As we enter each New Year, many resolutions are made that center around losing weight, breaking bad habits, finding love, etc. I thought it would be much better to provide a list of resolutions aimed at the Automated Lighting Programmer. So here are eleven resolutions to help you with your craft. 1) Protect Your Work
Starting with your first show of the New Year, save your show to external media more often. I follow the credo that "you should never lose more than 30 minutes worth of work." Of course there are situations that do not allow you to save that often, but you should strive for that regularity. Most modern consoles use an internal hard drive to ensure the show is continually saving. However, it is still essential that you save to external media (CD, USB drive, network drive, etc) at regular intervals. The more backups you have, the more secure you will be when something goes wrong. Remember, backups are not just to protect from console failure, but also from human error.
2) Share Your Knowledge
We all started with absolutely no knowledge about programming lights and slowly, over time, we learned more and more about it. Find someone with less experience or knowledge than you and teach him or her something new. By teaching someone else how to program, you learn more from answering their questions then you might expect. Sharing your skills to another is a great way to refine your abilities and strengthen your own knowledge.
3) Learn a New Console
The manufacturers in our industry are continually trying to one-up each other and new consoles are always appearing on the market. Take some time to learn a new console and see how it approaches the same features that you are used to. By learning the methodologies of another desk, you will often find that you can go back to your console of choice and discover different things that you never knew existed. Furthermore, you will also gain new skills with another desk that just might get you hired on another gig.
4) Find an Unused Feature
Standard Windows-based computers will pop-up from time to time and point out that "you have unused icons on your desktop," but unfortunately, your lighting console does not behave in this manner. I bet if you look at your console's front panel or screens that you will find a button or feature that you have never actually used. Make it a goal to learn about this function and use it in an upcoming production (where applicable of course). The powerful features that are lurking in your console will likely surprise you.
5) Have Fun
Automated lighting programming should always be a fun adventure. Step back from the stresses of a production and realize just how blessed you are to be sitting in the captain's chair commanding little illumination robots. Whether you are volunteering your time or getting paid big bucks, remember that we are in show business, which simply put means that we should always be having fun! If the stresses start to take away your fun, then take a step back and look at the big picture to get back to the joys of programming.
6) Make New Friends
When working on a production, we get to meet lots of different people with very different jobs. Chances are, you generally only really get to know the lighting crew. Change this by talking to the audio or pyro crew, spending some time with the stage manager or simply introducing yourself to the producer. Learn about their talents and how long they have been involved with their profession. I have heard some amazing stories from audio engineers and the video crew when I took the time to get to know them.
7) Perfect Your Craft
We have all heard the adage, "practice makes perfect," and it certainly applies to automated lighting programming. No matter how many years of experience you have, you can still hone your skills by practicing often. Even the best of athletes practice on a daily basis. Launch the offline editor on your computer and program a pretend show to a song from your favorite playlist. Or head over to your local lighting shop and ask to play on a console for a few hours. Patch a show and see if you can create that cool chase that you never have the time to perfect. Access to fixtures or visualizers will make the practice sessions even more fun.
8) Strengthen Your Contacts
Our business is very word-of-mouth oriented, and if you want to keep working, you need to keep your name in front of those who will hire you. Take some time this year to make phone calls to your clients, LDs, and friends to let them know you are alive and still working (don't e-mail or text them). Find out what projects they are working on this year and see how you can help. Maybe you won't be available when they need you, but you should be able to suggest another person for the job.
9) Broaden Your Palette
Whether you work in theatre, concerts, houses of worship or clubs, make it a point to try out a new type of production in 2011. One of the great things about working in lighting is that the scope of our work is huge. There are literally thousands of different types of productions on which to work. Think of an entertainment category in which you have never been a part, and make it a goal to program lights in this realm before the end of the year. Once working in that area, learn its special requirements and then figure out how you can apply them to your usual productions types.
10) Replicate Nature
Nature is all around us, and always creating beautiful works of lighting art. Take time to study a sunset or sunrise and really pay attention to the colors. Or perhaps notice the shadows of trees on the ground, or the flight patterns of birds. Then think how you can apply these natural wonders in your next production. Replicating colors is the easiest to think about, yet sometimes may be difficult to achieve (some natural ambers are impossible to replicate with color mixing). By paying attention to animal movements, you might discover new ideas for chases or ballyhoos. Nature has so much to teach us, plus this indispensable creative resource is always available at no charge.
11) RTFM
I have written entire articles about my favorite acronym, RTFM (Read The Freakin' Manual). A manual is one of the most valuable pieces of information available. Whether you have read it before or never even picked it up, make it a point to read the entire manual about your console of choice. Even if you think you know it all, I can guarantee that you will learn many new things that you never knew were possible. By repeatedly re-reading the manual, you will discover many more features and methods that will assist you with every production. Most manuals are available in printed form, PDF, on-the-console, or online.
2011 and Beyond
Resolve to improve your programming skills, help others, improve your practices, and stay happy through all of 2011. If you take the time to achieve these resolutions with your programming career, then you will also be able to tackle the usual New Years resolutions of weight loss, bad habits and love. With so many resolutions waiting, 2011 is going to be a great year!
