Seeking example designer drawings

[Colin]

I end the Stagecraft course I teach every semester with a paper project that asks students to create construction drawings and a cost-efficient materials order for a piece of scenery. So far, I have recycled scene designs from the same few shows that I've decided present interesting and appropriate challenges, but it would be nice to have more to pull from.

Another challenge is that our current scene designer (and each previous one) drafts by hand. He's among the best I've seen at it and the drawings are clear and artful and all-around beautiful, so I like showing them to students, but it adds a step and a cost to distributing the drawings to students. So far, this project has also been a hand drafting project, so photocopies of hand drawings have been fine, but I received funds to add a Vectorworks lab license this fall and would like to work it into this course. Using designer drawings made in a CAD program makes more sense than ever. Also, I think there is something to be said for exposing the class to the work of outside designers in spaces other than ours (which they already engage with during the rest of the semester).

Does anyone else do an assignment like this? Would anyone be willing to donate designer drawings with whatever crediting they desire for classroom use only? Any other ideas about sourcing?

I'm looking for (roughly) USITT graphic standard and a selection of scenic units that lend themselves to adaptation of standard wood scenery construction methods. This is an introductory level course, so I try to stay away from significant load-bearing scenery while challenging students to apply the average stagecraft text's content in new 'real-life' situations. Lots of irregular flats and such.

One of the things I like about using previously realized designs is that after the project is complete I can show the class actual production photos and construction drawings from that show, so I'd be interested in those accompanying resources as well.

I'd be happy to reciprocate if anyone else is doing this type of thing, but again my library of drawings is quite limited and analog right now...

Thanks!

 

[Footer]

Check your PM's, just sent ya stuff. I don't know if this has changed in the last few years since I "left" theatre, but I found it rare to get actual DWG or Vectorworks files from designers. Instead, you got PDF's and prints of plates. With this method the design is "sealed" and you have what you have to build off of. Too much chance in CAD only for something to not be communicated properly. With that also you will still find many scenic designers still hand draft. It is faster for the artist types.

 

[Colin]

Thanks, but I'm not seeing your PM yet. This would be my first time using the feature so maybe I'm just being thick...

I may have been a little unclear--PDFs are totally what I would expect rather than original CAD files. Still great in that they are already electronic and are more zoomable than a hand drawn scan. But Vectorworks files would be cool to show students also, so they can see how other people are organizing their files and such. I have my own ways, but am self-taught in VW so not much exposure to the practices of others.

 

[Footer]

Thanks, but I'm not seeing your PM yet. This would be my first time using the feature so maybe I'm just being thick...

I may have been a little unclear--PDFs are totally what I would expect rather than original CAD files. Still great in that they are already electronic and are more zoomable than a hand drawn scan. But Vectorworks files would be cool to show students also, so they can see how other people are organizing their files and such. I have my own ways, but am self-taught in VW so not much exposure to the practices of others.

Try again... I forgot to hit send.

 

[themuzicman]

Check your PM's, just sent ya stuff. I don't know if this has changed in the last few years since I "left" theatre, but I found it rare to get actual DWG or Vectorworks files from designers. Instead, you got PDF's and prints of plates. With this method the design is "sealed" and you have what you have to build off of. Too much chance in CAD only for something to not be communicated properly. With that also you will still find many scenic designers still hand draft. It is faster for the artist types.

My theater gets a TON of hand drafted stuff from designers, if their assistants are drafting we get DWG's every now and again. It is then our draftsperson's job along with the TD of the show to turn the hand drafting or partial DWG into full on build drawings. It would be fairly hard to figure out a materials order off of the scenic designers drawings alone - platforms would have no legs other than the few the audience sees, walls would have no bracing, etc. The drawings that get distributed to Lx and Sound come from the TD after they have finalized build drawings with the Scenic Designer.

 

[Footer]

My theater gets a TON of hand drafted stuff from designers, if their assistants are drafting we get DWG's every now and again. It is then our draftsperson's job along with the TD of the show to turn the hand drafting or partial DWG into full on build drawings. It would be fairly hard to figure out a materials order off of the scenic designers drawings alone - platforms would have no legs other than the few the audience sees, walls would have no bracing, etc. The drawings that get distributed to Lx and Sound come from the TD after they have finalized build drawings with the Scenic Designer.

Glad to see that has not changed. Personally, I like the "fuzziness" of hand drafted scenery plates. The designer spends less time thinking about how it is going to be built vs how it should looks. A well drafted plate just gets the info across and lets the TD/Shop staff get the piece to look like that. The non-exact nature of hand drafting can allow for a bit of wiggle room in final execution as well.

 

[Colin]

I'm glad the thread is going in this direction (although still interested in electronic files for my purpose). This could be a valuable poll question--who is still drawing or receiving drawings done by hand?

In my department we really like teaching those skills, and we think it tends to deepen engagement with the artistic process in at least scenic and costume design (the advantages of Vectorworks plus Lightwright for lighting are pretty undeniable). In hand drafting, even just the sheet layout process is valuable in that it forces a more holistic treatment of the content and its communication, since you can't just ignore layout and drag viewports around to fix it later. Much harder to autopilot through an assignment.

Still, the flip side is that students have a lot of catching up to do in the area of dexterity and hand craft before that technical process no longer gets in the way of communicating design ideas in a design course (small department offering only BA not BFA--no dedicated drafting course so far). I could go on a rant about the collapse of hand craft in the smartphone era, but regardless of my opinions there is a practical issue of time limitations in a semester and in a small four year program. Vectorworks takes time to learn too, but 2-D drawing for intro design work is pretty straightforward.