Return-Path: X-Processed-By: Virex 7 on prxy.net X-Real-To: stagecraftlist [at] theatrical.net Received: by prxy.net (CommuniGate Pro PIPE 4.2.10) with PIPE id 21902043; Tue, 19 Apr 2005 03:01:55 -0700 X-ListServer: CommuniGate Pro LIST 4.2.10 List-Unsubscribe: List-ID: Message-ID: From: "Stagecraft" Sender: "Stagecraft" To: "Stagecraft" Precedence: list Subject: Stagecraft Digest #368 Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 03:01:33 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Disposition: inline X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.2 (2004-11-16) on prxy.net X-Spam-Status: No, score=-5.6 required=5.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.2 X-Spam-Level: X-TFF-CGPSA-Version: 1.4f2 X-prxy-Spam-Filter: Scanned For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- Stagecraft Digest, Issue #368 1. Re: Funniest performance you have seen at the theatre or on live stage by "Tony Deeming" 2. Re: scrim repair? by "Paul Schreiner" 3. Re: OT computer question by Steve Larson 4. Re: OT computer question by Boyd Ostroff 5. Re: OT computer question by Dorian Kelly 6. Re: OT computer question by "Jon Ares" 7. Re: scrim repair? by stage craft 8. Re: Wireless intercom by Wood Chip-P26398 9. Re: scrim repair? by "Douglas McCracken" 10. Old Theater Fly System Oops in posting by "Brian D Shipinski" 11. Double-sided Gaffers Tape by "Abby Downing" 12. info on Lycian 1271 by "Derek Madonia" 13. Panelists for USITT Louisville by "Booth, Dennis" 14. Re: info on Lycian 1271 by Stephen Litterst 15. Re: looking for furniture by David Carrico 16. Re: Panelists for USITT Louisville by "Weston Wilkerson" 17. Re: theatre company reference by "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" 18. Presidium stage by David Marks 19. Re: Old Theater Fly System Oops in posting by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 20. Re: Presidium stage by "Chad Croteau" 21. Re: info on Lycian 1271 by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 22. Re: Presidium stage by "Tom Heemskerk" 23. Re: Presidium stage by Mike Brubaker 24. Re: Presidium stage by David Marks 25. Re: Presidium stage by "Jon Ares" 26. Re: Panelists for USITT Louisville by "Fred Schoening" *** Please update the subject line of your reply to use the subject *** line of the message you are replying to! Please only reply to *** one message subject in each reply. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Tony Deeming" Subject: RE: Funniest performance you have seen at the theatre or on live stage Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:06:37 +0100 Message-ID: In-Reply-To: -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Jacqueline Haney Kidwell Sent: April 18, 2005 2:44 AM To: Stagecraft Subject: Re: Funniest performance you have seen at the theatre or on live stage For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- > deeming.tony [at] btinternet.com writes: > > > Gilbert set out to parody and ridicule the various > elements of Victorian > > society, not least of all the aristocracy, If you're interested in hearing about all the permutations of Gilbert with and without Sullivan, there is a mailing list devoted to them and their works. http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/savoynet/ I'm the producer for the local G&S company (very traditional, for good or ill). Savoynet gets awfully verbose and occaisionally sort of snooty, but it is as wonderful a resource in its field as the stagecraft list. Jacqueline Haney Kidwell Yeah - I subscribed to the Savoynet for a while when the G & S company was still active, and as you say - it got rather intense! Ynot ------------------------------ Subject: RE: scrim repair? Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:11:50 -0400 Message-ID: <6E497ADB607656479C24E6D7BF6B505A0196C7D2 [at] exchange.rmwc.edu> From: "Paul Schreiner" > Anyway, I need instructions if someone has the > re-weaving info. Please??!! As soon as I can locate some scrap scrim I'm gonna try the Sobo method and let you know how it works... