jcogdell

Just realised I forgot to mention that if you check out the Vision forum and the Rendering forum there is more info about how to prepare textures and other experienced user who may be able to answer questions in more detail than (I'm an ex lampy and sytem tech not a rendering specialist)

Hi Basem The dongle requirement applies to all versions of Vision if the user wants to use MA-net 1 or 2, (or if you are using MA1 or 2 on pc software without any MA hardware such as a command wing,as it will give out an dmx signal of any kind without physical hardware). This restriction is a condition that MA made when they gave us access to the protocol. Also you need to be aware that MA-net 3 is not supported at all in Vision, as MA have not given us (or anyone else) permission to use it. If a user wants to connect an MA3 console to vision they will need to use either sACN or Artnet.

there are several potential causes for what you are seeing. Which version on MA 3D are you using, the MA2 version or the MA 3 version? The reason I am asking is that currently the MA3 version of MA 3D cannot read or use textures yet and will just display the objects geometry. I have no idea how long it will be before this is addressed. On the Vectorworks side, as of 2020 SP 2 we correctly export normals (bump), specular (reflectivity) data and alpha masks (transparency). Because this is a very recent upgrade the default Renderworks textures are not set up to export this data to other applications. They are specifically formatted for Renderworks. For the textures to export correctly, to other applications, you will need to edit them in the resource manager or create your own. The key for exporting this data to other applications is that the different 'shaders' in the Edit texture dialogue have to be set as an 'image', otherwise the data will not export in a form that another application can use. We plan to create detailed workflow document for this in the future. If you have access to Vision, you can use this to check whether the textures in your file are exporting in the correct format as it can render the normal maps and specular maps (can be turned on in the document preferences) Another way to check what you are exporting is to export an MVR file of you design, change the file extension from .mvr to .zip, this converts the MVR into a uncompressed zip folder that you can look inside of and open the contained files. search the folder for the texture name used on the stage decks, if the texture is correctly set up it should consist of 3 or more .png (image files) the first is the color, then there should be a bump (normal map) and reflection (specular map) version.

Not any more In the 2020 release we have made improvements to how fixtures are inserted and orientated in 3D. Fixtures can be added directly to angled and or rolled truss at any point. If you want them to insert with the correct 3D rotation you should attach a correctly orientated working plane to the truss or pipe and set your active plane to 'working'. or you can insert the fixtures from a top/plan view and use the new X, Y and Z rotation fields in the OIP, to rotate the fixtures to the correct orientation on the truss or pipe (this works with group selected fixtures) The 'Align and distribute' tool in the Spotlight tool-set has be upgraded to work in 3D. select the fixtures you want to work with (can be inserted any where in your document), configure the tool mode and then draw a line in 3D that the fixtures will get orientated along, for example along the chord of a truss with both a hanging angle and roll. note: the fixtures will only be aligned positionally and will still need the rotation fields updated manually to be correctly orientated in 3D to truss, pipe or other object. With the new rotation fields for trusses and fixtures this is much easier than before We have also improved how fixture and other objects associate with trusses and pipe. It is no longer necessary to convert the truss or pipe to a hanging position and assign fixtures and plug in objects to the position for them to move with the truss or pipe. Fixtures (and other plug in objects) will now automatically move and rotate with the truss or pipe they are associated with. Just move or rotate the associated truss line or pipe. This behavior is controlled in the Document setting-Spotlight-Loads and Rigging pane in the 'Auto positioning' section.

There are 2 ways to accomplish this, When the make data cable chain command is run for the first time and you have finished selecting the fixtures, the preferences dialogue will open. In the calculate parts section enter the desired length in the 'part 1vert dist' field, note: make sure you enter the desired length including both ends of the cable, so in your example because you want 2' at each end you need to enter 4'. The second method is for all subsequent uses of the make data chain command after running the command, the data cables will automatically remain selected. Use the OIP to enter the desired extra length, same workflow as above. note: you will only have to change the 'part 1 vert dist' field if you want a different value from the previous use, as the command remembers the last value entered.

I finally had time to get my console connected to Vision and follow up on this. To successfully use the VL1000 tungsten you have to both patch the VL and a secondary dimmer to the same start address. The fixture profile in my console has a dummy channel in the fixture type where the dimmer control should be, which doesn't seem to be hooked up to anything in the console personality (I'm using a avo tiger touch). As soon as I patched an extra dimmer with the same start address I could use it to control the dimmer of the VL. If you use the Vision DMX viewer it will verify this behavior. From the fixtures user manual this is exactly how I would expect the fixture to function in the real world (I've only used the normal VL1000 no the tungsten version)

Hi Mike I just tried to duplicate this with the Prolyte H30D truss library and it worked correctly. To help me verify the issue I need a some more info, Which specific Prolyte truss type are you having the problem with? Are you inserting the truss in top/plan view or a 3D view? What build number of Spotlight are you using? (found in Help-About Vectorworks) Are you using symbols from a file originally created in 2019? due to the addition of the new truss rotation controls and performance optimizations in the 2020 symbols, the old 2019 symbols can cause problems in 2020.

