Return-Path: X-Scanned-By: RAE MPP/Clamd http://raeinternet.com/mpp X-Scanned-By: This message was scanned by MPP Lite Edition (www.messagepartners.com)! X-Real-To: stagecraftlist [at] theatrical.net Received: by prxy.net (CommuniGate Pro PIPE 4.2.10) with PIPE id 22266088; Mon, 09 May 2005 03:00:31 -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 #391 Date: Mon, 09 May 2005 03:00:22 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Disposition: inline X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.3 (2005-04-27) on prxy.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-5.6 required=5.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.3 X-TFF-CGPSA-Version: 1.4f2 X-prxy-Spam-Filter: Scanned For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- Stagecraft Digest, Issue #391 1. Re: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) AND Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Dig by "Bill Conner" 2. Re: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) by "Scheu Consulting Services" 3. Re: 3-D Vectorworks Questions by "C. Dopher" 4. Re: Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Digest #389 by CB 5. Re: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) by CB 6. Re: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) by Bill Sapsis 7. Re: Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Digest #389 by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 8. Re: Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Digest #389 by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 9. Re: Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Digest #389 by FrankWood95 [at] aol.com 10. DMX Converter/Controller Firmware Update by Jerry Durand 11. Re: 3-D Vectorworks Questions by "Weston Wilkerson" 12. broadway hardware by David Wetmore 13. Re: broadway hardware by Stuart Wheaton 14. Re: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) by "Scheu Consulting Services" *** 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <000d01c553c7$fd6aa830$6b01a8c0 [at] BCA1> Reply-To: "Bill Conner" From: "Bill Conner" Subject: Re: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) AND Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Digest #389 Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 07:18:01 -0500 I could stand the non-technical theatre related travel, punctuation, and lawn mower repair inquiries if people would pay a little attention to the other guidelines, especially no. 7 "Quote sparingly. If you are replying to someone else's post, include only as much of that post as necessary to make yours understood. In particular, avoid auto-quoting the entire digest!" and no. 5 "If you use an automated "signature," please keep it to a minimum; long signatures can clutter up the digest and make it hard to read." Regards, Bill ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: "Scheu Consulting Services" Subject: RE: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 08:50:50 -0400 Organization: Scheu Consulting Services, Inc. Message-ID: In-Reply-To: Norman Lazarus wrote: >Frankly Mr. Scheu if you have an issue with off topic >posts clogging your e-mail. Change your subsrciption >to digest form and you'll only get one e-mail per day OK, I lied. I have to respond... First of all, please don't put me in with Frank! ;-) I promise to be a good boy... By asking "if you have an issue with off topic posts clogging your = e-mail", aren't you tacitly admitting that off-topic posts promote "clogging"? = And you don't see clogging of one's in-box as a problem? When my drain = clogs, I usually don't view this as a good thing. I appreciate your suggestion regard the digest. I used to subscribe to = the digest, but when the format changed and the messages were no longer = numbered in the body, it became even more difficult to find the topics I was = truly interested in (and please understand that I find almost every topic interesting). Also in digest mode, it is much more difficult to reply individually to messages and quote only one or two lines from the = original poster, as is suggested in the "official rules" (another "delete key volition" that often occurs). I took the suggestion from others on the list to receive messages individually, then have Outlook (don't start...) send them to a = "Stagecraft" folder, then sort them by subject. Made it a lot easier to find, manage, = and reply to messages. But "frankly", thanks anyway. Peter Scheu Scheu Consulting Services, Inc. www.scheuconsulting.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 15:30:45 -0400 Subject: Re: 3-D Vectorworks Questions From: "C. Dopher" Message-ID: In-Reply-To: Scott needs to learn how to reply at the bottom of messages and how to trim. That said, on to the topic at hand. Steve Shepker: >>> In Vectorworks, 3-D mode, how does one create a wall that is >>> not horizontal at the top? Kevin Linzey's reply: >> If you are trying to make the wall slope over the length, Switch to a fro= >> nt >> (or side) and use the 3d reshape tool. You can reshape the wall or add w= >> all >> peaks where you need them. Scott's reply: > I do this slightly differently: switch to front view, draw a polygon > the shape of the wall you need and then extrude to the thickness you > need. > No re-shaping needed. More Steve: >>> What it the easiest way to put in a ceiling? More Kevin: >> Use the create roof command. I agree with Scott to a small extent. If all you're looking for is shapes to texture and make a rendered view, such as a proscenium theatre, great. Drawing in elevation view and then extruding is the faster answer for both the sloped wall and the ceiling. If, however, you have a complex file and certain classes and object properties need to be maintained, such as architectural renderings where windows and doors may change later, using Kevin's way is better, particularly for the wall. 