Video cable schedule and cable labels for live events
What goes in a cable schedule
- Cable number: unique within the show, and printed on the cable.
- From and to: the device and the port at each end.
- Signal: what the cable carries (Program, Presenter view, a camera feed).
- Connector: what is on the cable, such as 12G-SDI, HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.4.
- Length: optional, but it is what turns a schedule into a cable order.
Example: a corporate general session
This is the sample show from the Signal Flow Planner's live demo: 15 devices and 20 cables. The first rows of its schedule, in cable-number order:
| Cable | From | To | Signal | Connector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| V-001 | Laptop A Out 1 | Converter 1 In 1 | Program | HDMI 2.0 |
| V-002 | Laptop A Out 2 | Converter 2 In 1 | Presenter view | HDMI 2.0 |
| V-003 | Laptop B Out 1 | Converter 3 In 1 | Program | HDMI 2.0 |
| V-004 | Converter 1 Out 1 | Videohub 40x40 12G In 1 | Program | 12G-SDI |
| V-005 | Converter 2 Out 1 | Videohub 40x40 12G In 2 | Presenter view | 12G-SDI |
| V-006 | Converter 3 Out 1 | Videohub 40x40 12G In 3 | Program | 12G-SDI |
| V-007 | Camera 1 SDI 1 | Videohub 40x40 12G In 5 | – | 12G-SDI |
| V-008 | Media server A Out 1 | Converter 4 In 1 | – | DP 1.4 |
Each converter is a row in the chain: the cable into it and the cable out of it are two separate cables, each with its own number.
Label both ends
A cable you can only identify from one end costs time at every change. Label each end with the cable's number, and add what the cable connects: this end and the other end. ANSI/AVIXA F501.01:2015, Cable Labeling for Audiovisual Systems, defines requirements for labeling AV cables; check it, and your client's or venue's own rules, for what they expect.
The Signal Flow Planner exports labels as a CSV with one row per label, or one row per cable end (A and B, with "this end" and "other end"), for label makers that can import a CSV.
Turn the schedule into a cable order
Count the cables by connector and length. Cables with the same connector and length become one line on the order. A cable with different connectors at its two ends and no converter in between is a single adapter cable, such as HDMI 2.0 to DVI. Decide your spare allowance as a deliberate choice, not a habit: it is a number you set for the show.
The demo show's 20 cables, counted by connector (no lengths are set in the demo, so each connector is one line):
| Connector | Cables |
|---|---|
| 12G-SDI | 13 |
| DP 1.4 | 2 |
| HDMI 2.0 | 5 |
Add a length to each cable and the order splits by length. The Planner can also compare the result with an order you paste in (item and quantity per line) and show what is short, extra or missing.
Keep it from the same patch
A schedule kept in a separate spreadsheet drifts the moment someone repatches. In the Signal Flow Planner the cable schedule, the equipment order and the labels are generated from the patch, so a change to the patch changes all three. Try the live demo. For the planning steps that come before the paperwork, see how to plan a live event video system.