This may not be helpful or
practical for you, but here's how I do it for shows using additional software. I can export data from
Vectorworks to Lightwright which includes X coordinates (for positions that run L/R - less useful for non-proscenium spaces). Then I can export from Lightwright to FileMaker Pro, where I have labels set up that include whatever information I want to display, including the X dimension. Then finally, I can print onto
address labels from FileMaker. I can give this big stack of labels to someone along with a
roll of Sheetrock tape and my hang tapes can be done quickly, without paperwork, and using nothing but a tape measure. For my part, the entire process from opening the
Vectorworks file to printing the labels takes less than a minute.
I don't know anything about LxFree, but if there's some way to export data, you could potentially try this same thing into excel. I assume you already do something like this for making paperwork, but if you add on the X coordinate, you can include this in the
instrument schedule. Personally, if I didn't have FileMaker to make my labels, I'd probably just
hand someone an
Instrument Schedule including the X coordinates and have them hand-write the tapes. Whether this was
practical would depend on how you prep your shows - many of my shows are highly prepped such that I can just write "1E #1" on the
hang tape and there's already a
fixture pre-labeled with the color,
template,
circuit,
channel, accessory, correct type,
etc. that someone can just hang. If you were pulling from a
house stock that hadn't been prepped at all and needed all that information on the tapes, then writing all that data on the
hang tape might be too time consuming, and perhaps you could explore a way of making labels in excel or word or some other process.
Incidentally, I've done one or two shows where I didn't have a
Vectorworks drawing (
hand drafting or just a PDF), and I've still found it beneficial to go through and enter the dimensions into my paperwork by
hand. It's time-consuming, but it allows me to use my printed
hang tape labels and lets me cable the show with one less document. Of course, these numbers become outdated about 30 seconds after you get the
plot once the designer starts to change everything, but that's just how it goes.
