David Roy

Using Autoplot you can import/export to from Lightwrite? I thought that was the major downside of using autoplot, that it didn't translate the spotlight data correctly...

This is sort of related to this post: http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=100643#Post100643 But I thought it different enough to warrant its own thread... so here goes: Has anyone had trouble moving labels in VW2008? I used to have one or two legends that took care of all lights. I would then go through the plot and selectively move the couple channel/dimmer/whatever information to someplace more useful for points on the plot that were really tight and have multiple instruments overlapping and labels being obscured. When I try and perform this move in 2008, I can only move around some of the labels, and often moving one will cause the others to move back to the legend location. This, obviously, is the opposite of help. Anyone have any thoughts? do I need to build my legends/symbols differently now? As an added gripe, every time I retouch a label legend layout in the manager VW2008 resets my class visibilities. ARRGGHHHH.

See also this thread: http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=94616#Post94616

Can you make a different label legend that spaces out the information so it doesn't get obscured? Will enabling or disabling "right reading" help? Also, don't forget that inside the label legend you can position labels, rotate them, move them forward and backward, just like the rest of the drawing. I'm a bit confused about what symbol you are looking for - is it basically a section of a normal instrument?

Select Instrument, and SPOTLIGHT>REFRESH INSTRUMENTS. If that doesn't do it, select the instrument and reapply the legend. Remember if you REFRESH INSTRUMENTS with nothing selected it will do ALL of the instruments.

Ouch.... I really like the lighting position objects, and at first thought this feature was really cool. Now that I've gone through a complete show with this feature, I've discovered how frustrating it can be for instruments to attach to an incorrect position. I second (third?) the motion to turn this off. What would be excellent is a way to turn off the option, just like one can turn on and off auto-numbering. I find auto-numbering to work great if it is set to off, and then you turn it on and off once as the last thing before exporting the data to LW. Leaving it on confuses the program and screws up the numbering. So hello nemetscheck... please a check box in the OI palette for Lighting position objects that enables/disables auto-refresh of spotlight instrument position data. It would be great if the OFF state still allowed instruments to pick up the data on insertion, like they used to, and the ON state enabled the (sometimes usefull) drag-and-drop updating.

I second that. You can also check out Vectordepot.com. I haven't checked it out in a while but used to find the odd needed item there. The field template is the way to go unless you are one of the geeky types that loves spending hours and hours creating your own symbols.

Hasn't been removed, just difficult to get to. Right click instrument and choose edit light. Turn on/off/color/dim to desired happiness. Alternatively, turn on the visualization palette and click on off, or select several instruments at once and command them to your bidding.

I've been importing/exporting to and from LW4 with 0 problems, but I always have checked the "fill black fields with -" box. Perhaps this was the only problem.

ps remember that this program will not do what wysiwyg or many of the other visualization specific suites will do - you can't create full viz simulations of the whole show, at least not in a timely or practical way.

I don't know about 11.5, but in 2008 the haze is controlled like so: Create a Render Background, Apply it to the same layer that your lights are on. I find the following settings useful for rendering haze: Render Background: Background: None Weather: Lit Fog options: Color Grey, Density 0.00007, receive shadows, Type isotropic, Quality medium, no density variation. You can experiment from there but I find the above settings to produce satisfying renders in a timely fashion. Oh, I usually use Fast Renderworks with Shadows to create the render, and make sure that all of your layers are set to no ambiant light, or perhaps one layer with 10%. Select the lights, then in the object info pallete (some versions, I can't remember 11.5 too well..) or the visualization pallete (you might not have one yet) or by right clicking the light and selecting Edit Light - check the following settings: There's a box for lit fog, this needs to be checked. If you are using spotlight instruments, you will have to create focus points and focus your lights before you can turn them on. Once this is done, Select Light On or off etc. There is also a dimmer function and color function. It all should be right there in the object info pallete after you focus the light. If not, select the device and right click>edit light. I think in VW11.5 you still have to insert gobo projectors into the light in order to have a template. You will also have to import the gobo texture and apply it - thats a whole other complication.

I've noticed that in VW2008 when you drag and drop a fixture it picks up the position name and z height from the new lighting position object that you have dragged it to. So perhaps you are dragging the fixtures to somewhere that is not a lighting position object, and they are looking for information that is not there, and therefore setting the values (Z height, Position Name) to 0/none? Could this explain that aspect? I'm also having the problem of manipulating items in 3d space and returning to plan view and having label legends messed up. My specific problem is that the Channels (only label class besides purpose on at the moment) jump about 10' further out on whatever axis they are on. Same thing, refresh instruments returns the labels to the proper place. I haven't stressed about it yet because it is an annoyance, but hasn't really hindered my process to much because my plot is small and refresh all instruments doesn't take too long. In a week when the plot is between 400 and 700 instruments.... then I'll worry.

I was speaking specifically of spotlight instruments, which won't let you right click and EDIT LIGHT when you have multiple units selected. The visualization palette does accomplish what I'm looking for in terms of being able to select multiple instruments and change their properties at once. However, it also changes the process from a point and click visual process to one where I must hunt for the correct unit in the list by name. This is helpful after the plot is channeled, but until then its more difficult while multiple units have the same or similar purpose. Also, I believe in VW12 when I typed in a color name and number into a lighting instrument's color field, the embedded light device would change to that color. Now there is an additional step of giving the embedded light device a color. Is there a way to copy and paste the light on/off/color/intensity properties from one device to another? That would also help this.

Is there a way to move the EDIT LIGHT context menu information, or at least basics of it, back to the Object Info Pallete? As Andrew points out, all the other attributes (show beam/focus/etc) are there. In previous versions of vectorworks I could select multiple lights in wireframe and then advance through them quickly in the Object Info Pallete to individually set On/Off, Intensity, and Color, or I could select a group of units and give them all the same info. The new way takes many, many, more keystrokes and much more time, since I have to right click each light individually. Is this the only way to do this now? Any chance we can have these items restored to the Object Info Pallette in a future update if there's not a way to set it up now?