'Create Roof' command is often too complicated for the simple need of a "solid object at the top of the room". Frankly, it depends on whether you need interior or exterior views. Andrew Dunning advocates using 'subtract solids' to achieve the final shapes of the wall and roof. This will work, but it's not a good solution. 'Subtract solids' will not only increase your drafting time, but will quickly increase your file size and rendering time as well, since the computer keeps all of that information (meaning the solid you subtracted as well as the initial solid to be subtracted from). It simply doesn't SHOW you both solids. Don't believe me? Try 'ungroup' or 'edit group' on a solid that's already been subtracted from. Repeated use of 'subtract solid', especially on the same object, will fark you big time, eventually. However, the feature is useful in specific situations. (In a similar vein, using 'edit group' to go into an extruded object will let you reshape the 2D object without having to resort to -- you guess it -- 'add solid' or 'subtract solid'.) (The same problem applies to cutting along a line - the computer is simply helping you create the necessary solid first, then doing a 'subtract solids' anyway.) Another problem with subtract solids is that small flaws in the original shape can quickly escalate into frustrating rendering problems. More needless advice: If you are rendering a complex file, it will help to save the file as a copy, select all, convert to group, and purge unused everything. This converts all symbols and plug-in objects to simpler objects and clears out the cobwebs. The file will render much much faster. And that's all the free advice I'm giving out today. ;) Cris Dopher, LD Sometime associate at Insight Design ------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.20050508135325.01705c80 [at] pop.west.cox.net> Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 13:53:25 From: CB Subject: Re: Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Digest #389 >Both said "We emptied your desk into the trash the day >you left, so where are the files?" Neither company is in business >anymore. When an employee leaves, it might be a good idea to actually look >at what you're tossing out. Its a better idea to make sure that your workplace doesn't suck, and that the employee isn't made to feel vindictive by the treatment he receives. When I was a television engineer, I was given a leave of absence to tour by my supervisor, six weeks in advance of the date of the tour. I had sublet my house, and my gear and luggage had been put on a boat (with the trucks) and were on their way to the UK when I was told that I had a new supervisor; and that my LOA was null and void because the new superisor hadn't approved it six weeks in advance (and five and a half weeks before I knew that he was going to be my supervisor). In addition, I was advised that if I got on the plane on Sunday, I'd be fired if I didn't show up for work on Monday. This was Friday. While I was gone, they cleaned out my desk. All of my plans for the new Master Control and all of my contacts were gone. I was kinda tickled when they told me that they had the rights to the Master Control Design because I had designed it on their computer, with their CAD program, and had gotten paid for it and I got to tell them that I'd left it in my desk and that they had tossed it. And that I'd be happy to do another, this time on my computer on my nes CAD program at consultant's scale. My favrite was the call (from the guy that pulled the trigger, even though it was the exec that loaded and pointed the gun) asking who my distributor for certain espensive video products that I had gotten a GREAT deal on. My response? "That information is reserved for my employer. If I hadn't been 'ousted', and just been asked to leave nicely, I'd still have been able to produce both pieces of information. Chris "Chris" Babbie Location Sound MON AZ Delete key training and post trimming done by appointment. Rates negotiable, will trade for typing lessons/ADD treatment... ------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.20050508140445.01705c80 [at] pop.west.cox.net> Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 14:04:45 From: CB Subject: RE: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) >Again, I'm not saying that posting OT topics should be verboten, >please just ask to take responses off-list if you're looking for = >information >on something that doesn't have anything to do with technical theatre. Pete, Pete, Pete... We can all rationalize anything we discuss here as 'On-Topic'. Its from all the BMPC entries on our petty cash/expense reports. At least half of the personal visits I have made, and the vacations I have taken, in the last ten years have been work related. While I am doing this show in (town x) I will visit (person y), as I see no other reason for me to be in (town x) again. Travel is a huge part of some stagecrafters' lives, and the accumulated knowledge of what to do when you are stuck doing a gig in (city/country z), as well as what to avoid, what not to miss, and how to get the best deal out of your per diem, is as important as how to get your rigger certified to keep the AHJ from trying to outguess him every week. And a lot more fun. I really think that the problem is that you don't have enough time to stop and smell the roses. Tell 'em Dr. Babbie said you need some time off. Hey, it could work! Chris "Chris" Babbie Location Sound MON AZ Delete key training and post trimming done by appointment. Rates negotiable, will trade for typing lessons/ADD treatment... