klinzey

If you purchased Spotlight then you should have a second CD that contains the Gobo Textures. Contact costumer service and they will send you the missing CD. Object libraries are updated with release and major update (x.5) of Vewcotworks.

When you double click on an HTML file does the browser open? VW uses the default browser. Did you install XP with Service Pack 2? There are known issues with the web help and MS first release of SP2. I don't know if the problem was solved with the final release of SP2.

Spotlight and LightWright are both handeling accessories now. You can add them in either place and the other software should pick them up. Make sure that on export you have the LW4 Box checked and that you map accessory the fields correctly. Your Device type should be Static Accessory (New for 11 and LW4) or LW will think they are powered accessories and treat them as devices not accessories and not associate them with an instrument. (If you are using an old libary they are probably still marked as accessories) Check to see that the accessories are listed the LW and that they get imported back into VW.

The only formal Spotlight training is held at LDI. First suggestion is the training CDs. I would also try posting to the Stage Craft list http://stagecraft.theprices.net/. There are a lot of expert Spotlight users on the list and someone in the Chicago may be available to help you.

Fit walls to roof is only available in Architect. Fit walls to roof command only works on walls but it not only fits the tops of selected walls to roofs (or any 3D object) on a designated layer; it also fits the bottoms of walls to 3D objects on a designated layer.

I see the problem. It is caused by moving the drawing origin. I'll enter a bug and try to get it fixed for the next update.

Did you use the gobo holder in the Spotlight 11 libary? A new "type" of accessory was added. 'Statatic accessory' will export as an accessory in LW4, 'Accessories' (the ones requiring a control channel) will export the same way they have in previous versions.

#1 is on the wish list. #2 you need to insert them as accessories, then they will move with the instrument and pick up the unit number. #3 Spotlight 11 supports the new accessory field added in LW4.

Look in the Advanced Topic section under Attaching the Light Info Record. Basically change the information in the light info record attached to the symbol.

Yes, Deleting the information in the Inst Type field will cause all the lighting device to refresh all of the information that is read from the light info record.

Make the changes to the record information as described above. Then run the find and modify command. Select all lights whose symbol name is "ETC Source 4 36?"(or what ever symbol you modified). Click OK. The OIP will say # Lighting devices selected. Highlight the Inst Type field and then hit the delete key then the enter key. The instrument will regenerate and and the field will be filled in with the new data.

You need to change the Inst Type field in the light info data record attached to the symbol def. Edit the symbol and de-select. Chnage the name and then exit the symbol. This should fix it for all new symbols in the drawing. Updating the existing instruments in the drawing requires a few extra steps. Let me know if you need to do this too and I will detail the additional steps.

Whenever the lighting instrument turns into a rectangle, it can not find the refrenced symbol. Check to see if the Symbol Name field is blank or if the symbol has been deleted form the document. If fields were maped incorrectly during an inport/export process the Symbol name field could contain an invalid symbol name. You can use find and modify or replace with active symbol to fix the problem. [ 07-21-2004, 09:22 AM: Message edited by: klinzey ]

Try adjusting your snap and rounding settings. You may need to move your labels just a little. Remember once you move the label in the drawing, it is locked ther until you assign a new legend to the instrument. There is a problem between the way the label legend is rounding numbers and the way the lighting device is rounding numbers. We have finaly been able to reproduce the problem in house and you will see a fix in a maintance release of 11.

CipesDesign, The symbols in question are suppling graphics for a hybrid plug-in object, so it's a little more complicated then just rotating 3D geometry.

Correct. You will have to create a new symbol for each different 3D rotation.

Make sure you follow the directions carefilly when creating the symbol. Be sure when you are editing the symbol you DE-SELECT everyting before you attatch the light info record. If you have something selected in the symbol and then attach the record, the record will be attached to that object and not the symbol def. Also try moving the focus point, there are some lighting angles that it can not calculate, you should get an error message that says Can not calculate, angle must be larger then xxx

You need to make a copy, or edit the existing, symbol def and then rotate the 3D portion while editing the symbol.

lclew, As far as I know there are no architectural lighting symbols designed for use in Spotlight. You can make them by taking a simple symbol and attaching the Light Info record to the symbol and filling out the necessary information in the record. Please refer to the Advanced Topics chapter in the Spotlight manual for details. Spoltight (Vectorworks and Renderworks) do not support IES files. Spotlight photometric calculations are based on a simple cosine distribution of direct light from a point source.

Ken, It's best if you send a sample file. There were several bugs fixed with the twofer for v11, some of them delt with display problems when twofered by circuit.

Kevin, I checked the bug list and there are no outstanding bugs for the twofer related to your problem. So, it should work. If you send a file and a detailed description of how to reproduce the problem to bugsubmit@nemetschek.net they can verify that the problem has been fixed or make an official bug report.

Figuring out what, if any change, happened is on my list of things to check. I need to sit down with LW3 and LW4 and try to import from the same VW file with different number styles of nunbering and see what happens in each. Then I can talk to John about what is happening.

Switching views or rendering modes should not cause a problem. If the gobo texture name missing from the field? Send the file to tech@nemetschek.net and I will take a look at it.

Spotlight has always done Num/Alpha as Num.Alpha. Alpha/Num creates as AlphaNum. I am supprised LW treates NumAlpha as a multi circuit instrument. I know several designers that use the NumAlpha numbering to identify instruments that were added to the plot after it was drafted. Instrument 1A is between instrument 1 and 2, while 1.A is part of a multi circuit instrument.

When the lighting positions are converted, they are transformed into a hybrid object. In 2D view only the 2D postion is visable. If you look at it a 3D view you will see the position. You should have a 2D representation of the pipe and a 3D representation. Simply draw a line over the 3D portion, then select the 2D and 3D, group them then convert the group to a lighting position. It will be visable in 2D and 3D and you can give it a height.