Most problems that happen onsite were created weeks earlier.
A screen that's too big for the ceiling. A stage too shallow for the presenters to walk. A power run nobody planned. A video in the wrong format. By the time these show up on load in day, the fix is expensive, rushed or both.
The cheapest place to fix anything is on paper.
What pre-production actually includes
Pre-pro is everything that happens before the trucks arrive:
Venue specs or a site visit: ceiling height, rigging points, power, dock access, load in path
CAD drawings: plan view, section view and renders
A gear list built from the drawings, not from a template
Power and rigging plans
A crew plan and schedule
A run of show and content deadlines
A rehearsal plan
Drawing to reality
Every show I work on starts as a Vectorworks drawing. The closer that drawing matches the real room, the smoother load in goes.
A plan view shows what fits. A section view shows what works. That second part is where a lot of problems hide.
For example, on a recent stage design the plan view looked great. The section view told a different story. With the ceiling height and projection angle, a presenter standing too far upstage would walk right into the projection. The fix was simple once we could see it: set a clear cutoff line on the deck and look at raising the truss and adjusting the projectors to buy back a few inches. I put a 6 ft person in the render so everyone could see exactly where the line was.
That conversation took ten minutes on a drawing. On show day it would have been a scramble.
Questions to answer before you book gear
Who is on stage, and how many at once?
What is on screen, and who is building it?
Is anyone presenting remotely?
Is the session being recorded or streamed?
Where will the audience be looking, and from how far away?
What absolutely cannot fail?
The answers drive the gear list. Not the other way around.
Where pre-pro saves money
Good planning pays for itself. It means fewer changes onsite, less overtime, fewer rush rentals and fewer surprises on the invoice. It also means your crew spends show day running the show instead of rebuilding it.
What to send your production team early
Floor plans and venue contacts
Your agenda, even if it's a draft
Speaker list and any remote presenters
Content deadlines and who owns each piece
Your must haves and nice to haves
You can pay for planning once, or pay for problems on show day. Planning is always cheaper.
If your next meeting is still taking shape, now is the right time to start pre-pro. Happy to help.