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 17:25:52 -0400 Subject: Re: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) From: Bill Sapsis Message-ID: In-Reply-To: on 5/8/05 2:04 PM, CB at psyd [at] cox.net wrote: <> > knowledge of what to do when you are stuck doing a gig in (city/country z), > as well as what to avoid, what not to miss, and how to get the best deal > out of your per diem, is as important as how to get your rigger certified > to keep the AHJ from trying to outguess him every week. <> Ahem. Would you mind terribly much if I take umbrage with your comments comparing per diems and certified riggers? While per diems are very important to all of us, the loss/lack of one doesn't raise the level of possibility of getting clunked on the head by something. But I agree, in principle, with what you are saying. Bill S. (Rose to the bait again, didn't I?) www.sapsis-rigging.com 800.727.7471 800.292.3851 fax 267.278.4561 mobile Please support the Long Reach Long Riders on their 2nd annual benefit ride http://sapsis-rigging.com/LRLR.html ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <1e4.3b23bbfb.2fafdee9 [at] aol.com> Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 17:30:17 EDT Subject: Re: Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Digest #389 In a message dated 08/05/05 21:39:29 GMT Daylight Time, psyd [at] cox.net writes: > While I was gone, they cleaned out my desk. All of my plans for the new > Master Control and all of my contacts were gone. I was kinda tickled when > they told me that they had the rights to the Master Control Design because > I had designed it on their computer, with their CAD program, and had gotten > paid for it and I got to tell them that I'd left it in my desk and that > they had tossed it. Some people have what I can only describe as a mania for this sort of thing I was just a working stiff in a sound maintenance shop, and had been for some fears. I went off on two weeks leave, just after a new shop supervisor had been appointed. When I came back and resumed my work, I couldn't find half of the test jigs and adaptors we had painstakingly built up over several years, to help with the more complicated alignment procedures. This made the work more difficult. I think he must have a very limited and autocratic mind-set. I can just hear him saying: "I'm the supervisor. If I don't know what it's for, it can have no useful purpose here." There were those who could have told him differently, but were not asked. It took us two years to get back to a normal state of slightly chaotic efficiency, after he had left which was mercifully soon. When I myself was made redundant, a lot later, it was very different. I cheared my desk myself, and then used to drop in for anything I'd forgetten. When they got fed up with this, after a few weeks, they crated the whole nine yards, brought it up to my garage, and helped me to get it in. Most of it is still there, largely unused. Since they shot half the film crews at the same time, I thought I might get a bit of freelance work. However, most of them simply put up their rates when they went freelance, too, and went to reputed professionals, at twice my price, and charged accordingly. I suppose I should have done the same. Cost efficient? Well maybe. 80-odd years of experience went out of the door, that Friday. After nearly 15 years, the bitterness just won't go away. To be tossed onto the scrap-heap after 28 years service leaves a bad taste. Frank Wood ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <64.54d24983.2fafe1fc [at] aol.com> Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 17:43:24 EDT Subject: Re: Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Digest #389 In a message dated 08/05/05 21:39:29 GMT Daylight Time, psyd [at] cox.net writes: > While I was gone, they cleaned out my desk. All of my plans for the new > Master Control and all of my contacts were gone. I was kinda tickled when > they told me that they had the rights to the Master Control Design because > I had designed it on their computer, with their CAD program, and had gotten > paid for it and I got to tell them that I'd left it in my desk and that > they had tossed it. Sorry! I must have hit a bad key. An abbreviated vesion follows. There are people like this. I was just a working stiff, then, in a sound maintenance shop, when a new supervisor came in. He seemed to have a mania for throwing things away, and a blasting arrogance such as I have seldom seen. When I came back from leave, after two weeks, I found that half or more of the special jigs and adaptors used for some of the trickier alignment procedures had gone. I can just hear him thinking: "I'm the supervisor. I don't know what this is for, and therefore it is of no use. Bin it!". After he left, which was quite soon, it took us nearly two years to get back to the sort of efficient chaos under which such a shop usually works. Frank Wood ------------------------------ From: FrankWood95 [at] aol.com Message-ID: <213.645e61.2fafe573 [at] aol.com> Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 17:58:11 EDT Subject: Re: Out of Office AutoReply: Stagecraft Digest #389 Yet more apologies. I thought that the first, longer post, had