Control Design: Many integrators seem to think that, if construction drawings show the number of connections, a cable and conduit schedule may be introduced later for the completion of an automation construction job. This causes inaccuracies and headaches. A well-thought-out construction plan will drive costs down.
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This article was about planning cable runs when developing a building, but I think some of the ideas are applicable in theatre as well, especially in lighting management. The choice for the manager to plan exact cable runs is something that seems to be based on personal preference, but I've seen scenarios where it is very helpful. When you're working with inexperienced labor, it is helpful to show them exactly how you want something done. And in other scenarios, it's helpful to just have this planned beforehand so you know how much cable you need, and how much labor it will take to do a specific area. As a more experienced theatrical electrician, I prefer to be given a piece of paper with a pseudo cable run and to be told "but do it however makes sense/is convenient to you, just mark it down." Then, we all have a general idea of how it's going to happen but when I run into something, I don't have to do something stupid just to stick to someone else's plan.
You know it's funny. I've always seen these types of ideas about cable mapping and having a specific system layout. But the inevitability is that eventually the information that you go through the effort of creating and mapping is bound to change. Theres simply always going to be a time when someone has to change something and now your map is no longer applicable. I think that we need to find a way to create more of a digital map, something that can consistently be updated by itself. So theres never any chance of it ever being outdated. I could be cool if we started tagging parts of a system or implemented some sort of identification between devices on a network to allow them to have some sort of map that could automatically be generated without having to rely upon someone to go through and map it all by hand. It just isn't feasible long term to have people be constantly updating a map manually.
I have found that any project can benefit from a well thought out plan. If you take the time to understand what you are doing before you begin then the project will go much smoother than if you blunder in with no plan. Personally, one of the first things I look at when I enter a space is the cable organization (this is a habit I developed from working on robots). It is easy to tell when cables were installed following a well thought out plan versus when they were put in as an afterthought to the fixtures they are running power and data to. One of my favorite things to see is a room with a lot of cabling that is done well, like an ultra organized server room. This usefulness of planning applies a lot to theatrical lighting and the process of cabling lights in a way that is neat and easy to understand.
I have found my weird, obsessive love for cable management and neatness of work, so this article caught my attention immediately. While this article dives into how to route cable for a building’s circuitry in construction, there are a lot of applicable concepts to theatre and live entertainment. When one has the time, planning out where cable runs will go can make all the difference. The article touches on materials, labor, and rental cost. These are all things that the entertainment industry also has to deal with. Knowing exactly what you are going to use will make your shop orders more precise, your labor schedule easier, and your budget decrease. This becomes more and more important as the size of show gets bigger, but even in small shows, having a plan for your cable runs will make load in and troubleshooting that much easier. I would love to learn more about how construction and trade jobs do cabling and see if any of the knowledge could be brought in to my work.
I have been involved with a number of theater renovation projects, and generally the rule of thumb is to just pull twice as number Cat or fiber lines as you think you need, with the idea that it is much cheaper to install cable while you have the walls open and people on site, rather than as a patchy renovation later on. It is interesting to think about the much more in-depth planning that this article describes where you do not just have Ethernet Networks, but also contact closures, 4-20 mA loops, thermocouples, and high voltage power. All of these control signals have different requirements and you cannot just pull a single type of cable for all of them.
Recently I was trying to get a new network line from the trap in the Chosky to FOH in order to connect our Navigator automation control rack to the show control network. What I realized is that while there were a number of dry network lines throughout the building, none of them penetrated the proscenium wall, and I had to temporarily run a cable that I was hoping not to run.
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