A Sound and Video Production Company
TL;DR: Cover your assets by working with versions The Story: I talk a lot about Qlab on this blog, but today’s installment applies to working in any application. I’ve always been pretty organized, even before I started using computers. (You know, before entering college in 1994…) Keeping things straight is critical to knowing where you …
This post has been updated after a Twitter conversation with the good folks at Figure 53 got me thinking…I’ve made this much more useful as a result, so you don’t pull your whole show down to a stop. TL;DR: Clearing out a buildup of cues in Qlab via a script, which is a little more …
Continue reading “Dirty Programming: Clear your Cache in Qlab”
The director chose this as an ensemble piece. It was for tech, too! February has fallen into a pattern over the past few years. It’s when things start picking back up from the quieter January. The gradual changeover between maintenance, and repair throughout the theatre leading into prep for my usual season of shows coming …
Continue reading “An Occasional Midsummer Night’s Dream (David Bowie)”
TL;DR: A primer on what you have to pay for – and what you don’t. And how it’s more affordable to use QLab than you might think. The Story: We have all been there. People use iTunes and Keynote (or, gasp, PowerPoint!) for a live production, because they don’t know what’s better out there. (That’s …
Continue reading “QLab licensing, costs, and what it all means”
TLDR: Combine audio hardware interfaces into a singular virtual device. The Story: As the head of sound and video for the theatre department at NVCC, I often will bring my own gear in for use in the show. It’s a learning-and-sharing thing for everyone involved, including myself. But it can also be a bad habit, …
Continue reading “Aggregate Audio Interfaces in OSX (to use in Qlab, of course!)”
TL;DR: Calculate how long a list of songs is in Qlab. The Story: In my early days of sound design, I would play my house music in iTunes. What could be easier? It was a drag and drop interface I knew well, and people who weren’t me could also control/change it. Of course, as I …
TL;DR: Writing a script in Qlab that will turn on or off your computer’s wifi, so you don’t have to remember to do it. The Story: Most people agree that your show computer should not be on the Internet – either because of downloading applications or updates that will impair your workflow, or because your …
Continue reading “Get your computer off the Internet during a show”
TL;DR: Use Qlab to play physical DVDs The Story: I was called in to be the lead video for a small event, located in a beautiful, historic ballroom. It was the preview screening of a very popular television show’s final season, so I was pretty into it, all things considered. This was the hall before …
TL;DR: Talking about templates from one last angle, and ensuring your show files don’t get lost. The Story: After I graduated from college, I started working on a number of websites, big and small. This was before things like WordPress and other CMS platforms were out there, organizing your work for you. Back then, you …
TL;DR: Speed up your workflow – and your learning in QLab – by making a template. Here is mine. The Story: I created a template that I use to start all of my shows, and contains the most commonly used scripts of mine. It isn’t cluttered with EVERYTHING I’ve learned, just something to help me …
Continue reading “What’s in my Qlab show template? (Templates, part 2)”
