FloorCloth

Click on the Floor Cloth button. A white square will appear at centre stage. Its dimensions are 1000mm wide by 1000mm deep. An interference pattern will show if two surfaces coincide so it will be just above the stage floor level. Resize it by going to the Size options dialog. Give it a Width of 8000mm and a Depth of 9000mm. Now move the cloth using the depth wheel until the cloth is almost at the front of the stage. The Depth text box should read about +1400mm. The plus sign will not show.  (A Floor Cloth cannot have height, if you accidentally give it height enter '0' in the height text box and press return.)

Track

Add a track by clicking on the Track button. A long thin bar will appear with a peg at one end. The peg is called a spigot and this is what scenery elements are attached to for remote movement. A track is typically used to move trucks (wagons) on and off stage without stage crew being visible. Offstage there will be a manual or electric winch that moves the spigot along the length of the track with thin steel cables. This tutorial will use it to make a throne appear out of nowhere. Resize the track in the Size option dialog by changing the length (Width) to 5000mm. In the Position dialog change the Depth to -3000mm and the Spin rotation to 90°. The track should now be running from centre stage to upstage centre.

Wings

Click on the Flat button and a flat will appear at centre stage. The dimensions will be 1000mm wide, 1000mm high and 50mm deep. In the Size dialog change the Width to 2500mm and the Height to 6000mm. Move the flat's position to Width -5250mm and Depth -7400mm. Select the name "osflat" in the scenery item listbox and rename to something like "US SR Wing Flat". US means upstage and SR means stage right. This name says what it is and where on stage it is.  See Stage Positioning.

The next actions need a better viewpoint. Holding down the Shift key press the left mouse button down and move the mouse forward. The viewpoint should move forward with the mouse. Position the viewpoint on the centre of the stage and the holding the Ctrl key down and the left mouse button, move the viewpoint so that the viewpoint is above the stage. Holding down only the left mouse button rotate the view so that the stage floor can be seen clearly. The view should be similar to the one below. If not repeat the previous actions until the view shows the floorcloth and surrounding area clearly.

The viewpoint of this view is from above the LX bars and just behind the proscenium arch, the spotlights are visible hanging from the bars. The Track can be seen running from the centre of the floor cloth to the centre back. The stage manager is standing foreshortened at centre stage right looking up at the viewpoint.

From the Windows menu select Create View. Enter a name for the view and then click on Save. This will save the view to the list of view buttons and allow a return to this view at will.

Making sure that the Wing Flat that has just been created is selected (has a bright red bounding box around it, make sure that the "HL-on" button reads "HL-on") click on the "Copy" button in the Edit panel. The Edit panel will show the selected object in the text box at the top. The "Copy" button makes a copy of the selected object and places it over the original and selects the new object. Go to the Position dialog and enter -4500 in the Depth text box or move the new Wing Flat to -4500 with the Depth wheel. Click on the Copy button again and set the Depth position to -1950. There should now be three wing flats on the SR side of the stage. Please be sure to put the minus sign in before the number when entering the number directly in the text box. If not the Wing Flats will appear in the auditorium. The view should now look something like the view below with the three wing flats standing on stage right.

Making sure one of the wing flats are selected, click on Copy and change the Width Position to +5250. This will place a copy of the wing on the other side of the stage. Repeat with the other two SR Wing Flats to create a full set of three wing flats on each side of the stage. Make sure that the new flats are renamed.

The view from the Production Desk viewpoint should now look like this.

Borders

Borders will now be flown to match up with the wings. The borders should be just in front of the wings so that they hide the top of wing flats. Go to the Flys Control Panel. Select Bar 5 and then click on Fixed button. Bring Bar 5 to a height of 4000mm by entering the height in the text box or by dragging the mouse down on the wheel. Do the same to bars 23 and 41. Leave bar 41 selected and then click on the Cloth button on the Build Control Panel. A cloth will appear hanging at the centre of bar 41. Rename the cloth to "Border" and then resize to 10000mm wide and 3000 high. With the border selected click on Copy. While the copy of "Border" is highlighted hold the Alt Key down and click on bar 23. Bar 23 and the copy of "Border" should both now be highlighted. Click the Attach button on the Edit panel and a message box will appear asking if the border should be attached to the bar, click on Yes. Another message box will appear saying that the border is already attached to a bar, should it be released? Click on Yes and the Border will change bars. Repeat this process to put a border on Bar 5. Go to the Flys Control Panel Panel and reset the height of the Borders. Perhaps bar 5 to about 8400mm and bars 23 and 41 to about 8750mm. Move around the auditorium and check that the Wings and Borders are in fact masking the offstage area properly.

BackCloth

Bring in Bar 42 and attach a cloth to it. Rename the cloth to "Backcloth". Resize the cloth to 8500mm Wide and 6000mm High. Raise Bar 42 to 6000mm. Use the Cue button when moving the Bar 42 as this bar will be involved in cues later on.

