ok so i seem to have a slight problem. My high school has currently hired a new TD who has specialized in sound but not so much in lighting. The upper class men who used to do the light plots have gone off to colledge and the old TD has come back to save us with the light plot for 'Anne frank and me' once allready. We have now selected 'Seussical' for the spring musical and have been trying to find a program that i can use to create light plots that is easy, effective, and cheap (perferably free), so that we can get going and not have to send out a distress signal to the old TD and seniors who helped us out last time. Any suggestions would be immensely appreciated and i thank anyone with suggestions in advance.
Potential Seussical light disaster
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An easy and free program would be LXFree for Java. If you have a little time to learn and plan on continuing with lighting, it would probably be a good idea to learn Vectorworks or AutoCAD. I know Vectorworks offers a free student license, AutoCAD might. They have a bit of a learning curve though. The first program I mentioned is more like a glorified Paint program. Simple interface, just open up and start drawing.
alyx92
Active Member
I've currently got the free Vectorworks educational version, but I'm a college student, I don't know how/if they go about licensing it to high school students. LXFree worked pretty for me before I got a hold of vectorworks
Amiers
Renting to Corporate One Fixture at a Time.
I agree with Les, there is nothing faster and easier then a pencil a nice big piece of paper and the Stencil SWAG. And if you have already had someone draft you a light plot before then they most likely already have your grid drafted, get a copy and you have yourself a light plot.
Does your school have a drafting or CAD class? When I was in high school, there were classes in both hand drafting and CAD and we had a teacher and computer lab for it. It was not run by the theatre department, but I know many theatre kids took the classes. That being said, I did go to a fairly large high school in a big city. However, you might want to see if your school has such a class, because if they do, you may be able to talk to the teacher and see if the school owns software you can use to make light plots. If it is the right teacher, they may even help you out. For that matter, you may want to take a CAD class!
With the technical aspects of drawing a plot aside, when doing any show, the plot is not the key to good design, the concept is. With a show like Seussical you can almost do whatever you want in terms of design (it has to work with the costumes and sets, but you have a lot of latitude) because it is totally made up. You don't have to make it look real or period. It doesn't have to be super "dramatic," it has to be fun and creative. With this show, don't get bogged down in the technical details and drawings, try to come up with a fun, vibrant and exciting design. On a show like Seussical, the only limit to what you can do is your imagination.
My last point is this: You can have a beautiful design and draw it in crayon on the back of a napkin if you have good ideas. Only a small part of design is about the plot on paper, design is really about the feelings and ideas that you communicate through light. A plot is just a way to communicate to other people where to hang lights, by itself or in the hands of another designer, it can be mostly meaningless. You don't need a computer program or super hand drafting skills if you can find another way to communicate your design ideas effectively. So, if you are designing the show, design it, worry more about how it looks on stage than how it looks on paper!
With the technical aspects of drawing a plot aside, when doing any show, the plot is not the key to good design, the concept is. With a show like Seussical you can almost do whatever you want in terms of design (it has to work with the costumes and sets, but you have a lot of latitude) because it is totally made up. You don't have to make it look real or period. It doesn't have to be super "dramatic," it has to be fun and creative. With this show, don't get bogged down in the technical details and drawings, try to come up with a fun, vibrant and exciting design. On a show like Seussical, the only limit to what you can do is your imagination.
My last point is this: You can have a beautiful design and draw it in crayon on the back of a napkin if you have good ideas. Only a small part of design is about the plot on paper, design is really about the feelings and ideas that you communicate through light. A plot is just a way to communicate to other people where to hang lights, by itself or in the hands of another designer, it can be mostly meaningless. You don't need a computer program or super hand drafting skills if you can find another way to communicate your design ideas effectively. So, if you are designing the show, design it, worry more about how it looks on stage than how it looks on paper!
kicknargel
Well-Known Member
I agree with icewolf, but I also believe that putting it on paper is an important step in being able to actually produce the vision you see in your head. That's when you figure out how many units you need to get an even wash of a color, etc. Not that I haven't done plots on cocktail napkins before. . .
I fourth the idea to do your first few plots with paper, pencil, scale rule and light plot template. That allows you to focus on the choices you're making about the lights, and not the technology of the drawing. The computer is just a tool to speed you up once you've mastered the concepts. Hell, a lot of authors still write a first draft on legal pads.
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I fourth the idea to do your first few plots with paper, pencil, scale rule and light plot template. That allows you to focus on the choices you're making about the lights, and not the technology of the drawing. The computer is just a tool to speed you up once you've mastered the concepts. Hell, a lot of authors still write a first draft on legal pads.
