Power Planning for Riggers

[Wood]

It seems like the only missing piece for riggers to use the cable tool to cable hoists is having Motor controller distribution objects. Does VW have a library of these? I've attempted making one from scratch, but it's beyond my current ability. 

 

Putting my cable lengths in the notes section and manually finding their lengths is getting old. Did I overlook some functionality somewhere?

 

If nobody has these objects, can somebody point me in the direction of a basic tutorial to make my own? I have 3D symbols of my distros already, it's just a matter of making them follow the cable tool rules. 

 

 

Thanks!

[Scott C. Parker]

hello Wood,

We don't, yet. It's on a list, so to speak. When I was laying out rigging systems I would convert my hoists into lighting devices which gave me a lot more control for power and data. I could then insert cable lengths into a cable data field for each and put them on the paperwork.
'm working on plans (no dates to share I'm afraid) to bring cabling, power planning and control to hoists and controllers.

 

I'd like to hear more about what you tried to include in the controllers you attempted to build.

 

As for your putting cable info into the notes field, how do you do that now? Manually? I have a suggestion. Reach out to @Sam Jones, one of our third party developers, and ask him about how his cable tools plugin can help. Here's a screenshot I just whipped up to show you what I do using his plugin. The combination of data tags to show the notes field, in which the cable name/number is inserted, and the cable worksheet give me both the cable/hoist info and cable lengths.

 

Best, Scott

 

 

[Sam Jones]

For Sam Jones it is best to send an email to

sjones@autoplotvw.com

His website is www.autplotvw.com

[Stefan B.]

Hey,

 

With some investigation i was able to cable up hoists. From the break-out to the hoist was quite easy. But soca from the distro to the break-out was a bit more hassle. It took me some time to understand what was going on, and the tutorials from VW is sparse.

 

1. Make sure your hoists is set to use the cable connector you are drawing.

2. You can make your own cables(i did. it takes some time but makes it a bit easier in the end), but you can also use whatever as long as you keep control and know what is what.

 

3. Make sure the the components have all the "same" connector types. Like in the real world. If you plan to use soca between distro and break-out, make sure the distro and break-out is set to soca connector type. If you plan to use DMX(if this is you best alternative in VW) cable as hoist cable then make sure the hoist is set to DMX connector and the break-out out connectors is set to DMX too. then you can use the cable tool quite easy. I used 16A-3phCEE as hoist cable.

 

4. Tips for making your own distros and cables, is to duplicate excising library and alter the connector types and quantity. The Graphic representation you are free to draw whatever you want.

 

 

 

 

Also, se the cable tool "offical" forum thread:

 

 

[Wood]

Thank you for the breakdown Stefan! I'll press forward with making a distributor and see how I end up.