Better

Last night I met with the Technical Director, the Director and the Stage Manager. And piece by piece we discussed each set piece, what parts of it are in the TD's cost estimate and what isn't. We talked about what's in the theater's stock and what isn't. We talked about what he can get done this weekend even if I don't finish the design.

The result - we're still very close on the budget, but I think it is doable. I think. Much more so than I thought it was a few days ago. There are still negotiations to be had, but I have a better understanding of how the TD plans to spend the money so I can make design decisions accordingly. He was nice enough to offer up his salary to buffer the set budget and he said multiple times how sorry he is that we can't build everything exactly has I first had it drawn, but while I appreciate that I'm not going to take advantage of him. I said that if he wants to put up his salary as a contingency, that's fine. But I'm not going to add his salary to my budget as if I don't think he'll deserve every penny for how much work I know he's going to be doing.

The best part is that he doesn't need that much more from me before the weekend. There is enough that he knows he can do to keep him busy, and he's still discovering more in the theater's stock as he digs through the layers of wood. I will be taking my laptop with me on the family visit, but there won't be any guilt when I'm not working on it. :-)

The image above is to give you an idea of the scope of this set. (this isn't the latest version, but it's close) The columns are existing and the dark gray flats are audience seating. I've hidden the back wall for a little bit of clarity (right side of the model), but everything else needs to be built and painted. It's big.

The software is sketch-up from Google. We have the purchased software at work and I've downloaded the free beta version for home. Happily, I can't see much difference between the two and I can open the same file in both versions.