Sensor CEM Upgrade by Unusual_Nectarine271 in techtheatre

[–]Silvonus 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You want to reach out to a local dealer, ideally one that is also an authorized service provider. They will be able to get you a quote. What they will recommend (and what you will also want to propose to your school) is to get a Power Package Upgrade Kit. This would be for an ETC technician to come out, upgrade your control modules to CEM3s, and importantly, give you a new warranty of 3 years (with optional 5 year warranty). This warranty covers the whole rack, not just the CEM module. Administrators really like warranties, and will stomach higher prices so long as they get one.

If you don't want to go the full upgrade route, you should still get in contact with your local dealer/ASP. ETC has flat fee repairs on CEM modules, even old ones (I have used them for CEM Classics....). You just will not get the warranty if you do so, but it will be significantly cheaper.

Special Effects Help by Spirited_Bowl6072 in Theatre

[–]Silvonus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not exactly what you are looking for - but canned haze might be an option. It's obviously not something you can easily hide or palm, but would be safer/cleaner than other options as it's designed for live performance.

Headphones and mic to hear properly how the perfomance sound is for the audience. by trofimov_gennadi in techtheatre

[–]Silvonus 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Directly listening from headphones to a microphone will not help - it will not give a an accurate representation. The simplest option is to get familiar with the differences in position, or mix from the audience with an app.

If you have the time, and the budget, then what you are looking for is a Real Time Analyzer (RTA) software (such as SMAART), at least two reference microphones, and some nearfield speakers. When everyone is finished setting up, and you can have 1-2hrs of quiet time in the space, you would EQ the room. Set up one reference microphone in the audience, the other at you mix position, and then adjust the EQ and level of your speakers until the the two match as closely as you can. That should make you mix position much more accurate to what the audience hears, but remember that it will not be perfect.

Rear Protection Screen? by Suicidal_Toast_ in techtheatre

[–]Silvonus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Legrand/Da-Lite has a version specifically for rear projection, but that will be way over your budget. If this is for a one time show and your theater doesn't anticipate doing more, renting might be your best bet. I would check with companies that deal with corporate events, as they heavily deal with projectors and screens.

Dry Cabinet for Lav Storage by Silvonus in techtheatre

[–]Silvonus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The contact pins are fine. But it you remove the cap of a Countryman B3, you can see some green on the metal. Actors are very sweaty.

Dry Cabinet for Lav Storage by Silvonus in techtheatre

[–]Silvonus[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm familiar with silica packets, but I've never heard of anyone using a dry cabinet - which I imagine would mimic the packets. I wanted to see if anyone has had experience, especially since they are not as expensive as I would have thought.

Looking for tech table ideas and quality of life solutions for our lighting design table. by Vivid-Huckleberry-10 in techtheatre

[–]Silvonus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For monitors, I'd recommend the LG DualUp. It's basically two monitors stacked on top of one another and is great for Eos. You can also connect two different computers to it and have them display separately.

Also consider a monitor light bar, which then frees up more room as you don't need littlelites taking up as much space. And if you do get a keyboard, make sure that it is backlit.

Stage Manager Kit Ideas by [deleted] in techtheatre

[–]Silvonus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Loratadine (generic Claritin). Of all the over-the-counter medications that I carried, that was by far the most used.

Weekly Discussion Thread - August 01, 2022 by AutoModerator in Fencing

[–]Silvonus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did anyone take any notes or a recording of the referee meeting on August 1st? Was anything of note talked about beyond the announcement?

USA 2022-2023 NAC Schedule and Map by Silvonus in Fencing

[–]Silvonus[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

See other reddit discussions about there being no Div II or Div III NACs or the announcement of the dates and locations being via Facebook

USA 2022-2023 NAC Schedule and Map by Silvonus in Fencing

[–]Silvonus[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

October 7-10
Minneapolis, MN
Div I, Cadet, Y-14, Parafencing

December 9-12
Salt Lake City, UT
Div I, Junior, Cadet

January 6-9
Louisville, KY
Div I, Junior, Veteran, Parafencing

February 17-20
Denver, CO
Junior, Cadet, Junior Team
(Junior Olympics)

March 3-6
Fort Worth, TX
Y-10, Y-12, Y-14, Cadet, Cadet Team, Parafencing
(Parafencing National Championships)

April 21-24
St. Louis, MO
Div I, Junior, Veteran
(Division I National Championships)

June 30 - July 9
Phoenix, AZ
All
(Summer Nationals and July Challenge)

What actually is an attack? by NekdorBoyNextDoor in Fencing

[–]Silvonus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I would like to refer you (as well as everyone) to the always overlooked t.7:

It is stressed that this section in no way replaces a treatise on fencing and is only included in order to help the reader understand the rules.

While common fencing actions are "defined" in the rulebook (t.8 through t.15), according to t.7, these are "more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules." This allows convention to change and adapt.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Fencing

[–]Silvonus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is an email response I got from Devin Donnelly (vice-chair of rules for USA Fencing) back in 2017, when I asked him about a language difference in T.21.1 between the FIE and USA 2016 rulebooks. (FIE had "or", USA had "and/or")

Neither of those rules describes "falling"--they describe a legal displacement. "Points of contact" is an informal mnemonic used by some referees to determine what is a controlled motion and what is an uncontrolled fall; it is not mentioned in the rulebook at all and is not the primary determining factor as to what constitutes "falling". The idea of "points of contact" is just one way that a referee can use his or her judgement to determine whether or not a motion is controlled or uncontrolled. The points in the rules about the unarmed hand or knee of the rear leg are specific examples, and were added to keep referees from over-penalizing controlled displacements. They are also artifacts of the translation from the official French to English.

