For the third year in a row, CAST Software has sponsored the USITT (United States Institute for Theatre Technology) Southwest Student Design Competition, an annual event which recognizes young talent in the categories of Lighting Design, Scenic, Sound and Costume Design, as well as Stage Management and Scenic Technology. Brandt Gentry from West Texas A&M University won the 2009 Annual CAST Software Award for Lighting Design, which is an Educational Version of wysiwyg Design Suite.
Gentry used wysiwyg Design in his concept for “An Evening in the Mind of Patty Ash”, which involved a wide variety of scenes, as the nature of the show constantly changes. This fact, combined with the imposed space limitation, created a unique challenge as a lighting designer. The space had 10 dimmers available, and 10 functioning lights. The lights were already hung on a rail or boom, and could only be slid sideways, thus removing the ability to alter the order already in place.
“I have been very excited to get my own wysiwyg,” continues Gentry. “The capabilities of wysiwyg are astounding, allowing me to view any concepts I have without having to go through the hassle of hanging it all and then making changes. Instead I can view it ahead of time, and be more efficient in the theatre. For the USITT competition, wysiwyg allowed me to play with some looks for the show before I was ever able to see the space.”
19-year-old Brandt hails from Plano, Texas and plans to pursue a career in Lighting Design. He enjoys lighting theatre and stage productions, but is keeping an open mind about the future.
The USITT Southwest Student Design Competition is one of three USITT competitions that CAST Software supports by sponsoring their endowment fund through the donation of the Educational Licenses of wysiwyg Design, which are auctioned off to raise money.
Approximately 300 education facilities around the world run wysiwyg Learns, which average 20 seats each, to teach students about CAD-ing and theatre arts/production. Whether in the school computer lab or by using wysiwyg Education on their laptops, students gain valuable experience about stages and staging by building and playing with various concepts and ideas – trial and errors in the virtual world – using wysiwyg's infamous library of 20,000+ objects. This is invaluable experience that upgrades the industry over time. CAST adds more schools every month. Combined, these facts explain the growing demand worldwide by production professionals, teachers and students, for wysiwyg -- the industry standard.
If you're a newcomer to the industry or just want to brush up your skills, and are interested in training opportunities, send an email to [email protected] to be steered in the right direction.
For more information or to download a wysiwyg R23 demo version – which is also a tremendously useful free tool for developers à imagine using using one of the 4 different custom-built demo files to demonstrate or learn consoles in showrooms, classrooms, testing labs, trade shows -- go to www.wysiwygsuite.com.