Practical writing for production teams on studios, lighting, camera control, sound and the workflows that tie them together.
Our guides come from the same projects we work on: studio layouts, lighting plots, sound for live stages and tidier workflows. New pieces appear about once a day, so there is usually something fresh to read.
Sound engineering
A practical walk through drawing up a microphone plan for a concert or festival stage, from the input list to monitor positions, written for production managers and sound crews.
Camera control
A practical list of questions to settle before choosing camera, vision mixing and remote control for a multi-camera production, written to save you rework once the studio is built.
Lighting
Six recurring faults in studio and stage lighting plots, from skipped site visits to flat key light, with practical ways to catch each one before the rig goes up.
Live events
A plain look at how technical planning for concerts, festivals and party stages is priced, and which choices push the figure up or down before anyone loads a van.
Workflow
A short account of a small regional news crew whose evening production ran late every night, and the plain changes to planning and delivery that gave them their time back.
Studio design
Mid autumn is a sensible time to walk your studio floor with a plan in hand. These notes cover floor space, acoustics and cable routes before the busy winter weeks begin.
Sound basics
Headroom is one of the most used and least explained words on a sound desk. Here is what it means, how to measure it, and why it matters before a concert or festival set.
Camera control
A comparison of robotic remote-controlled cameras and traditionally operated ones in a multi-camera studio, with a recommendation based on show length, crew size and format.
Lighting design
A look at how a lighting plot for a studio panel show or small stage is drawn, checked on site and adjusted, told from a sound engineer who shares the room with it.
Live events
The question we hear most from organisers is when to involve technical planning. Callum Reid answers it for concerts, festivals and party stages, with what each stage of lead time buys you.
Company news
A plain account of how our workflow consulting runs for broadcast teams, from the first conversation about planning through to delivery, and what a team can expect to hold in its hands at the end.
Studio design
A look at the scale rules, acoustic materials and cable schedules we rely on when laying out a television or streaming studio, and why each one earns its place.
Sound engineering
Before you book a sound engineer or hire a desk, run through these questions on rooms, microphones, monitoring and handover so the decision rests on what your show needs.
Camera control
Fraser MacLeod walks through the errors we most often find in multi-camera control rooms, from cable labelling to tally logic, and how to avoid each one before the first rehearsal.
Lighting
A plain account of how lighting design is priced for presenters, panels and stages, and which decisions about the room, the rig and the schedule push a quote up or down.
Case story
Isla Campbell recounts one autumn live night for a small venue promoter called Euan, and how a stage plan agreed in writing kept lighting, sound and show control calm.