Lighting Control

Many don't consider how a theatre show or gig illuminates the performers however that is exactly the job of the lighting technician. A technician in this role must be able to follow cues, bunt lights or follow the direction of a DSM (Deputy Stage Manager) in an effort to enhance the performance through appropriate lighting. This also covers any integration with show/rundown control software such as QLab for syncing of audio, video and lighting through a single trigger.

Programming Fixtures/Consoles

As lighting systems and become more complex, intelligent fixtures are becoming the norm, with significant advantages over their generic counterparts. In order to have the commands from the lighting console be interpreted in the correct way, fixtures must be built into the software to allow channel - address association. A technician in this role is tasked with programming these fixtures in such a way that commands may be given to lights utilising multiple control protocols through the common language of whichever console is in use. This process also incorporates some of the newer technologies entering the industry such as the Augmentet3d system by ETC (Augmented reality control) that allows the positioning of moving head fixture beams through the physical world as well as through a computer display

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Lighting Design

One of the more overlooked areas of show development is often the design of the lighting with smaller production companies regularly making the mistake of utilising inappropriate lighting. As a lighting designer it is my job to ensure that the mood the company wishes to portray is done so effectively and in a way that does not detract form the performance, but rather enhances it.