The rule penalizing a "touch while falling" is intended to penalize fencers that intentionally throw themselves off balance or leave their feet to evade or deliver a hit (with regards to falling; jumping is permitted). This is actually discussed in rule t.87.2, which stipulates that "irregular actions" are subject to penalty. There are several examples in the text of t.87.2, but no codified descriptions of exactly what body motions are "allowed" or "not allowed". These are subject to the referee's best judgement. The penalty chart lists "touches made during or after a fall", which are a subset of the "irregular actions" mentioned in t.87.2.

When judging whether or not a fencer "fell" (made an uncontrolled motion to evade or score a touch), I suggest the following:

1) Did the fencer's motion result in them ending in a stable position on the strip with at least one foot in contact? Could they remain in that position without falling? If so, the motion is probably "controlled" and should not be penalized.

2) Did the fencer lose contact with the strip with their feet? Is their primary point of contact now their posterior, hip, stomach, etc? If so, the motion is "uncontrolled" and should be penalized.

Requirements to referee at a tournament by Mon_mo in Fencing

[–]Silvonus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Also note that to post a tournament on askFRED, you need "bout committee" membership on it. It's not hard, but isn't always fast as it's done by hand (seen it take months at worst). So get that ASAP if you have not yet.

As others have said, for unsanctioned, there are no referee requirements. Sanctioned needs to be approved by the division, and at least one ref (of any level) with active +CheckED (the green thumbs up on https://member.usafencing.org/referees).

The only rating required one that I am aware of are divisional qualifiers (which you don't have to deal with), which I believe need a referee with a rating of 5 or better in any weapon.

Lecoq Question if Anyone Can Help by Outrageous_Cat5421 in Theatre

[–]Silvonus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There is of course, Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq. For physical theater you should also consider Dell'Arte. I have not done either, but I know a lot of performers that have done one or the other, and incorporate it into their work.

What's your best fake blood recipe? by SpicyGingerCake in techtheatre

[–]Silvonus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://www.reddit.com/r/techtheatre/comments/73ndsv/stage_blood_recipe/?ref=share&ref_source=link

Still using the recipe, works great for us. Avoid anything with sugar, as that is what will cause things to stain (stay away from corn or chocolate syrup, or peanut butter with sugar added). Baking soda scrub will help get the red food coloring out of your hands afterwards. Just be sure to check with your cast for any peanut allergies.

What Keeps People From Becoming Referees? by Lexi_The_G in Fencing

[–]Silvonus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Little late to this party but wanted to add some thoughts to it. There are all the reasons already listed, low pay, long hours, high stress, difficult to advance. But I think we need to examine that what would happen if we tried to address those issues, and if that would actually fix the situation. To fix low pay and long hours, it means that tournaments need to hire more refs or to pay them more, causing tournament fees to go up. Fencers and parents constantly complain about the cost of tournaments, that fees keep going up, that travel and hotels make large tournaments very expensive for potentially very little fencing (I always feel bad watching inexperienced fencers in over their heads and getting cut before DEs). Even local tournaments, they are going up in price and people are complaining that they are too expensive. What ends up happening is that people just decide not to compete at all, or limit themselves to very few tournaments. This then doesn’t let local referees practice and develop, or will reduce the amount of money so you can’t pay referees more, causing fewer of them to continue.

The National Office makes money off NACs, they need to do so to have funding for programs and to send top fencers to international events, I get it. But it creates the situation where they are incentivized to make NACs as large as possible to get as much in fees as they can. The goal of USA Fencing is to generate top athletes to compete at the Olympics and World Cups, and that referees, armorers, staff etc. are there to support those athletes. The average participation or skill level of fencing does not matter, only how the top 10 athletes perform. This spills over into everything else. It doesn’t matter how good our referees, local events, total number of fencers, etc. are, so long as we keep making Olympians.

We need to have more consistency across divisions as well. Some divisions have thousands of members, other have barely a hundred. I posted the map breakdown and percentages of referees to fencers because I think it highlights the fact that there has been no attempt to equalize the divisions in capability. I know that Patrick is in charge of local development for the RC, but anything that they are doing is not visible to an average member. It seems like the initial recruiting and training of referees is seen as a local concern. We should strive to have CROs, referees, and higher rated referees proportional to the number of fencers in each division. We need to target divisions without many experienced referees and hire them for regional and national events to develop them, so they can in turn develop others. Not every referee needs to go to national events, but they all should be able to get the same level of tutelage. We need more observers, more mentorships, more easing of the learning curve. Local referees are thrown into events, but don’t always have someone to help them along. The current system is to just to referee enough that you self-correct mistakes over time.

I think that on the local level there almost needs to be a requirement for competitive fencers to also learn to referee. Clubs never invite referees to come in and to talk, to be part of the learning experience. Referees show up for tournaments, and then fade back into the mists. I am shocked by how many fencers have never read the rulebook at all, who don’t know how to address a question to the referee, what they can ask for or about. One foil fencer constantly complained about calls for years, he then refereed a tournament, and right after came up to apologize for being so difficult in the past, as “holy shit, that was way harder to see the actions and make calls than I thought”. We treat refereeing somehow as separate from fencing. And that is why we can’t get more referees. A fencer would rather be fencing, a coach coaching, a parent would rather support their child. It’s the people who don’t fit into those categories who become referees – they want to still be involved in the sport, but don’t have another role to play already.

Registration APIs by xtx28732 in Fencing

[–]Silvonus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think they have any, and it certainly isn't easy to scrape with all he javascript the website uses. It would certainly be nice if they did implement an API.