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:49:51 -0400 Subject: Re: OT computer question From: Steve Larson Message-ID: In-Reply-To: I have both 9.2.2 and OSX on the machine. Doesn't respond to either. Ran Diskwarrior and it still doesn't show up. I've used every method I have available. Will now turn to a professional. Thanks for your responses. Steve > From: "Phil Johnson" > Reply-To: "Stagecraft" > Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 15:13:08 -0500 > To: "Stagecraft" > Subject: Re: OT computer question > > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > --------------------------------------------------- > > Another problem is the drive directory is corrupt. Try running disk > first aid and see if it shows up in the window. If it shows up try > rebuilding the directory ie scan and repair the drive. This is usually > the problem I have when a zip or other disc fails to mount or says it > needs to be reformatted. > > The suggestion of taking the drive to another mac is a good one too. > Try that too > > > > Philip Johnson > Designer/Technical Director > Texas A & M University - Corpus Christi > > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:07:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Boyd Ostroff Subject: Re: OT computer question In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: On Mon, 18 Apr 2005, Steve Larson wrote: > I've used every method I have available. Will now turn to a > professional. Have you verified that the computer's firewire port and your cable are OK? You could try hooking up some other sort of device to your iMac to test this. You may very well have a hardware failure. But if at all possible see if you can try the drive on another machine. If that doesn't work, pull it out of the enclosure and put it into something else. Is there an Apple Store near you? They can probably assist with this. Otherwise, if you can confirm that the drive itself has failed, there's DriveSavers: http://www.drivesavers.com/ We used them a few years ago to rescue a dead drive. But be aware this will cost you some serious $$$. You pay by the MB they recover and you can't be selective about it, so you will pay for system files, applications, etc.... whatever is on the drive. When we did this hard drives were smaller. It was a 2 GB drive and they recovered less than a GB which cost maybe $300. So it may not be practical for a 100MB drive. Of course, prices may have gone down on all this. Good luck! | Boyd Ostroff | Director of Design and Technology | Opera Company of Philadelphia | http://tech.operaphilly.com | ostroff [at] operaphilly.com ------------------------------ Message-Id: In-Reply-To: Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:09:13 +0100 From: Dorian Kelly Subject: Re: OT computer question >For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see >--------------------------------------------------- > >I have a 200GB external hard drive on which I store >the bulk of my large files. The computer (iMac) to which >it is attached via firewire does not recognize the external >unit. Evidently has lost it's address. I keep getting >a message to initialize the external unit, which, of >course, I don't want to do. Borrow and try a new firewire cable. Its amazing how often this works. Also on the G4 tower I have found that sometimes one of the sockets ceases to function while the other one continues. this is also true of the twin USB socket blocks. Sometimes when the processor is really busy (like with some heavy duty auto context indexing in the night, or even with a trojan which ties up all ther processor power) discs take forever to mount . (especially legacy floppies but thats another niggle. I expect you already have, but try leaving it plugged up for an hour and see if it magically appears Dorian ------------------------------ Message-ID: <001101c54424$5f9af770$0600000a [at] BRUTUS> From: "Jon Ares" References: Subject: Re: OT computer question Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 07:39:06 -0700 > Have you verified that the computer's firewire port and your cable are OK? > You could try hooking up some other sort of device to your iMac to test > this. Recently I had a G4 tower ("Quicksilver") and a Firewire port set a Canopus box on fire. With smoke n everything. The next day, the G4 wouldn't even power up. The Firewire ports had become a bit sloppy and loose, from people plugging in (and removing) Firewire cables with too much gusto and torque. The iMac's FW ports are a bit more captive, luckily. (After having the Mac at the mac shop for more than a month, I finally get it back with a repaired 'logic board' (motherboard in PC terms) - but it still won't power up. Seems to have changed its mind since it left their workbench. So back to the shop for another month.) -- Jon Ares Program Director, West Linn HS Theatre Arts www.hevanet.com/acreative www.wlhstheatre.org ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20050418144701.55915.qmail [at] web61301.