iSquint.net

2009, A Year In Review

Congratulations! You made it through 2009! What a hellava year huh? As the world prepares for the Ball to drop of 2010, I want to step back and take a look at how far iSquint and the lighting industry has come in just one year. With iSquint, there have been some major changes, upgrades and announcements. I think the most important was finally announcing that I, Justin Lang and the person behind iSquint. But before that big announcement came the one year anniversary of iSquint.net being on line with a week long celebration right before LDI 2009. With that celebration, came a new site design. I put in a lot of time to re-organize and re-designing the site and from what I hear, it is getting a positive response.

At the time of the re-launch, I added some more features to the site such as the iSquint Podcast, the iSquint YouTube Channel and the Friday Flickr Lighting Porn. These are just a few ways to bring you more exciting and closer look at things happening with in the industry. There are still a couple of things that are still in the works, but I will save that for 2010.

During 2009, I personally was exposed to some new and exciting products and have loved sharing them with you here. One thing I am most proud and honored by, was being published in the December 2009 issue of PLSN for my show report on LDI this year in Orlando. This is just the beginning and hopefully more to come.

2009 was one hellava year for not only me, but for iSquint as well! Take a look at some of the top read articles for 2009 as well as some of the top key word searches.

iSquint Podcast: Episode 3 – Squintin’ at the grandMA2

In this, the third episode of the iSquint Podcast, I got a chance to sit down with Brian Dowd and Joe Cabera from ACT Lighting to talk about the grandMA2 lighting desk. Joe and Brian were kind enough to take time out of their very busy trade show duties to sit down and explain to me some of the differences between the grandMA and the grandMA2 hardware and software.

Cat West and Joe Cabera released a preview of the interview that we did on their website called ConsoleCocktails.com titled Squintin’ at the grandMA2. You can check out the video at their site as well as ACT Lighting’s Blog. And no, Joe did not lose his legs during the interview!

Don’t forget, you can subscribe to the iSquint podcast through iTunes.

Side Note: I have heard from some readers that there is a little game that they like to play with the iSquint Podcast. The third episode unintentionally continues to provide that level of entertainment. Let’s just say, the grandMA2 is impressive. ;)

[podcast]http://isquint.net/wp-content/uploads/podcast/iSquint.net_Podcast-Episode_3.mp3[/podcast]

4Wall Accquires BSL Productions

4Wall in DC I received a note from a good freind over at Baltimore Stage Lighting Productions, (BSL) about their latest bit of news. BSL was just recently acquired by 4Wall, a nationally known production and lighting supplier. On January 4th, BSL will officially change from BSL to 4Wall-DC.

Tuesday Twitter Trivia – The Whistling Winner

Popeye the Sailor This weeks Tuesday Twitter Trivia question takes me back to college. I learned alot back then, some to do with other things then theatre, but mainly theatre and lighting. I have always been fascinated by some of the superstitions that we theatre folk come to live by such as this weeks question:

Why are we not allowed to whistle while on stage?

Seems like a weird one right? We learn at a very early age that if you whistle while you work, time will just fly by. So why can’t we whistle while say hanging lights or working on the set on a stage? It all has to do with the sailor. I am going to let Wikipedia answer this one for me.

…Whistling has long been used as a specialized communication between laborers. For example, whistling in theatre, particularly on-stage, is used by flymen to cue the lowering or raising of a batten pipe or flat. This method of communication became popular before the invention of electronic means of communication, and is still in use, primarily in older “hemp” houses during the set and strike of a show. Traditionally, sailors were often used as stage technicians, working with the complicated rope systems associated with flying. Coded whistles would be used to call cues, so it is thought that whistling on-stage may cause, for example, a cue to come early, a “sailor’s ghost” to drop a set-piece on top of an actor, or general bad luck in the performance.

So who got it right this week? Well, everyone did actually! But the first one in with the answer was @jhdesynz or better know as John Hathcock. Congrats John and thanks everyone for playing!

Thanks Wikipedia!

Tuesday Twitter Trivia – Whistling on Stage

whistle I hope that everyone had a lovely holiday thus far. It was totally relaxing for myself! As for presents… Let’s just say I was a good boy this year! More about the presents later and on to this weeks Tuesday Twitter Trivia. I am going Old School here and have a great question about theatre history and not just specifically lighting related. So, this weeks question is:

Why are we not allowed to whistle while on stage?

