Vectorworks Lighting Symbols and LW6 Data Exchange

[Darnold74112]

Hello Everyone!

 

Recently a few Production Electricians, my self included, have been having issues with Vectorworks not taking the information and or fixtures disappearing in LW.

 

With time I have come to identity that it has been an issue with specific symbols such as the X4 Bar 10 in this instance. Some things that are happening include the following.

 

1. Lighting device symbol record will not take the information supplied by the data exchange from LW.
2. If you change information associated with fields some units will take and others will be left blank on the object info palette then on another change, LW loses the information because VWX does not have anything in that field in the exchange. 
3. For some reason the dmx patch in VWX has channels associated with the symbols that are causing issues but it doesn't show that way.
4. When looking at the Spotlight DMX Patch program, the sheet recognizes the x4 bar 10's have been channeled at 501-514 while the selecting the fixtures will not show the channel or patch information in the lighting device object info palette. It also has several additional fixtures that don't have any channel information which are un-locatable on the drawing itself.
5. When new think we are editing a specific fixture, it appears as though the specific vwx id is duplicated causing vwx to assign what we thought we were editing and apply it to a completely different device in another location

My current questions are.

1. Is there a standard to which the symbols for fixtures are created now. Who is checking the GDTF?
2. Are they tested multiple times to make sure that when inserting into a drawing, they are not corrupt?
3. Last one, Help! Please, I have called support about this multiple times and I get the its not on us response. This is a vwx assigned id issue and not a mckernon issue.

 

Video Attached.

 

Thank you all for your time.

 

[klinzey]

From the screen recording it looks like you are using Vectorworks 2023 or prior? Have you tried this in 2024?
There were issues in prior versions where it was possible to duplicate the Lightwright ID, doing a complete export to Lightwiright from Vectorworks will correct this problem if it exists.
In the recording an important part of the OIP is cut off so I can't see what part of the fixture is selected for editing; the OIP may be showing you editing the accessory or a cell of the fixture. We have seen this happen frequently.
Did you add the X4 Bar 10 in Vectorworks or Lightwright? There is a known issue where lights added in Lightwright do not get the proper Lightwright ID assigned in Vectorworks and this will cause sync issues. (This issue will be resolved in an update for Vectorworks 2024.)

Fixtures shown in Lightwright but are not visible in Vectorworks may be on a hidden layer or class. You can show layer class and location in Lightwright which may help you locate them in Vectorworks.
You can also use the Select in Vectorworks command in Lightwright to select the fixtures in Vectorworks.
Fixtures could also be grouped in a hidden class?

Have you tried deleting and adding the lights in Vectorworks to see if that corrects the problem?
Can you reproduce the issue in a new blank file?

GDTF are created by the manufacturer or a user. Vectorworks does not create or check GDTF files.
It's up to users to check GDTF files and then up vote, down vote, or report problem files using the mechanisms provided in the GDTF share.

For further testing in Vectorworks 2024 we would need to have the Vectorworks file and the Lightwright file so we can examine the internal IDs that are in use.

[Darnold74112]

@klinzey Thanks for responding, 

 

As it goes, we do not add fixtures in LW. All fixtures are added in Vectorworks before adjusting parameters in LW.

 

The lights do not have any accessories associated with them, Therefore not editing accessory info.

 

Not sure if you noticed in the video, but when I applied the channel info to the units (which was done after the data exchange was initiated, the impressions that I made 501-514 did not get that info, when I searched for it in VWX using find and modify, it selected a Mac Ultra which is a completely different fixture that was in the 10's for channel numbering prior to the change which came from the exchange that thought it was editing an bar on a completely different truss

 

When a drawing is received, We typically perform a full export in a folder that is not synced with a cloud on the computer itself. Then open LW and go from there. VWX is the one setting everything initially for the exchange.

 

We also ensure that the exchange has all the parameters we use. It is weird that it works with some fixture and not all.

 

The thing with deleting a fixture is you lose all of the information that they have put into the fixture such as channel, purpose, focus. 

 

Yes this is 23' as our designers are not ready for 24' just yet.

 

The fixture symbols are pulled from the live library in the resource browser

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Darnold74112

[Darnold74112]

@klinzey Just tried it in 2024 and still have the same issue.

[klinzey]

I gave the x4 bar 10 a quick test and I did not see any issues.
It likely something specific with your file that's causing the issue.
Here is my test file along withe a recording of the data exchange.x4 bar 10 Test.vwx  

 

[TomWhiteLight]

What happens when you run a refresh instruments command? (In Vectorworks)

[TomWhiteLight]

I would try deleting the XML and setting up a new exchange