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Renaming Fixtures


eamon

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Hi all

 

I am drawing a large amount of plans for an upcoming ballet tour.

 

Some of the plans are copy & paste, some are re-draws. I am using a variety of symbols and jumping from using a fresnel to profiles etc. 

What is frustrating me is the inability to change (properly) the name of the symbol. I have for example flood battens in one venue and I wish to re-use them in another venue as a different fixture e.g. Thomas cyc floods are now Coda cyc battens etc. I wish to leave the symbol as the same unit and just change the name. Just efficient and the scale is not the important. I cannot figure out for the life of me, how to change the symbol name. 

 

I would normally have changed the Instrument info in the object info palette. I have changed the symbol name in the object info and this has given the symbol a mild stroke. I have also doubled clicked and changed the symbol to a new existing name but I cannot change the fixture/symbol/instrument name to a new uncreated name...!!

 

I appreciate the instrument key/schedule has changed and there are some good improvements but can anyone shed light on a sensible way to change the name of the fixture...??

 

 

Eamon

 

 

I am on vwx 2016, final build

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Hi Eamon,

 

If I'm understanding you correctly, you are leaving the symbol the same on the plot, but you want to change how the light is identified to reflect the house inventory.

 

I would not change the name of the actual symbol if you are not changing how the unit draws on the plot.  In Lighting Symbol Maintenance, change the Type field to be what you want to appear in paperwork and Model Name to what you would like to appear in the key.  Upon exiting LSM, you have the option to update Lighting Devices already on the plot with the new data.  You can also check the box Update all lighting devices to push data viewed in LSM to Lighting Devices on the Plot.

 

HTH,
Josh

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I've changed symbol names a few times to work better with worksheets as drawing legends. Really it's like changing the fixture type completely.

 

It's a 3 step process; change the symbol name, change the name used by the instruments affected (in OIP of the spotlight objects), refresh all instruments (spotlight menu command)

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Hi all

 

Josh; you are correct in what I am wishing to achieve.

 

I am finding the ability to change names hit & miss. Needless to say , and typically, this is more miss than hit.... To be honest this is starting to get to me.. 

 

I have tried your suggestions re the type & model and they do not work for me. Sometimes the symbols have new names, sometimes not. I am unsure where & how this is working or not as the case may be. Does the Instrument Field in the Object Info palette bare any use in this equation? I just used to edit this field and away we went,

 

Some symbols will not let me save the changes in the light maintenance too. 

 

I will be upgrading to VWX 2017 but not till the end of the month and this job is finished. Do not want to find more heartache..

 

I am unsure as to what I can do to help work around this problem

 

Meant to say, nearly all are taking their names from the "symbol name" and are ignoring my data.

 

Edited by eamon
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The only reason LSM won't update data is if the symbols are referenced.  Referenced symbols appear as italicised and slightly greyed in LSM.  You have to either run Maintenance on the original library file, or find the symbol in the resource browser, right-click, and choose Break Reference.

 

Also, you may want to double check that you don't have similarly named symbols--possible perform a purge.

 

You can also certainly select the lighting instruments you want to change and edit their type in Object Info.  If you are unable to do that, something is irregular in your file.

 

HTH,
Josh

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Hi Josh

 

I think I might have an idea as to why I am suffering...

 

Having been speaking to Steve Shelley today re a separate manner and another friend who is well versed in vwx, I think the reason I am having problems is that I have only recently upgraded to 2016. I was running 2012 prior to upgrading circa August. I have not done much with vectorworks in the last few months but now typically I am flat out.

 

The below quote is from Steve re a query I had for him:

"in 2014, Vectorworks added the Parts record, so that 3D lighting devices could swivel around and point at Focus Points." 

 

Could it be that I skipped all versions from 2012 and jumped to 2016, that my symbols are not "referencing" the parts records properly? I use a mixture of generic, old white light (uk) symbols and Steve Shelleys field template. Some I just prefer and some are just for the scale. Some of these, I have had for over 10 years etc. Sometimes I change them out for 3D stuff etc.

I did attach a light record via Tools etc and nothing changed in terms of useage.

 

Also, some of the symbols will not allow me to edit or enter any changes when I got to change stuff in the LSM menu.

 

I do not know if the issue is a mixture of me just missing the point or there being a glitch etc. Probably me!

 

I will upload a touring version of the lighting plan in vwx 2016 just so I can show what is happening.

Re the plan, the cyc floods are intended to be Starlette floods and I am using a symbol from another library. Even changing the name  of the house PC lanterns to R/juliat 329 PC from 329PC is not working etc.

 

Many thanks for any help possible.

 

 

Eamon

 

 

 

Nutcracker_An_Grianan.vwx

Edited by eamon
Bad grammar.
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Hi Eamon,

 

The parts record shouldn't have any influence on your data, only the ability of your hybrid lighting symbols to appear focused in 3D.

 

What could be an issue is your Light Info Record.  This data format gets updated periodically, and has definitely changed since 2012.  In the Resource Browser, open the Vectorworks Libraries and browse to Defaults/Lighting Instrument - Symbols/Instrument Symbols.  Locate the Light Info Record in the Resource Browser, right-click, and import.  This will update the record format while preserving your data.

