Jump to content

Cable Tool Info


Mike Myers

Recommended Posts

I've been playing with the new cable tools in VW2017.  I am wondering if there is any way for the tools to drop the info for whatever jumper into it's associated fixture.  For example, if I am using the "Assign Multicable Circuits" tool it is assigning circuit name, circuit number, as well as dropping a cable into the drawing based on your settings.  Is there a setting or way to have that cable input into a field in the fixture.  So in addition to assigning circuit name and number it would also put "5' L6-20" into a "Jumper" field or "10' 5pin DMX" into a "Data" field.  Is this something that already exists or can be done within the current version?  This would allow cable fields to be exported to Lightwright 6 which I think would make managing the cable info created in Vectorworks much easier.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 years later...

I had hoped to write a some advanced capabilities using the current VW cable tools, but all the things that I wanted to implement eventually just demanded the creation of a new version of the 4 cable objects.  Using the new objects more things were capable involving inventories and the sharing of data.  I am afraid that there is a never ending list of things people want the cable tools to do, but I am chipping away at it.  As for improvements to the in house VW cable tools, I don't see any coming in the near future, but I am not a VW employee, so I guess anything is possible; there just isn't any sign of it at the moment, but what do I know.  As for the improvements that I have put into AutoPlot Tools for Spotlight.  The dialog below is an example of the current state of Circuit Assign Prefs command in AutoPlot Tools.  Contact me if you want more info.

1368375572_ScreenShot2019-02-03at10_44_29AM.thumb.png.85c2cf08e456e068567ee1e1ff29d7f6.png

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
  • 5 months later...

I too would like to see this.  

 

I downloaded the AutoPlot tools for 2019 as a demo.  I followed the steps in the Circuit Assign Prefs dialogue to insert the appropriate data into the appropriate fields with no luck.  Every time I opened the dialogue it was reset to default settings regardless of checking the "save as VW default" box at the bottom.

 

Having this work would save countless hours of manually entering the data.

 

I'm sure I'm missing something somewhere in the AP settings, however, I would really like this to be native to VW Spotlight.  I manage several other draftsmen at my current firm so trying to uphold standards with an additional add-on in the mix would complicate things.

 

VW, PLEASE MAKE THIS A REALITY!

Link to comment

@Sam Jones 

 

Thanks for the response.  Unfortunately, I cannot share the file due to confidentiality reasons.  I have, however, attached a screen shot with the information you requested.

 

Its worth mentioning that I started a new file completely blank file, dropped a few lighting devices in it, and everything seemed to work.  The file I was previously working in was a working file so I'm leaning towards the project sharing environment causing issues.  When I have a moment I will save my working file as a regular .vwx file to see if that has any influence.

 

Would there be any conflict if I had previously used the cable tools native to VW in the file prior to using the AP cable tools?

Screen Shot 2019-07-27 at 1.41.29 PM.png

Link to comment

I'm not sure this is the place to go into detail about 3rd party scripts.  I'll try to keep it short.

 

1. The AutoPlot(AP) version you were working with is up to date.

 

2. You cannot use VW cable objects with AutoPlot Cable Tools.  This is because there are many things going on besides putting data in Lighting Device fields.  All 4 cable objects had to be enhanced to accommodate user definable inventories, box cable counts, and loom reports.  Also implementing date functionality into cable tools required some changes.  So... if you want assigning multi, jumper, and data cable info to Lighting device fields to work, you need to only use AP cable objects.  AP cable objects can reside without conflict with VW cable objects, but those VW cable objects will not be recognized by AP commands and functions.  There are commands to convert VW cables to AP cables but those conversion commands will convert all the VW cables in the document.

 

3. Using Project Sharing with AP Cable Tools is possible but challenging.  The challenge is primarily with where inventory XML files reside.  They need to reside in each user's User Folder, inside that Plug-in Folder.  This can create challenges with keeping those inventory files up to date across computers.  Later in August I will be investigating how to broaden the choices for inventory location.

 

There is a great deal to discuss about using cables in entertainment planning and drawings, but those discussions should probably be informed by the conversations I have had with production electricians, tech. directors, and corporate LDs over the last 2 years.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...