Relentless Preparation Pays Off - Sunday

From my Notes ;

I'm sitting in the theater- it's early on Sunday morning - I'm here close to 9am - sipping a coffee
and pondering the vast amount of personal energy, knowledge and collaborative "thinking" that a production tech person needs for all of this-- One has to be able to work as a piece of a big machine...in charge of an unformed puzzle.

TB has asked the early people to turn on the projectors and camera's and see if they are working...The personal laptops are unpacked and set up on the tech table-and the Mac Pro's are disconnected and repackaged.

Someone in our team (class) has made sure we have the daily schedule - for NYU and another table that shows Across the Ether as a complete production, -an 8 column table which features six characteristics; - the names of the pieces, it's description, ensemble size, the personel - if there is visualization that goes along with it - and the time it will happen - this is a good thing. We also have a Stage Production List which is a "who does what" guide of the class members.

Aside from the production itself,and it being one of the first of it's kind, the major lesson of this experience is to fully see how important the preparation process is in matters of this kind. Unfor-see-able issues ...like the one which occurred in Across the Ether was that the new Mac Pros were incompatible with the video data...this threw us off schedule. Audio connections with the other schools was an issue - we were able to see them but not hear them.

Theater Techniques:
We had to mark the stage with special colored tape -all the instrument positions especially the 9 ft. grand had to be placed in two different locations -one must how a 9 ft grand is going to be placed when there are dancers and a percussion ensemble performing.

By 2PM The performers began drifting in - and the theater changed into "rehearsal mode" -with dancers warming up.The NYU Percussion Ensemble took stage to have a run through -

I put on my head sets and snap the controls onto my belt -and as i look through the LCD monitor, I am certainly part of this digital multimedia world -- Camera one is responsible
for recording the entire piece from the back of the house- center stage-while cameras two and three are stage left and stage right.

The Tech Table - Label Label Label

Several classes ago, Tom Beyer brought to class three boxes and asked if I would take an inventory of what was in those boxes, and from that, I should know what would be needed for set up that night: I then really and truly learned what a switch was and what a VDA ( or video distribution amp) is, also DVA's come in different flavors ... one has to look at the back to tell what sort of inputs they have.. These small pieces are part of the Tech Table set up - Everything
must be labeled - the cables which are used to connect VDA's to Switches , switches to computers -all the pieces have to be identified- artist tape was used.

VDA’S (Video Distributor Amps) - TOTAL - 9

4 TecNec brand - w/4 svideo

2 3X1 Brand? S. video

2 w/audio 2 separate imputs /TecNec

1 (configurable) -

a) 1x 3

b) 1x2 , or 1x6

_______________________________________________________________________

SWITCHES (Analogue- Passive ) TOTAL- 6

2 grey (MEM) brand svid + RCA

3 Sony brand S.Vid + RCA

1 Radio Shack RCA only

_______________________________________________________________________

MINI MONITORS TOTAL - 5

2 Marshals brand

3 Sony brand

3 AC Monitor to Camera Power chords

COMPUTER VIDEO SWITCHES - 2

1) CVG- 4x1 switcher –

2) “ “ “

Getting Ready- the Real Setup

With coffee in hand the Collaboration Class Members meet early on Saturday, Oct 31 at the Frederick Loewe Theater. We are doing our rehearsal "setup"for "Across the Ether" (Across the Ether is a four-way production across the continental U.S).- Tom Beyer and Dr. Gilbert are chatting quietly - and I feel ready to run some cable!! (By the way, The theater has an 9ft Steinway grand on the stage - and it's a good sized "house", which can hold 500 people approximately... much , MUCH bigger than the class room on the 7th floor.

From my notes:
The first thing I learned was that the schematic - the sketch of the suggested setup, was being changed....and time and scheduling is of the utmost importance, as we had to make our first test of the internet connections by 12:30/right after lunch- so, as not to waste any time, the class members who were there, assisted Tom Beyer(TB) with equipment needed at the stage.
From the 7th and 8th floors, we moved two projectors, the large mixer, 3 cameras with tripods, the boxes containing DVA's, switches, tech table lights, the video mixer ( mixer 2)- one huge cable chest(which was exclusively video cables ) and another huge case we brought - all audio cables and extra power strips. Three new Mac Pro computers in their boxes came too. Hand carts were on the scene-- (I love hand carts)- I called the big one a "Dolly"- and Tom quickly corrected me- "no, it's a hand truck"- I have used these to move music equipment and large
pieces of furniture -and always thought the two names were interchangeable-yet an hour later,
I realized that a dolly is something different-yes, so much of a profession and being professional is knowing the vocabulary...And certainly, in the AV world -there is a huge and important one.

TB called out several tasks to be completed- tripods set up and cameras set up were among those- I did the tripods, and, since I was operating camera 1, I made it my job to "meet camera one" - to get it onto the tripod, get it power, get familiar with the zoom capabilities -and most importantly, what type of cable was it going to require - I had never used this video camera in class. I saw that I had a choice between a composite cable connection to B&C and the S.Video type. Camera one also was further from the tech table - another factor to consider. From our classes with TB, I knew that B&C cable transferred "info" over longer distances with more clarity /quality than S.video and certainly composite cable. TB spent a few moments with me
to go over the procedure; Composite into B&C - composite cable (short), an adapter -to B&C -and B&C would take the signal to the tech table....we learn by doing

Meanwhile:

Video Cables had to be tested and placed in piles according to type: B&C, Composite, S.Video - video cables are stiffer than audio- and to handle them correctly is an art in itself. While several class members completed that task, I assisted at the tech table ; the dark cloth had to be secured with artists tape - ( and every simple sounding task like the latter, can be hugely important) - TB (Tom Beyer) explains; in a dark theater, the cloth has to be up -so that we can have easy access if searching for a cable connection underneath..Outlets tested: TB gave me the task of testing all outlets in the house- and all power strips -
another task that must be completed before laying the cable...

