Using Piecemaker
Overview
The basic steps to using PIECEMAKER are:
- Create an Account
- Add Users to Your Group
- Create a New Piece
- Capture Mode
- Assemblage Mode
- Other Features
Contact piecemaker for this.
The group administrator can add as many users as is needed. Users can have various roles and privileges in the piece creation process. For example, the group administrator is allowed to perform any action such as creating or erasing a whole piece, but a guest user is only allowed to view documents without changing them. There is also a role for the person who documents a rehearsal on video. Only this person may start and stop the video counter. These roles can be modified to suit the needs of your group.
You give the piece a title and enter the names of the performers.
Now you're ready to work. Capture mode lets an unlimited number of people take time-stamped notes in real time. If you're in a rehearsal process where the performers are improvising or learning material from the director, it's the perfect tool to keep track of what's happening. One or more rehearsal assistants can take notes while a person running the video camera can track whether the camera is running and which video is in the camera. PIECEMAKER will mark all notes with the video time-code. This makes it very easy to find any particular rehearsal moment in your video library. Rehearsal videos can be compressed and uploaded. In this case, the rehearsal notes contain links which take you directly to the associated video.
Later, as the piece is being created and put into its final form, the assemblage mode comes into play. In this mode you can view your piece as events in a timeline. The timeline has multiple tracks. One track can be for lighting cues, another for music, another for individual scenes, etc. Events can be moved to new locations within the timeline and shortened or extended to reflect their durations.
The assemblage also be viewed as a list. This means that it's easy to create a cue sheet for the stage manager to run the show.
Documents associated with the piece, such as texts, references, photos, etc, can be uploaded and stored. This allows easy access for members of the group.
Try the demo to get an idea of how PIECEMAKER works.
Get an Account
First, use the link below to contact PIECEMAKER support. An account will be set up for you. Every new account starts with one user, the group administrator. The group administrator can then create new users within his group.
Log In to PIECEMAKER by using the name and password given to you when you signed up.
Groups and Users
A group can be any number of people working together on a project. For example, a group could be a dance company. The company might have a director, or choreographer, one or two rehearsal assistants, someone working a video camera, and of course several dancers. Each one of these people is a user within the group.
Creating Users
The group administrator, can add users to the group. To do this, go to the "Admin" menu, and select "[your group name] Users". There you will see a list of the users in the group. At the bottom of the list is a link to create a new user. Give the user a unique name and a password of at least 6 characters. Each user will have a role. You can also enter whether the user is a performer or not.
User Roles and Privileges
Here is a list of roles within PIECEMAKER. Each role has a given set of privileges.
The hierarchy of roles is optional. You could give everyone the role of group admin. This would allow anyone in the group to perform all functions.
- group admin
- can create and delete users
- can create and delete pieces
- can create and delete events in capture mode
- can create and delete video related events in capture mode
- can create and delete notes
- can create and delete assemblages
- can create and delete blocks in assemblage mode
- director
- can create and delete pieces
- can create and delete events in capture mode
- can create and delete video related events in capture mode
- can create and delete notes
- can create and delete assemblages
- can create and delete blocks in assemblage mode
- ballet_master
- can create and delete events in capture mode
- can create and delete video related events in capture mode
- can create and delete notes
- can create and delete assemblages
- can create and delete blocks in assemblage mode
- user
- can view events in capture mode
- can create and delete notes
- guest
- can only view events in capture mode
Create a Piece
Each individual project is called a piece. You can create as many pieces as you need.
Creating a New Piece
Go to the "Piece" menu and choose "List Pieces". You will see a list of your group's pieces. Click "Create New Piece". Now you can give the piece a title. If any of your group's users are performers, they will be listed. You can check them to include them in the cast. You can also select the type of events you wish to use in capture mode.
Event Types
These Event Types are already created for you.
- Headline
- Scene
- Sub Scene
- Light Cue
- Sound Cue
- DVD Insert
- DVD Out
- Pause
- Resume
Marks major events like the beginning of a rehearsal.
While the performers are rehearsing or improvising in the rehearsal space, you can notate this with a Scene event.