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 07:47:01 -0700 (PDT) From: stage craft Subject: Re: scrim repair? In-Reply-To: 6667 Thanks Paul. We open Thursday and have a 3" hole in dead center and a few 1" holes in other places... I may just stitch the holes closed for now. -alex- --- Paul Schreiner wrote: > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > > --------------------------------------------------- > > > Anyway, I need instructions if someone has the > > re-weaving info. Please??!! > > As soon as I can locate some scrap scrim I'm gonna > try the Sobo method > and let you know how it works... > -alex- Alex M. Postpischil, Technical Director Department of Theatre Arts University of Mississippi University, MS 38677 662.915.6993 662.915.5968 - fax __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Plan great trips with Yahoo! Travel: Now over 17,000 guides! http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide ------------------------------ Message-ID: <014D202957F6D8118924000F20D7342B05608CB3 [at] az33exm01.corp.mot.com> From: Wood Chip-P26398 Subject: RE: Wireless intercom Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:20:22 -0700 Next time you go to a Cracker Barrel restaurant notice the discrete ear plugs and mics on the wait staff. Looks like the Secret Service. It seems to be working, they have the most efficient service I have ever seen. Tables are cleaned and ready for the next group within 1 minute or so. Everybody is getting into the act. -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of FrankWood95 [at] aol.com > I was going to get into the fast food connection, The whole operation is carried out using small, handheld RF intercoms. ------------------------------ From: "Douglas McCracken" Subject: RE: scrim repair? Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 06:24:50 -1000 Message-ID: In-reply-to: FWIW, I was told by a wig builder that the best scrim repair job that he saw was done BY a wig builder. He could tell because he recognized the style of weave used in the repair. I know this sounds like a joke, but it's isn't. He said you could not tell it was repaired unless you got real close. Aloha, Douglas ------------------------------ Message-ID: <000601c5443e$4e2fbe20$66e0490c [at] briansbyukf8iv> From: "Brian D Shipinski" References: Subject: Old Theater Fly System Oops in posting Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:44:42 -0500 Please forgive my overly long and un-seriously edited meandering post of yesterday. My intent was to simply ask about some sort of ground isolation balls I had at one time seen on a hopefully long gone hemp fly system that was using bronze sash cord. Brian Shipinski ------------------------------ Subject: Double-sided Gaffers Tape Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:12:35 -0400 Message-ID: <7AE59BA9B8D15D4787EB1C7A2DB6DFBA2A03F5 [at] jekyll-sbs.ollsi.local> From: "Abby Downing" Cc: jared.fortney [at] gmail.com (Jared Fortney) Jared, You were inquiring after double sided gaffers tape. I have a little more information for you: Permacel makes it. Permacel P-50 tape. In my catalog, it is listed as double adhesive gaffers tape. I have not been able to find it on the Pro-Tapes website, though they do sell it (It is in some literature I have from them). =20 Have a great day! Abby ------------------------------ Subject: info on Lycian 1271 Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:01:31 -0400 Message-ID: From: "Derek Madonia" Has anyone worked with a Lycian 1271? If so, how loud are they? Thanks, Derek Madonia Geva Theatre Center Master Electrican ------------------------------ Subject: Panelists for USITT Louisville Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:13:09 -0400 Message-ID: From: "Booth, Dennis" Cc: stagecraft [at] stagecraft.org It looks like I will be chairing a session at USITT Louisville on = "Advanced CAD Tips". This is a session topic that was kicked around at = the Technical Production Commission meeting in Toronto, and we hope will = prove to be very interesting. =A0 I'm looking for some thoughts from this list as to specific "CAD Tips" = and practical problems/solutions to focus on, and also for interested = panelists. =A0Please contact me off-list if you've got ideas or would = like to participate. =A0 How's that for opening a can o' worms? =A0 Thanks in advance, =A0 DGB =A0 =A0 Dennis Gill Booth Technical Faculty & Assistant Dean for Operations =A0North Carolina School of the Arts=20 =A0 School of Design and Production=20 =A0 1553 South Main Street=20 =A0 PO Box 12189=20 =A0 Winston-Salem, NC=A0=A0 27117-2189 =20 * Voice:=A0 (336)770-3232 x105=20 * FAX:=A0=A0 (336)770-3213=20 * Email: boothd [at] ncarts.edu=20 * D&P URL: http://www.ncarts.edu/ncsaprod/designandproduction/=20 * Faculty=A0URL: http://faculty.ncarts.edu/dandp/booth/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:27:59 -0400 From: Stephen Litterst Subject: Re: info on Lycian 1271 Message-id: <4264265F.19AB4469 [at] ithaca.edu> Organization: IC-Dept. of Theatre Arts References: Derek Madonia wrote: > --------------------------------------------------- > Has