Best design software?

[RiffRaff54]

What the best/easiest Lighting Design software to use? i need to start making plots of what im doing.

thanks
Josh

[SketchyCroftPpl]

I dunno if its the BEST, in fact I know its not. But a while ago I did some posts and I got a bunch of visio stencils for making plots and all that. I'm not sure if they were just deleted from my comp actually but they can work pretty well if you basically know what your doing. Hope that helps!

~Nick

[LDSFX]

If you are looking for a PLOT program, go with Vectorworks Suite 11.5 (With Spotlight included), for PAPERWORK, go with Lightwright 4, distributed by City Theatrical. Rosco's new LPS (lighting paperwork system) also is an option, but it is not as comprehensive as Lightwright.

-Hope this helps!
Nick

[dwt1]

Although not the best, Soft Plot is one of the easiest programs to use.

It is available at http://www.stageresearch.com/

Vectorworks Spotlight is an excellent program and does not have a terribly steep learning curve.

Best wishes,

DWT

[SteveB]

Ditto Vectorworks Spotlight and Lightwright, both arguably the most widely used programs for plot and paperwork. WYSiwyg is a better rendering for program PreVis, though VW now is well linked to ESP.

Note also the VW is now at version 12, not sure they still sell 11.5. Haven't seen any reason to upgrade though...

SB

[thorin81]

I am looking for a freeware/shareware light plot program. Pretty much all the demos are not any good for an extended period of time , so I need a cheap/free option to use.
If anyone knows of an option let me know!!!

Thanks
-Nick
thorin81

[RiffRaff54]

what makes VW better than WYS or Soft Plot? i know nothing about plotting software.

[SteveB]

Riffraff54 wrote:

"what makes VW better than WYS or Soft Plot? i know nothing about plotting software."

Well, better is very subjective. WYSIWYG is a terrific Previs program, probably the most widely used for this functionality. Others are catching up though, the MA program for GrandMA is pretty cool as is ESP Vision for Vectorworks. WYG paperwork sucks though, if that’s important too you (IMHO).

Can’t say much about Softplot. Tried it years ago when it was in it’s infancy. It was easy to learn but had major issues with getting all kinds of bugs fixed. At that time, Softplot could not figure out that a strip light was one fixture with 3 potential channels, colors, dimmers, etc… Thus the hookup was useless. In fact I remember the general paperwork section as useless in general (Note that the current version of VW has a poor paperwork section as well), and finally gave up when big fixes were not forthcoming.

VW when combined with LW is quickly becoming the standard among LD's though, especially for pure drafting and terrific paperwork.

There's a thread along these lines on the LightNetwork as well as the Stagecraft list. Scott Parker (Pace University, NY) recently did a quickie survey on this list about software used by theater folks, and overwhelmingly, Vectorworks and Lightwright were mentioned. I think I saw 1 user with A-Cad, possibly 1 who used Softplot and 1 or 2 who used plug-ins for A-Cad. I cannot remember anyone mentioning WYG. I also see VW/LW used almost exclusively by folks on tour who play our road house, as example.

Thus I'm comfortable saying that if you want a drafting program, VW is the way to go, and if you're not an Emphasis user, I'd go with ESP Vision for rendering.

SB

[futurecm21]

I've been a pretty old school designer for a long time now, and am trying to expand my horizons.

Does anyone have any recommendations for the best design software? and if so where I can find it? (is it downloadable or does it need to be purchased?)

Thanks!







futurecm21

[Esoteric]

Vectorworks.

Mike