Reddit Reddit reviews Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician

We found 15 Reddit comments about Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician
Focal Press
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15 Reddit comments about Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician:

u/IHateTypingInBoxes · 53 pointsr/livesound

This book is written by Richard Cadena, who is the technical editor of Lighting and Sound America. It will answer virtually every question you've asked in your post, and it will also help you stay safe on the job. Worth every penny.

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EDIT: Submit your questions for Richard's r/livesound Q+A here.

u/TheWoodsman42 · 6 pointsr/lightingdesign

First things first, different areas are going to call different things different names. Never be ashamed about asking what people mean by a term, as clear communication is critical in this industry.

Next, three books that will help you.

  1. Backstage Handbook while a little outdated, this is the stagehands bible.

  2. Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician and Technician this is a good reference for how electricity works. Less of a what things are and more of a how things are. Good book regardless.

  3. A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting also more of a how things are, this details more of the design and communication side of lighting. Also a very good read, as it details out paperwork for shows.

    As far as what equipment and systems you should be familiar with? ETC EOS family is a good starting point. It’ll get your mind familiar with how to program lights and is a pretty universal starting point. ETC Sensor Racks are also fairly standard for dimming. For moving lights, that’s really going to depend on what you’re able to get your hands on. If there’s a production shop nearby to you, call them up and see if they’re willing to take you on as an intern so you can learn things, or just ask them to spend a couple days showing you how everything works. Or see if there’s an IATSE chapter that’s nearby to you, they’ll also be able to help point you in the right direction.
u/harrio34 · 5 pointsr/techtheatre

> Or perhaps the problem is something other than the power?

The thing that passed through your brain that made you think that this was a smart decision.

Here are some ground rules about movers and electricity that pertain to your situation, and some thoughts.

  1. Don't power movers off of a dimmer. Ever. The power sent from them isn't full phase, and will most likely damage your fixtures.

  2. Just because it seems like a good idea in your head, does not make it a good idea in practice. A reverse twofer??? A simple web search will show that you can't safely combine two sources of 110v to get 208v.

  3. That VL is probably dead now, so have fun paying for repairs, and potentially having your university blacklisted from renting from them again.

  4. If you don't get electricity, don't mess with it. That's a cardinal rule. I've never seen anyone silly enough to try to combine phases for their moving lights. This is dangerous.

    Please be safer next time, and don't break expensive gear that you don't own. Accidents are accidents, stupidity can't be played off as an accident.

    If you actually want to learn more about electricity and how to use it safely, please read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Entertainment-Electrician-Technician-Richard/dp/0415714834
u/ttreit · 5 pointsr/livesound

Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician and Technician

You don't have to become an expert on everything in the book but simply reading it through once will give a solid foundation for the working sound engineer. Nothing happens in our world without power so I consider this a fundamental read.

u/loansindi · 5 pointsr/techtheatre

Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician by Richard Cadena. Understanding electricity and electrical safety is big, and a shocking number of technicians lack what I consider crucial basic knowledge.

Also, if you have interest in automated lighting, a decent grounding in electronics can be useful for troubleshooting and maintenance, and I'd start with Introductory Circuit Analysis by Robert Boylestad for this - you'll get a much more thorough grounding in circuit analysis than from Cadena, even if you don't work your way through the whole text.

u/livingmarcuslee · 4 pointsr/livesound

Hello, live event electrician here.

Take a look at Richard Cadenas book, Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician (link below)

I both read his book and took a course he taught. Specifically with stage power, he made sure to burn into my brain using GFCI protected deck power. The time it takes for a short to happen and trip the breaker at your distro is enough to kill. It's happened before.

As for another resource I suggest protocol magazine. It's got all sorts of good, dry information if you are into that. I certainly am.

Educate yourself, don't lift your grounds, ALWAYS use GFCIs for deck power. Too many people have needlessly been electrocuted. Requiring GFCIs for deck power is currently being discussed (I believe)for addition to either the NEC or ESA (Event Safety Alliance)

Good luck out there!

http://www.esta.org/Protocol/protocol.html



https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Entertainment-Electrician-Technician-Richard/dp/0415714834

u/AshamedGorilla · 4 pointsr/livesound

This is a great read about power and is specifically geared toward our industry: https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Entertainment-Electrician-Technician-Richard/dp/0415714834

u/howlingwolf487 · 3 pointsr/techtheatre

Rich Cadena’s“Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician” is by far the best read on this specific topic.

