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Is there a way to include lighting symbols that have been used to create a "lighting position" in the summary count? If I draw a 20 pieces of truss or pipe and convert that into a lighting position then I can no longer count the number of pieces when I use the "instrument summary tool". The pieces of truss that aren't set up as a "position" can still be counted. Any ideas or suggestion for a better way to include truss or pipe in the summary tool count? Thanks.

Just upgraded to 2016 from 2012 -- love all the plug-ins/tools. I'm using the hoist tool now for all my motor needs but can't find a way to determine the number of hoists in the drawing. I found the hoist symbol key but is there a way to get the actual count of motors on the drawing -- like the way the Instrument Summary Tool works? Is it possible to add hoists to the build list of the instrument summary? Cheers. Dave H.

Hi all. Is it possible to create a label legend with some of the labels in different classes so that I can turn it on or off at will by selecting classes? Essentially, I want to have fixture data on the drawing but only have some of it displayed depending on which class is selected. I tried going into the manager, editing the layout and changing the text to the class I want but it still shows up on the drawing as long as that entire symbol is displayed. Using VW2012... *** UPDATE *** I just created a Viewport to make the different versions of my plot to print and if I turn off the class in the Viewport than that section of the label vanishes -- which is what I want. However, it still doesn't explain why it doesn't work in the actual drawing layer. Thanks. Dave

Yes, I did mean "Find and Modify". Yes, if I selected the symbols on the drawing and flipped the Device type, it did show up correctly. However if I inserted the same symbol on the drawing it did not come up as a light even though I'm using the instrument insertion tool and it comes up as a Lighting Device in the OIP. Once again, I had to flip the Device type to Other and back to Light to make it show up. Is something wrong with my method of defining the device? - draw fixture - convert to symbol - edit and add light info record - use symbol Ideas?

I'm using VW2012 and have run into this odd problem. I created a symbol that I've inserted numerous times in the drawing. The correct count shows up if I generate an inventory report but no matter what I do, I can't get it to show up in the "Find & Replace" command. I've attached a Light Info Record to the symbol with the 3D symbol name, model name and inst. type fields filled. If I select the symbol in the drawing, it shows up as a Device Type = Light in the OIP. Any ideas why the symbol doesn't show up in the find & replace list. Under "find all", I'm looking for "Light - whose - Inst Type =" but the symbol is not listed -- the other symbols in the drawing are listed. Thanks in advance.

That was it! Thanks, Kevin.

Hello. I've created a custom title block which I use in the bottom-right of the drawing. It's been working fine for a while. However, I just modified my title block -- added a little height to it -- and now the bottom extends past the inside lines of the sheet border. I can't seem to find any way to move it unless I ungroup the objects but then the data can't be modified. Anybody have any ideas as to how I can let VW know the new size of the block so that it can keep it inside the border? Thanks. VW 2012 Spotlight

Has anybody else run into this on VW 2012? If I focus a light at a focus point and the height is a very low angle then the beam shown (and rendered) is wacky -- not just wrong but bizarre. For example: a light hung at 12', focus point at 7', throw of 30' doesn't show an oval but some bizarre multi-point reflection which makes no sense. -- see attached pic This might have already been discussed but if so, I can't seem to find it. Thanks.

Wow, this is getting cooler by the minute -- if I wasn't under a deadline... It does have something to do with Opacity. If the opacity of the .pdf is at 100% then the output is correct. If the opacity is <100% then VW rotates the .pdf 180 degrees and potentially shifts the origin -- can't quite tell about the origin. Now I tried changing the opacity of the object (.pdf page) rather than the layer and the same thing happened. I think there's a bug here somewhere. If I export a .jpg then everything displays correctly -- exactly as it appears on the screen. Oh, I and I did try using that .pdf in a new file with the same result.

Great idea Benson but it didn't work. Dave

Okay, that subject sounds confusing to me and I wrote it. Using VW2012, I've imported a .pdf drawing into it's own layer. I've then changed the layer's opacity to 25%. I've added my own layers of actual VW drawing on top of it. Now, when I export it to a .pdf, the imported .pdf shifts up and to the left with relation to the other layers. If I just print it out, the same thing happens. It looks great on the Top or Top/Plan view on the screen. I've tried "align layer views" and various "unified view" options but it makes no difference. What could I be doing wrong here? Thanks.

