Wavemist Certified

Wavemist Certified: Production Fundamentals

The floor, the load-in-to-strike arc, rigging and power safety, the vocabulary, and the gotchas a veteran catches — what every crew member should know before they touch a show.

What this track covers

1. 01

   Foundations: The Floor

   • ·Identify the live-event chain of command and what each role (Producer, PM, TD, department heads, SM/show caller) is accountable for
   • ·Sequence the load-in-to-strike arc and explain why order (rigging first, first-in-last-out) is a safety and workflow rule
   • ·Define core load-in vocabulary — call, call time, minimum, advance, meal-penalty clock — as structures rather than fixed numbers
   • ·Explain why advancing well prevents show-day firefighting and why the TD owns the load-in sequence as a life-safety craft
2. 02

   Rigging, Power & Signal

   • ·Name the three physical systems a TD must sequence (rigging, power, signal) and why each matters to a bid
   • ·Apply the 80% headroom rule across rigging, power, and data paths as a universal habit
   • ·Distinguish rigging vocabulary (points, WLL/design factor, bridles, ETCP) and how each becomes a cost or safety trigger
   • ·Catch classic bid gotchas in power sizing (power factor, branch-circuit derating) and signal flow (IMAG-plus-stream needing two video engineers)
3. 03

   Glossary & Caveats

   • ·Decode the core cross-vertical vocabulary of live-event production (labor, rigging, audio/video, dispatch, and settlement terms) so a term in a bid never goes unrecognized
   • ·Recognize the veteran's caveats that separate an estimate from a defensible bid — fringes, meal-penalty and turnaround clocks, ETCP triggers, IMAG+stream double staffing, LED power draw, access constraints, and house-provider jurisdiction
   • ·Explain the budget implication each caveat carries so the TD surfaces both the trigger and its cost impact
4. 04

   Apprenticeship: Craft Fundamentals

   • ·Perform the bench-level rigging math an apprentice must do in their head — bridle leg tension, design factor, beam deflection, mechanical advantage — and recognize why bridle angle governs point loading
   • ·Trace an audio system's signal path (input to processing to output), identify the transducer at each stage, and apply the cable-and-connector discipline that keeps a system traceable
   • ·Name the parts and members of theatrical scenery — flats, soft goods, step units, fly systems — and know who is responsible for scene shifts, rigging, and running the show
   • ·Explain lighting optics from source to beam: reflector types, refraction and focal length, and how an ERS shutters, iris, and gobo shape the light
5. 05

   Safety, OSHA & Legal

   • ·Identify the OSHA framework governing live production (General Industry 1910, Construction 1926, and the General Duty Clause) and why the OSHA 30 card is a real bid/onboarding factor
   • ·Match each core hazard category (fall protection, rigging, electrical, lifts, fire/pyro) to the control or certification that mitigates it
   • ·Name the components of a production's legal/risk frame: insurance types and COIs, contracts and indemnification, labor law and worker classification, permits, and music licensing
   • ·Explain how the TD's safety role converts into schedule sequencing, required certifications, and the cost logic that safety-done-right is cheaper than an injury or shutdown
6. 06

   Stage Rigging Fundamentals

   • ·Read a rig on paper: compute allowable load from ultimate breaking strength and design factor, and apply the minimum 10:1 rope design factor
   • ·Know the fall-protection safety floor as fixed constants: 6 ft trigger, 5,000 lb anchorage, ANSI Z359.1 harness stamp
   • ·Distinguish termination and knot efficiencies and apply wire-rope-clip orientation ('never saddle a dead horse')
   • ·Reason about rigging force geometry: bridle angles, resultant force on a lead, shock load, and single- vs double-purchase counterweight

The exam is drawn straight from these modules, with a passing bar and a verifiable credential. It tests the framework and the vocabulary — exact union wages, fringes, and penalties always come from the governing collective bargaining agreement, never a figure memorized for a test.