Vancouver's Audiovisual & Event Production Experts - Zero Stress, Every Time

This video gives solid advice for any PM or event business owner to consider when conducting a site visit! TLDR: AV Site Visit Checklist: 17 Things to Verify Before Load-In A production-focused walkthrough of every AV-critical item to assess during a venue site visit — from initial venue guidelines through load-in logistics, room specs, power, rigging, and key contacts. Pre-event documentation: Get the venue's AV guidelines packet in writing — it covers third-party restricti

Here's a quick video that explains how Video Switchers work! TLDR: How Video Switchers Work — Technical Overview: A practical breakdown of video switcher fundamentals — covering signal routing, output configurations, and when to scale up to advanced switching systems for live event and broadcast productions. Signal inputs and source management: Switchers accept multiple input types across various connector formats — HDMI, VGA, composite, BNC — accommodating sources like pre

These terms are most commonly used in professional lighting consoles such as those from MA Lighting (e.g., grandMA3) and ETC (e.g., Eos). The exact terminology varies slightly by brand, but the core concepts are similar. Here’s a clear breakdown of each term and how they relate to each other: 1. Presets Definition: Building blocks (raw ingredients). A preset stores a specific value for one parameter (or a group of related parameters) that you can reuse. Examples: A specific r

So you’ve got passive speakers and need an external amplifier. Awesome. But it’s not as simple as just connecting the cables, turning the dials to 11 (see Spinal Tap) and walking away. There’s different modes to choose from and they all have different impacts; like how many speakers you can use, how much wattage of output power you get, how you need to run cables into and out of your amp, etc. For the sake of consistency, let’s assume for the rest of this post that we’re usin

If you’ve ever worked with wireless microphone kits before, you may already know where I’m going with this. This myth is so prevalent that I’ve met more technicians who believe it than those who don’t. But if you actually research what the correct approach to gain staging digital wireless kits is, you’ll realize this belief is just plain wrong. Here’s one of the biggest audio myths: “You should always set wireless gain to 0dB”. I’m not sure how this myth started. Maybe it’s b

Power cable gauge (gage) refers to the thickness of the wire conductor, which determines how much electrical current it can safely carry. In North America, this is usually measured using American Wire Gauge (AWG). 1️⃣ How the Gauge System Works 📖 The AWG system is a little counterintuitive: Lower number = thicker wire = more current capacity Higher number = thinner wire = less current capacity *Actual ratings depend on insulation type, temperature, and installation method. 2

Solved this issue the other day on a job site and thought it would make a good post! Dip Switches are a series of tiny binary switches numbered 1-9 that can be switched ‘on’ or ‘off’. They have different functions on different devices. Sometimes they indicate the radio frequency the device uses to operate - for example, perfect cues. In the case of Dimmers, they determine the starting address of the dimmer. For example, if you have 1 ON and the rest OFF, on a 4 channel dimmer

Michael Curtis makes a ton of great content. I’d highly recommend subscribing to his channel and checking out his other videos. TLDR: What the video is about: A beginner's roadmap for getting into live sound system design and tuning. Key resources he recommends, in order: His YouTube playlist — 15 curated videos to watch in sequence covering speaker placement, building a tuning rig, software, and more. Signal to Noise Podcast Discord — A free community (run by Pro Sound Web)

There’s a common myth that digital audio sources shouldn’t be set to 100%. The explanations for this belief vary between people but here’s why they’re wrong: Setting digital audio sources to 100% volume is recommended because it preserves the maximum bit depth and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), avoiding the loss of precision that occurs when digital volume controls reduce the amplitude of the signal. Instead, volume control should be managed in the analog domain by adjusting th

Learn networking fundamentals: how to connect devices together on a network. Useful for Dante and wireless control in audio, Artnet or sACN in lighting, programming LED walls (AV over IP), connecting PTZ cameras to controllers and computers, and tons of other use cases. Check out the video below: TLDR: What Is a Network? A Beginner's Guide to How Networks Work A clear, foundational breakdown of what computer networks are, how devices connect, and the key network types you'll

While responding to a great post by my friend, @Mark Hunt , I realized it would be really useful to talk about how to start a career as a touring tech for those who are interested in that path. If you live in Vancouver, there’s a few production companies that have touring opportunities: Promosa, Christie Lites, Kian Sound, and if anyone can think of others please add them in a comment below. You can also work for Riggit at Rogers arena and/or IATSE local 118 at BC Place and o

After working on countless live, hybrid, and virtual events, a few patterns always stand out. The difference between a smooth show and a stressful one often comes down to early alignment and clear communication. Here are a few practical tips from the AV side so your event runs flawlessly: 🗓️Involve your AV team early Bringing your AV partner in during the planning stage (not just execution) helps avoid last-minute surprises—especially with venue limitations, power, rigging,

We need to talk about miscommunication between the people making the decisions and the people executing them. Let’s call them ‘deciders’ and ‘executors’. This is a classic problem that affects all industries, not just events. Too often the deciders will decide to change something, add something, or get rid of something without consulting the executors. The executors are expected to figure it out. And sure, a fair amount of the time, executors are able to figure it out and scr

TLDR if you want to reduce your risk, lower your stress, and make sure your event runs smoothly BUT you don’t want to spend the time or the effort learning about AV, send us a message and we’d be happy to sanity-check your AV quote for you! For event planners and executive assistants, the margin for error is thin. Timelines are tight, stakeholders are watching, and your reputation is on the line. That’s why you need to know that you’ve done everything you can to increase your