Mackie Mixer Moves

As a vocalist and keyboard player, I own a Mackie mixer. It's fairly new but has only 6 channels and is not the multilayer-ed "beast" that Tom Beyer brought into the class for us to work with.
Mackie makes these large analogue mixers with functionality in mind- as part of a PA sound reinforcement system, as well as a live audio and video recording machine - where there will be monitor and main speaker mixes, head phone mixes and video. One aspect of this Mackie that I am not so sure of is Bus Channels so, I went searching:
Bus: compute data channel: a channel or path for transferring computer data, especially between the central processing unit and a peripheral device. Therefore, having these BUS channels means that any tech setup where data will be controlled via computer, will need an analogue mixer with BUS Channels - boy, I hope that's correct thinking!

The class has used this Mackie three times for different setups and there is something so beautifully powerful - and yet so simple about setting up for Audio --it is the most straight forward; Three mics, three XLR cables , female to male etc. three boom stands and
three input channels at the back of the mixer. The straight line approach, although not necessarily the one that will work in every day life, is the one that works in audio. From A to A to A to A etc.... keep things uniform. Number 1 mic into #1 Cable into #1 Input at the back of the mixer, and then controlled by the #1 Chanel.

Connectivity - More About Cables

Perhaps I am more interested in CABLES and CONNECTORS then I ought to be; however, as
our Collaboration Class progresses through more complex setups I respect man's development of this type of technical "workhorse" --the BNC and RCA connectors and their uses are described here: It is an alternative to the RCA connector when used for composite video on commercial video devices, although many consumer electronics devices with RCA jacks can be used with BNC-only commercial video equipment via a simple adapter. BNC connectors were commonly used on 10base2 thin Ethernet networks...

The next and more complicated set up Tom Beyer took us through was a more realistic video setup that would most likely be used at NYU for our part of the artistic collaboration project coming in November. Cameras' 1,2, &3 into audio distribution box of their own and then into video mixer 1, then into video mix 2 into vhs- and in this class, everyone gets the concept of "keep the numbers lined up" -in other words, if you have numbered the csmeras, then you number the inputs, and outputs to be consistent with the camera number

Lights, Cameras, Action

Professor Tom Beyer, Dr.John Gilbert and the Collaborative Class are involved again with setup. The above photo is the small but mighty BNC connector cable (male version) Incidentally, the electronic and cable world is heterosexually oriented...that is, male to female, and female to male...(more said about this soon)

Class Room Collaboration is assigning three people who may have three different strengths and weaknesses to one camera station; that is, the one person, male or female may be more informed about tripods and one other person more informed about cables. The third may have Tech Intuition(there may or may not be such a thing) that also can be used for trouble shooting a problem.

The Diagram or pathway for this first setup is Camera 1, Camera 2, and Camera 3 are being set up with correct cables which then feed into a small video mixer, and then into a VHS and then to a projector

Class members begin to match their camera outputs and mixer imputs, since that is the
first pathway. Cables to choose from: S. Video Cables,BNC,RCA. Then, Tom has several kinds of adapters - all separated by type in the neatest drawstring bag. Pretty Cool.

Up in Tok Alaska + our class doings here at NYU

Oct 6
Our class teamed up with Professor Tom Beyer this last Tuesday evening for a trip through hands on video setup. I learned many things. In the past, I roomed with several music tech people who went out on the road - touring with productions yet, after these several classes, I never realized how much goes into working as a tech..( I was just happy to have the apartment to myself-), however...Lighting tech, video tech, sound tech...it's all very specific stuff- time to get ones brain organized...

We were to be there early - this class was the first of three, where each would take his or her turn dealing with the proper cables, inputs, adapters, cameras,tripods,and a small mixer as well as trouble shooting when/if certain connections did not go well. It is this I think: we, the class members could take time,but in real life, a professional, has a set up schedule until show time...and then his/her set up must be perfect.

Video editing and video conferencing are phrases I have known and that have passed through my own lips, yet, the hands on "doing" is quite another thing. So,I went searching though the web to find "just a practical scenario " for justification of all of the new technology and how middle aged people who are not in a progressive eastern university setting up for an artistic collaboration project...how and what they are doing with video, now that it has become a regular household item.

And this story popped up- "Co working in Rural Places" A woman in Tok, Alaska writes of her new thoughts using Skype and using video conferencing :

My understanding of co working is to create a space — rent, build, borrow, co-op — where people who work remotely and solo can work in close proximity with others, usually people in similar industries, but not always. The purposes for doing this vary, but it helps diminish the isolation, provides networking opportunities, allows cross-pollination of services, and generally builds community where there otherwise was not one because of the inherent separation of working remotely.

SHE SAID: When your options — or even suitable coworkers — are so limited, video conferencing seems a viable option for creating a pseudo co working “space.” Just the other day, my Denver-based business partner and I wound down our video chat but didn’t hang up. We both just started doing our work while still connected on Skype.

When I realized, I laughed and pointed out to her what we were doing. But do you know what? Before I had paused to mention the fact that we had both started working while our video chat windows were still open, I actually had felt for those few minutes that we were working in the same room. We were independent, yet together. That feeling is what co working offers, so why not do it via video when you can’t actually be there?

What a medium-- and as people spread out over the globe, it means great things from
different corners of the globe at the same time..being an audio visual geek ain't so bad!