Technical Theatre System Overhaul and Integration: Honors Project Case Study

Budgetary Constraints and Resource Management: - The project was executed on a strictly limited budget, necessitating a philosophy of reuse and repurpose. - Equipment was sourced through several specific channels: - Secondhand purchases. - Electronics saved from e-waste recycling. - Donations from former commercial sites that were parting with equipment and passing it to a community arts group.
Physical Hardware Installation: - Tactical buttons were added by the theater doors for accessibility. - Touch screens were mounted as part of the primary system interface. - The core system hardware (referred to as "the vault") is housed in the back of the facility. - Specialized monitors were installed in the control booth to monitor system states.

Sequential Power Automation: - The entire technical system is activated via a single push of a button. - This automated sequence ensures all equipment turns on in the specific, correct order to prevent hardware conflicts or damage.
Control Booth Optimization: - There are more visual inputs than physical monitors in the control booth; consequently, the monitors are now selectable/switchable.
Projector Management Improvements: - Previously, the projector required a physical yardstick to be manually turned on. - Current functionality allows the projector to be controlled remotely via an iPad.

Trash-Picked Hardware Integration: - Wireless microphones were salvaged from an e-waste recycler and integrated into the theater's inventory; these units were previously unavailable to the venue.
Custom Software Interface: - A custom lighting control screen was written to interface with the laptop software. - The system replaces the requirement for a laptop or desktop computer with a ProBus connection.
Mobile and Simplified Controls: - Lighting can now be set up while walking around the theater using an iPad. - There is a simplified version of the lighting control screens featuring approximately $6$ presets. - These presets allow users to operate basic lighting without needing to program the lights from scratch.
Auxiliary Controls: - Theater work lights can be toggled on and off directly from the iPad interface.

CAD Drawing Updates: - The speaker recognized documentation as the "least favorite part" of technical projects but modernized it for the theater. - Initial sketches of the building were created on-site and then imported into Vectorworks, the industry-standard Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tool for entertainment spaces. - These updated drawings are now available to any system user.
Show File Templates: - A template show file was created for lighting designers. - The goal is to provide a starting point so designers do not have to begin from scratch for every production.
System Manuals: - The computer's official documentation was updated to reflect the new system architecture and procedures.

First Live Production: - The system was first utilized for a show that opened in April. - The production was described as a "gritty show" centered on race relations in Oklahoma in the $1560\text{s}$ .
Performance Metrics and Feedback: - The project was successful with no major technical issues reported during the run. - The production crew included a first-time stage manager and a first-time lighting designer. - The crew praised the ease of use, noting that the system was significantly more intuitive than what they anticipated for a community theater environment.

Electronic Theater Controls (ETC) Collaboration: - The speaker exchanged emails with Chris Price at ETC, a local company producing state-of-the-art lighting products. - ETC's architectural lighting control products are integrated into the system using Q-SYS.
Custom Code Refinement: - The speaker wrote a remote integration for Q-SYS to communicate with ETC products. - Chris Price (who wrote the official Q-SYS integrations for ETC) provided encouragement and pointers to "clean up" the code. - The goal is to make this integration software fit for public consumption and available to other theater groups.
Omitted Features: - Several aspects of the project were cut due to three main factors: time, complexity, or cost. - There is a plan to revisit these features in the near future.

Honors Project Value: - The project facilitated high-level contacts with industry professionals like those at ETC. - The mentorship from "Jacobs advising" was credited with keeping the project on schedule.
The Role of Deadlines: - The speaker noted that in a volunteer context, projects can "fester for weeks or months or years." - The accountability of a formal honors presentation prevented the hardware from sitting "on a pallet in my garage" for another year.

Question: Was there anything that you wish you had time to do, like, just bring the time to add to it?
Response: The speaker confirmed there were such items, noting they had briefly touched on them in the demo video before the transcript concludes.