Light Plot Tipping

I grew up on a farm and never tipped a single cow, it didn’t seem fun or sporting. What I do enjoy is giving tips on how to make your light plot look good or ways you can be more productive when drafting in Vectorworks. These tips are based on fifteen years of drafting light plots on the computer using several different programs including WYSIWYG and Mac Lux Pro and are not limited to using them in Vectorworks.

1. Line weight line weight line weight! The best way to make your plot look good and be read more easily is to vary your line weights. The important parts of the plot like the lights and lighting positions should have a larger line weight than the set. A great way to manage line weights is by creating classes with there own distinct line properties.

Same Line Weight

Varied Line Weight

2. Use Classes. I use classes to manage my line weights but also to organize my plot for several different uses. I create a file that contains not only the plot but section and magic sheet. I have found its easier to have all the data in one location. I don’t have to take lots of time jumping from one file to the next. By turning on and off classes I can get to the information quickly. In the case of the magic sheet I can reuse the set and space drafting I did for the plot and when the set gets an update I make one change that updates my plot and magic sheet.

3. Don’t use the standard Vectorworks lighting symbols. First the basic symbols in Vectorworks have a very thin line and they tend to get lost in a light plot. I recommend .5mm line weight but have used anywhere form .3mn-.7mm for my lighting symbols. The other change I make to the symbols has to do with the instrument field angle degree. I work in a lot of houses with the ETC Source 4 instrument and Vectorworks uses small gray letters to show the difference between a 36degree and 50degree. Once you get a couple feet away from the plot its hard to tell the difference in symbols. I do two things to the symbol, I add a mark in the barrel of the symbol and use the USITT recommended practices to denote the field angle. I then that mark and shade it or fill it in, which makes it really easy to see the difference from further away from the plot. I saw this first on a hand drafted plot by Donald Thomas and adapted it to cad.

4. Use color as you would line weight. I have rigorously debated this topic for several years now and know I am still in the minority. Now that color printing has come down in price it is not unusual to have access to a large format color printer. Color can be used to help emphasize or recede an object in the drawing just as line weight does. Use it just as you would and in conjunction with line weight, a brighter color is used to highlight something important and lighter colors can be used on things like the set to pull it into the background.  It works best for a multi-set show where just using black or gray would only confuse the issue.  Color should be used conservatively, avoid colors like yellow that don’t print well or pink that just looks unprofessional. Red should only used when something is really important, it tends to draw the eye to it first. I use as very tight color palette because I don’t want it to end up looking like a rainbow. (I did that once on a Christmas Carol Plot)

Christmas Carol Plot 2006 too many colors

5. Design your title block. Don’t be satisfied with the standard block title block or the one provided by your lighting program. The title block can really make the plot look good, take a look at architectural drawings, architects take great pride in designing a unique title block that can easy be recognized. This can be achieved simply by adding a graphic or having and irregular side. I tent to take that style and add it to my legend for consistency.

6. Create a base file or resource file. If you work in a space more than once don’t re invent the wheel. After that first plot delete your instruments and save it as a base file with all your edited symbols, classes and new title blocks. If you work in multiple spaces create a file with all your favorite symbols, title blocks and legends then add that file to your resource browser so you can easily retrieve them. Another trick is to save your base file as a template in the Standards folder which is in the Default folder that is in the Libraries folder in Vectorworks. That file will show up as a standards option next time you go to create a new class and will bring that information into your new file.

7. Edit your workspace. Keyboard shortcuts save you time and make you money, learn them. There are tons of them that make your life much easier when drafting but when you move into the spotlight workspace many of the common light plot functions like, insert an instrument and label legend manager don’t have a shortcut.  To solve this I just use  a copy of the the spotlight workspace and create shortcuts for those things I use the most.

8. Vectorworks and Lightwright. When you can upgrade to at least Vectorworks 2009 and Lightwright 5. Starting with these versions you can now automatically transfer data back and forth between the programs. I have used this on several shows and found it had not only increased the speed in which I get out the paperwork but the accuracy of both documents.

9. Viewports and Sheet Layers. Viewports were first introduced somewhere version 11 of the Vectorworks software. I can say I really did not adopt them until the  2009 version. They are simply a way to define a “view” on the design layer and put it into its own sheet layer for printing. What they have allowed me to do is keep all the information for design on one file and then just do a viewport of the sections I need to print. I will create one or two for the plot depending on the size of the house, one for the section and one for the magic sheet. Once I created on for the line set schedule to give to the the ATD who needed one. I can make a magic sheet much faster with the plot as a base just by turning off several classes and creating a new view port in a new scale. On the last show I did, viewports fixed a long standing problem I had in Vectorworks. I would change the scale of the layer to print a 1/4″ or 1/8″ plot but when I did the line weights would print too heavy. When you create a viewport you can reduce the scale and line weight at the same time and I was able to print smaller plots that looked good.

Magic Sheet, Sheet layer (click to enlarge)

10 Numbering Tool/Find and Replace. The numbering tool was new to 2009 and allows you to quickly number, instruments channels or other data in a sequential order any by clicking on the instruments. I found this to be a great time saver in imputing the data and to change the data quickly the Find and Replace is a powerful tool to make those changes. If you need to switch out the front light color to R86 find and replace can do it in a few clicks.

Ok I could easily do ten more but this is a good place to start. The examples I used were from my plot for La Boheme feel free to download the VW2010 version of the plot or a pdf of the onstage plot or section. Some of these tips can make you faster at what you do which will give you more time for fun or even take on another job. The rest will help you make that plot look unique and show off your style. Please leave a comment on your favorite tip.

ps. If you are using VW2010 update to service pack 2. I opened my plot to start to do screen shots and made one minor change and half my symbols disappeared.