ENT 4410 Technical Direction Spring 2016

Last Tuesday, Andrew, Jonathan, and I tested which flat break out for the wall with the door would be better. Either splitting the flats in 3 like this (2 flats split vertically and 1 horizontally) or into 2 flats split vertically. We used the stock flats in the shop, and the stock jacks. I uploaded a video on the bottom of our result when we banged on the flat to test its stability when a door slams. If anyone has issues viewing the video, please comment and I will upload it to youtube and post the link to it. I hope this is helpful to anyone trying to decide how they want to split up their flats.

Video

Here are a few tests I did with different materials, all covered with muslin and painted with a single coat, and uncovered and painted with a single coat respectively.

I’ve concluded that a muslin covered surface seems to yield the same results. On the other hand, the paint surfaces without muslin have given differing results, you can use your best judgement to choose a paint surface for the look you are going for.

Excuse the over and under-exposed photos, just by looking at them the colors may seem off because of exposure. If you would like to see more accurate depictions of the colors, these samples are on the project shelf in the shop wrapped in shrink wrap.

Hey everyone,

In order to preserve our class time for work in the shop, I have recorded an Excel tutorial video you can watch at your leisure. It is available here: https://vimeo.com/158501600

In this demo, I go over the budgeting sheet that I use for shows, and the commands, formulas, and formatting choices that make it work.

During this class period, we shared and discussed our own ideas of the Problem 3’s issues and solutions we thought of taking.

I’m not going to go into detail of who decided on what but I will give a general perspective of the whole class.

Most of us wanted to solve how we would learn to build the curve flats and curve mouldings. We were caught in learning the technique to do so and the time it would take. Others focused on how to find a way to construct the flats in a simpler way for intermediate builders. We basically based our problem 3 around these issues.

John M. advised us when we are discovering the problem definition, these questions should be considered:

• “What is the defining definition of this task whether or not you know how to build it?”
• “What is the defining definition that will govern your choices?”

When it came to surfaces, the two main options by each individual were: Lauan or Masonite.

For the door flats, most people chose to do Units instead of Pieces.

There were a few question marks on what to do with mouldings, but here are a few ideas that were shared:

• Buy/Build the mouldings
• Buy bendible mouldings
• Bur
• Crown mouldings with chicken wire and foam

John M. suggested to make prototypes for:

• Foam curve mouldings
• Curve flats
• Chicken wire strategy
• Soaking/Steam bending strategy

Also, here are some things to consider:

• Should flats be the full height or be broken up?
• What is your criteria of “best”?
• Research how surface materials get prepared for painting.
• When finding a method, consider if the crew can do the project, try to make it simple, how will you make the flat sturdy, and can it fit through the door?
• For Mouldings- Look up manufacturers that sell them; research strategies to make curve mouldings; How long, in length, do the mouldings come if you’re ordering them?; Look up the prices for them.
• Last but not least, here are the assigned groups:

Team 1:

1. Briana
2. Spencer
3. Natasha

Team 2:

1. Jonathan
2. Montana
3. Andrew

Team 3:

1. Catarina
2. Charles
3. Sharon

Team 4:

1. TJ
2. Pheonix
3. Luis

Problem 2 rubrics were passed out while everyone organized their paperwork.

For Problem 2 we all had to explain our primary problem definition, our load-in time, build time, and our solution to the quick change between the concert and the talent show.

Catarina, Natasha, Andrew, and Adreen

• used stock triscuits and custom triscuits with stud walls
• Switched masonite layers for the quick change
• problem: time
• budget: $2800

Charles, Briana, and TJ

• problem: build time and load-in time
• made open framed platforms and legs
• used glam floor for the quick change
• budget: $3500

Jonathan, Sharon, and Luis

• problem: build time
• used stud walls with plywood on top
• budget: $2000

Spencer, Phoenixx, and Montana

• Problem: time and scheduling for building and load-in
• used stock triscuits and open framed platforms with stud walls and legs
• replaced masonite layers for quick change
• budget: $2000

For our next class on Tuesday we must have a written reflection on problem 2.

Consider the questions in the Debriefing Outline when you write your reflection.

We must think of how do we know?

• build time?
• load-in time?
• how many people are needed during crew calls?
• shop layout affecting build time? (example: having one table saw)

If you still have some questions about AutoCAD title blocks and XREFS, you can learn more at the videos below:

XREF Reference

Creating Blocks with Attributes

And if you would like to download the files I used in class, as well as some reference material for color-dependent plot style tables, here is a link to a dropbox folder.

The Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) team is offering a note-taking workshop for students and faculty on Thursday, February 25th from 1-2pm in N402.

You can see the flier here:  https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/writingacrossthecurriculum/files/2016/02/Wac_notetaking_poster.jpg

This is a useful skill for technical directors, as you will often be given information informally in meetings and on jobsites and will need to be able to make accurate notes to refer to later. Also, it might help in class.

For Todays class we presented our PB&J projects

Group 1 Ota, Montana, Charles, Natasha

Group 2 Jonathan, Spencer, TJ, Adreen

Group 3 Sharon, Phoenixx, Andrew

Group 4 Luis, Briana, Catarina

Open Lab setup and navigation

To Begin we log in to the open lab.

Find The Tech direction course by hitting the search magnifiying glass and in the two search field type direction and where it says people choose courses in the drop down menu. Tech direction should be the top choice.

After clicking link click join. Done!

The Help tab on the top ribbon also gives you many instructions to help you get started

Next we went over the importance of creating and using our eportfolios on our openLab accounts

!. To track our work which will be combined and handed in on the final day

2. Show what you learned

Our Goals for the day in class

1. Everyone have an open lab
2. join course
3. each group to have a plan of attack for next weeks presentation

We also went over the need for working with problem worksheets  “problem worksheet”

1. help with taking notes
2. That this action helps to “jog” the memory and turn the short term information into long term
3. Can help to identify hidden issues and concerns

A side note for those who are entering their notes for the day and for whatever reason need to leave and save as a draft, this will get you back to that draft

When you want to go back:

1. Sign into your OpenLab
2. click on the “My Openlab” Tab and in the drop down menu click “my courses”
3. Next click on our course which is “Technical Direction ENT 4410
4. Next click on “dash board” on the right side
5. On this page there should be an area that says “At a Glance” click posts under that
6. On this page you should have all your drafts
7. scroll over your wanted draft and click to choose or after scrolling over it and click “Edit”. either should bring you back to you draft.
8. Continue your post with ease of mind.
9. Click the “Update” button on the right side under Publish when ever you are done or need to leave again

Good work on generating your creed on day one. You can find it here.

Also, to build on the work we are doing in class today, here’s a link to the Openlab ePortfolio help site. Use that as a reference if you ever run into trouble working on your ePortfolio.

Also, you can find more information about learning portfolios in general here. Don’t worry too much about the sample table of contents that Zubizarreta has included, but when you look at Fig. 3 of the article, you should think about how your work this semester fits into the “Problem Solving” and “Field Experiences” categories.

Last but not least, be sure to check the Problems page for digital copies of all of them problem handouts.