Tips & Tricks

Automated lighting consoles are great for programming conventional lights. But multi-part fixtures can pose problems. Imagine a simple LED fixture that has three cells, each… Read More »Controlling Multi-Part Fixtures

My buddy and I fell for a manufacturer’s BS about lumens and rented a bunch of fixtures for a client who wanted the exterior of… Read More »The BS Factor

What if you owned big shiny dump trucks to haul 100 tons of sand, but they leaked? And by the time the driver got to… Read More »Plug the Leaks

Transparent LED displays add a creative element to any visual designer’s tool bag. A few manufacturers are also taking the LED concept into the 3D… Read More »LED Panels are Going 3D

It’s important to become familiar with a wide range of consoles, but by learning at least one console top to bottom, you can give yourself… Read More »Learn One Console Top to Bottom

Every time you turn on an incandescent lamp you’re seeing about 3.5 percent of the energy you’re paying for to power it up…But before we… Read More »Color Rendering vs. Efficiency

I sometimes wonder, “Why don’t people concentrate on making new, cooler versions of existing gear?”…I walked into Upstaging Inc.’s lighting shop outside of Chicago and… Read More »New Old Stuff

By studying the lighting rig and understanding the needs of the production, you can determine common fixture selections.  Then by using the procedures outlined in… Read More »Group Your Fixtures

These new high-tech mega-spectaculars have taken traditional theatrical techniques and have morphed and augmented them into something new. So why do so many college programs… Read More »Adjust the Curriculum for a Changing Job Market

Luminance is an important concept in this age of video-heavy production. The amount of light being reflected from a surface area dramatically affects how the… Read More »Measuring Luminance

If I have the option, I use a different console to program media servers than when I’m programming a bunch of moving lights.  I find… Read More »Believe in console agnosticism

What makes club lighting work? Energy! The visuals in the room should match the energy of the music. A wash fixture with a shutter chase… Read More »Nightclub Lighting is All About Energy.