Label legends on fixtures in a schematic view

[Sebastian Long]

Hi there,

 

I have some vertical booms with static fixtures rigged to them in my file. I'm using schematic views and wondering if there is a way to only have the label legend for the fixtures appear in the schematic view and not on the original fixtures? 

 

Thanks for your assistance in advance.

 

Sebastian.

 

[JBenghiat]

No — one of my top wish list items for schematic views is that the label legend should apply to and provide control points for the schematic view and not show for lights that have a schematic view. Adjusting label legends for lights that stack vertically is a nearly impossible task, and I end up avoiding schematic views unless the label legends work without needing to adjust individual labels.

 

My workaround is to separate out the viewport that shows the footprint (the Clip tool works great for this) and use a combination of class viabilities and Data Visualization to format the original lights correctly. Sometimes I'll use a rendered Top view (hidden line foreground, RW background) for the footprint.

 

If your vertical position's Schematic is Front or Side (because the view relates to the unrotated position, it's sometimes Top), I find I need to create a new label legend with the light oriented as it is in schematic view (lekos pointing down, movers in elevation, etc.)

[jcogdell]

Have you tried useing Data tags?
Tags can be assigned to a seperate class to control their visibility or used in a viewport annotation so that they only display when you want them to.

[JBenghiat]

6 hours ago, jcogdell said:

Have you tried useing Data tags?
Tags can be assigned to a seperate class to control their visibility or used in a viewport annotation so that they only display when you want them to.

 

Data Tags are an insufficient substitute for Label Legends in a number of areas, particularly when adhering to U.S. drafting standards:

- Data Tags don't have a "right reading" option, which is crucial for channel and unit numbers

- Data tags don't rotate with an object, so a label that is supposed to be in front of the lens or behind the unit doesn't adjust

- The only way to get Data Tags aligned properly to the bounding box of a light is to edit the data tag definition for each size symbol. (so just creating a new style is insufficient)

- A typical label legend consists of a combination of alignment and orientations. There isn't currently a way to add more than one type of data tag at the same time, which means a lot more work and significantly more chance for error.

 

Data tags work well on things like hanging cards, where the text doesn't necessarily have to relate closely to the symbol. But for a standard light plot, they are not a viable solution for creating consistently places and styled labels for hundreds of symbols.

[Kevin Allen]

3 hours ago, JBenghiat said:

Data Tags are an insufficient substitute for Label Legends in a number of areas, particularly when adhering to U.S. drafting standards:

 

 

I am always 'triggered' when I hear data tags mentioned as a substitute for label legends. Somewhere, I think there are people that want to replace the LL with DTs and that is very wrong headed.