Just thought I should clarify that GDTF and .lit files are completely separate. The .lit file is the internal Spotlight and Vision fixture format. Whereas GDTF is the new standardized format that is designed for any application (CAD, Console or Previs) to be able to use. I fully agree that .lit should not be displaying in worksheets and reports when you displaying the fixture mode. I will make an enhancement request to have this changed to stop the .lit displaying.

For the VL-1000 tungsten fixtures you should not need a external dimmer link to the fixture, yes in the real world you would have to hook up the bulb to an appropriately addressed external dimmer (same address as the fixtures start address) but this should not be necessary in Vision. From the manual the dimmer channel is listed as the first channel in the fixtures DMX chart and you must use this when addressing the fixture in Vision for a console to correctly control it. I don't have my console set up at the moment so I can't test this to make sure. I will try to find time to hook it up and check if this is working correctly One of the problems you are having with the I-Cue mirrors and the color source spots is that currently there is no version of the I-cue in Vision with an attached I-cue mirror. You will need to make a Vision fixture request to create a I-Cue fixture with a Color source spot attached (make sure to specify which mode or modes you want for the color source spot) . Vision uses a separate personality (lit file) for each mode of a fixture, unlike Spotlight. This is why you have to select a fixture mode in Spotlight before exporting to Vision. In the case of the I-cue it has only S4 profile and generic projector mode options, so these are the only Vision options currently available. Your other issue regarding the i-cue dimmer control looks like a bug in the personality, it should only be on when selected in the scene graph or when you turn the dimmer up at the console end. Please contact tech support and they will open a ticket to get it fixed.

If you are a service select member go to the service select portal and use the fixture request form. Our content team will let you know when it is ready

Previously the old address field could be used in any way that the user would like to define, although technically you were meant to only use the the address field for the address inside of a universe ( 1 through 512) and not have both the universe and DMX address in it together! We did not restrict this as there was no reason to do so before. With the move to using GDTF & MVR to transfer patch data to consoles and other applications, the new DMX patch interface and other future planned features we needed to move to a fixed definition of how we deal with the DMX patch data (and also that the fixture number has to be entered in the Channel field). One of our objectives was to simplify how this data is exported and remove the need for data mapping for the export process, like the need previously to define which field was used for the fixture number when setting up Vision for example. If you want to use Spotlight numbering on a single field set it to use enter the data using the absolute address field and due to links in the background it will auto update the universe, DMX address and Universe/address fields. Or you can do this using the new DMX patch interface and just use the spotlight numbering to enter the channel number so you know which fixture is which for the patch.

Which Truss corner block do you need? Most of our truss libraries include corner blocks, when the truss type has one available. If we are missing the particular corner block you need from a library you can either make a content request or ask here on the forums You should be aware though that since this post was first made back in 2002 we have changed the approach to inserting trusses in Spotlight The old 'Straight truss' and 'Curved truss' tools are still included but we now have the symbol based 'Insert Truss' tool and a large library of truss types, with new libraries being added monthly. Also many of the new features like autoconnect will only work with the new truss libraries. If you have not already done so I recommend that you have a look at the new Vectorworks University video about inserting trusses here's a link to the insert truss video https://university.vectorworks.net/mod/scorm/player.php?a=5&currentorg=articulate_rise&scoid=10

There are 2 way to deal with this is method 1 once you have your truss system laid out select one of the truss crosses and in the OIP use the select objects of same type button, then click the classes button and change the geometry field to a new class so you can control the visibility as desired. Currently this method only affect the truss crosses already in the design and will not automatically be applied to any truss crosses generated after doing this. method 2 set up the automatic truss classing in the Spotlight preferences (Loads and Rigging pane), to class the trusses at insertion and then set your active class to something else, for example Rigging-truss cross. This will ensure the truss crosses are created in a separate class so you can control the visibility without having to do any extra steps I will make a feature enhancement request to add the Truss Cross Classing to the preferences so it can be set as a Spotlight/Braceworks default similar to how the truss and fixture classing can be set up. As you point out not everyone wants to plan rigging and this would be a good quality of life improvement

Just to add to Brandon's comment, you can group select fixtures of the same type in Vision and assign colour/gels there, which will quicker than doing it in the Spotlight dialogue and use the colour field in the OIP to keep your paperwork up to date(if needed).

Hi Omar Currently the cable tools are designed to be used only in a 2D top/plan view and the cables objects generated are simple 2D polylines. The easiest way to show the cables in 3D is to be to use the 3D polygon tool from the 3D modeling tool set, to draw the cable or cables. make sure to assign them to a separate class from the default cable tool classes to make it easier to control the cable visibility I also tend to give them a thicker line weight and color them by cable type or purpose here's an example image from a demo file P.S. Please post Spotlight related questions in the Entertainment forum