Google Docs Adds 12 New File Formats

Just yesterday, Google announced that they have added 12 new file formats that you can view in Google Docs.

The 12 new file formats:

• Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 / 2010 (.PPTX)
• Apple Pages (.PAGES)
• Adobe Illustrator (.AI)
• Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)
• Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)
• Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
• PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
• TrueType (.TTF)
• XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

Google Docs has offered viewing of PDFs, Word, Excel and Power Point Presentations online right from your browser for some time. Leaving your documents online allows you to “live in the cloud” where you don’t need to carry around your documents on a jump drive or remember which computer you saved your files on, everything lives in Google Docs. You can edit, share and view documents that you have created or by someone else that shares the documents with you.

Just think, you can now save your AutoCad DXF files in Google Docs, and share them with a client or tech that doesn’t have AutoCad and they can view and comment on the DXF File right in Docs in real time. The possibilities are endless in the entertainment lighting industry with Google Docs… Now they just need to add Lightwright to that list.

Read more about the launch of the 12 new file formats added to Google Docs from their official blog.

Love Never Dies – A Glimps Into the Design Process

Rob Halliday, a new friend and fellow Lighting Design and  writer let me in on a little known web site yesterday.  The site is a journal of Mrs. Paule Constable, a leading lighting designer out of the UK.  You may remember Mrs. Constable winning the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design for her design of The Chalk Garden.

Mrs. Constable’s next project is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre in London.  Mrs. Constable started a blog on her website, pauleconstable.com detailing her experiences while designing the show. This is a rare look into the design process of a large Broadway type show that we almost never hear about.

I encourage you to take a look and follow Mrs. Constable’s design process with the show.  Mrs. Constable just started writing about her experiences this month, but as the process continues, I am certain she’ll keep us up-to-date.

You can learn more about Andrew Lloyd Webbers latest show, Love Never Dies by visiting the show’s web site at www.loveneverdies.com. Previews for the show start February 20th and Opening night sometime early March.

Thanks Rob!

New Job Site: Show Crew Networks

We just received word of a new job and networking website called Show Crew Network for the entertainment industry. Are you looking for work either as a freelancer or as a company looking to hire? Show Crew Network is a site designed to help you locate and land a gig with in the entertainment industry.  It works for both sides of the coin.  If you are an individual looking for work, Show Crew Network is designed to help you located and land that gig.  On the other side of the coin, Show Crew Network also help companies looking for full time, part time and any other type of work employers might be looking to fill.

For Crew:

Show Crew Network is the personal booking agent you never had.  Get booked, manage your availability, payments, job details and more!  Get started and create a profile in minutes and put the Network to work for you. Create a profile today – It’s FREE!

For Companies:

Show Crew Network is a web app that makes finding, hiring, scheduling and payrolling qualified freelancers a breeze!  With our fully automated system, crew management is a few clicks away and gives you access to a rolodex of thousands of freelancers.  Create a profile today- It’s FREE!

More about Show Crew Network:

Show Crew Network is more than a website, it’s a dynamic tool for both production industry professionals and companies. Our custom web app provides a fully automated system for finding, scheduling and pay-rolling crew for events, shoots and tours-in real time!

Show Crew Network was developed by production industry veterans looking for a way to simplify the process of booking crews for gigs and making freelancing easier for production industry pros.  The founders consulted with production companies, rental staging companies,  freelancers, event firms, touring companies, sound, lighting and video houses and many others along the way to design a system that makes booking jobs for both employers and crew members a snap.  In addition, Show Crew Network is robust with features that save time and money as well as reducing the headaches of scheduling, managing and payroll.

While setting up an account for either a Crew person or Company may be as simple as creating a FREE profile, some fees are due upon landing that job or finding a person through the network:

• Crew Member Registration – FREE!
• Company Registration – FREE!
• Crew Member Payment Disbursement Fee – $1 per transaction
• Company Service Fee – 7% per transaction
• Company Escrow Processing Fee – 3.9% per transaction

To get listed and start looking for jobs or crew people, visit the Show Crew Network’s website at www.showcrewetwork.com and create your profile today.