not gone. Blame it, first on me, for not having checked more carefully. Second, for having sat up on Thursday until 05.00AM watching election results. Third, for spending Friday packing the car for a month in France. Fourthly, for having been afflicted with an astonishing stomach-ache on Friday night, which gave me little or no sleep. Saturday hardly happened, and today has been dodgy. But, be of good cheer. I shall not be sending until early June, other than by proxy to the list, unless I can sort out the later versions of AOL. I'm afraid that the newsgroups may still receive my attentions. Frank Wood ------------------------------ Message-Id: <6.2.1.2.0.20050508163545.0361c3d8 [at] localhost> Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 16:44:14 -0700 Cc: jdurand [at] interstellar.com From: Jerry Durand Subject: DMX Converter/Controller Firmware Update Firmware version 1.51 is now available for free download from our support page at: http://interstellar.com/support.html The new manual for this version has been re-arranged and enhanced with working Acrobat bookmarks and a Table of Contents. Highlights of this version: ...New Shadow Presets for faster updates. ...Somewhat faster operation of the firmware (about 35 DMX frames per second while fading all 512 channels). ...More efficient USB operations. ...Re-organization of code and minor bug fixes. As always, let me know if you find any bugs in this firmware and/or have any suggestions for changes. The re-organized code will allow for easier Mac and RDM support in the future. As always, firmware updates are free. ---------- Jerry Durand Durand Interstellar, Inc. Los Gatos, California, USA tel: +1 408 356-3886 USA toll free: 1 866 356-3886 web: www.interstellar.com ------------------------------ Message-ID: In-Reply-To: From: "Weston Wilkerson" Subject: RE: 3-D Vectorworks Questions Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 20:09:49 -0400 To beat a dead horse... I avoid Solid Subtractions and Extrudes at all costs. What I often do is create a shape with those tools and then covert it to a mesh object. Meshes do not contain the sub-solids like solid subtractions, and I have found them to be more easy to use than extrudes. I think the ceiling tool is pretty lame, and rarely use it. I love using the wall tool and then reshaping. It keeps the easy access properties of the wall too. Also, I have been heavily using Vectoworks for three years, and I highly recommend the official Nemestchek (I don't know how it is spelled) training CDs. There are tons of quick tricks that have made me much faster and efficient. Even to the experienced user, you will learn totally different ways to draft. >From: "Steve" >In Vectorworks, 3-D mode, how does one create a wall that is not horizontal >at the top? > >What it the easiest way to put in a ceiling? > >How do you establish a center point on a 3-D drawing after you have >started? > >Thanks in advance. >I just wish I was going somewhere cool on vacation/work. > >Peace, >Steve Schepker >Southeastern Louisiana University > <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Weston Wilkerson University of Tennessee Theater Lighting Design e: Weston_Wilkerson [at] hotmail.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ Message-ID: <11779226.1115602850440.JavaMail.davidfitwe [at] mac.com> Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 18:40:50 -0700 From: David Wetmore Subject: broadway hardware I remember a story a few months ago in one of the trade jurnals I think it might have been plsn or ld about a harware store just for theatre in NY city, Broadway. If anyone knows what I am talking about can you please email me the details pvt. I am on a ship that is going to port in ny in a few days and we would all like to go and get supplies and tools. David Wetmore voyager of the seas RCCL ------------------------------ Message-ID: <427ECB3E.1070802 [at] fuse.net> Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 22:30:22 -0400 From: Stuart Wheaton Subject: Re: broadway hardware References: In-Reply-To: David Wetmore wrote: > > I remember a story a few months ago in one of the trade > jurnals I think it might have been plsn or ld about a > harware store just for theatre in NY city, Broadway. If > anyone knows what I am talking about can you please email > me the details pvt. I am on a ship that is going to port > in ny in a few days and we would all like to go and get > supplies and tools. Was it perhaps Mutual Hardware in Long Island City? They've been theatre specific for years... Best in the world for cruise ships is Boston, a place called Backstage Hardware right on the backside of the pier. Stuart ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: "Scheu Consulting Services" Subject: RE: SO, What is the topic(was kauai) Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 22:58:27 -0400 Organization: Scheu Consulting Services, Inc. Message-ID: In-Reply-To: Chris Babbe wrote: >Tell 'em Dr. Babbie said >you need some time off. Hey, it could work! I'm a one person shop. I'll give you my wife's cell phone number. YOU ask her! ;-) I'm so sorry I ever brought this up. Guess my frustration got the better of me. And so many folk so easily take offence! Was not my intention. Then, now, or in the future. My humble apologies for venting my private frustrations in such an unforgiving public forum. I'm I really that bad a guy, Unca Bill? :-( Peter Scheu Scheu Consulting Services, Inc. www.scheuconsulting.com ------------------------------ End of Stagecraft Digest #391 *****************************