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I have gotten a free student license for Vectorworks at least once (my renewal is currently being processed). I do not know if there is a policy change, but I hope not, as I need Vectorworks for a design competition this spring.
LXFree (or LXFree Java for windows) has been a sufficient program for me in the past, but it became a pain once I realized how fast Vectorworks could be.
I would recommend talking to your Tech Ed./Shop teachers if such a program exists at your school. They are often the ones who oversee the CAD class when one is available.
I had one as well, and when trying to renew, it was denied with very vauge description of why. They responded with:
You may be luckier than I was. I just chose to switch to AutoCAD which had more presence in my district.
StNic54
Active Member
Hand drafting is your cheapest method, and if you want the challenge to learn Vectorworks, they should work with you on the licensing (or even have a teacher contact them about it directly - believe me, they want future customers). Contact your local dealer or the lighting companies directly and they should be able to send you hand drafting templates, and with a quick set of measurements of your theatre space, you'll be off and running. You won't see too many people drafting by hand (or teaching it), but it's good to know both. Also try and get your former classmates to send you the files of the plots they drew to give you an idea of where to start.
MarshallPope
Well-Known Member
It still happens! I spent much of yesterday replenishing and organizing the student drafting kits for the lighting design class. Matter of fact, I'm not sure if there are more than 3 or 4 Vectorworks licenses in the entire school. (I'll say that the department leans hard to performance rather than tech)
This just shows how much of a rank amateur I am, but I've both made and received many a plot done in powerpoint. Its enough info to tell me what is approximately where on a given pipe, and where it is in relation to other things. Generally includes color, often includes instrument type (but not always). I'd be more concerned with knowing what your inventory is, and how to use it than generating diagrams and spreadsheets of what goes where. Getting handed a plot that, for example, calls for 2 color top/front wash with 26 zones on a 30'x24' wide stage using 104 VNSP PARs for downlight, 52 10 degree Source 4 fixtures for upstage wash, 52 19 degree S4 fixtures for downstage wash, and 26 5 degree S4 fixtures for specials, all on unique dimmers is great, except that particular theater only had 48 dimmers and the predominant light types on hand were the axial 6x9 and 8" fresnels.
I'm sure CB member MrTemplate thanks you.
Five? I have about thirty! The only one I've used in the past ten years is the one that's been in my wallet since about 1987. A friend recently gave me a half dozen more, mostly Strand and Vari-Lite.
ered, if you send me a PM with your snail mail addy, and tell me whether you want 1/4" or 1/2" scale, I'll send one to you. May not have Source Four s on it, but I'm sure you can improvise.
Just last month I did a plot in Excel. So I must be a rank amateur too.
Not all shows need plots if you have a small theater no since in wasting time to draw it up, now if you have multiple people hanging and focusing lights that is a different story. I have always drawn them out by hand or just lay excel out in a grid, import symbols into the spreadsheet as pics and place them. Just use lines to designate electrics, battons, cats, and rails. If you already have a plot setup just tweak it for the next show rather than reinvent the wheel, the basic plot that you normally have in house is called a rep plot. It is a basic plot that covers almost if not all areas of the stage. As your scene pieces and things change tweak the rep plot. I never enjoyed doing a full line strip and rehang. It is a lot of work and typically not necessary for most shows. The great thing about lighting it is a art, the stage is the pallet and the lights are your paintbrushes. Go with what seems to flow, do not get caught up in a particular method invent your own. Move different degree instruments around and experiment with them. There has been more than once I climb up a ladder with an instrument I think will work best and go I wonder if this other one would work better or create a different effect than what I am expecting. I remember one show where I designed the rig and hung it about mid week of dress rehearsal I told the director I really am not feeling what I am expecting to see. Stage just looked kinda flat. She agreed and in one blackout day we redesigned the whole rig and reprogrammed. The difference was amazing. Sometimes Mess ups do occur in designs and even when you go by a well established method it just does not work. The way I design now is I read the script straight through including the tech notes just like I would read a book. I know what the stage looks like I know the angles as I read through I visualize the whole thing I look at it in 3D of what would light what areas. I think of colors, think of ways to use your cyc. Don't think you have to stick to normal red green blue, I have used magenta, light blue, yellow, purple, whatever seems to fit.
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If I draw a lighting plot at all, I always draw it by hand. That is because when I'm in the mood for drawing and have a few extra minutes, I'm not usually by a computer. I can carry a pencil and paper just about anywhere, but I don't usually carry computer equipment around. Since most of our shows are small, low key events, I usually just hang "by eye" without a plot.
