Chapter 14

Best practices on set

Habits that keep a Scenic show calm, gathered from how playback crews work.

Before load-in

Plan the network. A dedicated show network with no internet is best. Wired Ethernet for every Player you can cable; Wi-Fi only where you must. Ask for a network without client isolation (guest Wi-Fi blocks devices from seeing each other) and with discovery (Bonjour, also called mDNS) allowed. See Troubleshooting.
Reserve addresses for the Server Mac and every Player in the router's DHCP, rather than typing static addresses into each machine.
One version everywhere. Controller, Players and Decorator from the same release. The Network window flags any Player that is behind.
Open every deck once in the Library or the Decorator and read what it says will change, days before the shoot, not on the day.

Install Players with Fleet Setup, and in its last step turn on Disable Sleep and Keep Alive for every Player Mac.
Use an administrator account on Player Macs, so IP Config, Wi-Fi and renaming work from the Network window.
Name things for the set. Group screens by where they are or what they are ("Office wall", "Hero laptop"), and give screens aliases the crew uses. Names carry into the Grid, Snapshots, timecode lanes and OSC addresses.
Lay out the Grid with the art department's ground plan. When the director asks for "the one by the door", you can find it.
Use Computer Labels to match machines to screens, then turn them off. Never leave them on when the camera might roll.
Lock what people can touch. Turn on input lock for any Player within reach of cast or crew, especially a Windows PC, where Esc leaves full screen.
Decide where the Server lives. For a long or large show, put it on a location Mac with Make This Mac the Server…, so operators' laptops can come and go.

Every screen reads Live in the Player List.
Send the day's content to every screen and check that each card reaches its slide with Observed.
Match the screens to camera on a pattern, then save gamma presets.
Save a Snapshot of the opening look, named by scene and take.
Press Blackout, Next and Previous from each Controller you will use.
Fire any timecode or OSC cues once in rehearsal and read the Firings list or the OSC Log.
Back Up Now… with content included, to a drive that leaves with you.

Select, then cue. Look at the selection chip before you press. Use group buttons rather than clicking screens one by one.
Hold the selection (⌃⌘H) when you need to check a screen mid-take without retargeting.
Send between takes. Each screen switches when its own copy lands, so send ahead and cue the change with Next or Go to Slide.
Watch for Observed, not just Accepted. A screen that stays at Accepted needs a look.
Do not press again on a hunch. If a press is Uncertain, look at the screen first; every press counts.
Know your panic key. ⌥⇧⌘B blacks out every screen at once, and the notice brings back exactly those screens.
Lock the Controller (⌃⌘L) when you step away. Blackout still works through the lock.

Save a Snapshot for every setup that may be shot again, named by scene and take, with a note.
Let automatic Snapshots run; they cost nothing and catch the moment you forgot to save.
Before a reset, select the Snapshot and read the comparison. Recall changes only the screens that differ, and Undo Last Recall is always there.
Export a continuity PDF with the map at the end of the day for the script supervisor.

Save a final Snapshot.
Back Up Now… with content included, and keep the backup off the Server Mac.
If the Server ran on a location Mac you are returning, Bring the Show Back to This Mac… first.
Shut down Player Macs from the Network window only if someone can switch them on again by hand.