As a scene progresses, you can note minor changes with a Sub Scene. A Sub Scene will automatically inherit the same title as the Scene before it.
Notes the current light cue.
Notes the current sound.
When a video tape or recordable DVD is inserted and the camera is started, A DVD Insert event will enable PIECEMAKER's time tracking process. All events which happen after the DVD insert will show the video number and the video time.
When you remove a video from the camera, this will tell PIECEMAKER to stop tracking time.
Temporarily stops time tracking if camera is paused
Restarts time tracking.
The Group Admin can create custom event types for the group. Go to the "Admin" menu under "Event Types"
Editing a Piece
Choose "Show Details" to be taken to a page where you can edit the details of the piece such as:
- Videos
- Event Types
- Tags
- Assets / Uploads
- Meta Info
Capture Mode
Rehearsal Events
Everything that happens in a rehearsal can be recorded as an event. Some event types are: Scenes, Lighting Changes, Music, Inserting a Video in the Camera, Discussions. etc
Creating New Events
Look in the menu "Create New Event". The menu will display which types of events you can create. After you choose one, a form will appear where you can fill in the details of the event.
Editing Events
If you have the rights to edit an event, an "Edit" link will appear near the bottom of the event block.
Settings
The "Settings" menu allows you to set some personal preferences. They are:
- Preferences for which types of events and fields you wish to view
- Whether the page automatically refreshes, and how often.
- Whether or not to display notes.
- Whether to view in large type.
- Your time Zone.
Tagging Events
Tags are non-hierarchical, re-usable labels. Any event can be tagged with as many different tags as you like. To give an event a tag, just click on its "Edit" link. You can choose a pre-existing tag from the drop-down list, or you can make up a new tag by adding it to the text field. Be sure to separate each tag name by a comma ','. To remove a tag just erase it from the text field. An event's tags can be seen in a gray stripe inside the event. If you click on a tag you will be show all events which have that tag. You can enable or disable tags for each event type by going to the "Settings" menu and selecting "Settings"
Finding and Filtering Events
Events can be searched through in many diffenrent ways. For example:
- By Date
- By Performers
- By Text
- By Video Number
- By Tag
Look in the "Show" menu to find the various choices.
Video
If you video your rehearsals. You can create a video insert event when you start the camera. PIECEMAKER will then mark all events with the video time. Each time the video person changes a tape, they can creat a new video insert event. This in effect creates a log of what's on each video, making it very easy to find things on the videos.
If you upload the videos a link will appear on the events, allowing you to go directly to the scene in question.
Uploads
You can upload documents, texts, images, etc. Other users will be able to download these documents.
Meta-Info
Meta Infos are any type of information related to the piece which is not directly recordable into an event.
Print-Outs
All the events can be printed out to a list if desired
Assemblage Mode
Assemblage mode lets you organize the various parts of a complex live event, like a dance piece or play. The events appear on a time-line and can be dragged, lengthened, etc. Multiple tracks allow you to organize the events according to location or type of event, like light-cue, sound-cues, etc.
Creating an Assemblage
Go to the menu "Piece" and "Assemble Piece". Choose the piece you desire from the drop-down list. You will see a list of assemblages associated with your piece. You can create a new assemblage by clicking "New Assemblage" or use a existing one by clicking "Use". You will be taken to the assemblage timeline.
You can also edit the details of an assemblage, changing its duration, pre-roll and post-roll times, whether or it uses a time grid and whether it shows casting conflicts between blocks.
Tracks
A new assemblage starts out with one track. You can add a track by clicking on "new track". You can change a track's name, color or position by clicking the "Edit" link an the left side of each track.
The Block List Panel
The gray panel at the right side of the time line is the Block List Panel. It contains a list of pre-composed Blocks which you can drag into the timeline. You can add blocks to this list and edit their properties. Clicking on the red box hides the Block List Panel. You can make it re-appear from the "Block List" menu.
Blocks
The colored blocks on the timeline represent events in your piece.
Listings
The assemblage can be viewed as an ordered list. This is useful as a cue sheet for the stage manager or person running the show.
Expect to see more documentation here soon!