Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1993 - 24

ing producrions.
The firsr area of rechnical the,Hre ro
me compurers exrensivel~' was lighring.
Computer memory device IlJve been
u ed in lighring for almost 25 ve,us.
\'('irh the inrroducrion of compureriz d
lighting conrrol in the I.1[C 19(iOs and
('.lIlv 1c)~Os, rhearre personnel could execute <"f"Cu s previous,," considered roo difricult or even impossible:. Computer use
in rhe prcliminan' design as peers oflighring are a brer adaprarion, mainly because
the nCt eS<.ln' software and hardware h,1\'e
hel'n lISe compurers in sound for more
lh 111 sound cues as rhe equipmenr and
neCl" .u)' memory i srill very expensive.
Specific compurer programs for
scenic and cosrume design are sri II being
dt"vclop"d and are ofren roo expensive for
wiclespread use. The hardware is available
since rhe advenr of microcompurers such
as rhe lvIacinrosh. Commodore's Amiga,
Compaq, and others in rhe mid 1980s
addres.ed many of rhe obsracles ror using
compurers. The obsracles included: prohihirive cosr. "lack of sophisricared sofrware designed for rhe rhearre's rarher specific needs, rhe grear amounr of rime and
specialized kno\~'ledge necessary for wriring appropriare programs and using rhem
ro generare compurer graphics, and lhe
general lack of sensirivirv and refinemenr
in such programs." \
Scenic and cosrume design programs
have ro be flexible enough ro allow individual creariviry. vcr offer enough fearures ro make rhe design process fasrer
and rhe design easier ro modifv. ome
designers are using sofrware pack.lges
such as com purer-aided design ( AD)
programs to assi r in recording rheir crcarive designs. CAD is also used in scenery
design and shop drawings. Several programs ,ue availahle off-rhe-shelf and do
nor require a grear deal of modificarion
ror rht'atrical usc.

ADVANTAGES
1anv respondenrs remarked rhal rhe
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TD&T

advanrages of com purer usage include
saving rime. This response was qualified
rhough, as mosr people recognized rhar a
grear de.ll of rime is invesred inirial'" in
learning rhe program and impuring
informarion. The com purer reall~' onl~'
sa\'es rime when ir is used for long-rerm
reperiri\'e rasb. Shorr-rerm projecrs.
where rhe informarion or marerial is
needed once, ,Ire ofren more e{feeri\·e1v
,md eHicienr,,"
. done bv. hand.
1\ lanv rhearre professionals recognize
rhar compurers provide rhe Hexibilirv ro
easily make changes ro exisring work, as
well as allow ,lccuraC\'
. ,Ind reliabilin'
. in
manipularing dara (especially numerical),
and consisrency and c1ariry in rhe resulrs.
Compurer programs rhar reduce paperwork and remove rhe rediousness associared wirh reperitive funcrions can, in rhe
long run, save valuable rime. Some acriviries, such as lighring cues and changes,
can be done fasrer and beller using rhe
compurer because the compurer provides
consisrencv
. and reliabilill'.
.

OBSTACLES
For all rhe potenrial advanrages of compllrer usage. however, rhearre professionals also recognize rhe obsracles ro u e.
The mosr often cired are cosr, lack of
equipmenr and sofrware. and lack of
lime.
Economic facrors srrongly influence
rhe amounr and availabilill' of hardware
and sofrware, which varies greatl~' from
regionaillocal rhearres ro universiries to
major Broadway and rock and roll producrions. The respondenrs overwhelmingly agreed rhar rhe major obsracle ro
compurer use in rhe rhearre is expense.
Funds for compurers, sofrware, and
peri pherals have ro come from budgers
that are, in many instances, alreadv
strained. The qualifY of rhe producrions
cannot be compromised, so funds for
"extras" like compurers are nor available.
Alrhough rhe cosr of compurcrs conrinues ro decrease, many rheatres cannor
afford rhe S\'srems
rhev. wanr or ro
.
upgrade
exisring
equipment.
Addirionallv. rhere is sri II rhe inirial
expense for rhe hardware and sofm'are, as
well a rhe expense ror mainrenance of
equipmenr and rechnology. Several
respondenrs expressed frusrr,llion in
rerms of needing equipmenr and nor
being able ro afford it. Mosr rhearres cannor afford high qualiry technolog". [n
addirion ro nor being able to afford rhe
inirial expense for sysrems and programs,
rhey have no budger [() hire people wirh
compurer experience ro usc rhe sysrems.
(Some of rhe respondcnrs have broughr

their own equipmenr ro work 'tnd/or
bring srudenrs ro rheir home bec.luse
rheir per onal equipmenr is more Up-todare and powerful rhan is whar available
ar rhe universill' or college.)
[n rhe rhearre. anything rhar makes
rhe work f~lsrer. easier. more organized.
and sa\'es rime will be \·aluable. Acrualll'
learning ro u e compurer sysrems and
software requires a concclllrared period
of time. which nul' require pr,lcririonCts
ro idenrify a "non-crearive" acri\·in' as
worrh" of focused ,llrelllion. [n rhearre.
rime is ofren in ~uch shorr supplv rh,ll
people cannor do rheir work in addirion
ro learning new syslems and programs.
Alrhough compurer programs mar save
rime in rhe fururc, many rhearre praeririoners do nor have rhe luxurv of spending rhe time necessarl' ro fully undersrand rhem. If someone is nor convinced
rhar rhe com purer will be useful for
his/her needs, rhen rhere is lillie morivarion ro learn. And unless rhe person really needs rhe amounr of derail rhe compurer provides, rhere is no real savings in
lime or money.
Anorher porenrial disadvanrage is
rhar rhe compurer can be very preci e
and some respondenrs felr rhar rhe available programs do nor allow rhem to be as
crearive. There is a fear rhar rcli'lIIct' on
rhe rechnology will cause rhe crearive
concepr ro suffer in rhar crearivill' may be
sacrificed for rechnological effecrs.
Furrhermore, unrealisric expecrarions of
rhe compurer's abiliries may also cause
some people ro expend roo much rime
and efforr working on rhe compurer
when rhe rask can be done more efficiently manually.
The respondellls nored rh,ll rhere is
some hesirancl' ro use compurers in some
rhearre acriviries. One reason for resisranee or hesirancy is rhar rhe rhearre professional is nor convinced rhal rhe compurer can do rhe work fasrer. beller, or
more crearively rhan (s)he can using rr'ldirional merhods. Also, hesirancv could
be anribured to rhe lack of rraining many
people have in rerms of using compurers
and software. People are often rericelll
abour learning new rechnology and may
be inrimidared by having ro learn new
procedures and ways of rhinking. [n
addilion, wirhout accessible equipmenl
and adequ,lle sofrware, many people will
nor make lhe efforr ro learn new rechnlques.
In rhearre, as in orher industries,
rraining and educarion help prep,tr<: individuals for compurerization. While orher
organizarions m,ly -ponsor special lraining sessions or pal' for classes, compurer
insrruction in rhearre rends ro be infor-

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