LIGHTING DESIGN TRAINING DVD PRE-SALE-THE FINE ART OF 'PUNTING'

Academy of Production Technology Presents 'Nook's Ultimate Punt Pages'  

(AUSTIN, TX - June 8, 2010) The Academy of Production Technology announces pre-sales of a new training DVD designed to instruct lighting programmers on punting, which is the process of running a show "on the fly."

Industry lighting designer/programmer Richard "Nook" Schoenfeld guides viewers through the process of a universal punting method - step by visual step - in a two-hour DVD tutorial, "Nook's Ultimate Punt Pages."

Special pre-release pricing with a 33% discount is in effect for a limited time until the DVD is released in October.

"I specialize in designing festivals and festival-type tours where punting on consoles as opposed to programming the entire show ahead of time has become an art form," Schoenfeld says. "I hate to toot my own horn, but the concerts on which I punt the lighting cues usually look much better than most shows that have fully programmed sets of songs."

The universal art of punting involves setting up one page of the console with as many stage lighting looks as possible before the show. This allows the designer to then choose focus positions or movement cues, color schemes, gobo patterns and intensity levels through a variety of faders and push buttons on the fly, Schoenfeld explains.

"Every lighting professional eventually finds themselves in a situation where they have to improvise the lighting looks," says Richard Cadena, founder of the Academy of Production Technology, producer of training tools for professionals in the live event production industry. "Unless they know how to set up the console to easily and effectively do so, they will have trouble. Nook's method of punting is helpful in many kinds of live situations, be it concerts, festivals, corporate events, TV one-offs and other productions."

The process provides a solution for a variety of programmers, Cadena notes. The house LD in a venue may need to operate lights for a touring act. Perhaps the touring LD is using a different console at each venue. Then there are festival gigs where each band brings their own LD and all use the same lighting rig. Maybe the band adds three new songs during sound check. Or it's a jam band where there's no musical path to plan with lighting. "In all cases, they can just use the punt pages to improvise," Cadena says.

"In this DVD, Nook explains the process in great depth and detail while illustrating the button pushes and showing the resulting lighting looks in the visualizer," Cadena notes. "Nook has been doing it for so long that he could almost set up and program the console blindfolded."

The session, taped by Fire Ant's Tim Grivas, features Schoenfeld showing console set-up to allow for quick, easy lighting looks using just a few presets with transparencies. "This programming approach works on the majority of consoles; basically, any brand of console that operates in tracking mode. Also, the more faders and playback buttons you have, the more options you have to set up a better punt page," Schoenfeld says.

The special pre-release pricing is now available. For more information click here.

Regular pricing goes into effect with the release of the DVD in October.

For more information on other Academy of Production Technology training tools, visit www.productionseminars.webs.com.

Story: Debi Moen for Fire Ant Productions

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 About The Academy of Production Technology

The Academy of Production Technology presents a series of seminars, DVDs, books and tools dedicated to the advancement of education and safety in the live event production industry. The mission is to provide training opportunities for professionals and aspiring professionals in every aspect of the live event production industry including stage hands, technicians, electricians, designers, programmers, systems integrators, engineers, consultants and more. www.productionseminars.webs.com

About Richard "Nook" Schoenfeld

Schoenfeld, an industry lighting designer/programmer for more than 20 years, heads a team of lighting, set and video designers specializing in live music, trade shows and corporate theater in his company Visual Ventures Design.

www.visualventuresdesign.com

About Fire Ant Productions

Founded by industry marketing, video and lighting professional Tim Grivas, Fire Ant is a marketing agency that combines more than 25 years of experience in the entertainment lighting industry. With a mission to offer quality content-driven marketing, Grivas brings together experienced freelance creative professionals to offer the most impact to any marketing, video production or lighting project.www.fireantprod.com