FocusTrack

FocusTrack

Screenshot of FocusTrack
Operating system	Microsoft Windows XP, Apple Macintosh OX 9, OSX 10.4 (Jaguar) or higher
Type	Entertainment, Theatrical
License	Individual, Student
Website	http://www.focustrack.co.uk/

FocusTrack is a database program created specifically for theatrical lighting applications. The program is designed to allow lighting designers, lighting programmers and lighting electricians to document the way that a show is lit, in order to be able to accurately maintain the look of the lighting over the run of the show, and to be able to re-create the lighting on tour or for future productions of the show in other venues.

FocusTrack was specifically designed to deal with the tracking of the automated lighting systems from manufacturers such as Vari-Lite, High End Systems, Martin and others now commonly used in theatrical productions. Remotely controlled from the lighting console, such lights may have many purposes during the course of the show, their beams of light re-positioned on stage as required. Traditionally, the lighting programmer has relied on their memory, the reliability of the lights or the services of an assistant, often called a lighting tracker, to document each position each light is used in.

FocusTrack automates and improves on this process. With certain lighting consoles, currently the 300- and 500-series made by Strand Lighting, FocusTrack can import the lighting console showfile and process it to create a list of each position (called a 'focus') used by each light in the show. The programmer can then add a written description of the purpose of each position. To precisely document the light's position on stage, the programmer can use a digital camera to take a picture of each position in turn. FocusTrack can aid in this process by controlling the lighting console, turning each light on in each position as required; it can then import the photographs to give a complete record of the work of the automated lights during the show.

FocusTrack can also carry out the same process with the conventional, fixed-focus lighting, and the system also imports the details of each lighting cue state in the show; each of these can also have a photograph attached so that the database ultimately contains a record of what each light does individually, and of the final result of combining all of those lights into cue states.

FocusTrack can then present that information in a variety of ways according to circumstance, for example showing all of the uses of one light if that light has had to be replaced and the replacement needs to be checked, or all of the lights used in each cue state that might need their focuses corrected when setting up a show in a new venue.

FocusTrack is designed to work alongside other lighting industry software, such as Lightwright, to manage information about the lighting rig as a whole. It can also analyse how equipment is used in a show, particularly colour scrolls or gobos, in order to allow the lighting rig to be rationalised for future productions.

It has been used on a range of productions around the world, including Mary Poppins, Les Misérables and The Woman in White in New York, Miss Saigon on tour around the UK and in Korea, and Evita, Guys and Dolls and others in London's West End.

See also

• Lighting Designer
• Theatrical Lighting

External links

• [1]FocusTrack website
• [2]FocusTrack reviewed in PLSN magazine