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--- wiki:show_tips:usd_competition [2024/02/19 20:23]
JonathanFerguson [Tech Requirements]
+++ wiki:show_tips:usd_competition [2024/03/15 02:38] (current)
GeorgeP Organised
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 ==== Places Leisure Centre ====
+(Do not be disheartened by the first paragraph. USD 2024, also in Places, was a much more successful venture. Read on to find out more.
 https://www.placesleisure.org/centres/places-leisure-eastleigh/
 This was a difficult venue to use, due to its very large size. No usable PA is installed. The stage was placed in the middle of the hall, presenting issues for distributing power to our equipment. The only power outlets were a small number of 13A sockets at the side walls. The acoustic was very difficult to control with no soft surfaces, and the audience were sat on tiered bleachers - the audience noise was incredibly loud.
- Update: Venue was easier to use with preparation. SUSU's D&b Q-series passive PA plus the Turbosound monitors were run off the installed 13A power - sound was great with this. Each socket seems to be on a different phase and circuit (all outlets are labelled), so we split power between left and right between two phases. Still need loads of cable! This year we got access to the meeting room which we used to load the kit in on the Friday evening before we had access to the hall as it has an external door leading to the loading bay. This became our "Production Office". We used pipe and drape along the back of the stage (see pictures) which improved the acoustic significantly.
+=== 2024 update ===
+This venue was easier to use with preparation. SUSU's D&b Q-series passive PA plus the Turbosound monitors were run off the installed 13A power - sound was great with this. Each socket seems to be on a different phase and circuit (all outlets are labelled), so we split power between left and right between two phases. Still need loads of cable! This year we got access to the meeting room which we used to load the kit in on the Friday evening before we had access to the hall as it has an external door leading to the loading bay. This became our "Production Office". We used pipe and drape along the back of the stage (see pictures) which improved the acoustic significantly.
+There was a brief scare where Places were unsure if they could pull the bleachers forward (leaving a gap behind them) or whether they had to leave it with the back against the wall. Note that by the time you ask them to do this, any staff members with detailed knowledge about this will probably have gone home. It turns out that they can do this, but they may need a bit of encouragement. It may be worth seeking assurance from the venue in advance that they can do this, and again on the day.
 {{:wiki:show_tips:usd_comp_places_eastleigh_2024_1.jpg?600|}}
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 ===== Tech Requirements =====
-No lighting or stage (other than the dance stage which USD organise). A "tech" table is usually set up just to the side of the stage, where you can position your audio gear with a good view of the stage and a good sense of the stage mons level.
+A "tech" table is usually set up just to the side of the stage, where you can position your gear with a good view of the stage and a good sense of the stage mons level.
-In 2023 and 2024 we hired pipe and drape from SUSU as a backdrop, and put battery uplighters against it. This significantly improved the aesthetic and acoustic.
+==== Stage ====
+In 2023 and 2024 we hired pipe and drape from SUSU as a backdrop, and put battery uplighters against it. This significantly improved the aesthetic and acoustic. We also hid most of our equipment behind it, and designated the area as a "technical crew only" zone. This means you can spend slightly less time cable managing and is generally a good idea anyway, because most of our equipment is bulky and ugly (to the public).
+USD usually bring a dance floor which is essentially lots of black vinyl squares which need to be excruciatingly and precisely taped together with dance floor tape or black gaffer tape. Luckily USD spared us of this task in 2024, and aside from providing the tape, we did not involve ourselves with this procedure.
+Depending on the venue, you may also need to lay carpet so that dancers' shoes do not damage the floor. USD have some of this too, but it might be heavy enough to require less taping-down.
+You should remind anyone doing taping on the floor (including USD if they're helping) to tape only perpendicularly across painted lines on the venue floor. If you don't, you may find that when you take up the tape after a day and a half that the line comes with it, which will make the venue sad and make your day worse. It is also, for this reason, imperative that good quality tape is used. StageSoc provided all tape that was used in 2024 and we had no problems.
+==== Sound ====
-Sound:
   * PA to audience, plus monitors onto the stage. Ensure the judges' table (just in front of the stage) gets a good (but not too loud) sound. Subs are important for a lot of the music. If any of your speakers are passive, make sure you acquire amplifiers.