Know why? As with almost every Tuesday Twitter Trivia Question, Direct Message me @isquint through twitter. First one in with a brief explanation, wins! Remember, you only have 140 character to explain! Good Luck everyone!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas 2009

It’s December 25th, have you woken up yet and opened your presents? If not, get crackin! I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone. It has been one heck of a year and it’s almost over. I am going to keep this short as this is time to spend with family and friends. So turn off the computers and spend the day with those that are close to you! The interwebs will still be here tomorrow, I promise! ;)

Just in case, Visit High Voltage Productions website to see three great videos!

Thanks everyone and MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Published in this Months Issue of PLSN

PLAN December 2009 Print Header

During LDI this year, I had one heck of a crazy schedule with meetings, lunches, dinners, parties, product demos and of course walking the show floor for two days straight. One of the highlights of my trip was sitting down and having a lovely dinner and chat with the Editor of PLSN, (Projection Lights & Staging News), Mr. Richard Cadena. After just a couple of moments talking with Mr. Cadena, Richard, I was in awe of his vast knowledge and insights of the lighting industry. Richard has some amazing stories as well a deep and profound passion for the industry to which we share. He and PLSN are a real asset to this industry of ours.

During the course of our dinner, we talked about different aspects of the industry and what new and interesting things that we had seen on the show floor. Even though I was on the show for for 16 hours and the LDI show was smaller in size compared to previous shows, you would think that would be plenty of time to see everything on the show floor, how untrue that is. While going over the things that we had seen, it was amazing to hear of things that I missed as well as tell Richard about somethings he missed. It is at that point Richard asked me to write a show report for his publication, PLSN. I was and still am honored to do so. Thank you Richard for this opportunity to share my opinion of the show in your publication.

You can download my show report of LDI that was printed in this months issue of PLSN. If you would like to read the entire magazine, you should subscribe to it here to get the print version. To help tide you over until the print version arrives, you can download the PDF version here from PLSN.

Thank you once again to Mr. Cadena and PLSN for this opportunity. It was a real treat and pleasure for me to share my experiences at LDI.

Side Note: I only was able to walk the LDI show for for two days and still did not get a chance to see and talk with everyone. Maybe that is why there are three days of the LDI show. Next year I will just have to catch the Red Eye home!

Still Time For You to Pick the Most Innovative Lighting Product for 2009

Survey Chart There still is time for you to to take part in the Survey to find the most innovative lighting product introduce in 2009. As of right now, there is clearly a front run as you can tell from the bar graph to the left. But don’t let that stop you from submitting your entry.

On News Years Day, I will be announcing the lighting industry choice for the most innovative product for 2009 right here on iSquint. The Poll is open to any and all lighting professionals and closes on December 31st at 11:59pm, one minute before the ball drops in Time Square.

Take a second and submit your entry now on the poll below. If you think there is a product that I am missing that deserves to be on the list, please leave it in the comment section on this article. If you want to vote for something that is only in the comment section, leave a +1 with the product name in the comment.

Thanks everyone!

[polldaddy poll=2400678]

Tuesday Twitter Trivia – DMX Address Count

Light Beam As I missed last weeks Tuesday Twitter Trivia due to just plan forgetting about it, I thought I would come back with an easy question this week. Well, rather then it being a trivia question, it is more like a quest. A quest to find the answer.

We all know that moving lights and multi-parted devices are taking up more and more DMX address to operate. With the introduction of LED fixtures and LED matrices, DMX addresses just keep getting eaten up. So this weeks Tuesday Twitter Trivia question is:

What single device uses the most DMX address to operate? Please give a Specific manufacture and product name.

There is no definitive correct answer to this weeks question. More of, what do you think. Rather then Direct Messaging me your response, leave it in the comments section of this article so everyone can benefit.

Have a Happy and Safe Holidays and New Year everyone!

Spotrack Presents Stage Performer Tracking System

Spotrack Logo Have you ever tried to follow a performer or actor on stage with a moving light instead of a followspot? Yes, it can be done. Is it easy, maybe. But what if you were trying to follow someone that was moving around that stage fairly quick, like say Steven Tyler? Not the easiest thing to do and having it look as smooth as a person on a followspot.