Map

Bring in Bar 35 and attach a cloth to it. Rename the cloth "Map" and Resize to 3000mm square. The Map will hang in the middle of the stage like a picture, all four sides want to be seen. So that the bar the Map is hanging on doesn't come down into view the Map must be suspended on drifts. Drifts are wires that hang off the bar and allow objects to be suspended some distance below the bar. Drifts are simulated by moving the hanging object down from the bar. Select the Map and holding the Ctrl Key down drag the Position Height wheel until the Map is approximately -2500mm below Bar 35.

The view from the Production Desk should look something like this.

FloorCloth

In the 3D View select the FloorCloth and in the Rendering panel select the "conc_block" texture. Click on the Use button and the floor cloth will be painted with the chosen texture.

BackCloth

Select the BackCloth and select the "conc_wall" texture in the Rendering Panel. The Use button will paint the BackCloth with the "conc_wall" texture.

Map

Select the Map cloth and the "map" texture. The Use button will paint the map texture on to the Map cloth.

Wings

Select a wing flat and mix a black by bringing all the sliders down to "0" or by selecting black in the colour dialog. The wing flat will now be black. In fact on stage it is impossible to get an absolute black while in this program it is. Any object that is painted with black mixed as "0,0,0" will not reflect any light. It is better and more realistic to mix black as "10,10,10". This then allows for the creation of a black box space where the surfaces can be seen. When the wing flat is the right black click on the Paste button and then select another wing. The new selection will take the colour of the first. Repeat until all the wings and borders have been painted black.

This is what the 3D View should look like. If it is difficult to see everything, go to the Lighting panel and move the general light fader (top left fader) to full. For a more general light use the "Working Light" fader in the Prompt Corner.

Throne

Click the Furniture button of the Stage Properties control panel and choose the Throne from the open dialog. Move to a position where both the Throne and the Track can be clearly seen. Select the Throne and with the Alt Key pressed select the Track. Both the Throne and the Track should have a red bounding box around them.

Click on the Attach button and the Throne will attach itself to the spigot of the Track facing SL (Stage Left). Spin the Throne to -90° so that it faces the front. The Throne has inherited the rotation of the Track and needs to be corrected in the opposite direction to cancel the Tracks rotation. The Throne should be centred over the Track's spigot, if not make sure that its position is set to 0,0,0 (Width 0, Height 0 and Depth 0). 

Select the "Prod Desk" view from the Views panel and select the Stage tab in the Control Panels.  Select "Track" in the listview and drag the mouse pointer from the wheel.  The throne will move from end to end of the track.  From centre stage to behind the backcloth.

Crown

The Crown is to be placed on the seat of the Throne but if an attempt to Attach the Crown to the Throne is tried, a message appears saying that there are too many generations involved and it cannot be attached. The work around is to attach the Crown to the Tracks spigot and then move it up so that it appears to be on the Throne seat. Select the Crown and then with the Alt Key depressed select the Track and then click on Attach. The Crown will disappear but is in effect hidden by the Throne. Select the Crown in the Props listbox and then use the Height wheel to raise it up to seat height. The Throne and the Crown are the same colour, it may help to change the colour of the Throne or apply a texture to it.

Edmund

Select the "stage manager (body)" in the character listbox and Rename to "Edmund (body)". Do the same with "stage manager (Head)".

Select the Character option dialog and click on the costume Find button. Open the "Lear1" and "Lear2" costume texture images. Select the Lear2 costume from the drop down list so that it appears displayed and click on Wear to put the costume on the actor.

As the stage manager is a young man the casting is fine.

Gloucester

For Gloucester click on 3-D Actors and choose "b_cloakman" giving "Gloucester" as the character name. Select the "Lear1" costume and put it on Gloucester. In the Actor panel click on Audition and select "old_man" from the Open dialog. Select Gloucester's head and click on Cast. The image from the Actor panel should now be on the head.

Kent

For Kent, simply select Gloucester's body and click on Copy on the Edit panel. Gloucester's body and head should appear again in the character list. Drag the Gloucester copy to one side and Rename both parts as Kent. Finally change Kent's costume to "Lear2". The costumes may be differentiated more by adding colour from the mixing palette in the Paintshop.

1

On the half hour call establish the preset lighting cue on the bare stage.

2

On entrance of Gloucester, Kent and Edmund start LX actor build downstage right.

3

Line 32 fade LX down on to actors leaving backcloth in the dark.

4

Raise backcloth just enough and track the throne on underneath.

5

Fade up throne downlight.
Track throne into position.
Lower backcloth and map

6

Bring up general and map light.

7

Enter court.

Selection

First the spotlights need to be selected so that they can be focussed.  A general light is needed for the preset and the general flood can be used for this.  A spotlight is required downstage right where Kent, Gloucester and Edmund will talk.  If they are lit from directly in front they will look flat and washed out.  A light coming from in front and to one side will look more interesting.  Select the middle actor of the three and click on the "Go To Actor" button of the Views panel.  On the Zoom panel open the view to about 28mm focal length.  Rotating the view with the left mouse button pressed will allow the lights hanging above the stage and in the auditorium to be seen.