   * Mixer. In 2022 we used a digital mixer (Behringer XR18). This was incredibly useful because it allowed us to mix the sound from any point in the room. Bear in mind that 2.4GHz interference will be high in a room full of 400-ish university students, so ensure a good networking solution is present if you do this. It's strongly recommended to have at least one device controlling the mixer over a non-wireless connection at all times (e.g. a laptop connected to the mixer via a router over ethernet).
@@ Line 42: / Line 58: @@
   * Dance-off Final - in 2022 the final 4 freestyle dancers were pitted against each other, but given the option to choose their own tracks. You will therefore need access to the internet to find whatever music the dancers ask for.
   * Power/sounds distro - you will need //a lot// of cables, as the venue will be large. Consider hiring power distribution and XLR/Speakon cables. You need to make sure all cables are taped down along their length in a visible colour, as dancers will run across them getting on/off stage. Past experience suggests a minimum of 4 rolls of good quality white gaffer tape is necessary. In 2024 we supplied gaffer tape for taping down the dance floor as well. We used at least 6 rolls total.
+==== Lighting ====
+  * Whilst not a necessity, it looks quite cool if you can provide something.
+  * In 2024, we hired the Equinox Colour Raider uplighters from SUSU. Aside from looking cheap and nasty (they are silver and shiny) they were reasonably bright, They are also wireless (hire the WDMX transmitter from SUSU too) and have a battery and so deployment is very easy with little planning. The interface on the uplighters is a pain to use and will take some coercing to join the WDMX network.
+  * We charged the uplighters overnight and turned them on when we reached the venue in the morning, at around 6:30am. This turned out to be a bad idea, as they started to die over the last 30 minutes of the event. If you turn them on later (i.e. shortly before the doors open, instead of at 6am) you should be fine.
+  * You can set colours statically, and even go round and change them during lunch if you get bored. In 2024, James Turner made a simple ChamSys MagicQ show file with an execute page that allowed us to change the colours and effects on the lights with ease, which was quite fun. We plugged his laptop into the WDMX transmitter with a MagicDMX and had no problems (although if you use a MagicDMX Basic, you will - they have a five hour show time limit after which point you will need to both unplug the MagicDMX and completely restart MagicQ).
+==== Networking ====
+You will want a reasonable networking setup, not only so you can communicate with your equipment (mixers and the like), but also because 400+ people will be crammed onto the venue's (probably low number of) wireless access points, and you want something better than that. You also don't want said 400+ people to be able to get onto your network and control your mixer. That isn't very good.
+The most ideal situation is to run your own wireless network and use the venue's wired network as an uplink. This may or may not be possible depending on the venue (Jubilee: probably if you have the MAC of the router whitelisted; Places: no, it is not possible to get on the wired network). If you cannot get on the wired network you may have some luck bridging from the wireless network anyway (which while it does not improve the uplink congestion problem, does fix the others).
+In 2024, George Peppard and James Turner ran a StageSoc network using a router bridged to the guest WiFi network, a switch at the tech desk and a wireless access point (big and of the enterprise variety, from Netgear) hidden behind the pipe and drape but pointing vaguely out at the stage and audience. This was quite a successful venture, and George even got reception from the StageSoc wireless network when he went to the venue's cafe for a cappuccino (which was, unlike the network, disappointing).
+We also changed the SSID and pre-shared key of the network to the same as The Annex. Whilst, if we were to do this //in// The Annex, it would be a man-in-the-middle attack, we decided that in Places it wasn't, and it worked quite well and allowed the crew's devices to join the network automatically when they reached the venue. We suspect most of them did not even notice.
+Don't rely on wireless communications at all. Rely only hesitantly on your wired network. Unless you really know what you are doing you should come prepared with a backup plan or several. In 2024, with StageSoc having not done our own network at a venue before, we had four backup plans.
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 :
-: Returned to Places Leisure Centre but this time being prepared. All previous lessons implemented and the show went really well. Places can be a good venue if preparation is put into it!
+: Returned to Places Leisure Centre but this time being prepared. All previous lessons implemented and the show went really well. Places can be a good venue if preparation is put into it! Here's our show resources: [[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Z0seL1NTNRrLHiUbgqobBR4IHHbKfkrh?usp=sharing]]
 ==== Tech Run ====

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