Ideas to decrease set up time on shoot day

[Stormcrow]

Last year I worked set up almost all the way up to shoot time and had little time to have fun with friends. I don't let anyone else wire anything but do have manpower to move items. So my idea is to set up 4x8 plywood boards for each module with everything prewired. Then in the morning just haul them out of the barn and drop them down. Should only be a few hours of setup. Any other ideas to decrease set up time on shoot day.

[MtnViewPyro]

Stormcrow I believe that’s the million $ question. I’m in the same boat as you. Last year set-up took entirely too much time. I used plywood and I must warn you, a 4x8 sheet filled with 500gram cakes is extremely heavy. This year, I’m going to cut the boards into sections to make it much easier to move from garage to the field. The other idea I have is too take all racks into the field the day before. In addition, I plan on having everything with MJG or Talon ready, labeled, and have all scab wire cut to length before the shot day.

I’m not sure there is much more I can do to cut down time.

[Kenny East]

I try every year, but i grow my rack collection every year so i end up in the same boat... Like mtn veiw pyro said... A 4x8 foot sheet full of cakes weighs a ton. I use smaller plywood usually no bigger than 2x4.. My next step is going to be a shoot trailer, racks loaded and prepared in the shade... Move it out just to shoot

[Stormcrow]

I did 2x4 sheets last year and definitely need more space. I'll try 4x4 to keep my weight down. I don't have a trailer as an option but did think about setting up a tailgating tent for shade. Last year felt like a heat stroke was on the horizon.
Anyone ever set up the day before and cover everything?

[PyroJoeNEPA]

I do a show each year that is a mix of 1.3 & 1.4 product. Last year I was supposed to have a crew of 7 people to help--3 informed me at the last minute that they could not make it & 1 was going to be there at 5 PM instead of noon. Pre-planning helped a lot.
I had all the 1.3 racks [2 1/2" 3", 4" 5" & 6"] in position, screwed into pods and tarped the day before. Also, I have a lot of 1.75" that I use in chains of 10 that were fused together ahead of time & just had to be dropped in the guns. The 1.75" are in "W" racks of 30 & 50 tubes--they went out the day of the shoot since they weren't heavy. Those got moved with the garden tractor and wagon. All my cakes were modified with ematch ports to a short piece of quick match so they could be ematched when they were dropped. All were marked with module & cue number. I marked the field out several days before with stakes for locations of single shot racks, candles, cakes, strobes, and cremoras. The stakes all had the module number marked on them.
Also, I printed out a block diagram of the field location and the module/cue sheets for each person and designated which person was responsible for which modules.
Even though my setup crew was cut in half we had plenty of time to get the product dropped and tested and spend time consuming large amounts of food with the guests!!!
Setup was 23 Cobra modules. the one shot racks on the fronts were all pre-wired to their modules and tested a couple days earlier.
Also, always have a pop up tent on site & a couple fold up chairs for the crew along with a cooler with cold water and gator aid.
If I was not able to cut down my setup time and be able to spend time with my family and friends my wife would not have okayed the picnic each year. It is a LOT of work for her prepping and preparing all the food. There were a couple times it was "up to the last minute" in the past with the show setup so I know how that feels. I've done everything I could [safely] do to cut down on the setup time. Some corners just can't be cut---.
I did cake boards in the past but have gotten away from them because they are hard to manage without someone there to help when you are assembling them and they take up a lot of room till you need them. I have cut back on the number of cakes I use and have increased the number of smaller caliber 1.3g shells to fill that void.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

If you want to build out the entire show in advance using 4'x8' sheets of plywood, that would be the best time saver. Definitely cut the 4x8 sheets into two 2'x8' sheets and mount them to 1"x2"x8' beams for stability. You would need 3 of those per sheet of 2'x8' plywood. I've got a ton in my garage you can have if you want to drive down here and grab them! Lol. I'll post a pic so you can see what I'm talking about. I don't use them anymore except to hold up my mortar crates, but they worked well when I used to glue down the cakes. You can build them and wire them with the 18M in the center and cover the whole thing with a tarp and stack them in your garage or shed until you're ready to shoot them.

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Last year I spent weeks prepping my cakes. What I DIDN'T do during prep was place each one in a plastic bag. I waited until the morning of the 4th to do that, and it took forever, even with two helpers. It took 6 hours to get everything bagged and in place, and another 3 hours to wire everything into the 18M's. (All the cakes had initiators installed before the 4th as part of my prep!!) So if you don't use boards and you stake them down, I would definitely squib them and bag them BEFORE the morning of the 4th! If you have to transport them a long way that might not be an option, but you're going to have to make that call. As Joe wisely mentioned in his post, using a cabana and having chairs and water available is also a must.

[Stormcrow]

Rick I like the 2x8 design for my angled effects. And love the stacking idea.

One question if you are not going to use cake boards this year are you going to stake and tape because I did half of my show last year with that and it was exhausting.

Thanks joe. Last year I did not mark out my show before and that should save some time plus a site diagram.

[esgrillo]

Can't say I have the best system because I still spend all day setting up but....

- I dont stake cakes, everything is on plywood and I put the plywood out a day in advance to split the workload
- I prewire everything I can to the 18m, like comet racks.
- Have a good site plan and have copies available for your help... that leads to...
- Get help! Ask for volunteers for the grunt work
- label everything to coordinate with your site plan so your help can know where things go
- minimize the use of scab wire, lots of scab adds lots of time
- I try not to use bags. I have tarps to cover the entire platform
- Have a work plan for your help in advance. Keeping everyone actively working obviously gets it done fast as possible and prevents people from asking you every 5 minutes "what can I do next"

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Rick I like the 2x8 design for my angled effects. And love the stacking idea.

One question if you are not going to use cake boards this year are you going to stake and tape because I did half of my show last year with that and it was exhausting.

Yep. Going to stake and tape everything in place. Once everything is set in place, I can grab any number of volunteers to stake and tape. That doesn't require any advanced technical skills so I trust my neighbors to be able to do that without fouling it up. I can wire everything while they're staking everything. I'll be doing all the wiring myself. I think I'm going to tape and bag all the individual gerbs and flame effects to wood dowels in advance so they can be planted in the ground that morning and they're done. Should be pretty quick if I sort and separate everything properly in advance.