seeking affordable design software for creation of lighting plots (educational)

[jloder]

Hi there,

I'm curious to know if anyone out there can refer me to a good source for affordable lighting plot creation software. also interested in same for design of stage elements/flats, etc.

Thanks~

[SteveB]

Originally Posted by jloder

Hi there,

I'm curious to know if anyone out there can refer me to a good source for affordable lighting plot creation software. also interested in same for design of stage elements/flats, etc.

Thanks~

Provided you can verify either student or educational usage status, then Vectorworks Spotlight would be the way to go. They issue a free Educational version. It has a reasonably complete set of lighting symbols and is a full blown drafting program for scenic drafting as well.

I believe there are a few differences from the version you would purchase, such as limits on exporting, and of course the educational version prints a watermark across the top and bottom of the print "VECTORWORKS EDUCATIONAL VERSION".

Other then that, it's certainly in your price range and it's the lighting industry standard for drafting light plots.

Vectorworks Student Portal | My Vectorworks Portal

Steve B.

[shiben]

It prints a watermark? I have never noticed that for some reason. Wow.

[Grog12]

Originally Posted by shiben

It prints a watermark? I have never noticed that for some reason. Wow.

All versions from 12.5 on. I've posted this here before but for brevity's sake. Check the top and bottom of the image.

[MNBallet]

I use Turbo Cad. Price is about $30 at a Office Max type store. It's a generic Cad program, but once you build your lighting symbols (free from the web, each company has them on thier websites) and it's just click and drag. Can inport and export in several file types that other programs can import (.dwx, .dwg, .dxf, .pdf...etc) I find it easy to use for both light plots and set construction drawings, and the price is right.

Yea, Vectorworks and WYSIWYG are what most educational theater programs are teaching, but if you have to pay the $$, can't go wrong with TurboCad.

[Grog12]

Well if we're going really affordable I suggest hand drafting or the best cad program out there.

[derekleffew]

See also this thread: Lighting Software.