Spotrack introduces their patented spotrack system that gives followspot functionality to moving lights. It is 3D tracking system that allows single operator to track one stage performer, with up to, 20 moving lights in tracking mode. Spotrack system consist of video camera, computer and DMX interface. Video camera is placed in such position to give overall view of the stage, and video is displayed on computer screen (via TV capture card). Operator is following stage performer with computer mouse on screen, and, in real time, based on mouse position on screen, computer calculates pan and tilt values for each individual moving light, providing them with tracking functionality.

Spotrack system is 21 DMX channel device. Each moving head can be attached (value >128) or detach (value < 128) from tracking at any time, or tracking function, in general (for all moving lights) can be enabled or disabled. This way, for example, we can have only three moving lights in tracking mode during song and seventeen in effect mode (controlled by the light desk), and, at the end of the song we can use all twenty moving lights in tracking mode (all moving lights targeting stage performer).

System key points:

Tracking performer in three dimensions
Integration with light desk
Remotely controlled by the light desk
Performer height correction included
3D stage correction
Automatic light intensity control (dimmer control)
Two point callibration
Modularity
Performer is transmitter free

Here is a Youtube video of the Spotrack System in Action live on tv.

Want to learn more about the Spotrack System, visit the Spotrack website at www.spotrack.com.

New iPhone App & Service from Zinman Software: Genielux

Zinman Software - Genielux I just heard from Zinman Software, you know the iPhone App Developer that brought us ML Finder, Portfolio and other wonderful lighting apps, that they have just released another app. Rather then bore you with my wittiness, here it is straight from the press release:

Genielux is a new breed of search. A smarter, quicker, easier and much more accurate search engine for the entertainment market. You may manage a company with a large inventory, or own a small boutique with specialized inventory, or you might be an individual that owns and operates a single piece of gear. No matter how big or small your inventory is, there’s a place for you on Genielux.

Genielux is a comprehensive resource for producers, designers, and industry professionals to easily find rental gear and to purchase entertainment equipment anywhere in the world. Vendors can create an online company profile which includes their sales and rental inventory. Visitors can search for a specific piece of gear by model and geographic location. Genielux searches the extensive database and displays a list of companies by location matching gear for hire or sale.

Now here is the best part, Zinman Software needs your help! Keep Reading…

The website is www.genielux.com
Click on Sign Up Today FOR FREE

Your coupon code is: 48635836
This code expires 1/1/2010

After you have entered the promotional code and completed the registration, you will receive a confirmation email. It will say “You will be billed $2 USD monthly for your order (ID# xx).” But you will be charged nothing with this coupon. You won’t even have to enter your credit card information. The $2.00 charge per month is what the cost is to join without the code.

It’s very important that I get your feedback on your likes and dislikes about the signup process. If you have any suggestions or comments, I’d love to hear them. After all, this is what testing a product is all about.

Are you still reading this? Get over to www.genielux.com and sign up and beta test for Zinman Software NOW!!!

Review: Shurtape P-661 Glow Gaff Tape

Shurtape P-661 Glow Gaff Tape Not to long ago, I noticed an interesting tweet from @ProAdv or better known as Production Advantage, about Shurtapes latest product, P-661 Glowing Gaff Tape. Not long after my re-tweeting, I get an offer from ProAdv about doing a review of the Glowing Gaff Tape. Production Advantage was kind enough to send me a 1″ x 50 yard roll of the new tape. Thanks guys!

You can pick up a roll from any number of the different sizes that Shurtape offers and Production Advantage carries here.

Before I begin the review of the Glowing Gaff Tape, lets take a look at the product description right from Shurtape.

Shurtape® P-661 Glow Gaff
P-661 is a premium gaffer product that glows in the dark! It boasts the same high quality adhesive system as P-665. Therefore, you can be sure it has the same great adhesion and removability. Its excellent conformability allows it to be used on a wide variety of surfaces. Applications for Stage safety are numerous…use it for marking stairs, exits and more! Shurtape® P-661 Glow Gaff is printable and can be die-cut into various shapes or sizes.

The over all feel and texture of the Glowing Gaff Tape is just like that of Shurtapes P-665, Vinyl Coated Gaffer’s Tape. It has a dull finish but has a slightly different textured feel due to the glowing chemicals used in the tape.

