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How To Get Into This Industry

One of the primary questions I get asked about while sitting behind my console (or in e-mails, or social medias) is “How do I get into this industry?” by way of asking “How did you get into this industry?” This is, unfortunately, a complicated question that is difficult to answer in an easy-to-digest sound bite, so in this episode of the Blueshift Design Blog, I’ll attempt to shed some light, if you will, on this most impenetrable of conundrums. Let us ponder.1 While it may seem obvious that we should grant that one who wishes to join the ranks of us “road dogs” has arrived at that decision fully informed and only after much personal introspection, it bears mentioning that,… Read More »How To Get Into This Industry

On Termination, Part One

(This is an old post, but I do plan on posting an update, someday, when I get a digital scope.) [lighting nerd speak] The USITT PLASA specification for DMX-512A requires that the last physical device in any DMX link, whether it connects to one device or 31 others, be terminated with a 120Ω resistor. This is to prevent unwanted “reflections” coming down the line and corrupting the DMX data. Here’s the theory: DMX-512 signals travel at around 60% the speed of light. Although fast, this is not instantaneous. When a signal traveling at over half the speed of light hits the end of a cable, a percentage of the signal is reflected back down the signal chain. Each digit of… Read More »On Termination, Part One