Key takeaway
Key takeaways
- Exact models, not categories, on the equipment list
- Spares for anything that would stop the show
- Power sanction plus generator changeover confirmed
- One named show-caller holding the cue sheet
Stage Lighting Design: pre-show checklist
Equipment & specification
- Consoles confirmed: MA Lighting grandMA3 full-size and light, ChamSys MagicQ MQ500
- Plot software confirmed: Vectorworks Spotlight, WYSIWYG, Capture, grandMA3 3D previsualisation
- Control protocols confirmed: sACN and Art-Net over a managed network, DMX512-A to fixtures
- Universe planning confirmed: 512 channels per universe; typical show runs 4 – 24 universes
- Timecode confirmed: LTC or MTC chase for frame-accurate sync with audio and video
- Itemised list naming exact models, not categories
- Spares for mics, cables, processors and any single point of failure
Power & safety
- Venue sanctioned load confirmed in writing against the rig's draw
- Silent generator sized with automatic changeover
- Earthing check completed and logged
- Rigging certification and load calculations signed off
- Cable covers on every walkway and crowd line
People
- Lighting designer named and briefed
- Programmer named and briefed
- Console operator named and briefed
- Network and data technician named and briefed
- Followspot operator named and briefed
- Atmospherics technician named and briefed
Timings
- Load-in slot agreed with the venue in writing
- Sound check and line check scheduled
- Full technical rehearsal booked with real presenters and real content
- Venue curfew and strike window confirmed
Content & handover
- Fixture plot with positions, angles, addresses and purposes
- Universe and data path allocation diagram
- Previsualisation renders of the key looks
- Cue sheet mapped to the running order with fade times
- All video, audio and slides delivered 72 hours ahead in the agreed format
What this checklist is protecting you from
What can go wrong
How we prevent it
- What can go wrong
The design looks beautiful to the eye and unusable on camera — faces in shadow, contrast too hard.
How we prevent itKey levels and colour temperature are agreed with the vision engineer at the design stage and verified under camera at rehearsal, with the rig balanced to the camera rather than to the room.
- What can go wrong
Haze triggers the venue's smoke detection and clears the hall during the show.
How we prevent itFire-panel isolation or zone bypass is arranged in writing with the venue, haze density is set with the panel supervised, and a water-based hazer is used rather than oil-based fog indoors.
- What can go wrong
Programming time is lost because the rig is not focused until two hours before doors.
How we prevent itLooks are built in previsualisation beforehand so the on-site session is a refinement pass, and focus is scheduled as a named slot in the load-in schedule rather than as spare time.
- What can go wrong
A console failure mid-show takes the entire rig to black.
How we prevent itA tracking backup console runs session-synced on every show above gala scale, and every fixture holds its last look on data loss rather than defaulting to zero.
- What can go wrong
The running order changes an hour before doors and the cue stack no longer matches.
How we prevent itCue stacks are built as modular sequences keyed to segments rather than as one linear list, so a reorder is a change of order, not a reprogramme.
- What can go wrong
Decor and stage lighting disagree on colour and the stage looks dirty on screen.
How we prevent itOne white point is defined for the whole production and every department, including the decor lighting, is calibrated to it against physical samples.
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Published 27 May 2026 by the Prime AV Solutions production team.