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Steve B.

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Everything posted by Steve B.

  1. Follow up. There's a few prior posts about strip numbering that would be helpful to read, as well as reading up on numbering in general, as well as merging and LW ID numbers in the LW Help section. P.S., Have you found LW 4 worth the upgrade ?. SB
  2. Merge the files in LW. Edit the LW file being imported to have the same terminology - I.E. "1 Electric" on the importing file should get changed to "1 ELEC" as used by the master LW file that has the house VW UID's, as example. Ditto for units - "6x12" to "6X12", "Source 4, 19 degree" to S4/19" or whatever you use. LW will match positions and unit types, plus unit numbers when an LW ID is not the same. Ch., Dim, Color, Purpose will then get filled in. Units on the imported file that do not exist on the house master LW file will need to first be created in VW, then ONLY those new units exported to the house/master LW file so as to have a match between files. Merge whatever attributes you need. SB
  3. Is it possible you have auto-number enabled for the position ?. Right click on the position label, click on properties, un-check auto-number. If it's enabled, you might want to do this for all positions. Click on Spotlight on the tool bar, toggle Auto-Number. Be careful with this though. If auto-number is currently OFF, toggling the other way will re-number the entire plot, which is why I like doing it position by position. Hope this helps. SB
  4. Echoing Jim's earlier comments about how it makes sense for everyone to have strips using a numeric value, maybe LW AND Spotlight could do something along the lines of: - Number Alpha I.E. 1A or 1a, no periods, dots or comma's for added units, prior to hitting position re-number in LW (or VW for that matter) - Number dash Alpha, I.E. 1-A for strips, or maybe a Number Slash Alpha, I.E. 1/A which is an easier key to find (for my eyes - grin). - Number Dot Number, I.E. 1.1 for fixtures with multiple channels per fixture. This allows LW to keep some of the methodology it's followed since 'ye olden times (pre Vectorworks). I'll e-mail this to John as well to see what he thinks. He'll probably come up with a perfectly logical and reasonable response as to why it won't work Steve B.
  5. Follow up: I created 4 new units on my VW strip light pipe, exported ONLY those 4 new fixtures - 6x16's as units 2,4,7,& 9 (positioned as I desire ont he plot), into an existing LW3 hookup. I then re-sorted the position as per the LW directions as Strip A1, A2, A3, 6x16/Unit 2, Strip B1, B2, B3, 6x16/Unit 4, etc... I then added channel, dimmer, color, etc to the LW data and exported successfully back to VW. I think that may be a solution and may still allow LW3 to see Number/Alpha for strips. Can't say for LW 4 though... I can say that being as stubborn as we are (grin) makes the software work for us, instead of the other way around. Steve B.
  6. JT, As a follow on to my first private message, LW say's this: "You can also put the lights within each hanging position in whatever order you want, not necessarily in order by unit#. To move lights into place, display a single hanging position (not a group of positions, and not All or any other view category) and then click in the far-left-hand edge of the Worksheet and drag each unit up or down to wherever you want it. You can also Control-drag any single unit and all the other units in that position with the same unit# will be dragged along with it. Once one or more units have been dragged out of their normal sorted-by-unit# position, the order will be locked and the closed lock icon will show at the bottom left-hand corner of the worksheet. To unlock the order (thereby letting sorting happen strictly by unit#), click on the lock icon, which will then unlock. Remember that this drag-and-lock behavior is only possible when you are looking at a single hanging position: it does not work when looking at more than one position or when viewing by any other display category:" I tried this on an LW3 file and it works, but I have yet to run a print of the actual instrument schedule, nor have I sent to VW. Let me know if it helps and what the affect is on the VW plot. Steve B.
