mjm

Similarly, I create and apply a "focus point" class to the Focus Points and turn them on/off at will. Generally once I focussed, they stay turned off unless a correction is needed.

But back in biz now. It seems faster/more responsive, is that possible?

Only that a file was corrupt or missing in the install (perhaps because the jobsite I downloaded the installer from had an extremely poor connection which failed repeatedly?). And as a consequence I had to uninstall the entire app and reinstall it and all the little personalizations we all love about the app.

Update: In a blank document, I recreated the layer stack, and copied/pasted into each layer the various drawing items. I left out of the new dwg the five symbols made from one instance of the human figure tool. Voila! No more crashes and a diminution in file size of some 8MB.

So, VW 2013 is having trouble and crashing with such alarming regularity it's taking my breath away at least) (ten or so in the last couple hours at least). I won't go into how untimely-in the middle of a crucial dwg I am-blah blah blah. We've all been there. I just want need it to work. Anyone with helpful thoughts welcome... Herewith the crash report: (whoops, apparently the crash report is too big although it previews fine). Never mind about the crash report then. Have I rebooted? yes. Did it help? no.

Kizza - how'd you get the vendor to change your Graphite font from OTF to TTF? I have the same problem and purchased Graphite specifically for Drafting. thanks, Michael

The Label Legend Manager has developed an incredibly irritating flaw: The label legend containers no longer follow the right read logic reliably, while the 2012 version correctly implements the axis of the containers correctly, see attached for examples of both. Seeing as we're well into SP2 it seems un necessary that such a problem still exists.

Benson & Joshua- thanks so much, such useful info.

Nicholas: I have found the best approach is to blur the Gobo image itself in something like Photoshop or Graphic Converter. I then add them as gobos through the resource palette. It's all a little bit of a pain, but the end result quality is as fine-grained as I could hope for & once the gobo is blurred, I keep it in a folder for further use. I have added two files (same gobo, different level of blur) in case you're curious as to how they work... Happy holidays

Dead link

Sean; I find that I use IES files for cyc lighting (much better than the spotlight fixtures), as they provide a greater degree of verisimilitude and I can simulate my actual hang with a reasonable degree of accuracy... I have attached three files showing in order a render from 2008 showing design intent, next file a shot from the show, and the last a render with a hastily built image prop, the IES cyc groundrow system and a sloppily focussed gobo on the image prop, so I could check to see if the IES-based light source created the same issues you found with the area light.

In VW 2013, the Label Legend Manager mis-rotates my Channel Container when "Right Reading" is checked in the Label Legend Manager, but it only muffs it when the fixture is rotated to the +? direction; in the -? direction, all is fine. Irritating. Almost as irritating as the Tab key cockup. [img:left]http://www.flickr.com/photos/mazzm/8136737247/in/photostream/lightbox/[/img] If I've done the image insertion correctly here, you'll see examples of what I'm talking about. VW 2013 SP1 MBP mid 2009, 8gB ram OS 10.8.2

Tamsin: In my opinion, not quite. Once the selection in System Prefs has been changed to "Text Boxes and Lists only", I can tab between fields in say the Move Selection window, but not in any fields in a custom window like Autoplot Tools for Spotlight window. Not to mention once "Text Boxes and Lists only" is impelmented it cripples keyboard access to the rest of OS X and other applications. This is poor implementation and is distinctly different than in VW 2012.

And Bruce, thanks. I switched from "all controls" to "Text boxes and lists" and all is well. Still wondering tho if that's not a bit of a bug.

Thanks for your thoughts on this... Couple of things: 1. My system has always had "All controls" clicked on (just checked for good measure) 2. This is the only software on my system which does not accept the tab key properly. Thanks, Michael

I call bug: Mt Lion, VW 2013, tab key does NOT advance through the fields, such as the Format Text window or the Move Selection window. How can this be?

Although I am in favor of Steve B's system because I have to extract info at least for any new works/company premieres, another easier take might be to employ "Footnotes" in Lightwright in the Purpose field: Note 1: Rep Dance Name & Purp, Rep Dance2 Name & Purp, etc.

My guess: you haven't punched a hole in the ceiling for the light to emit through. Try suspending the fixtures just below the ceiling plane and rendering....

Christiaan: thanks for your posts. I got the service pack notice, D/L'ed the file, but before installing, checked here as always to see if anyone r4eported anything particularly amiss or aglow.

And, one more for good measure: [img:left] [/img] this is a 50w Halogen reflector from the electrically accurate lamps folder - very bright!

I have to say I tend to agree with you: [img:left] [/img] Here's a custom point source on the left, specified to match the "electrically accurate lamp" on the left - and they do! Dimly. and then there's: [img:left] [/img] which is an electrically accurate 24" fluorescent, which seem vastly more correctly brighter than the 60 bulb.

Ned: what I did ,which worked out fine, was copy and paste by layer the info to a new blank spotlight file. Somehow the corruption was gone or bypassed or something. All was well after that.

Great news Dave, thank you and Horst & the VW / Maxon team.

Horst - thanks for the C4D research to confirm and isolate the problem, and Dave for the promised fix - can't wait. Monadnoc - yes, and it did not make matters better, just less contrast overall.

Thanks for continuing to look into this Dave. Of course, what's somewhat ironic about this is my need for verisimilitude in creating a fake shadow. I hope there's an adjustment which can be made. This (patterns on a cyc from the rear) is a standard tool in the LD's arsenal and I use it regularly.