FocusTrack - Now
With PowerTrack
FocusTrack
introduces new PowerTrack function, for calculating
the power usage of shows
21st April 2010
The ongoing evolution of FocusTrack, the show
lighting documentation system, sees the introduction
of PowerTrack, a function for calculating the power
consumption of shows.
PowerTrack takes the information about the levels
lights are at in cues, which it extracts by importing
showfile data from ETC Eos/Ion, MA grandMA or Strand
300/500-series consoles, and combines it with
information about fixture types and their power
consumption that is available from the RigTrack rig
management module. This means that it can calculate
the approximate load of any given cue – in
doing so taking into account not only the level that
tungsten lights are at and the constant background
load of discharge fixtures, but also the status of
more complex fixture such as moving lights that
reduce their discharge lamp’s output power when
the mechanical dimmer is closed.
In addition to calculating the load cue by cue,
FocusTrack can also calculate the overall power usage
of a show. To achieve this, it can now learn the
timing of a show’s cues during the course of a
performance. Based on this timing information –
the time in each state and the transition time from
state to state, it can calculate the overall
consumption of the show.
PowerTrack was added to FocusTrack after requests
from a number of theatres who were becoming required
to track the power usage of their lighting systems
for environmental audit purposes, but whose dimming
systems are tied into the overall building power with
no separate metering available. The system will also
be of use to those taking large scale West End or
Broadway productions and working to prepare them for
tours, allowing a more precise guide as to the power
required than previous ‘guesstimates’ or
total connected load calculations.
“Of course, it’s a calculated
estimate,” notes FocusTrack’s Rob
Halliday, “rather than a precisely metered
reading. It will not be spot on because of factors
that FocusTrack can’t know about –
whether lights are actually struck, precisely how
cues overlap. But it should be consistent, and so
should be useful for auditing power usage, for
working out the peak power loads of shows, and for
looking at how power usage might change if sections
of the rig were evolved – replacing tungsten
cyc lights with LEDs, for example.”
PowerTrack is now a standard feature of FocusTrack,
available in the current version, 2.120, which can be
downloaded from the FocusTrack website at
www.focustrack.co.uk. FocusTrack is available for Mac
or PC; it can be run in demo mode to allow its
functionality to be explored.
FocusTrack can be found on a wide range of shows
around the world, including Billy Elliot
worldwide, Come Fly Away, The Addams
Family, Mary Poppins and Red
in New York, Love Never Dies in London,
South Pacific touring the US, and Cirque du
Soleil’s Zaia. Further information
about FocusTrack and its companion program SpotTrack, for producing
followspot cuesheets, can be found elsewhere on
this website.
Further information about PowerTrack can be found
here.