Focal Press Scenic Automation Handbook

Table of Contents

1. Moving Stuff on Stage
2. Pentagon of Power: Breaking up Automation into 5 Parts
3. Meet the Machines - A Survey of Common Theatrical Machines
4. Motivating a Machine
5. Powering Motors and Actuators
6. Sensing and Measuring Motion
7. Simple Control
8. Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's)
9. Motion Control with a PID Loop
10. Safety
11. Operator Interface
12. NetworksIntegrating with other Systems
13. Implementation
14. Resource for Learning More

About the Author

Gareth has been in the business of making scenery move for more than 20 years, but theatrical automation hasn't always been his passion. At age 3, after loving encouragement from his parents to be anything he wanted, he decided he wanted to be a whale. Whales are really neat. By age 5, he had recovered from that obvious disappointment and excitedly asked for a set of real tools for Christmas. The heartbreak at receiving plastic toy tools served only to inspire. Luckily, Gareth eventually got his hands on real tools, dove into theatre and became hooked on automation.Years later, Gareth had acquired experience automating scenery using a range of mechanical and electronic techniques (some of which are better left forgotten) for clients from regional theatres to automation giants including Disney and Universal. After working with budgets ranging from dozens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, he was convinced he could create a system of automation components that would reduce the cost and complexity of scenic automation. That conviction inspired Gareth to found his own company Creative Conners, Inc., and it's been the most fun job yet. Even better than being a whale.