  7. JT, 1) If memory serves, LW4 reserves the 1 dot 1 syntax for ML's, thus a potential for problems exists there... 2) I have to say that I really think you need to step back a bit an think about what you want the existing software to do for you. Note also that my comments of 4/3 were directed to LW, which is where your original post was mostly directed. My results with multi-circuit strips in VW were different then yours (a very screwed up auto-numbering scheme - and I tried very hard to "do it" correctly) and I generally do not auto-number in VW for positions such as striplights and side lights - where VW's "logic" as to how to number is not my logic. It's so simple to manually number..... You have seemingly found a good reason to use Lightwright AND to upgrade to V4 thus I'm puzzled as to why you have a conceptual problem with what the program is capable of doing - and please don't give me a line like "I paid good money", etc... At some point the solutions that John Mc has developed can be made to work. As example: You're correct in that the LW Instrument Schedule will not show the assorted individual units in the correct "order", or as shown on the plot. So what !. Give the dammed electrician a copy of the plot, or at least the position itself as an individual hanging card, or some such !. I NEVER use LW instrument schedules for instance, finding a VW hang sheet or card much easier to understand. My electricians agree. What exactly do you use the position order for any way ?. It's correct in the Channnel Hookup, or at least doesn't matter and it's shown correctly on the plot !. I would think that (or versions of those) would be sufficiant. SB Note that I just put in a 17 hr. day, with another to follow, I'm a bit wired and testy and apologize for any perceived attitude, but cannot help wondering if maybe you used the programs as intended you might have fewer issues and might find a better solution
  8. Works fine until you have to add the 6x16 onto a striplight pipe that's already numbered. You now have to either re-number the entire pipe, or use a "2d" style designation, which doesn't make sense either and is why John M created the 1a system for added units to an already numbered position (LW can readily and easily re-number when done this way) as a seperate method from strips. In truth, I've never added xtra units to my only strip/cyc pipe as I have neither the circuits nor the weight capacity. But I can readily see the issue being a problem on plots that have mixed styles of units on a pipe, thus the A1, A2 for strips and 1, 2, 2A, 3 for fixtures makes sense. My electricians are all familar with the LW method of labeling strips and can readlily keep track as it's what's on the plot End of thread for me.... SB
  9. I was reminded today by a fellow LD why LW doesn't deal well with strips labled as "1A" or any method using a number. If the only units on that position are strips, then using 1A, etc.. will work... Until you try to add conventional fixtures onto the same position that also use a standard numerical unit number. If you use the standard unit number syntax - such as adding a 6x16 in between strips 2 and 3, do you call it 2D ? (with strip 2 having a, b & c color circuits). That doesn't make sense, as it's not the 4th added unit. Using A1, A2, A3, then a 6x16 as 2, then B1, B2, B3 makes somewhat more sense (in my mind). LW and VW like it better as well. Steve B.
  10. Had some to time to play... And much to my surprise, lableing strips in LW as 1a, 1b, 1c, etc... seems to work just fine. LW3 would not allow a capitolized letter, insisting on 1a, not 1A. Nor did I put a period between the number and letter, as per your original post. Regardless, it counted color and wattages correctly, as well as changing an existing VW plot to read with the new unit lableing for the strips, with no errors. Hmmm.... makes me wonder whay I've bothered following the A1, A2 etc... protocal all these decades.... (grin) Curious as to what John say's. SB