P-661 Glowing Gaff Tape compard to ProTapes Glow Tape In this review, I compared the Shuretape Glow Gaff tape to the industry standard in glow tape, the ProTapes PT 103, Glow Tape at 1″ x 10 yards. With any glow tape, the first thing to do in order to make it glow is to energize it. Meaning we have to shine lights on it so that it may glow in the dark. Pictured in the left side of the photo is ProTapes PT-103. It required much less light to energize compared to the Shurtape P-665. I started with both tapes in the dark over night to lose their glowness. The photo left is after using an LED light to light the tape quick in order to focus the camera on the tapes. Clearly the ProTapes PT-103 required much less light in order to get energized. This could be good in love light levels where no much light is available.

Next thing I looked at was the actual thickness of both rolls of glow tape. If you have ever worked or used the ProTapes PT-103, you may know that it is a little ticker then your standard roll of gaff tape. It is about 4-5 times as thick as a gaff tape and has a little “padding” or foam backing. So it is raised up some compared to the Shurtape P-661. Since the Shurtape P-661 is gaff tape, there is no foam backing or raised edge on it. Why is this important to note? Most times we have to glow tape each step on a staircase either on stage or back stage to help make entrance and exits easier for our actor friends. With a raised edge, an actor may either trip or side their foot just right in order to peal the raised edge off the step.

This brings me to the stickiness of the glow tapes. Again, if you have ever worked with ProTapes PT-103, you know that it is not the stickiest of tapes and most times requires us to tape over the PT-103 with clear tape to help hold it down. This is twice the work and double the tape usage. The Shurtape P-661 has the same stickiness as the P-665 gaff tape and holds up just as well. This eliminates the use of clear tape to help hold down the glow tape.

The next thing that is pretty substantial to note is the tear factor of the tapes. Since the Shurtape P-661 Glowing Gaff tape is just like normal Gaff tape and made of cloth, it is able to tear not only across the tape at any point, but also down the length of the tape. Say we might need just 1/2″ wide piece of tape, we can rip it with our fingers down the length of the P-661. Compare that to the ProTapes PT-103 which requires the use of a knife or scissors, the P-661 tape wins. The ProTapes PT-103 can rip with our fingers, but looking at the photo left, it does not give us a “clean” rip and is quite difficult! Hands down, the Shuretape P-661 Glowing Gaff Tape rip factor is much quicker and easier on the hands and easy of deployment.

The last and most important thing to look at when comparing the Shurtape P-661 and the ProTapes PT-103 is the brightness of glow. The photo to the left shows the Shurtape P-661 on top and the Protapes PT-103 on the bottom. This was take after about one minute under a light to energize the tapes. We can clearly tell that the Shurtape P-661 out shines the Protapes PT-103 in brightness. But what about longevity? After about an hour after being energized and left in a dark room for about an hour, the Shurtape P-661 still was out glowing the ProTapes PT-103 which you can tell from the last photo in the gallery at the bottom of this article. Does this mean that the Shurtape P-661 is better then the ProTapes PT-103 glow tape? We’ll let you decide the out come there.

There are some additional things to think about when it comes to glow tape as well as some tips and tricks. I used a black fine point sharpie to write on both rolls of tape and just like I expected, both rolls took the sharpie with no problem. Although, since the ProTapes PT-103 has a smoother coating, there was a little bit of smudging action, but nothing serious.

To energize glow tape on stage is a pretty easy thing to do. Before the run of an performance, lights should be required to perform a lamp check, thus bringing all the lights on stage to check for burn outs. This does two things at once, not only does it help to check for lamps, but at the same time energizes your glow tape on stage. Your stage manager will love you for this as it does not require them to run around stage with a flash light to energize all the glow tape.

Another thing to think about is that during a performance, your glow tape with re-energize as well. So the longevity of the glow tape lasting through a black out or between intermission might no be as critical. Both of these tapes should be able to last long enough during black outs or dark periods on stage for our actor friends to get around safely.

Have a tip or trick with glow tape that I have missed here or have something to say? Let me know if the comments section of this review. I love to hear feed back as well as new and different uses.

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2009, A Year In Review

Top Articles for 2009

Top Keyword Searches for 2009