 

The real issue, however, is with some illegal data in your cyc light defaults.  Open LSM and edit the Star Cyc data.  Notice that the Candlepower field is "21,000", including the quotes.  VW expects this to be a number, so the dialog's error checks prevent you from saving any data changes.  Delete the quotes, and all should behave as expected.  Beam Angle, Field Angle, and Candlepower are the only fields that need to be numbers.

 

HTH,
Josh

Edited by JBenghiat
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HI Josh

 

Cheers for the tips and heads up re the LSM.

 

In typical fashion, I am still having the sames issues. I cannot seem to resolve the conflict of the symbol name. I have tried your suggestions and I cannot see any change.

 

I also use lightwright 5 and I have noticed I have a plethora of names for some of the units.  The lightwright file can show a different name whilst the vectorworks key shows another! I have changed the Par 64 MFL to be a Par 64 CP62 in the instrument summary. Lightwright shows a Par 64 CP62 whilst vwx shows a Par 64 MFL; all are attached to the same symbol. Some people here will wrongly debate that MFL refers to CP61 etc. Sometimes easier to put CP62 in the name etc.I accept that I have changed a name type somewhere and not being consistent. Kinda makes me laugh and cry in the same breath.

 

I accept that my process and some of my symbols are at odds with the new (to me) way of using the LSM. The frustration is almost leading me to go back to 2012. I have a license on a second computer etc. Just for the time being to get by the plans I have to draw and the oddities of all the symbols.

 

I am unsure how to proceed as the symbols are a mixture and maybe my symbols are somewhat corrupted. I plan to update to 2017 in a few weeks but am waiting till I get past this trench of work. I do not wish to discover another quirk.

 

Please do not take this as a criticism of the new tool; it works somewhat and is a good idea but it is dragging me down.

 

thanks for all the advice.

 

 

Eamon

 

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Hi Eamon,

 

I don't think your file is corrupt from what you describe, and there is nothing you can't do in 2016 that you used to be able to do in 2012.

 

All Lighting Symbol Maintenance does is edit the Light Info record attached to symbols, and you can certainly edit the data manually as you did in 2012.  The data in Light Info sets the default data for symbols added to your drawing as Lighting Devices.  Three fields in LSM are key to your issues:

 

Symbol Name - this is the name of your symbol in the resource browser.  While you can edit the name in the Resource Browser, this will confuse any existing Lighting Devices, as they will look for the old symbol name.  The symbol name is used to build the Instrument Summary as a means for identifying the symbols you wish to display.  Symbol name transfers to Lightwright as a property of Instrument Types, to specify what symbol Vectorworks uses to create new lights added in Lightwright.

 

Type - this is the instrument type that displays in paperwork.  This will be the data that populates the Instrument Type field of Lighting Devices.  This Light Info value sets the default for new Lighting Devices, but you can change the data in drawing objects to be whatever you want, and it doesn't refer to the default value.  Using LSM to push data to Lighting Devices, or Editing a lighting devices and clicking the Get Data From Symbol button are the only way Lighting Devices will update with default values.

 

This field also imports to Lightwright's Type field (or at least, that's the typical data exchange mapping).  You can change the data to any value in LW, and it will sync back to VW without changing the symbol defaults.

 

Model Name - this is the value that appears in the Instrument Summary.  If no Model Name data exists, the Summary shows the symbol name.  This is distinct from the paperwork type by design, as often the Summary will show a more detailed specification than the paperwork.  For example, my Type might be "S4 26", while my model name is "ETC Source Four 26°."  LSM has a button, Copy All Types to Model Names, as a convenience if you wish for all model names to match the type field.  If the issue you have is with the name appearing in the Summary, then perhaps this is your issue.

 

Generally, the Model Name does not appear in Object Info for Lighting Devices, though you can edit Lighting Device Parameters to make this data appear for every light.

 

HTH,
Josh

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Hi Josh

 

A big thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

 

It works!

 

Thank you for taking the time and explaining how the LSM works. I do and don't like the tool but your guide made me sit down and look at my workflow. I think I did the classic trick of just barrelling in with approx 30 plus plans to draw and a lot of other work too and did not grasp how the LSM works. Some what a case of RTFM.

 

Please excuse the lateness of my reply, the aforementioned work thing is this week a bit time consuming...

 

 

Eamon

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

"This field also imports to Lightwright's Type field (or at least, that's the typical data exchange mapping).  You can change the data to any value in Lightwright, and it will sync back to VW without changing the symbol defaults."

Hi Josh,

Yes and it seems where the change is made is significant. 

I've been playing around with changing types and symbol names to see what happens, motivated by the fact that I’d had a bunch of lighting symbols turn into hollow rectangles and I had no idea why. 

What I'd done is make a change in the Instrument Type column on the worksheet in Lightwright. Syncing back to VW broke the link to the Symbol Definition so Spotlight substituted a hollow rectangle. Scrolling down the Lighting Device OIP revealed that the link was broken because the Symbol Name field was empty. It was empty because the Instrument Type back in Lightwright had no default symbol assigned. 

Changing the Instrument Name in a column on the Lightwright worksheet created a new Instrument Type. That gets added to the list of types shown on the Physical pane of the Maintenance List. The VW pane shows that the new Type has no Default Symbol. Syncing back to the drawing is what cleared the Symbol Name field. 

To change the Instrument Type in Lightwright, change it here in the Maintenance List. A change made here keeps the Default Symbol.

 

Best,

David

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