Replies

1. 
   Davo304 | Apr 10, 2003 03:23am | #1

   Splinky,

   If by chance there happens to be a small college (or a big one for that matter) that is not far from you, drop in on their Music/Fine Arts Department.

   Most colleges and universites have a full time stage set designer employed on their campus. This person  usually "doubles" as both an instructor in some Fine Arts course, and as head of stage design and construction for the campus sponsored plays.

   These  "theater" people are  very knowledgable and most times generally co-operative, and if promted. will sometimes volunteer their skills for free  in assisting with design/build of communty stage shows.  Sometimes,  they will gladly let you borrow some of  their own stage sets and props ( if they have no current use for them) for your upcoming show.  Never hurts to ask.

   As they say in the theatre......"Break a leg!"

   Davo

   Davo

1. 
   Splinky | Apr 10, 2003 03:37am | #2

   Thanks for that. We do a lot of borrowing around here. There is a very large set shop around here that I pick the brains of the employees. (Side note: I asked the owner ond day how much lauan he used a year. He told me $200.000.00 worth!) The small theater circuit usually comes to us for the information. Scary huh?

   David

   http://www.hurrahplayers.com (I didn't design the web site ... lol)

2. 
   CAGIV | Apr 10, 2003 08:57am | #3

   There was a good discussion here not to long ago relating to set construction, try the advanced search, it may or may not work depending on how good of a mood taunton is in at the time.

   Ok, your lucky, kinda... It worked, but it may not be quite what your looking for

   http://forums.prospero.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=27516.1

   View ImageGo Jayhawks..............Next Year

   
   

   ---

   Edited 4/10/2003 1:59:50 AM ET by CAG

3. 
   tdickhout | Apr 10, 2003 04:56pm | #4

   I have been doing community theatre for over 10 years, Set designer thru to Director and always the toilet scrubber.

   Most of my knowlegde of woodworking came from watching and learning people who had been involved for years (Usually husbands of members, who were contractors!!)

   For software, I usually just use Visio as our stage is quite small, and we have never done a musical.  Most of our flats are made from 2x4 construction,  so this works for us.

   Reasearching for particular productions, I go to Google and browse the web, when that fails I go to the Newsgroups, and look for the stagecraft and theatre groups.  Again, Google has a good search engine for the newsgroups.  Quite often if there is something tricky for a production someone would have asked, or posted the solution.

   I have found to never trust a Director (even MYSELF) when you ask the question,  "is there anything weird that needs to be built?" Answer is usually "NO" then two weeks before we open "By the way, I need a safe in a wall and it needs to explode."

   I will look for some of my paper work that I have downloaded to see if there are any links that might help.

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Apr 11, 2003 03:19am | #5

   i think jerrald started out as theater set construction... he'll pop in now and thenMike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

4. 
   MrPita2 | Apr 11, 2003 06:18pm | #6

   Splinky, I haven't done set construction since high school and some in college.  I don't know of software specific to set design, though I would think any CAD or Visio type SW would work.

   As to the specific sets you're planning, what are the requirements and limitations?  Our set designs were planned out by going through the entire script, especially stage directions;  looking for the obvious scenery descriptions, but also the breif mentions about character X entering from a door, or whatever.  We would then also come up with something interesting/different to build - this would form the basis for the design.  Finally, we'd take our ideas and look at the theatre space, like size of the stage, how many actors, extras, and chorus dancers were in each scene, etc.

   One limitation my HS had was zero fly space and minimal wing storage capability.  So, our sets had to be onstage almost all, all the time.  We approached it in different ways each year, to avoid doing the same thing over but also to challenge ourselves.  For one musical we built a 20' x 30' turntable.  One side was played, while we set the other side for the next scene.  Another musical involved using a modified "periaktoi".  These are three sided columns, rotate them to the different scenes to show.  Ours were four sided about 4'x4', and opened to reveal different vignettes.

   Feel free to email me, I'd love to discuss things more in depth. Where are you?  If close to Philly, I might be interested in a more hands-on type discussion... 

   If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something.

1. 
   Gary_Wheeler | Apr 13, 2003 06:43am | #7

   I use Datacad and some Autocad, but you might want to look at:

   http://www.sketchup.com/

   It looks pretty intuitive and quick and is used for architectural, furniture design etc.

1. 
   GoldenWreckedAngle | Apr 14, 2003 07:42pm | #9

   I have tried Sketch-up and it's not bad. I thought Autodesk bought them out a few years ago but Gary's link seems to refute that.

   At any rate- Autodesk does have a higher end software based on the ideas behind sketch-up. It is called Architectural Studio. It may be a little pricey for what you are looking for but it would sure fit the bill.Kevin Halliburton

   "One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -Elbert Hubbard-

5. 
   CloudHidden | Apr 13, 2003 03:59pm | #8

   >What I am wanting to know is, does anyone know of software for set construction (for general design of the stage)?

   I just met the set designer for CSI:Miami, and he's using regular ol' cheapo CAD. On the less-cheapo end, I know VectorWorks has a module called Spotlight, which allows you to "draft light plots, create set and scenic elements, and visualize designs in 3D."

   http://www.nemetschek.net/news/pressreleases/021103.html