Cable documentation for AV and live production, cable schedules, loom and snake planning, labeling systems, and ID standards that hold up under load-out pressure.
Cabling is a database problem wearing a copper costume
Every cable in a system has an identity: an ID, two endpoints, a type, a length, and a route. Keep that data accurate and any tech can trace, pull, or replace any run. Lose it and troubleshooting becomes archaeology. The cable schedule is that database, see How to build a cable schedule for the method and a free template.
For live and touring work, the second discipline is looming: bundling runs that travel together into labeled multicores, snakes, and trunks with planned fanout lengths. A loom plan turns a 4-hour cable pull into a 40-minute one, and WireFlow's loom tools derive it from the same diagram that made the schedule.
IDs are permanent, patches are temporary, label the cable, not the destination.
Length on the schedule = measured run + service slack + dress allowance, and write down which convention you used.
Label both ends. Always both ends. The far end is the one you'll need at midnight.
Guides in this topic
How to Build a Cable Schedule, Build a cable schedule crews trust: the columns that matter, a cable ID scheme, honest lengths, loom grouping, a worked example, and a free CSV template.
Cable ID Standards and Numbering Systems, Cable ID standards compared: TIA-606 location IDs for fixed installs versus signal-family prefixes for touring, and how to design IDs that survive a re-patch.
SDI Cable Distance Limits by Rate, SDI cable distance limits depend on the rate and the coax you use. Higher rates like 12G-SDI run shorter than HD-SDI. Learn how to find your real safe run length.
Generate your cable schedule from the diagram
WireFlow derives the cable schedule from your signal-flow diagram, every run labeled end-to-end, exportable for the shop and the truck.