What is a good designated area for pit percussion on a winterline floor? The floor is 50x80.

Front or left or right side, I have seen I few with the pits in back but that generally doesn't work to well (in my experience) Heck I have even been in an ensemble that placed the pit in three pods, one at center of the floor and two on the left and right ends of the floor. You can do just about anything really. Whichever way will best represent the theme of your show. Most common are the front and sides though.

With my programs, I keep the pit away from the back of the floor as most of the kids in the front ensemble are used to being up front and their listening skills reflect that.

My shows are also almost always designed with tempo control in the battery, save for the obvious tacet sections.

The few shows I've seen with rear pit placement that have actually worked were ones that had something like a drum kit in the back playing time the whole show, but that didn't help their musical scores.

Additionally, you have to worry about levels/mic'ing to get a good balance with the battery. In the years I've marched, we've had shows where the pit was set up across the front, set up in the back corner, split between aux/electronics/kit in the back and keys in the front, and of course, a show with the pit moving throughout the floor for the opening number. Everything eventually worked, but there are different challenges with each setup. In fact, it took me awhile just to get used to being in 2 straight lines instead of an arc.

That said, it also depends on how big your pit is. If it's something like a World line, you're obviously going to need to set aside at least a 20" by 20" box. At the least, I'd give the front 10 feet of the floor strictly to the pit.

I like having everything on the side line a triangle, I never have used this yet seeing how I only participate in winter drumline and am not a director yet, but the idea of having the pit on either side of the floor instead of being in the front of the floor seems to be good so that the look is not cluttered and that you can focus more on the drumline with out the pit blocking the view. I think MCM did this in 2004 with the one show "7" ( not quite sure what it was called but it was about the 7 sins or something)