  11. The usual method, or at least how I was taught in drafting class, was to have a "T" symbol on the unit, indicating a template. There are a couple of ways to do this. Configure each and every lable legend used on the ellipsoidals needing T's to have the Template field checked, then go to Edit Layout and edit the attibute for Template to a simple T, then place it on the unit where you want the T symbol to appear. It helps if the Lable Legend for the particular unit has that unit symbol chosen as it makes it easier to correctly place the T symbol. As example, my side lights are Altman Shakespeares, while the Pipe Ends are 360Q's, the Box Booms are Altman 4.5" zooms, with Coves as Shake Zooms. Each has a separate lable legend that uses the particular unit symbol (well.... it does now ! after many hrs. of screwing around....) You can then select those units needing a T symbol and in the Object information pallete type a T in the template field. Or in the Spotlight pallette, use Find and Modify (is that in V9 ?) for Instruments Section that is True, or for instrument type, etc... to have a T symbol in the Temp field. This doesn't generate the particulars for the assorted templates though. If you want that in the OIP template field for paperwork use, then use a User Field for the T symbol and keep the Template field for the actual gobo make and number. That's how I do it when importing from Lightwright. I keep the LW template column intact (in LW, for counting purposes) with the actual make and type and use a text field for the T symbol, exporting it to VW and mapping it to the appropriate lable legends as a T symbol that appears on the unit. You can also generate a T1, T2, T3, as needed, then having a Note on the plot that correlates the T1, as example to a particular gobo make and number for the electricians to put in the appropriate lights SB
  12. As written in the on-line manual: >UNIT NUMBERS can be whole numbers from 0 to 250, with an optional lowercase suffix from a to z. Using the suffix places the number between other items with simple numbers. Example: 0, 1, 2, 3, 3a, 3b, 4, 4c, 4e, 5 If you want to place a unit ahead of #1 on the pipe, enter a, b, c, or whatever in lowercase to make it clear. If you enter a number followed by a capital letter, Lightwright will automatically make it lowercase. Striplights use CAPITAL LETTERS followed by a NUMBER indicating the color circuit. Example: A 4-color striplight would use unit numbers A1, A2, A3 and A4. If there was another 4-color striplight on the same pipe, its numbers would be B1, B2, B3 and B4. The numbers can range from 1-250. Instruments with the same striplight letter or the same unit number and suffix are considered the same light. If the striplight letters are different, then they are considered different lights. If the unit numbers are the same but the suffix letters are different, then they are considered different lights. Example: 3 rows on the worksheet are all No. 1 ELEC #12. They are all considered the same light. 3 rows on the worksheet are No. 1 ELEC with unit numbers 12, 12a, and 12b. They are considered three separate lights. 3 rows on the worksheet are No. 1 ELEC with unit numbers A1, A2, and A3. They are considered all one single striplight.< This has been the case since V2, but I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to make LW think it was dealing with strips somehow. Curious as to how it counted color, checked dimmer overloads, etc... as those functions really only work when setup the way John has it described above. Steve B.
  13. I confess that I don't use layers - yet, so have little experience... What I'm trying to do - in Spotlight 10.5, is "transfer" the lables of spare instruments - units not used on a plot, but that exist as part of a master rep plot, to a second layer so as to grey out the spares - while still leaving the units themselves bold, but making the lables less visable - or greyed out, making the units that re in use more readily visible. I know I can assign various lables a class, but only across the entire plot, not on only certain units. I don't want to cut and paste these units to another layer, as that changes the UID - or so I' have ben told, could be wrong. Is there a way to define as: Units that have no channel numbers have their lables go to the "Spare Units" layer ?, or something similar. Thanks in advance Steve B.
  14. Kevin wrote: >I think it is a change for LW4. From the manual it appears that LW4 wants units to be numbered A1,A2,A3.... and considers 1A and 1B differtnt lights< This is correct, though it's not just for LW4. Lightwright - 2, 3 and I assume 4, deals with striplights as A1 being the first color circuit of the first strip, A2 the 2nd color same strip, A3 - 3rd color, then B1 next strip, etc... You will need to turn off position auto-number and do a manual number along the rules established by Lightwright. You will want to do this in VW as it's easier to visualize which strip is first, etc... then to try it in LW where the UID/EID's may not list in the order they are drawn on the plot. Steve B.
