lighting plot software

visigoth

Member
Does anyone know where i can obtain inexpensive or better yet free lighting plot software. I need just basic stuff, as I only rehang about 2 or three times a year.
 
Yep, pencil and paper works, and its about 95c's. If you are a student, vectorworks is available for students for free. Do a search, this question comes up about every 6 months. Remember, you get what you pay for.
 
I use Field Template, Desk, Scale Rule, Triangle, Pencil, and Eraser. Works well enough for me.

In my college years I used Autocad. Much easier to move a light than with the other stack, but it also takes having access to Acad. It also takes having a plotter to export useful data off of the system.
 
The IT guys here just installed AutoCad on my computer so I can do plots. :)
 
Any lighting supply store will have them, I order mine from Babizon.

Field Templates™: THE Source for Theatrical Lighting Symbols! - Also has a list of vendors by location, although I'm guessing online stores would sell them cheap as well.

Steve gave me one of his business-card templates at USITT '05; it's always with me and has come in quite useful a few times. The local theatrical supplier (Norcostco) stocks his regular ones as well as somebody else's blue ones. They're all slightly different, but they all work. The blue kind also has a section version with Leko field angles on it, which is very handy.
 
I dont know whetere this may be a wee bit late but i recently discovered a technique i use a program called Turbo CAD andf i downloaded the symbols free at modelboxplans.com

Its not as good as programs such as vectorworks or wysiwyg or softplot, but for a freebie, it does its job.

Hope this helps
ciao
 
Field templates are great. scale rules, paper, rulers, right angles and a few other items are all you need. Less than 50 bucks spent.
I personally use AutoCAD and I loved LD Assistant 08. I got to use the newer versions of it and dread the layouts. But if you know how to render in 3D you can get a decent idea of how your plot will look before you hang it. I know that program best as far as my computer tools. Also it connects to several programs like lightwrite. I believe you can get a student version of LD Assistant for $99. But I could be mistaken. And it lasts a year.
Vectorworks is also a great tool. I don't use it all that much but most of my friends that use it brag about it- and often how better it is than AutoCAD. I don't see any major differences so I can't really speak on that behalf. But there are student versions and trial versions I believe on the website.
 
Vectorworks is also a great tool. I don't use it all that much but most of my friends that use it brag about it- and often how better it is than AutoCAD. I don't see any major differences so I can't really speak on that behalf. But there are student versions and trial versions I believe on the website.

Vectorworks has a student/educational edition (Spotlight). Free if you're a student/educator. About $2000 if not.
 
I really haven't played with it enough to give it a download. I work well enough with AutoCAD to not have much reason to learn another piece of software at the moment. Not to say I won't do it eventually. Just have no reason to at the moment. Pluuus... I'm no longer a student. And that means no way for me to get it legally. But I am curious what are the major differences between the two softwares? Because the way it has sounded to me from friends makes it sound like the Apple vs PC people. Mostly being the Vectorworks people are douchey. Haha.
 
I use excel. My instructor used it in HS, and it has just stuck.

The staff TD at the HighSchool across town also does something similar. He even color codes the cell-units by gel color for easy grouping. It takes some getting used to, but it's quick, clear, and easy. It helps if you are strict about 18" centers (each column is an 18" 'slot').
 
I do not believe anyone has mentioned Lxfree. It is free (obviously), simple to use, and fairly decent for what it is supposed to do. If you are using Windows or Linux, you need to use the java version. The original is for OSX
 
I do not believe anyone has mentioned Lxfree. It is free (obviously), simple to use, and fairly decent for what it is supposed to do. If you are using Windows or Linux, you need to use the java version. The original is for OSX


I can not manage to use that program to create scaled drawings. Just doens't work for me. I will use it (LX Java) to create rough plots devoid of measurements.
 
So it looks like I am going to take a flyer in LDing our next show as well. The director isn't after anything especially complicated, so that will give me some room to run.

Being a computery kinda guy, I'm inclined to try to plan the hang in software; is there anything that does that that doesn't cost a million and a half bucks? :) I have a relatively decent idea how to do it interactively, and I'm a good book-learner, it will be even better by Hell Week... but I don't know how to figure the floor ovals/cones based on beam width and pipe position, by hand.

My inventory is about a dozen Source Fours, and half a dozen Par Fours, plus some traditional parcans; I might look at renting some, say, Hotboxes or Puck 12s for the month, if I can find them cheap enough, just to get some experience playing with them, but that's out of scope for this request.
 
I'd say the industry standard is Vectorworks with Spotlight. If you have a legit claim as a student or educator, you might get it for free. Otherwise going to be a couple grand. I don't have experience with cheaper options, but they probably exist.

Or you could do it by hand. For the ovals: on your plot (top view) figure out the distance from the light to the focus point. The do a scale drawing of a side view, with the light that distance out and at the correct height. Remember that your focus point should be at head height, not stage level. Faces are more important than feet. Draw a cone from that to the focus point that is the width of the beam spread (36 degrees, for example). Draw a horizontal line across the cone at the focus point. The length of this will be the long (US-DS) axis of the oval. The distance between the two line of the cone, perpendicular to the cone will be the short (cross-stage) axis.

Now you know the size of the oval. Remember to overlap the ovals by at least 50% for even coverage. (Not that I don't push that with small inventories).

I'll try to do a sketch of this, as words probably are confusing.

Also, get a drafting template from your theatrical supply for all the symbols for your plot.
 

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