W Wilkerson

I can't help with the ACLs or specific Hazer symbols. I use the same symbol for all hazers and just enter the name. For a tutorial/manual, I recommend these: http://resolve.ca/services/trainingguides I used to teach VW and used some of their books as textbooks. Good luck, weston

Attached is a file highlighting my issues. In the past, the field w/in the blue box of the label legend created with the class "Setup Notes" never showed up when the label legend was in use on a fixture. In this instance, "User Field 2" and "User Field 3" and are showing up. I know that I can deselect these fields from the label legend manager, but I am curious why it now shows up where in prior versions of VW it did not. What do the red versus blue boxes mean in the label legend symbols? Also, the bottom fixture has data in all of the fields that have a container: Dimmer, User 1, User 3. If one turns off the visibility for those classes, the bottom fixtures' data in their respective containers disappears, but the top fixtures' data-less boxes stay visible. Why are my data-less containers staying visible when their respective class is turned off? Thank You, weston

Michael, Do you know why there are two "stock" records? I assume that the "Parts" record is now a third stock one with VW 2011. Is the intention of the "Light Info Record" to rapidly fill common data (ie. frame size, wattage, weight, etc), or is to help generate Paperwork in VW Spotlight? Or is it both? weston

Josh, I believe I have handle on how you use Model Name, but how do you use Instrument Type? weston

I have been making and modifying my own lighting intstrument symbols for years, and, somewhere along the way, I ended up with a custom Light Info Record. I use Lightwright to track paperwork and transfer back and forth. Does the Light Info Record matter at all in this scenario? I have weight, frame size, wattage, etc. in Lightwright. I assume it would matter if I sent a plot to a venue that used VW's paperwork, correct? The reason I ask is that I am updating my symbols to include the new Parts Record to allowing VW to aim the fixtures, and I thought I would make my Light Info Record be what it "should" according to VW. What are the requisit fields for VW Spotlight to generate the proper Paperwork? Does the order in the record matter? What is the difference between Model Name and Instrument Type? Is it neccessary to have both? Is the 3D Symbol name a relic entry? Thank You, weston

I have yet to upgrade to 2011, but I too am updating some symbols right now. How should the 3D element be constructed to facilitate Spotlight accurately aiming it for us? Right now, my 3D part of the symbol is a yoke and clamp with the fixture rotated to -45? about eight or nine inches below the locus (is that the right term?) of the symbol. Will the entire 3D symbol be rotated or does VW somehow know to rotate about the lower or upper end of a yoke? weston

I have had a similar issue with non-symetrical label legends but not consistently. After mirroring, I have had some fixtures whose orientations was -180?, and, in those cases, the legends were opposite in appearance from what I wanted. I changed their orientation from -180? to 180?, and they reverted to the correct layout. I haven't yet messed with this, but, if their is a difference between -180 and 180, perhaps their is a difference between 45? and -315?, for example. By dumb coincidence, I don't recall using a non-symetrical legend on shows where I have non-orthogonal orientations. So, I don't know if that is true or not, but it might be worth a check. As you noted above, that shouldn't matter geometrically, but it may! weston

You might try messing with the "Non-Rotating" box associated with each label legend within the Label Legend Manager. That locks fields in place relative to their assigned positions. Is it possible that the fixture has been mirrored about itself? Please post when you find a solution. I am curious.

You could use the MARK field that exists in both programs, and limit using that

I use only one sheet layer per print size. I did that mainly because I used to have to print on multiple printers and plotters frequently and that way I could link the Page Setup to only one Sheet Layer which would effect all of my printouts. I navigate this making a series of classes called "Print-XXX". For example, Print-01 Plot Print-02 Section Print-03 Booms Print-04 Practicals Or as a TD, there might have hundreds. I then bounced around using saved views. What are the P_ and S_ functions you mentioned? Thanks, weston

Many of my lighting symbols have multiple symbols within them to indicate lens degrees, wattages, etc. As of updating to SP4 ( I think that is when it happened), when I place one of these fixtures in a document, it creates not one lighting device but one for each component symbol. These symbols are then treated as a multi-circuit unit that can be moved around and all of the elements follow. However, individual elements can be deleted. For example, my source 4 19? 750watt has the following components: - 2D/3D symbol for the clamp, yoke, and body of the fixture - 2D/3D sybmol for the lens and a color code thereof - 2D symbol to highlight what is for me an uncommon wattage Instead of a single 19? unit, I get three separate devices each with their own channels, dimmers, etc. Grouping does not work. If I make that three into a symbol first so that their the first step within the symbol contains only one symbol and possibly some text, it works. Only symbol components within a symbol seem to do this unless one "protects" them as noted above with one additional layer. Any thoughts of how to avoid that step? I have included a sample file that highlights this issue with Source 4 PARs. Thank You, weston

On my light plot, I am trying to manually enter some position data for channel numbers, for example, but the numbers seem to be offset. If I type 0" into the label 1 x-coordinate and then hit enter, the value changes to 26'5" and the channel is twenty-six feet five inches away. If I type -26'5", the channel is behind the unit. Any ideas? I had this problem years ago and feel like it might have been associated with repositioning the origin. I have inherited this file from the rep designer, and do not know its past at all. Thank You, weston

I just loaded VW 2008 onto my Vista-64 machine... In the past with my VW 12.5.X on my XP-64 setup when I selected the icon to navigate and create saved views, the window would expand into, if necessary, multiple columns to show upwards of 200+ saved views. Now, the window has the option of clicking the arrow at the bottom to scroll down the list instead of expanding to additional columns. Is there a way to change this? Thanks in advance, weston

Update... I recreated the items on the higher order layer, and the rendering now works. I am not sure what is different. I have compared both extrusions, and the appear to be identical.

I am trying to indicate a floor with a 6" wide border of the same thickness. I intially drew the border, say a 10'x10' square, added an additional 6" border around it, and did a 0? tapered extrude of 1/4" so that I would have quick Z-Axis control. I then did a hidden line rendering, and some of the detail, the interior perimeter of the 6" border disappeared. I redid the object as a standard extrude, and everything showed up upon doing a hidden line rendering. I teach a class on VW, and it would be useful to explain to students why this occurs. Any ideas? One of my peer users suggested some rounding errors in the vectormath, but that is beyond my realm of expertise. Thanks, weston

I am trying to render a tapered extrude on a layer of higher order the another. Upon doing a hidden line rendering, the back layer is still visible. The rendered object is a filled and closed polygon. I have done this countless times before and never had a problem Any ideas? ***Addendum*** The objects on the lower order layer are floor objects.

Is there a way to make a custom arrowhead available on the attributes of a line, for example? Thanks in advance, weston

How does one get dimensions to appear in a decimal format? I currently have: 1' 2 3/8" I want to have: 1' 2.375" Thank you in advance, weston