He also hosts training classes and is ETCP certified.

Also check out the NEC sections 400 and 520 for people in the USA.

ProSoundWeb’s AC & Grounding forum is great, as is Mike Holt’s websites and forum contributions throughout the Event Production and Electric industries.

u/hayloft_candles · 3 pointsr/livesound

The mixing part is the same. If you are solely the FOH mixer, and you don't want to be in charge of the bigger picture, you have no concerns - just make it sound good and know the consoles you are working on. The system tech is there to make sure that the rig sounds good everywhere in the room, and the PM and riggers are there to make sure it is run and hung safely and efficiently.

If you want to PM on bigger rigs like that, you need to start learning the details of all those people's jobs - not necessarily so you can tell them what to do, but so that you can spot safety issues and inefficiencies, and work hand-in-hand with them to meet your goals.

Here's a good book to start on power: https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Entertainment-Electrician-Technician-Richard/dp/0415714834

And here is a good book on audio systems: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415731011/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I haven't read this one on networks yet, but it's probably my next read...maybe others can chime in on wether it is a good one.

https://www.amazon.com/Show-Networks-Control-Systems-Entertainment/dp/0692958738/ref=asc_df_0692958738/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312115090752&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=449842820588414772&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9061129&hvtargid=pla-415287733133&psc=1

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And of course, nothing beats experience, so weasel your way into bigger jobs and watch what everyone is doing.

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u/LumbermanSVO · 2 pointsr/VIDEOENGINEERING

https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Entertainment-Electrician-Technician-Richard/dp/0415714834

A seriously good book, and an area a lot of techs seem to overlook. After that, what u/deviantpixel said about reading manuals is spot on. I have my job today because I blew my boss a away by actually reading manuals when I first worked with him. It turns out, they have a LOT of great info.

u/bigspl1092 · 2 pointsr/lightingdesign

also this http://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Entertainment-Electrician-Technician-Richard/dp/0415714834 is a very good book. without electricity none of this works.

u/TuckerD · 2 pointsr/lightingdesign

Books I recommend / see commonly recommended.

    • -
      Show Networks and Control Systems

      This is a great book all about how modern lighting networks work using sACN and other protocols. John Huntington is a great speaker if you ever get a chance to see him speak. He should be doing a session or two as USITT this year. He is also a professor at CUNY and has a great program there.
    • *
      Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician

      Another great book by another great speaker. I got to see a panel with Richard Cadena a few years ago at USITT. I was very impressed with how he spoke about stage lighting and some of the practical experiments that he has done and shared with us. I haven't read this book, but I've heard great things about it. A big topic of conversation at that panel was inrush current, and he gave some really great and easy to understand answers. I suspect that his book is more of the same.
    • -
      Designing with Light

      A classic. Very very well respected book. It will probably be the text book for your first lighting class in college, if you choose to study lighting in college.
    • -
      A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting

      I see this book recommended most often. It's another great book. The title holds true, it is a very practical guide to stage lighting. How to do paperwork. How to write a contract. How to talk to people. Some nuggets of lighting knowledge. I didn't really get as much out of it though, as I am not trying to become a professional lighting designer.
u/tm204 · 1 pointr/techtheatre

The Automated Lighting Programmer's Handbook 2nd Edition
by Brad Schiller https://www.amazon.com/Automated-Lighting-Programmers-Handbook/dp/024081553X

Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician 2nd Edition
by Richard Cadena https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Entertainment-Electrician-Technician-Richard/dp/0415714834/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466434438&sr=1-1&keywords=richard+cadena

The Lighting Art: The Aesthetics of Stage Lighting Design (2nd Edition) 2nd Edition by Richard H. Palmer https://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Art-Aesthetics-Stage-Design/dp/0135010810/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

Good luck

u/DontTouchSandpaper · 0 pointsr/lightingdesign

I'm not sure what line of work you're in, but from an event work standpoint, and I suppose a film standpoint, more and more manufacturers are moving towards LED-source fixtures. So if you're actually looking to build a distro and are looking towards future use, 120v may be the direction to head it. It's hard, though, to pigeon-hole yourself into 120v or 208v exclusively. You're better off having a variety and having that flexibility. A good reference for understanding these concepts can be found here