  15. Hmmm.... Lot's of thoughts running thru my head.... Old Dog, New Tricks (poorly learned).... RTFM..... Ouch, (that's my hand smacking the side of my head, for the umpteenth time).... Even thought this generated into a discussion of LW, I thank you Kevin for setting me straight, and confess that I indeed learned a ton. And an apology to Seaghan42 for not being of more help. Anybody know of an LW forum ?. SB
  16. Well indeed there is a Lightwright ID Number !, Odd that I had to search in Vectorworks to find it. I would think having it available in a non-editable column, similar to External ID might be useful and would help identify duplication. Is it viewable in LW4 ?. Still, it makes me wonder if it has the purpose that Kevin describes, of telling LW what to match up, as I had the same results while importing with or without the LW ID. As to merging, I use it all the time, but for some reason LW will not merge External ID's. Only Import/Export deals with external ID's, thus it's only useful (to me) for adding stuff into the hookup that I don't need VW to deal with, house lights, spotting light, etc... though I do merge a LW non-UID file with just Ch/Dim/Color/Purpose into a LW file with Extenal ID's provided the LW vocabulary is the same for instrument type and position names. Perhaps this is where the LW ID get used, though without being able to see it, it's impossible to then tell how well something will merge. With or without the LW ID number, an import into LW can create duplicate instruments in an existing file, thus I will only import something new after I've got the two programs in sync. Am I missing something here Kevin ?. I too go back and forth with updates, although I always add new units in VW as that's where the UID gets generated and find VW cumbersome to convert an orphaned unit created in LW into a real unit/symbol. Still, try not mapping the LW ID and see what results. Also, Any good reason to get LW4 yet ?. Steve B.
  17. Well, a good bit of playing around found me wishing I had done the playing prior to hitting send on my post, as my mapping fields in both LW and VW had the LW ID selected. For whatever reasons, I've seemingly had terrific luck importing and exporting to and from VW and LW, probably beginners luck at that.... But.... While playing around, I see no real reference in LW to what exactly the Lightwright ID is or does, not that I don't trust or believe Kevins reply. I could not find those ID numbers. Note that I am refering to Lightwright ID numbers, NOT the External ID's that VW generated and that are displayed in LW3 as a non-editable column. I just got done doing multiple imports to VW from LW, with and without the LW ID filed, mapped with no bad results. I am always able to successfully import assorted information into their respective fields in VW. What Kevin refers to as then importing BACK to LW certainly confuses LW, creating a duplicate set of units, but the LW ID field seemingly had no bearing on this, as far as I could determine. Once I create the initial plot and export VW to LW, then having edited and exported the LW file back to VW, I would then have no real reason to once again send it back to LW. If I've done all that's needed in LW, -error check, color order, etc... the information going to the plot should be correct, and I wouldn't at that point be sending it back to LW, thus no duplicate units as per Kevins comments. In the event that I need to add units, I will add in VW, save, then delete all but the added units, export to LW, with the import adding only those new units and no duplication. It seems that any import to an existing LW file can create duplication, LW ID's present or not. Am I doing it the hard way ?, and/or what am I missing, and an apololgy to seaghan42 as this still may not solve the problem ( or maybe it does). SB
  18. Can't speak for LW4, have yet to find a reason to upgrade and would prefer to see a few more versions get de-bugged, but as to LW3, I've been steadily using LW3s and VW Spotlight 10.5 since Oct. with countless import/exports and with only a few stray errors. I don't map suff that's not important and I've yet to discover a use for the LW ID, thus I don't map it (what is it anyway ?). Try not mapping the LW ID's, only matching the External ID from LW - which itself is the UID that VW generated when you created the plot and imported into LW, to the UID in the VW mapping field. It helps to create a saved mapping field as well. Try it a few times in LW3 only and see if you get better results, then move over to LW4 and see what happens. Steve B.
  19. Indeed. Attempting a new Label Legend in a document originally created in 8.5, then adjusted in 9.5.2 and now running in 10.5, yields the same results -I'm still limited to 6 fields. Any thoughts ?. It's an issue as one of the selling points and a reason I upgraded (besides the multiple crashes of 9.5.2 on a WinXP machine) was to be able to add additional fields to lighting units on a whole series of rep. plots. Steve B.
  20. I've upgraded to Spotlight 10.5.0 and like the new version as compared to 9.5.2, but... It's supposed to allow up to 10 fields on an object in the lable legend manager. My version doesn't. I still only get the 6 possible fields that were available in 9.5.2. When I "Choose Fields" (with 6 fields already selected) and select User Field 1 (or 2, in this instance), then go to Edit Layout, the new - 7th field, calls it self ?Label?. Going back to Choose Fields shows User Field 1 unchecked. Thus I am still limited to 6 fields. Am I doing something wrong, or is it a bug ?. Thanks, SB
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