Hi all. This might have been covered before but I can't find it. What I'm trying to do is create some curved truss pieces, flip them 90d (vertical) and turn them into Lighting Positions. In order to rotate the curved trusses, I've had to create them in 3D only by checking the "3D only" box in the OIP. This seems to work great and shows in both Top/Plan and Top view. However, when I select the curved trusses and convert them to a Lighting Position, the 3D object disappears -- I assume because it can only show a 2D representation of a Lighting Position in Top/Plan view. I need to be able to print plots in Top/Plan view and see the complete trusses as all the relevant symbol data needs to be visible. How would I do this? Thanks.

Hey all. I'm running VW2012 and have run into an issue. My projectionists have already figured out that they want to do a 76'x24' screen with two projectors using a .67 lens. I'm just trying to put this into the plot to work out rigging and lighting angles but no matter what I do, the plug-in insists that I use three projectors. I tried changing the "Area Horizontal Count" but it won't accept anything other than three. Is there a way to adjust this? Thanks. Dave

Uggh. Thanks Mike. I can't believe I overlooked that option in Document prefences.... Great idea on adding the prefix when importing the ACAD files. Thanks again for the help. Dave H.

Hello. I'm running into the really frustrating problem that my dimensions keep disappearing. I imported an autocad file and had to hide the "dimension" class because it contained all the building's dimensions. However, no matter what class I try to create my own dimensions in, it automatically puts them in the "dimension" class. I know that I could just copy all the building's dimensions and move them to their own class and then use the "dimension" class for my stuff but shouldn't I be able to put them in any class? I did try renaming the original "dimension" class to "house dimensions" and created a new one called "dimension" but VW still insists that they go into "house dimensions" now. Is there some setting I'm missing? Thanks. Dave VW 2012 SP5 WINDOWS 7-64

Doh - found it. Thanks.

Does anybody know if it's possible to move the name of a lighting position object? Sometimes it gets too close to my pipe and covers up other bits. Thanks.

Thanks MK. Perhaps the technical writers could add that to the manual rather than "NAME--Displays the name of the light (as shown on the Data tab of the Object Info palette)"

1) A way to move or align the name of the lighting position object (ie: orient it parallel or perpendicular to the position itself and move it further or closer to it) 2) In the visualization palette: a) It would be great if when you selected a light on the drawing, it would show as selected in the palette for easier control. b) If you are using spotlight fixtures, if the unit number or some other data field could be used to name the fixture rather than the raw number (ie: xxxx.x.x.x.xNNA) c) if you change something in the palette (ie: turn a lamp on) how about preventing the whole list from resetting and losing where you were working in the list. Thanks!

Thanks MK. That pipeweight.vwx is essentially what I'm looking for. I just need to figure out how to mod. the worksheet... gotta be a tutorial on worksheets somewhere... Thanks for the help.

I'm trying to figure out a way to have a calculation done that can tell me the total weight of everything on my light position object. I thought it would be as easy as creating a report and then just doing an =SUM(field..field) in one of the cells. However, when I create the report, the row headings are broken down as 1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3, 4, 5... where are the lighting fixtures are the 2.1, 2.2, etc. If I use a "=SUM()" formula and use something like "d2.1" as the field, the formula won't work. I then tried the same thing using Spotlight's pre-defined "Instrument Schedule" report and still no success. The cell value just shows the formula but no result. Is there a step that I'm missing somewhere? Thanks.

Figured as much.

I'm trying to select multiple human figures (created using the human figure tool) and modify their attributes (using Set Attributes in the OIP). For some reason, only the first figure I selected gets modified and the rest are ignored. I can change the attributes of the multiple items if I choose an attribute from the drop-down menus in the OIP but if I go in to do a customized figure, it doesn't work. I can't see that I'm doing anything wrong here as it should be such a simple operation. Anybody else run into this?

Hello. I'm previously a VW2009 user that is now on 2011 and waiting for my arrival of 2012. In my plots, I used to create truss (using the truss tool) and then convert them to a symbol so that I could use the Spotlight inventory tool to get a count of them. Now it seems that I can't do that. In fact, if I create the truss (using the truss tool) and convert it to a symbol, I don't even get an error message -- it just doesn't put it in resource browser. I've tried converting it to a group then a symbol -- same result. Open for ideas...? Thanks.

Ah. Good to know. Thanks.