How to Use Drill Design Software for Marching Bands
Drill design software for marching bands has become more advanced and thus easier to use over the past several years. Though such programs have been around for more than 2 decades, more recent advances in Java scripting have made them more versatile and navigable than ever before, and many accomplished band directors now use and recommend them.
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Instructions
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Use Drill Design Software for Marching Bands
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Pick the pre-designed field template you want to work with, or create your own for special events. For half time shows, most often you'll just choose "football field" or a similar designation.
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Choose a viewing option. You should be able to see the show from overhead, press box or on the field and often in 3D. Zoom in and out, toggling views as necessary.
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Place all your band members at their starting positions on the screen. You can choose different colors and symbols for various instruments or sections, even color guard performers. You may even have the option of naming each marching band member on the field.
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Design your formations, or choose from pre-designed formation templates. Some programs will suggest various transitions to get you from one formation to another, or you can create your own custom transition paths using floats, pivots and "follow the leader."
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Animate your show, or sections of the show, to a timer or to MIDI songs provided by the program.
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Hand out parts to individual performers to study at home. Some programs allow you to have band members create unique accounts and log in to study their parts.
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Tips & Warnings
Use of drill design software can seem like a "magic bullet" for marching bands, but don't be fooled. While the software offers a range of complex options for creating new formations, figuring out transitions and helping you see the big picture, the overall look and feel of the show is still up to you. The software is there to help you bring your vision to life more efficiently, but you will always be in the driver's seat.
A good design program will have a strong customer support hotline or email support system. Try them out during the demo period to make sure you can get prompt, reliable answers to questions about functions or glitches.
Talk to users of various programs and try out demos before you make your purchase. Drill design software can be expensive, and you want to make sure you are getting the specific tools that are going to help you the most in your process.
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Comments
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Lke it....
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xjoshx
Aug 14, 2008
What a useless article. It doesn't tell you anything about actually using drill design software... just how the concept of it works. "Hand out parts to individual performers to study at home." Wow. It's a good thing I read this article or I might have forgotten to do that. Lame. -
xjoshx
Aug 14, 2008
What a useless article. It doesn't tell you anything about actually using drill design software... just how the concept of it works. "Hand out parts to individual performers to study at home." Wow. It's a good thing I read this article or I might have forgotten to do that. Lame.