anyone worked with a Lycian 1271? > If so, how loud are they? We have the 1272s which look pretty close to the 1271s on the website. The fans on the 1272s are loud. They put out a pitch in the 1 KHz range at around 40-50 dB. Those numbers are estimates, I haven't actually metered the unit. (The dB estimate comes from the comparison that our video projector puts out 33 dB and these are significantly louder) It drives our Sound Designer nuts, but the I like them because they overpower the noise from the MLs. :) Aside from fan noise, our units (about seven years old I think) have developed squeaky dowsers. I'm talking fingernails on slate kind of squeaks. No amount of graphite has managed to alleviate this. Hope this helps you. Steve L. -- Stephen C. Litterst Technical Supervisor Ithaca College Dept. of Theatre Arts 607/274-3947 slitterst [at] ithaca.edu ------------------------------ Message-ID: <1964cf3b0504181451254ce291 [at] mail.gmail.com> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:51:42 -0400 From: David Carrico Reply-To: David Carrico Subject: Re: looking for furniture In-Reply-To: References: George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey just did that producti= on. There's some nice Art Deco furniture that I had a hand in building, that may have been kept in stock, don't know if it was kept as I moved on to a new job after opening the show. Jay Duckworth is the Props Master there. His number is: 732-846-2895 x175 Chris Bailey is the Production Manager. His number is: 732-846-2895 x178, but good luck getting him. They have the coffee table and night tables, can't recall about the others. Hope that helps Dave Carrico ------------------------------ Message-ID: In-Reply-To: From: "Weston Wilkerson" Subject: RE: Panelists for USITT Louisville Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:51:59 -0400 Is this CAD as in AutoCAD, or general CAD design? <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Weston Wilkerson University of Tennessee Theater Lighting Design e: Weston_Wilkerson [at] hotmail.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ From: "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" Subject: RE: theatre company reference Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 14:56:33 -0700 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Exactly. With all of my industrial clients,i.e. Northrup, Atomic Energy Commission, aircraft organizations, as well as the Mouse, every document was tracked, signed, photographed from h to breakfast. Always documentation. Always. Doom -- Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson, Risk International & Associates, Inc. - www.riskit.com Latest workshops for Educational and Entertainment Industry Performing Arts Personnel (Riggers, and Public Assembly and Educational Technicians) www.riskit.com/workshops International Secondary Education Theater Safety Association (ISETSA) - www.isetsa.org -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Jerry Durand Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 10:16 AM To: Stagecraft Subject: Re: theatre company reference For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- At 11:07 AM 4/14/2005, you wrote: >I had worked with other, trickier gear, when we used to log the positions of >the controls. This made the assumption that you could do the line-up. It also >showed you to see when the controls were walking off to their end stops, and >you needed to do a major overhaul. Many moons ago when I did qualification testing (both military and civilian items, like Space Shuttle parts), we kept photographs of all test setups with the dials visible. We also logged all settings, calibration dates, and serial numbers (of the test equipment). This all had to be signed and stamped (we each had a personal inspection stamp). The items tagged "For Manned Spaceflight" had to get even more logging. All logs had to be kept for 20 years. A good part of the cost of these parts was all the labor to log them. I had an assistant who was constantly trying to shortcut the rules. She'd write in pencil, use colored ink (black photocopies best and was required), use White-Out correction fluid, not log everything, etc. She never could understand why we kept making her do the log sheets over, I guess it was too much time spent running the marking machine (she loved working on that, the solvents used in those days got her really high). ---------- Jerry Durand Durand Interstellar, Inc. 219 Oak Wood Way Los Gatos, California 95032-2523 USA tel: +1 408 356-3886 fax: +1 408 356-4659 web: www.interstellar.com ------------------------------ Message-ID: <42643056.8050107 [at] att.net> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:10:30 -0400 From: David Marks Subject: Presidium stage Ok, I'm a video/sound guy..... I'm trying to find out what a "presidium stage" is. I've found references but no clear explanation. ??? Thanks. dave marks ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <146.430afa0c.2f958aaa [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:11:54 EDT Subject: Re: Old Theater Fly System Oops in posting In a message dated 18/04/05 18:45:35 GMT Daylight Time, bshipinski [at] worldnet.att.net writes: > Please forgive my overly long and un-seriously edited meandering post of > yesterday. My intent was to simply ask about some sort of ground isolation > balls I had at one time seen on a hopefully long gone hemp fly system that > was using bronze sash cord. Forgiven. Myself, I found it an interesting catalogue of problems, and a story of someone trying, even if untrained and under informed, to overcome them in the face of uninterested management. It was good that you credited them with keeping the theatre open through the difficult years. I do have two questions, though. First, just what is bronze sash cord? Second, why would you want to isolate the flying system from ground? Here in the UK, it is axiomatic that all exposed metalwork is bonded to ground, unless it is double-insulated equipment, which is usually portable, and is subject to different, but equally stringent standards. It's usually for domestic use, and can cause problems in the sound area. Frank Wood ------------------------------ Message-ID: <001f01c54463$709aa040$6401a8c0 [at] cz1lbfinkbrlun> From: "Chad Croteau" References: Subject: Re: Presidium stage Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:10:31 -0400 Hi Mr. Marks, Could you be referring to a proscenium stage? If so, it's a stage where the audience sits in front, and is framed by a wall with an opening through which the audience watches the show. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, check out http://www.chryslertheatre.com/photos.htm and look at the second picture from the top of the page. Hope this helps, Chad ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Marks" To: "Stagecraft" Sent: Monday, April 18, 2005 6:10 PM Subject: Presidium stage > For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see > --------------------------------------------------- > > Ok, I'm a video/sound guy..... > > I'm trying to find out what a "presidium stage" is. > I've found references but no clear explanation. > ??? > > Thanks. > dave marks > > ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <75.437cf0d3.2f958bc3 [at] aol.com> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:16:35 EDT Subject: Re: info on Lycian 1271 In a message dated 18/04/05 22:28:54 GMT Daylight Time, slitterst [at] ithaca.edu writes: > Aside from fan noise, our units (about seven years old I think) have > developed squeaky dowsers. I'm talking fingernails on slate kind of > squeaks. No amount of graphite has managed to alleviate this. Try the copper-based lubricants sold to stop the interchangeable bits in soldering irons from sticking in their holders. Obviously, they are rated for use at very high temperatures. Frank Wood ------------------------------ Message-ID: <62314.66.183.177.34.1113880434.squirrel [at] 66.183.177.34> In-Reply-To: References: Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:13:54 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Presidium stage From: "Tom Heemskerk" --------------------------------------------------- > > Ok, I'm a video/sound guy..... > > I'm trying to find out what a "presidium stage" is. > I've found references but no clear explanation. > ??? > Uh-oh... sounds like phonics trouble to me. Are these "references" from Google? I got 22 Google hits for "presidium stage" (which seemed to mean proscenium stage), 16,000 "for proscenium stage".... and 67,300 hits for vidiot. th ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.2.0.14.0.20050418232837.01decec8 [at] mail.insightbb.com> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 23:33:14 -0500 From: Mike Brubaker Subject: Re: Presidium stage In-Reply-To: References: I'm not so sure...the definition of presidium from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is below.  Couple that with stage, some interesting possibilities come to mind.

pre=B7sid=B7i=B7um    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (pr-sd-m)
n. pl. pre=B7sid=B7i=B7a (--) or pre=B7sid=B7i=B7ums= =20
  1. Any of various permanent executive committees in Communist countries having power to act for a larger governing body.=20
  2. Presidium An executive committee of the Supreme Soviet headed by the president.=20


[Russian prezidium, from Latin praesidium, garrison. See presidio.]



