Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1993 - 22

kind of enforced unit)' which will be one
of the Studio's byproducts.
It is also imporrant ro note once
more that there will be a time saving for
the designers. technical direcrors, currers,
and other thearrical craftspeople. All (or
at least most) of the detail and technical
drawings will be derived from the original model which began the whole process. Components do not ha\'e ro be
redrawn.
This, then, is the idea behind the
[nreractive Digital Design Studio. A pilot
srudy of the process has been run demonstrating many of the procedures spoken
of above. (Some of the drawings from
that pilot have been included here.) We
discovered that it works, for the most
pan, as anricipated, bur that we have a
great deal more ro explore and learn. \Ve
will begin ro expand and refine the process with next year's season and we are
very confldenr of the ultimate succes of
the projecr.
\X!e believe that the system proposed
here will be capable of reducing preparation work by a signiflcanr amount. We
also believe that the inreractive narure of
the Design Srudio will allow the members of a creative team ro dig funhet inro
a production, with their imaginations
f('eding one another as they see the repli-

cation of the show occurring before their
eyes. When the play apptoaches
rehearsal, the direcror will have a much
more concrete vision of the production
and should feel more confldenr in the
knowledge that s/he has contributed
directly ro ir. Similarly, the designers \\'ill
ha\'e a more inrimate sense of the production as they are able ro see their work
inreracting with that of the others on the
production team. Finally, the ba is for
the entire process is one drawing (or,
more accurately, "file"). All other pans of
the process, except the acrual cosrume
design, begin with the original model.
Hopefully, this will be a rool for lending unity to a production and for simplifying a very difficult communication
process.
The last, and most poinred, word ro
be said is this: Although we have not
argued the merits of one or another of
the theories of theatrical unity or proposed a new one, we have created a truly
new language with which ro communicate thearrical realities. It is a language
which does not deal in symbols but in
the e1emenrs of thearre as they are on the
stage, before an audience. Direcrors and
designers should now be able ro avoid the
consranr frustrations caused by nearly,
bur not quite, understanding one an om-

Begin a lifetime of experience
\"ith the experience of a lifetime.
.-\t The Theatre School. DePaul l"nil·ersity. I"OU get more than professional training. You
intensil"e conserl"alOrI' preparation \'ou need for Il"haiel"er comes your Il"ay.

thr

THE
THEATRE
SCHOOL
DePaul Uni\'ersit\,
~13J

B.F.A.

\onh I\enmort' .-\I"t'nut'. Chical!lJ. Illinoi- lililill
or (oulsic!L- Illinois) \-(;1111·1 DE P.-\l"L

Acting. Costume Design. Lighting DeSign, PlaYWriting, Production Management.
Scenic DeSign. Theatre History/Criticism. General Theatre Studies.
Theatre Management and Theatre Technology.
Certificate in Acting and Costume Construction

1993 FALL

Equipmenr and software needs are a good
news/bad news situation. On the up side,
the entire process is done on a DOSbased deskrop personal computer. \'(!e use
ElutoGD Rl2 as our basic drawing rool.
Other rools are AuroCAD Advanced
Modeling Eytension (MfE), Autodesk 3D
Studio, /l!annequin, and ApparelCAD.
The software is arguably the industry
standard. AutoCAD, AJ\1E, and 3D Studio
are very powerful programs easily handling two-dimensional drafting, threedimensional solid modeling, and highresolurion rendering. Jvfanneqllin and
ApparelCElD are task specific products
that are compatible with the Alltodesk file
interface. On the down side, the software
demands a significant amount of time ro
learn. The Studio's software platform
requires a minimum 386/25 with a
30387 co-processor; however, a 4861
33DX with 8mb RAM is realistically the
minimum CP that will provide acceptable performance levels. The studio uses a
486/50 and a 486/66, with 16mb and
20mb of RAJ'vI respectively. (Editors Note:
The same or simi/ar CAD and graphics software programs are avai/able for Jvfacintosh
cOII/puters for t!Jose interested in developing
a Digital Design Studio on that cOII/puter
platJonn.)

The Interactive Digital Design Stlldio has
received support fro III the Department of
l\1usic, Theatre, and Dance; the College of
Liberal Arts Professional Development
Program; and a FaCIII~)1 Research Grant
ji-Oll/ the Graduate School at Colorado State
Universi~)I. The project 17m also receilJed
additional 5IIpport from an Autodesk
Education Grant.
Robert E. Braddy is flit associate professor
and scene designer; Annie O. Cleveland is
a lecturer and costulI/e designer; and M.
Barrett Cleveland is an associate profeHor
and technical director/lighting designer.
They are all on rlJe faCllIe), of the theatre
prograll/ at Colorado State Uniuenity
Phoro Credits

(31~131i~·~37-l.

M.F.A. in Acting, Directing, Costume DeSign. lighting Design and Scenic DeSign.

EQUIPPING THE STUDIO

get

Founded as the Goodman ~chool of Drama in 19~J. no\\" in our 67th season. Il"e oiler a distinguisheci
faculty of \\"orking anim, a comprehensil"e theatre pro((ram and outslandin.' iacilitit's-iJ1c1uding
the historic BJackslOne Theatre. And I"e're still right in the hean of Chica ro's dynamic thl',llrt' scene.

Call

er. To develop a production using the elemenrs of that production is a new luxury
that we in the profession will soon be
able ro enjoy all rogether.

TD&T

Slides for this article, il/cluding the cover
ill/age, luae generated by jall/ison Gulden
at J!Je Colorado State Unil'ersit)' COII/puter
VisullliZiltion LaboratolY The i/lustratiollS
were prepared b), the Design Tea 11/,
Colorado State Unil1ersity

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1993