To kick off 2010 at On Stage Lighting, we thought it would be nice to point out six things of lighting goodness elsewhere online, maybe new to you. Oh, and to invite you to add your own stage lighting related finds online that you think other OSL readers will find interesting, in the comments section.

Why six? Well, lampies can only work in sixes can’t they?

Theatrical Lighting Database

Funded by the New York Stage Council For the Arts , the lighting database is a great collection of lighting paperwork for a few of Broadway’s legendary shows, designed by the a few of biggest names in lighting design such as Tharon Musser, Richard Nelson and Jules Fisher.

The paperwork in the database includes plans, plots and equipment schedules. The detail in the paperwork of theatrical lighting design, including focus notes and gel calls, is not only a vital part of planning and communication at the time, it also gives us a sense of what went on. Looking through the various sheets can also help anyone learning lighting, particularly theatre lighting, to improve their knowledge of how to present ideas and plan a show, as well as rig design itself. And using tools from an era before there was software to do it for you.

Learning stuff about lighting always includes a certain amount of staring at other peoples plans, well as squinting at the pictures in equipment catalogues. You can find the Theatrical Lighting Database here.

Theatre Freeware Lighting Plan Software

Talking of lighting design software, if you are looking for free software to create simple rig layouts and some lists in .cvs format, Karl Eaton’s Lighting Design freeware is great. It’s so simple to create an “old fashioned” lighting stencil plan, with bars, numbers and basic geometry and you can easily create custom fixture attributes and assign them to a symbol without having to wade through endless libraries and wondering if you have the latest version.

If you need to draw a clear plan, show where fixtures should go and how they should be plugged up and fancy something a bit more sophisticated than my frequently used “Biro and back of a tour schedule” method, this is great. You can’t “Save As” a crumpled paper schedule, for a start.

Spend more time doing lighting and less time learning CAD.

MQ Scroll Wheel for PC

On Stage Lighting is keen on the Cham Sys MagicQ, it’s a good desk, but also because of the free software version that allows a user to learn the concepts of a number of professional lighting consoles, while actually using a cheap USB DMX interface like the Enttec USB Pro as an output device.

The function that has always seemed frustrating, probably as a result of the PC software being a ported version of the console, is the difficulty with which you can manipulate the encoders without hardware – one of the most important bits of moving light programming.

The MQ scroll wheel is free 3rd party application that gives you scroll wheel control over an encoder as you hover over it on screen. It’s simple, just download it and run the .exe while running the Cham Sys software. The resolution of mouse scroll wheels are not always that fine but it does work and actually makes a difference if you haven’t got someMagicQ hardware in front of you. If you like it, don’t forget to donate too.

GAM Split Gel Guide

As a reader of On Stage Lighting, you know that we like to publish articles on different aspects of learning the trade, giving you tips, ideas and information in a unique way. A guide to using split colour (using a multi coloured filter made up of different gel pieces) is just our kinda thing.

But, the On Stage Lighting Guide to Split Gel is not coming any time soon while this baby is out there. The web page from gel maker GAM, tells you pretty much all you need to know on the subject and has some great techniques that you might not have thought of, even if you have experimented with two and four way diagonal splits. It even has comprehensive images of the filters plus the resulting light.

iSquint Flickr Group

iSquint.com is one of America’s fastest growing lighting technology sites. Justin has some great stuff over there, particularly his Rumour Mill column which frequently flags up things going on the kit makers trade. (I also did an interview over there, but wouldn’t dream of calling that a highlight)

Justin created a Flickr group for people to add the sexiest show pictures of lighting designs they have done. On Fridays, iSquint features one of the images as a showcase snippet for the LD. Get along there to see some inspiring images and some cool lighting, even add your own pictures and show them off.

Take a look at the details and visit the group

Lucas Krech’s Blog

You might remember that Lucas wrote a great Introduction To Dance Lighting for On Stage Lighting last year. We loved that piece and appreciated in particular the way that Lucas adapted his writing to fit with our “house style”, I’m sure you found the article useful too.

I’ve been following Lucas’s blog for a while now and he always has interesting things to say on a range of subjects including lighting design, the finances of the freelancer and even his passion, philosophy. He even wrote a piece on why he thought his blog would never become really popular, citing too broad a range of subject matter or writing a scholarly manner.

Recently, Lucas has started publishing some articles that I think will really be of interest to you. He talks through his design process on a recent show, The Sisters Rosenweig and has come up with two great Colour Theory Basics posts on Hue , Saturation and Chroma.

I really recommend you check out his blog, especially with the recent trend in posts on lighting basics. To get a taste al the interesting topics Lucas covered in 2009, take a look at his round up from last year.

You really should read this guy.

OK,  so hope there’s something in that lot for you.  If you have any favourite stage lighting related online discoveries, put them in the comments box and tell us what they are all about.  Happy New Year.

Image based on picture from Jus’ fi on Flickr

If this has helped you, consider buying me a beer and CLICK HERE to donate a few bucks to On Stage Lighting (why should I donate?). Thanks, - Rob

Don't miss out on future articles about stage lighting, get the next one sent straight to you! Click Here to grab our feed by RSS or Email

Don't Keep It To Yourself

Share this on Facebook, if you have something to say about » Theatrical Lighting Database, Split Gels and Other Stories, or found it useful and want your friends to know about it

On Stage Lighting has a ton of stuff like this. You may also like:

• Band Lighting Gels – Best Filter Colours To Light Your Gig
• Colour Correction Filters – More Stage Lighting Gels
• Stage Lighting Design Software – Choose Your CAD Weapon
• Stage Lighting Plan – Lighting Design and Communication

Rob is a freelance LD and Programmer working the the UK events industry. He is also the Editor of On Stage Lighting

Recent Searches:

Things To Do

Share With The Crew...

Don't keep it to yourself! Share this article on your favourite social site - Facebook, Del.icio.us, MySpace etc. or send to a friend via email.

Take Our Poll

Vote for the kind of stage lighting articles you like to read most here

Tell us...

Don't forget to leave a comment on this article. Help other readers by checking that you are adding your comment to the most relevant post. If you just want to get in touch, contact On Stage Lighting instead.