At 10:13 PM 4/18/2005, Tom Heemskerk wrote:

> I'm trying to find out w= hat a "presidium stage" is.
> I've found references but no clear explanation.
> ???

Uh-oh... sounds like phonics trouble to me.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <42648C24.5040206 [at] att.net> Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:42:12 -0400 From: David Marks Subject: Re: Presidium stage References: In-Reply-To: Mike Brubaker wrote: >I'm not so sure...the definition of presidium from the American Heritage >Dictionary of the English Language is below. > No idiots here. I *know* what a proscenium stage is (and the other permuations of staging). However an acquaintance got all bent out of shape insisting that there is a "presidium" stage and before I correct him, I wanted to ask the experts. dave marks ------------------------------ Message-ID: <000a01c5449f$27cc5ac0$0600000a [at] BRUTUS> From: "Jon Ares" References: Subject: Re: Presidium stage Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 22:18:00 -0700 > No idiots here. I *know* what a proscenium stage is (and the other > permuations of staging). However an acquaintance got all bent out > of shape insisting that there is a "presidium" stage and before > I correct him, I wanted to ask the experts. Could be a semantics or spelling issue, but I have heard of "presidium staging" as meaning a raised platform area or dais with a panel table-type setup (head table for VIPs and perhaps a lectern). If it were me, I'd examine the context of the setup to determine the implication. -- Jon Ares Program Director, West Linn HS Theatre Arts www.hevanet.com/acreative www.wlhstheatre.org ------------------------------ From: "Fred Schoening" Subject: RE: Panelists for USITT Louisville Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:49:58 -0500 Message-ID: <001001c544a3$9f49d060$1f8afea9 [at] PRODIGALBRAIN> In-Reply-To: Hiya, Dennis! Here are a couple of not-quite-CAD CAD tips that I thought might come in handy: - Trackballs ROCK! I especially love my Kensington 4-button programmable optical one. No slipping, you can program the buttons in chords, much less strain on the arm, takes up less space on the desk, all kinds of ergonomic goodness. - Raise your monitor! Art teachers will tell you that a painting or photograph should be hung with the top third above eye level. Why not your monitor? I was having all kinds of shoulder cramping and hunching over (and you know what a big guy I am!) until I built a plywood box to raise my monitor at least 8". Makes a WORLD of difference. And, as a bonus, you get a neat little cubbyhole to park your stapler in. - Speaking of monitors, turn your brightness way down and draw with a white background. I can't tell you how annoying it is to have to go through somebody else's CAD drawing and change all the colors so that you can see them when you plot it out. The pastels all look great on a black background, but they don't work so well on plotter paper. Draw it the way you want it to look in the end. - Arrange your furniture so that your monitor is between you and the door to your office. It's terribly distracting to have people come up and peer over your shoulder and ask "Whatchyer drawrin'?" (This is good for keeping prying eyes off your e-mail, too.) - Remember, there's a chance that someone in your shop is color blind. Line weights and types are important! Color is a wonderful thing, but don't rely on it exclusively to impart important information. - The carpenters WILL cut up your drawings, no matter how many times you tell them not to. Therefore, fear not the redundant note. - Sometimes the fastest program is NapkinCAD(tm). It's OK, really, it is. ; ) I'm sure I'll think of many exciting little AutoCAD oriented tidbits later, but this is what springs off the top of my head. Fred "Big Fred" Schoening Technical Director Dallas Theater Center Dallas, Texas, USA =20 "...a root word of technology, techne, originally meant 'art.' The ancient Greeks never separated art from manufacture in their minds, and so never developed separate words for them." - Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -----Original Message-----=A0 I'm looking for some thoughts from this list as to specific "CAD Tips" and practical problems/solutions to focus on, and also for interested panelists. =A0Please contact me off-list if you've got ideas or would = like to participate. =A0 How's that for opening a can o' worms? =A0 Thanks in advance, =A0 DGB ------------------------------ End of Stagecraft Digest #368 *****************************