Select the spotlight on the far left of the auditorium as it appears by right clicking with the mouse.  A red bounding box will appear around the lamp to indicate it is selected.  "Spotlight_1" will also appear in the Active textbox.

Click on the "Prod Desk" button in the Views panel and the point of view will change back to the centre of the auditorium.  Return the Zoom slider back to a focal length of 50mm.  Open the Focus panel and place the mouse pointer over the Vertical wheel and drag it downwards until the beam of light shows on the stage at the right of the 3D View.

Do the same with the Horizontal wheel and move the light across towards the actors.  It is a good idea to move the light around to get used to the interaction.  With the light roughly on the actors move the Width slider to make the beam of light wider.  The Focus slider will soften the edge of the beam. 

The beam should be aimed at the three heads and then lowered until the light starts to dim on the heads.  The actors heads must most clearly be seen .  

Repeat the focussing using spotlight 9 to create a tight beam of light over the throne when it is in its centre stage position.

Bring the map in view and use spotlight 13 to illuminate it.  Widen the Beam and soften the Focus.

Cues

1.0 - Set all spotlight faders to "0", put the flood fader to about "55" and set the timing to "0.0 secs".  Click on "Save" in the Lx Cues panel and give it the name of "preset".  

2.0 - Bring up spotlight 1 to about "75", reduce the flood to "0" and set a time of "5.0 secs".  Click on "Save" and give the cue a name like "focus down DSR".  This means to close the light down to a small area at Down Stage Right.

3.0 - Select spotlight 9 and make sure that it is patched in and showing on one of the faders.  Bring spotlight 9's fader up to about "55", take spotlight 1 down to "0" and set a time of "10.0 secs".  Click on Add and give the cue a name like "throne".

4.0 - Set the flood to "17", spotlight 1 to "100", leave spotlight 9 where it is and set the timing to "10.0 secs".  Select spotlight 13 and make sure that it is patched in and showing on one of the faders.  Bring the spotlight 13 fader up to about "76".  Click on "Save" and give the cue a name like "map & build".

1.5 - A cue is missing between cues 1.0 and 2.0.  Select cue 2.0 and set the flood to what it is in Cue 1 ("55") and spotlight 1 to "100".  The time can stay at "5.0" secs.  Click on "Insert" and give it a name like "actor build", the cue should appear between cues 1.0 and 2.0 with 1.5 as its number.

The lighting cues are all done, select cue 1.0 and click on "GO".  The "preset" should develop into "actor build" over 5 seconds.  Try all the cues and adjust the levels and timing as necessary using the "ReSave" button.  "Set Back" will select the previous cue.

1.0 - Edmund is lagging behind when Kent and Gloucester enter, so he can be separate for the first cue.  Click on "Save" and call this blocking cue "K & G on, Edmund US".

2.0 - Edmund joins Kent and Gloucester when the dialog starts.  Click on "Save" and call this blocking cue "K, G & E all together DSR".

3.0 - The three actors move back and turn in anticipation of the court's entrance.  Click "Save" and call this cue "make way for court entrance".

0.5 - The play will start with an empty stage.  Move all the actors off the stage and Insert a blocking cue at the beginning called "empty stage".

Click on the different blocking cues to see if they are right.  Reset any cues that do not feel right.  It is possible to flick through the cues with the up and down arrow keys once one has been selected.

1.0 - Move the throne to the back of the stage so that it is behind the backcloth.  Click on "Save" and enter the name "Stage Set Up".  This cue becomes the starting position for all controlled stage elements. 

2.0 - Move the throne to centre stage, as far forward as the track will go.  Enter a time of "10.0 secs"in the timing textbox.  Click on "Save" and enter "throne down stage".  Cue 2.0 will be added.  Set Back or click on the first cue in the Scene Cues listing.  The throne should disappear, now click on GO and the throne should track forward to the centre stage position in a time of 10 seconds.

0.0 - Check that the bottom of the backcloth is just touching the stage floor.  Bring the map in and then take it out until it just disappears.  Click on "Save" and call this cue "Stage set up".  This cue becomes the starting position for all flown bars.

2.0 - Bring the backcloth back down and bring the map into position.  The timing should have stayed at "500 mmps" Click on "Save" and call the cue "cloth & map in".  Run and check the fly cues using Reset to make any changes that are needed.

Manual

For single department cues select the red button to warn of the coming cue and then hit the green button when the cue is to be carried out.  The green button will remain down and lit until the cue has finished.

For multiple cues select the relevant red buttons to warn the departments and then hit the green Master button.  The relevant red buttons will go off and the green buttons will go down and light up until the end of the cue.

Tutorial
Cues

1.0 - Clear all the red buttons and set back all department cues to their first.  Select the Actor red button and click on "Save" naming the cue "actors on"

2.0 - With the Actor red button still selected, select the Lx red button and click on "Save" and name the cue "DSR light up".