Learn to light a stage before the next gig
Light a virtual stage, get scored on the picture you make, and build the eye through daily reps in color, fixtures, DMX, power, composition, and show flow.
First session
Light the Stage → Color and intensity
See where you are today, then practise what needs work.
1 · Check
Light one brief on a club rig
2 · Practise
Fix what the score flagged
3 · Review
Your eye carries to the next rig
What you get
Know what to practise today.
Each session gives you a short exercise, shows how it went, and uses that result to plan what comes next.
Mix color by eye and know why a wash reads muddy on camera.
Patch a rig across a universe without overlaps, including around a house block.
Read fixtures by how their light behaves, not by the label on the case.
Build looks with front, back, and side light so faces stay readable and the stage keeps depth.
What you’ll practise
Four parts of the skill.
Lane 1
Color and intensity
Additive mixing, color temperature, saturation, and what a color does to skin under a camera.
Lane 2
Fixtures and optics
Wash, spot, beam, profile, and blinder: what each one is for and how to recognize it in haze.
Lane 3
DMX, patch, and power
Addressing, footprints, universes, two-universe scenarios, distro maths, and load safety.
Lane 4
Composition and busking
Front, back, and side light, energy arcs across a set, cue stacks, and calling a show live.
Try it free
Use a free tool before you subscribe.
These tools are free, work in the browser, and lead naturally into your first training lane.
Light the Stage
Three briefs on a real club rig. Light each one, get scored, and keep the picture. No account.
Open the toolRig Calculator
DMX start addresses with room to change your mind, and the honest current draw so you know how many circuits you need. No account.
Open the toolFree guides
Read the guide, then try it.
Start here if nobody explained the rig
Stage lighting setup, in the order that actually works
Work out the order to aim and level a stage so it looks right from the seats and on camera.
Read guideThe part everyone skips
DMX lighting explained, without the jargon
Understand what a DMX address is, why fixtures fight each other, and how to patch a rig without overlaps.
Read guideFrom busking to a show file
How to program a light show
Understand how a programmed show is built and why edits to one cue leak into later ones.
Read guideHow the six schools fit together
Lighting is one school inside a two-system practice platform.
Choose the three-school system that matches your work, or subscribe to Artist and Studio together for all six. Your account and progress stay together.
This system · 3 schools
Main Act Studio
$7.92per month
$95 billed yearly · monthly and lifetime also available
See this system’s plansEverything · all 6 schools
Artist + Studio
$11.83per month
$142 billed yearly · monthly and lifetime also available
Main Act Studio
Studio Mix · Live Sound · Lighting
Main Act Artist
Vocals · Songwriting · Repertoire
Start free
Start with Light the Stage.
No syllabus or subscription needed. Try it free and see what to practise next.
Prefer to compare first?
Questions
Before you start
Does this teach my specific console?
It teaches what every console does: tracking, palettes, HTP and LTP merging, record versus update, and why a light ignores your cues. The drills run on a working desk model rather than the syntax of one manufacturer, so the judgment transfers to whatever desk you sit behind.
Do I need a rig or a visualizer?
No. The stage is rendered in your browser with real light sources, so beam angle, falloff, edge quality, and what actually lands on a performer are all part of the picture and part of the score.
Is this only for touring concert lighting?
No. You pick the kind of room you work in and the briefs are drawn from that rig, so a club operator, a theatre electrician and someone on a fixed house package each practice their own world rather than a tour that is not theirs.
This button opens Lighting directly.