ProSoundWeb Community
Sound Reinforcement - Forums for Live Sound Professionals - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Live Sound Forums => Lighting Forum => Topic started by: Canute J. Chiverton on November 20, 2011, 05:34:17 PM
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Are there any Schools/Colleges/Companies offering Online Courses in DMX Lighting or Stage Lighting Design?
Do we have any Sponsors here that do? I am in Houston Texas.
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that depends, are you looking for a degree in 'lighting' or some sort of official paperwork? if so, then not that I know of
if you're looking for information about dmx lighting, there's plenty of stuff on the internet about how it all works (some of it's even correct!)
alternatively, you could find a lighting company and see if you could intern for them, that'd probably be the easiest way to learn and you'll get something actually useful- experience!
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This may help.
http://www.onstagelighting.co.uk/learn-stage-lighting/lighting-desk-basics-beginners-guide-to-stage-light-control-1/
Regards, John
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that depends, are you looking for a degree in 'lighting' or some sort of official paperwork? if so, then not that I know of
if you're looking for information about dmx lighting, there's plenty of stuff on the internet about how it all works (some of it's even correct!)
alternatively, you could find a lighting company and see if you could intern for them, that'd probably be the easiest way to learn and you'll get something actually useful- experience!
A degree would be ideal and helpful. I would like to do things the right way and thus charge professional fees the right way. No cutting short the Industry here! I respect the professionals and do not want to undermine their experience by low balling.
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This may help.
http://www.onstagelighting.co.uk/learn-stage-lighting/lighting-desk-basics-beginners-guide-to-stage-light-control-1/
Regards, John
Thanks John.
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A degree would be ideal and helpful. I would like to do things the right way and thus charge professional fees the right way. No cutting short the Industry here! I respect the professionals and do not want to undermine their experience by low balling.
just fyi, a degree in 'lighting' will get you nowhere :)
If you *really* want a useful degree for this industry, take electrical engineering or business management. Even a degree in event planning would be more useful hahaha
As for lighting guys who would teach you the ropes, well, I'm sure there's several in your area that would do so in exchange for some $$
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Entendo Castellano? Habla Castellano?
As you can tell Reading and Writing Spanish is not my strong suit (nor is Ingl'es) ???
I believe that speaking and understanding Spanish (Castellano) is a required skill set to master,
If you can read and write in Spanish, even better.
An Electrical Engineering Degree seems like a Must going forward.
It also gives you many more options in this field vs. a BA Degree.
A Great Attitude will also goes a very long way with most owners and boss's.
As many people may have similar qualifications in sound and lighting, I believe a person who is conversive in Spanish will have BIG advantage.
It just makes sense to speak Spanish and English and have a BS Degree.
Times are not changing, They have ALREADY changed.
Regards, John
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It also gives you many more options in this field vs. a BA Degree.
Not to brag or anything, but I wanted to say that a BA degree won't necessarily stand in the way of being successful in a technical field. This is coming from an English major about to make profit after two years in business with a small sound company. Best of luck to all those starting out, in any case.
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there's a large majority of people in the entertainment biz that do very well and are incredibly technically inclined that have no education past high school at all
then there's some that have multiple degrees in completely unrelated subjects, but do it because they love it (which is the main reason to be in this business, cause compared to a 'regular job' the hours and pay suck a lot of the time!)
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I completely agree, two that come to mind are;
Bill Gates- High School (Microsoft)
Bill Lear- 8th grade (invented the Lear Jet)
And 1,000s if not 10s of 1,000s of other great talents that never went past High school,
They did however continue their education for the rest of their lives even though it may not have been formal.
My suggestions (Opinions) just suggest the shortest distance between two points.
Canute, My suggestions are meant as a consideration that will "Fast Track" you to break into the business.
A four year (or less) commitment is indeed a small investment for the rest of your life.
Please read John Huntington "Control Systems for Live Entertainment" (Third Edition) Focal Press.
It should give you insight into the direction you might consider.
This will give you an idea of what may be required in the future in this field.
Also there are people on this forum with decades working in the live entertainment field that know where things may be going and are very, very sharp, and people with limited (Years) of experience, that work on modern equipment that are also very, very sharp.
My comments are based on teaching classes in Multi-Media Production to young children and recognizing
which disciplines will help in the future should they decide to pursue a technical career.
We also invite working professionals as guest speakers to offer opinions about (include other things) future education. (Middle School, High School, College and beyond)
Bottom line; an EE will never hurt you, nor will learning Spanish.
Again, just my thoughts on taking "Short Cuts".
Regards, John
P.S., Added this;
The Automated Lighting Programmer’s Handbook, 2nd Edition
http://www.plsnbookshelf.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=28
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Thanks for all the input so far.
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Thanks for all the input so far.
Just wanted to add for lighting basics/concepts and terms. There is a video series available on iTunes U through iTunes. Search for "Lighting in the Theatre". It was put together by the National Theatre.
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Hello,
Obtaining an Electrical Engineering degree is great if you want to become an Electrical Engineer, but,: it's over-kill for working in Stage Lighting, it's an Expensive proposition, and it's hard work and time consuming to obtain a BSEE... unless...one were to try and obtain an R&D job at a Stage Lighting Manufacturer, it's definitely not a shortcut to work with Stage lighting.
If one were to go through all of the requirements of obtaining a BSEE, they'd be foolish to not work as an Electrical Engineer....the starting money is at least 2xs better than any gig in Stage Lighting.
If one is serious about Stage Lighting, then I'd suggest one of the many classes offered in Theatre studies at the community college...or, the Broadway short courses.
Before I'd recommend the more formal classes, speak to, beg, volunteer some time with a local Company that provides Stage Lighting services. Working even a few hours a week in a shop will help someone gain a lot of knowledge. After some time...ask if you can play with a console in off hours.
Take some basic Electrical classes that are gear to becoming an electrician. Review all of your basic Math before hand as you'll need Math skills for the electrical formulas. Learn the formulas for AC & DC.
Good Luck,
Hammer