Disciplines
A project brings together several disciplines that often meet only at the build. Each has its tools, its checks and its documents in PatchFlow — and all of them work on the same project.A project brings together several disciplines that often meet only at the build. Each has its tools, its checks and its documents — and all of them work on the same project.
From the microphone to the speaker, analogue and networked alike.
Tools
Console patch: inputs and outputs, naming
Speaker lines and amplifiers
Microphone stock and wireless links
Checks
Load and impedance per speaker line
Power actually asked of the amplifier, calculated from the speakers connected
Incompatible connectors and signals
Documents
Console patch
Cabling plan
Device inventory
The hang composed, loaded and cabled, to the scale of the plan.
Tools
Catalogue cabinets stacked, flown or ground-stacked, bumper and its weight
Sections per amplifier output, number of cabinets adjustable per model, junctions that can be forced
Direct or multicore cabling with breakout, re-cabling with the mouse
Total hang weight broken down by model, and total height
Checks
Load in ohms per output, compared with the amplifiers recommended by the speaker manufacturer, with the correction in figures
“Load not qualified” is distinct from an OK: a section whose input is not documented is never shown green
Patch to review: a cable arriving at a cabinet that is not the head of a section
Dimensions missing from the catalogue flagged as an approximate drawing
Documents
The hang drawn to the scale of the project’s plan
Jumpers and cables carried into the equipment list and the trunks
From the camera to the screen, format by format.
Tools
Video chain on the canvas
Extenders, converters and matrices
Supported formats carried by each port
Checks
Resolution not supported by a port
Effective resolution after an extender or a converter, along the chain
Incompatible connectors and signals
Documents
Cabling plan
Device inventory
Universes, addresses and fixtures, on their own layer.
Tools
Lighting patch: universes, addresses, fixtures
DMX nodes and the associated network
Fixture profile import in GDTF format
Checks
DMX address conflicting or out of range
Universe overloaded or with no source
Fixture not patched, DMX node with no network
Documents
Lighting patch
Cabling plan
Device inventory
The wall sized before it is rigged.
Tools
Composition in columns and rows from a panel entry, by the grid or by the dimensions wanted in metres
Data chains split automatically, then cut, merged, reversed or locked by hand
Power feeds and daisy-chains, independent of the data chains
Cable route drawn on the floor in top view, from which the lengths come
Checks
Chain or wall beyond the processor’s capacity, width and height included
Panel not fed, or present in two chains
Power feed beyond its daisy-chain limit at the project’s voltage
Cable too short, or no standard length long enough
Every value carries its provenance: manufacturer, entered, estimated or unknown
Documents
LED wall plan: front, back, outputs to the first panels, feeds and daisy-chains, cables to provide
Printing and PDF export
One plan for ports, VLANs and addresses.
Tools
Switches and ports on the same canvas as everything else
IP addressing plan and VLANs
Power over Ethernet
Checks
PoE budget exceeded on a switch
IP address duplicated or outside the plan
Port used twice
Documents
IP addressing report
Cabling plan
Power followed from the feed to the device.
Tools
Sources, distribution boxes and power strips on the plan
Project voltage and cable gauges
UPS units and their runtime
Checks
Source or power strip overloaded, in watts and in amps
Cable current and insufficient gauge
Single and cumulative voltage drop
Incompatible mains connectors
Missing electrical data
Documents
Power summary in the project report
Cabling plan
The inside of the flight case prepared before the job.
Tools
Rack editor, front and rear
U placement, cumulative weight and power
Internal rack cabling
Checks
Port used twice
Device with no connection at all
Overload of the source feeding the rack
Documents
Rack report
Cabling plan
Device inventory
What goes in the truck, and how to find it again.
Tools
Equipment list with a spare margin
Containers and cable trunks, with the plan of their compartments
Check-off at the build
Checks
Occupancy of each compartment, shown as a gauge
Coil volume calculated for every cable
Cable lines still to be allocated
Documents
Equipment list
Cable trunk report
Device and cable labels with QR codes
One single project
These disciplines are not separate tools: they share the same project, the same catalogue and the same checks.
The device placed by video is the one power feeds and logistics loads. Swapping a model updates the patch, the power summary and the equipment list at the same time — there is nothing to carry from one file to another.The device placed by video is the one power feeds and logistics loads. Swapping a model updates the patch, the power summary and the equipment list at the same time.