big_kahuna Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 I introduced three of my friends from work to the magic of USPSA. Tomorrow will be their first shoot, but two of the guys have practiced with me before. They even came to help set up stages today for the shoot tomorrow. They are excited, and I want to make their first shoot enjoyable and rewarding. If any of my pals are reading this, thanks again! With ParaJoe heading out on vacation, I had my first tries at designing stages. It isn't as easy as I thought. Trying to exercise my creativity with the props onhand, while staying within the rules and challenging all the shooters of varying levels (and their equipment), nearly wore me out. That said, is there any way besides "experience" to learn more about stage design? I found a couple pointers on the USPSA website and downloaded a few classifiers... but still haven't found what I'm looking for. Looking for websites, books, software tools, classes... anything that might help me become a decent stage designer. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Here are some PowerPoint and Word stage template that I keep stowed: http://www.3gunrules.com/documents/multi-g...agedesigntools/ These have been around a while (I snagged them from the J. Maass IPSC site way back) and are just 2D, but they do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Cheely Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 The only way to learn is to do. Look at the stages from nationals and area matches. The best ones have multiple ways to shoot them for every division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Post your fodder here...and let us...the stage design wolves... feed. (You will probably learn a lot today...as the shooters find all the holes at the match. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRNinTX Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Post your fodder here...and let us...the stage design wolves... feed.(You will probably learn a lot today...as the shooters find all the holes at the match. ) +1 The quickest learning curve is to watch the shooters pick your perfectly designed and constructed stage to pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Experience is the beat teacher for designing stages. Just remember not to get emotionally invested in them. When somebody comes up with a solution you didn't anticipate, celebrate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 While designing stages and having the shooters show you the error of your ways is most effective, it's far less painful and more informative to grab an experienced stage designer to review your stages prior to the shooting. In my case a Master class shooter with expereince in all divisions checked out my stages and pointed out all the holes in them. In all cases he would point out how shooters in each division would likely shoot each stage and damned if he was never wrong. Finally the holes stopped appearing and all we had to discuss was differences of opinion since he wasn't an evil stage designer while I have tendencies in that direction. I've screwed up a few times since striking out on my own, but these were invaluable lessons in themselves. Definitely learned all about the need for bulletproof activators and props with my stage at the SC State a couple of years ago. Still, I proudly display the "Most Challenging Stage" award in my gun room. Once you figure out the frame of mind needed by a stage designer, you also find out you have the ability to break down anyone else's stages and figure out the best way to shoot them much better then ever before. Be warned this is a perishable commodity and can be lost if you turn into a "shooter and scooter". I plan on posting my latest design for the 2007 SC Sectional here after a few tweaks. It should be bulletproof by the time these folks have at it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA Friday Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 As stated before, the best designs have options in them. If they are walking the stage over and over trying to figure out which option is the fastest, then you have succeeded in challanging the shooter. I personally like holes in my stages. When a shooter finds a different way to shoot it than I thought, I learn and it means there was another way to shoot it. Granted, I try to keep the "gaming" aspect out as much as possible. I always send my stages to the other club BoD members to review and critique before we use them. The rest of the stage designer's seem to have different feels to their designs, so when we start mixing and matching we get good variety in our matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_kahuna Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Thanks for the feedback everyone! I will work on some designs using the Word/PowerPoint tools that George linked, and run them by our club officers (BOD). If I get up the nerve I will post them here for your review and consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 BTW, here are some existing stage designs to use for ideas. http://www.3gunrules.com/documents/multi-g...s/PistolStages/ http://www.glinder.com/bulkfiles/CompetitionShootingCourses/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA Friday Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 If I get up the nerve I will post them here for your review and consideration. I've wondered for a long time whey there isn't a sub-forum under stage design for people to post their stages for review by others on the forum. Granted, many will get used at other clubs, but reviews by some of the best would be worth it. The ideas for new stages that could come out if it would also be worth it. I think the biggest issue would be standardizing which format the stages should be in so it's easier to exchange them, or possibley pull one down rework it and repost it. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_kahuna Posted December 23, 2006 Author Share Posted December 23, 2006 If I get up the nerve I will post them here for your review and consideration. I've wondered for a long time whey there isn't a sub-forum under stage design for people to post their stages for review by others on the forum. Granted, many will get used at other clubs, but reviews by some of the best would be worth it. The ideas for new stages that could come out if it would also be worth it. I think the biggest issue would be standardizing which format the stages should be in so it's easier to exchange them, or possibley pull one down rework it and repost it. Just a thought. I think Visio might be the best layout tool for stage drawings, if I can figure out how to create or import the graphics for metric targets, poppers and other props. I'm still learning how to use the MS Word and PowerPoint files that George linked. I think I have the hang of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 I've wondered for a long time whey there isn't a sub-forum under stage design for people to post their stages for review by others on the forum. Heck...that is one of the things that whole forum is about. Post away !! http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showforum=33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 I think Visio might be the best layout tool for stage drawings, if I can figure out how to create or import the graphics for metric targets, poppers and other props. I'm still learning how to use the MS Word and PowerPoint files that George linked. I think I have the hang of it. I have a set of Visio outlines for targets and such. I know I downloaded it from somewhere, so maybe somebody can still find it. I'd post it but it's on a PC far from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmipsc Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 As stated before, the best designs have options in them. If they are walking the stage over and over trying to figure out which option is the fastest, then you have succeeded in challanging the shooter. I design a stage where you had to stand on the edge of a 2 x6 with your arms wrapped around the Small Telephone pole with hands on the other elbow and draw and shoot from there at two array's of steel and targets spread around the bay. Only one way to shoot it right?... WRONG, saw at least six different ways to shoot the stage. The Shooters where very creative. it was great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 Here is a link to the Visio templates I posted awhile back. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...mp;#entry460617 I stole this from the Thailand site (if memory serves) and then added a bunch to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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