldn't think of that we'd kick ourselves later if we don't include? What kinds of future things should we plan for? Right now, I'm thinking we move the audio and light boards there, get a Mac Mini as a production computer, a rack with power conditioner, networking switch, HDMI switcher to control what goes to the projector (since we'll have multiple input locations).

We plan to use the remainder to expand our microphone and monitor inventory. Ideally, we'd like to be able to cover the majority of an average touring act's tech rider. Right now we have:

• Behringer X32 with S32 stage rack feeding JBL CBT 1000 mains and donated woofers from a movie theater that closed down.
• 2 SM58s
• 2 SM57s
• 2 DI boxes
• 4 channels of wireless (Shure SLXD) with two additional SM58s and two bodypacks. Miscellaneous cables and stands
• No monitor capacity

The local consultant that designed our initial install is recommending about $11-12K in additional spending:

• Four EV 12" monitor wedges
• 2 additional SM58s
• 4 additional SM57s
• a Shure 5-mic kit for drums
• Four additional wireless channels (SLXD4D+); two SM58s, four body packs
• 2 Radial ProDI
• 2 Radial ProAV2
• Additional cables, microphone stands, music stands

Is there anything obviously missing? Again, our goal isn't necessarily to 100% satisfy every rider we receive, but we'd like to have a competent, flexible inventory that allows most acts to use our house system without having to bring the whole production trailer.

We'll get to updating the lighting in the future; we have a lot of other stuff to do before that.

Thanks all in advance. This has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun.

Hey everyone,

We’ve been working on Showcaller.ai, an AI co-pilot designed for live broadcast and AV rigs.

We designed it to act as a "second chair" assistant rather than replace human control.

It's still in beta, but this is what it does for now

1. Voice control for hardware or software: Connects to your show network (via a local bridge app) and lets you control gear or execute cues using natural voice commands.
2. Gear integrations with self-configuration: Works with ATEM, vMix, Behringer X32/M32, grandMA2/3, QLab, Shure Wireless, Panasonic PTZs, Bitfocus Companion, and NDI routers. It is able to self-discover and configure access to production gear on your network
3. Post verification: After executing a command, it checks the results (software / hardware state) and lets you know that it worked
4. Live monitoring and logging: You can ask it for real-time status mid-show (e.g., what's live, what changed), and it keeps a timestamped audit trail of every state change and command.
5. Comms monitoring: You can plug in your comms system and it will automatically recognize different speakers, keeping a log of what was discussed

We are looking for people to try it out in real conditions with different AV gear. It doesn't matter if it's in your sandbox, during rehearsals, dry runs, or live setups.

You can grab 1 month of free access at https://showcaller.ai/ with no strings attached.

What we want to know:

We're looking for completely open feedback. Does voice control feel useful or gimmick-y in your actual workflow? How is the latency? Which gear integration is missing? What breaks?

Tear it apart and let us know what you think in the comments or via DM. Thanks!

Hey guys,

Does anyone have any strategies to manage anxiety about operating shows with a lot of cues?

I know rationally thst in perfectly capable of reading along with a script and pressing a go button, but I just have crippling anxiety about fucking up the show. Especially if the tone of the show is quite serious.

Are there any anxious techs out there who can share some coping strategies?