Stage plot and patch sheet
Two documents, two questions. The plot says where things stand on stage; the patch sheet says what is plugged where, port by port. Technipatch computes the second, and carries the part of the first that cabling depends on: where each device sits.
The stage plot answers "where"
A stage plot is a scaled top-down view of the deck: where the players stand, the wedges, the stands, the risers. It is read before the truck is opened, and it is what places people and cases. Technipatch does not draw that plot — it draws the system diagram, what plugs into what, which is a different document with a different scale and a different reader.
The patch sheet answers "what, on which port"
A patch sheet is per device: its inputs first, its outputs next, what is connected to each, and what is still free. It is the patching document, the one you hold at FOH during soundcheck, the one you re-read when an input will not come up. The count of free inputs is not a detail: it is what tells you whether one more wedge fits or the stage box is full.
A bidirectional port counts as neither an input nor an output: it is **one** way, carrying both directions at once. Counting it on both sides would promise two free places where there is one, so it is counted on its own.
Where it sits is part of the diagram
FOH, stage, dressing rooms, amp room: where a device sits is not decoration, it sets cable lengths and the direction of the pull. It is the part of the stage plot the diagram really carries — no scale and no metres, but one zone per device. Carried on the diagram, it reaches the documents on its own and cuts the printed sheet into frames: the reader sees at a glance what stays on stage and what runs to FOH.
One device’s patch sheet, exactly as it comes out
Here is the example project’s stage box: these rows were not written for this page, they are the same computation the app runs on screen and the PDF prints. The cable label is the one from the list, and the peer is the device actually connected at the other end.
Stage box · 13 free inputs
| Port | Signal | Label | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| IN 1 | Microphone (analogue) | A01 | Lead vocal / Out |
| IN 2 | Microphone (analogue) | A02 | Snare / Out |
| IN 3 | Microphone (analogue) | A05 | Keys DI / Out |
| IN 4 | Microphone (analogue) | — | free |
| OUT 1 | Line (analogue) | — | free |
| OUT 2 | Line (analogue) | — | free |
The words worth keeping
Breakout, tap, jumper, stage box, P17: these are the words of the stage, and translating them into software jargon wastes everyone’s time. They are defined one by one on the reference page, with what each one covers exactly.
The canvas is already open
Drop five devices, pull cables between their ports: the cable list, the patch sheet and the equipment list fill themselves in while you draw. No account, no card.