Alok

Just an update: I found that I was able to create new label legends and assign them to my lights with no problems. I spoke with someone from tech support and they suggested that somehow my original label legends became corrupt. I was told that usually the source of this problem is importing label legends from an older version of VW into 2008, but since I created these legends within VW 2008, they were unsure of the problem.

Hi all, I'm working on a plot, and I'm having a problem that I've never experienced before. There is no handle in the middle of my channel circles. This occurs on every single instrument, using any of my 3 label legends. If I try to grab the handle of the color value and move it, the channel jumps on top of the color, with no way to separate it again. See the image below: Unit 15 shows the lack of handle on the channel. Unit 16 shows what happens when I move the color handle. Thanks!

One idea that comes to mind is creating a separate label legend for each row of lights. Then, you can go into each label legend, and assign each text value to a new class, specific to that row, for example, move the "Channel" text from the "Label-Channel" class to a class called "Label-Row1-Channel." If you do this for each text value, for each legend, for each of the rows, you could then create viewports for whichever views you'd like, and just turn off all but the appropriate classes. For example, you could create a viewport for Row 1 of the lights, and turn off all the row 2, 3, and 4 label classes. I hope this makes sense. Perhaps someone else might have a better idea. Good Luck!

Hi Charc, Sorry I misread that. No, you can't apply label legends to lighting positions, at least not that I know of. It's been a few years since I've used VW 11, so I'm not sure if the feature existed then, but in the current version, a small blue handle appears, which allows you to drag the position summary wherever you please. See screenshot here: http://www.alokw.com/misc/forums/vw/VWSummaryHandle.png Perhaps someone else knows of a solution you can use in VW 11. Also, you noted that you were a student. In case you're not aware, Nemetschek recently started offering an academic version of VectorWorks 2008 for free to students. I'm not sure if high school students are eligible, but it's worth checking out. http://www.nemetschek.net/student/index.php Good luck, Alok

Hi Charc, Have you created any Label Legends in the Label Legend Manager? If not, you should create one, and assign to it each instrument by entering its name in the Label field in the OIP (Object Information Palette). If you correctly attach a properly made label legend to an instrument, you should have a handle on each text field (channel, dimmer, purpose, color, etc) which you can use to fine-tune each label for specific instruments. If you have done all of this, it *should* work. From what you've stated, it sounds to me like you have a label legend and are using it, but need to modify the layout within the Label Legend Manager from the tools menu. As far as standards go, USITT has created a document for recommended lighting practices which is very helpful as a starting point. Many designers come up with their own standards, or variations of USITT's. USITT Recommended Practice for Theatrical Lighting Design Graphics Link to PDF: http://www.usitt.org/bookstore/downloads/RP-2%20%202006.pdf Good luck, and definately let us know if you still can't get those labels to work out properly.

Make sure you're in the Spotlight workspace. Find the Workspaces file menu. I think it changes depending on what workspace you're currently in. If you happen to be in Classic, it should be File -> Workspaces. In Spotlight its Tools -> Workspaces. Make sure Spotlight is checked. If you are in the Spotlight workspace, I'm not sure what it could be. Perhaps others have some thoughts. Good Luck!

1. Select one or more instruments that you inserted with the Instrument Insertion Tool. 2. Type the name of the Label Legend that you created into the "Use Legend" text box in the OIP (object information palette). Press Enter. 3. If it doesn't show up, refresh instruments from the Modify Toolbar. Good luck!

There's a Genie Super Tower .dwg here: http://www.cue1.net/lib/autocad/tr.html Not sure if it's a ST25, but give it a shot! Good luck, Alok

I think you were right. I re-imported the Lightwright file and double-checked all the mappings, and all was happy. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I just finished up a plot, exported the data to Lightwright 4, changed some stuff, and imported the data back into Spotlight (VW 12.5). Now that I'm back in Spotlight, changing any information on any light, changes the instrument type to "Light" and forgets about the original name. This has never happned to me before. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Wow, that did the trick. Thanks a lot! -Alok

Hi, I'm working on a rather important file, and I think I did something to screw it up somehow. I can no longer hold space to pan, or select multiple objects with shift. I can still pan if I click the pan tool, but if I hold space, it just snaps back to whatever tool I was using previously. Anybody have any idea what I did, or how to fix it? It's only doing it in this one file. I'm using VW 11.5 on a MacBook Pro. OSX 10.4. http://www.alokw.com/stuff/test.mcd Thanks, -Alok

Thanks for the quick reply! Got it working, and it works great! I think I probably neglected to restart the program, figuring that reloading the workspace would do it. Easy fix. Thanks a lot for your help! -Alok

Alright, thanks for the info! I just ended up covering it with a 3D Polygon, like you suggested. Thanks! -Alok

Hi again, Thanks for the files! However, I couldn't get the script to work properly. I follwed your instructions very closesly, and tried using the "Curtain From..." tool on an arc, line, polyline - pretty much everything - but nothing happened when I clicked it. I tried it in VW11 as well, and had a similiar result. Is there something I missed? Thanks a lot for your reply! This sounds like it would work great if I can get it to work. Thanks again, -Alok