Most automated lighting consoles allow you to label most items within the desk. It is essential that you use this tool to label every palette/preset, cue, list and other items as you store them. I like to label everything that I can. I even go into the patch and label each fixture as to its location in the rig. Sometimes it might be the “DS Truss” or the “Green Truss” but it always helps me to later read the exact location of fixtures. Again, with this information visible in the programmer and cue data, I can quickly assess the data and understand the effect on stage. I am meticulous about naming every single cuelist, even if it is just for a simple flash key or other task. I never know when I will come back to a show file to re-mount a show. I certainly will not remember what “list 17” is doing, but if it is labeled “Hazers,” then I have no doubt as to its purpose.
—Brad Schiller, from “Feeding the Machines,” PLSN, June 2012
