Lighting Operation

Teaching a machine to remember an entire show

A lighting console is a machine for remembering. It remembers which fixture is which, what each one was doing in every moment of the show, and in what order those moments happen. The operator's job is to teach it accurately and then play it back without anybody noticing that a person is doing it.

Inside: The Console's Jobs - The Rig and the Paperwork - Patching Fixtures - Data, Networks and Addressing - Building Looks - Cues, Cue Stacks & Playback - Faders, Effects and Everything That Is Not GO - Focus Sessions and Tech Rehearsals - Busking, Live Operation & Troubleshooting - Timecode and Show Control - Moving Lights, LEDs and Colour - Power, Safety and the Rig Overhead - Show Files, Load-out and Where This Leads - Glossary.