The team began work with the show file from the 2001 production. Two focus grids had been constructed, which the team called a Map. The first focus grid was built on the downstage 20’ of the deck, with 4’ centres stage left to right and 3’ centres downstage to upstage. The second grid was further upstage, with the left to right on 5’ centres and downstage to upstage on 4’ centres. Each of the 96 moving lights in the rig needed to be included in each of the 95 focus points provided by the grid.
In 2001, refocusing each light in each focus point (96 lights x 95 focus points) took about 16 hours. It was critical to the team to reduce this time. Because separate programmers were also individually modifying the preset data, each show had the potential for looking different - for example, if one programmer used a flip command when another didn’t. Agress and Turner wanted to remove this variable to assure each production maintained the original look of the design.
The first step in the process was to convert the positional information for the moving lights from pan and tilt data to XYZ. The moving light rig consisted of 47 Martin MAC 2000 profiles, 51 High End Systems Studio Color 575s, 10 High End Studio Spot CMY 575s and 5 Coemar Panorama Cycs. Turner commented: "We used the Prelite Studio and WYG to convert the standard Map to an XYZ Map. I think that the Prelite Studio is an excellent tool for building an XYZ Map or even a traditional grid for any show. You have the ability to be exact in your focusing, which is crucial when using XYZ positioning."
Prelite’s Rodd McLaughlin explained something of the process the studio used. "We get the light plot and as many of the scenic CAD drawings as possible. Each project varies in the amount of detail the show needs for previsualization. Patrick Fahey’s beautiful set design for the Christmas Spectacular is extremely detailed, with a lot of filigree work, many scenic elements that incorporate practicals and elaborate textures everywhere. Most of it wasn’t needed for their Prelite sessions, because it didn’t matter for the Map focus. What the design team did need was extremely accurate placement of the prosceniums, legs and borders for each of their venues. We drafted the stage and proscenium of each theatre individually, then imported the set and light plot, adjusting positions to match each venue’s line sets and altering trim heights as necessary."
Prelite Principal Kim Grethen added: "The focus grid we created for the Map consisted of 95 points, which were pinpoint small. Those points were the centres of 6" spheres, which we nicknamed ‘grapefruits.’ In wireframe views, the points were the targets for creating the focuses, and in shaded views, the grapefruits provided a decent surface to see the beam on.
"Paul Turner’s focuses were extremely precise, and ‘stick beams’ - where a single line represents the centre of the beam - were the perfect tool for getting that accuracy in the focuses. When it was time to check his work in a shaded view, where stick beams don’t show up, a problem arose. The Studio Color beam spread was so wide it picked up more than one grapefruit at a time. The solution was to put a virtual pin spot gobo into the colour wheel of the Studio Color. In the virtual world, the image produced is sharp-edged, and it did the trick.
"Paul used another technique that substantially increased the ac
