u/RegnumXD12

In the middle of bench focusing my entire rig of Source4s for the season and had the thought of how particular yall are with your units. About half of them come out immaculate and the other half are... passable with a myriad of issues (visible reflector clips, penumbra past the sharp edge, just off center Hotspot because nothing wants to align, etc).

Most of my units are 36deg and a wide range of age from revB to revJ tubes and also various age of burner caps. So the deck is stacked against me. Bench focus is never an exact science and frost hides the crimes at least..

After the 20th light or so I hit a point where I just go "better is better, perfect is impossible"

Whats yalls attitude towards bench focus? Spending hours on one pesky light? Or moving on when its flat-ish. Will also accept any tricks yall have picked up along the way, beyond wants in the official ETC documentstion/videos

Hey friends,

I was look at some tours, and came across Music man listing on playbill. I know its a Big League Productions show, which is one of the 4 companies on the Bus & Truck agreement.

I was confused to see they have it all listed as non-union positions. Same story for "Mystic Pizza", also a BLP show

Anyone have any insight on their shenanigans? Why they are hiring as non-union?

Edit: if it matters, the position i was looking at were for Assistant Electrician (although it was posted as "Assistant lights" which raised more concerns about them as an employer)

I just got a 2024 macbook pro (M4) off BackMarket. Im setting it up now and almost immediately got a notification of a German app running in the background?

Navigating to system settings it says "THALES DIS CPL Deutschland GmbH" *2 items*

What is this? Should I just turn it off? Only installed 2 things so far, chrome and a very safe theatrical lighting control software.

Can someone explain to me like im 4 years old the difference between the pension and annuity on the NBF? Every contract is obviously different, so some of mine have higher pension, some only have annuity, is one better than the other?

Looking at my dashboard, I can see the total I have in annuity, but the pension section says 0, clicking further into it I do see contributions from calls worked, but why does the dashboard say 0?

Im usually pretty good at understanding the complex tax stuff of our industry and the various cba benefits, but this one's got me. These are the invisible wages and id like to understand them better.

Ma2 is far from the console i know best, I have 2 fixtures that got added to the rig. I cloned them across all sequences which works great for most things.

I knew going into it that all the effects need to be touched by hand to edit, but was curious if there is a faster way. This kind of problem is kinda the bread and butter of MA, isnt it?

I know it brings up the obvious question of selection order, but as a guy coming from eos, numerical by fix ID and expand the 0-360 phasers. Would save a TON of time.

Not the end of the world if I have to do it by hand, which I think I do cause I found a feature request from 2014 about this that seems unanswered

Hey friends who are smarter than me.

I just became a member of a union. We are charged 6% off our gross income. Contractually this is typically deducted from our check. (This is on top of normal per capita quarterly dues, which is not relevent to the question)

My employer is being an absolute pain about the deductions, so ill have to pay it by hand for a bit. Because of that, it means the math is based on gross, but im paying out of my net. Does this mean I can/need to keep track of all payments and can put them on my Schedule 1 as an adjustment towards my AGI?

I know the irs stopped allowing dues to be itemized on Sched-A a few years back, but I believe thats talking about the per capita, not my percentage "referral fee" as they call it.

Im helping a friend of mine renovate his bathroom. The current set up has a switch loop for the fan and lights, which means the switch box doesnt have a neutral.

He got this fancy humidity sensor by Leviton to auto turn on the fan, which means it needs a neutral. I subscribe to Read The Fucking Manual and it tells us to tie the neutral line in with the ground.

This cant be right. I know that it would technically work, because they are bonded at the panel and the potential is the same. But Everything we know about code tells us that will put a potential on the ground and risk of shock from anything else on the circuit (which is all lights for the bathroom/kitchen).

We're probably just going to bite the bullet and rip it out to run a proper neutral line, but im curious what the pros say about why the instructions claim this is OK.

In the USA.

Ive had a tangential relationship with my local for years at this point. I got on their referral list fresh out of school, but shortly after got a gig as head lx for my local roadhouse, where i have been for going on 6 years. We have a contract that only really kicks in on calls larger than 15, at which point I get union benefits and the protections of the contract. Im told it only applies to me because im not technically full time (despite fulltime hours), as it never kicks in for the head carp and head audio who are full time with the theatre. This alone is eh, but its not my battle to fight.

I'd like to actually officially join for a few reasons.

1. Is political, I fully support the mission of unions and would like to be more involved with what they do. As well as have my voice heard on contract negotiations. Even if im currently not a member, a rising tide raises all ships.

2. I'd like to see a stronger union in my area. Home base for the local is about an hour away, and few people are actually local to my city. I (and the e-board members I talked to about this) see this as an issue that should be remedied to strengthen numbers across the whole jurisdiction

3.. Is potential prospect. Im considering trying my hand at going on the road in the 27/28 season. I read a lot of random local CBA, whatever I can find publicly. Im fascinated by how many different way there are to do the same work, how pay and benefits fluctuate from region to region. I'd like to gain some perspective how these rules differ in practice, not just on paper. I think this perspective could make me better at my job. This would obviously require being a real boy. I would much rather do this under the banner of my local than ACT, because this is my home and id like to return one day.

I reached out to our treasurer (as instructed by our BA and president) about membership, and he informed me if I join, I would be required to report and pay 6% on **ALL** work in the jurisdiction, including my regular work at my theatre on non-hiring hall events. Im curious if other locals have this stipulation. It feels borderline extortion as this is work ive gotten on my own and has little to do with them. It would also include the side gigs i take in our slow season on 1099 with a local production company. To take a 6% pay cut for no additional protections on a "maybe ill do this in the future" feels iffy to me. This is of course on top of the normal dues that I'm more than happy to pay.

give me a reality check

One of the machines is labeled "back extension" the diagram on the machine shows the part doing the work against your shoulder blades and you lean back to lift the weights. Doing this i feel strain in my lower back, like when I use improper lifting technique at work. This cant be good for you

When you google "back extension" all the examples show a person the opposite direction, facing down, and engaging Core to bend forward. Completly backwards to what the machine implies.

Which is correct? Should I skip this one before it kills me?

Ive been considering going on the road in the not-so-distant future (in a year or so). Ive been [semi]Full-time head electrician for a roadhouse for coming up on 6 years. Ive spent a lot of time watching the show heads closely and have picked up most of the skills they utilize, including learning MLA and QuickFocus-Pro to assist in focus. Definitly more hands on than most venue heads (or so ive heard)

I know I have the skills, but the piece of the puzzle im missing is no tour experience. Would I be wasting everyone's time to apply for head positions? Is an assistant position more realistic for a first-time roadie? Running spotlight is not exactly my favorite track, but it is a skillset I have and am more than willing to do. I have ran broadway spots before, I try to do at least one a season and stick someone else on house lights to keep the rust off.

This is a level of pedantry that this sub may appreciate. As we are currently in graduation season, the number of speakers I see refer to the lectern as a "podium" irks me.

A Podium you stand **on**

A Lectern you stand **at**

And a bonus fun fact is a Rostrum you do both. But that's obscure so sins are forgiven on that one.

The band conductor is on a Podium, you the speaker are at a Lectern.

These people have Phds, work in education, and are just okay with their incorrect vocabulary.

I just did a production of west side story as an electrician, so obviously my opinion doesnt matter, but ill give it anyway. The director made a major change and had Maria commit suicide as the curtain drops over Tony's body. To me, this has serious dramaturgical implications and completly undermines the lessons she learns about the pointlessness of gang violence. What are yall's thoughts?