Questions this guide answers
How do I measure a cable run that goes around the room?
Press N for Continuous Measure, or pick it from the measure tools. Click the FOH desk, then every corner of the route along the wall, then the stage. Each leg shows its own length and a green Total sums the whole route in feet and inches.
Why not measure straight from the desk to the stage?
Because the cable does not cross the audience. A snake runs to the wall, along it and up to the stage, which is often half as long again as the straight line. Measure the route the crew will lay, then add slack for the climb onto the deck.
How much slack should I add to the measured run?
The plan gives the floor route only. Add the rise onto the stage, the drop at the desk and a service loop at each end, then round up to the next stock length. Ten to fifteen percent over the measured total is a common working margin.
Transcript
Order the snake by its real route.
Front of house sits forty feet from the stage. The cable goes around the audience.
Open the measure tools and pick Continuous Measure.
Click the desk, then the side wall where the cable turns.
Follow the wall to the stage's upstage corner and click. Read the Total.
Seventy-three feet five around the room, not forty across it.
Next: mark every power drop for the electrician.