How Do You Draft Source Fours?
- Thread starterrochem
- Start date
I have never seen Option B used in a plot.
The only options are I have seen are either the USITT standard as shown in Option A, or the kind you see in assorted Vectorworks symbols that have the degree as text within the upper body of the fixture (26 deg.), with no slashes.
I've moved completely away from the text format as it can be impossible to read on some plots. The X or \ is pretty much always readable.
The only options are I have seen are either the USITT standard as shown in Option A, or the kind you see in assorted Vectorworks symbols that have the degree as text within the upper body of the fixture (26 deg.), with no slashes.
I've moved completely away from the text format as it can be impossible to read on some plots. The X or \ is pretty much always readable.
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And told to come in and hang the plot him/herself....
Rochem, whatever "designer" you have that is drafting like that deserves to be thrown in a cable trunk and shipped to Phoenix on a hot day. We have standards for a reason. You would actually have to go into the software and change it in order to draft this way...
Here's the USITT standards document:
There's also some great vintage stuff on both these sites, which if nothing else shows how each LD has a style, sometimes all their own.
http://thelightingarchive.org/archive.php
http://lightingdb.nypl.org/
EDIT: And as comment, the Lighting Archive has the Sweeney Todd plots from Ken Billington. The Broadway as-hung plot was drawn by Marcia Madeira where as the Bus and Truck tour plot seems to have been drawn by a C. Dunn, who is probably Candice Dunn. Both well know LD's in their own right now.
There's also some great vintage stuff on both these sites, which if nothing else shows how each LD has a style, sometimes all their own.
http://thelightingarchive.org/archive.php
http://lightingdb.nypl.org/
EDIT: And as comment, the Lighting Archive has the Sweeney Todd plots from Ken Billington. The Broadway as-hung plot was drawn by Marcia Madeira where as the Bus and Truck tour plot seems to have been drawn by a C. Dunn, who is probably Candice Dunn. Both well know LD's in their own right now.
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Interesting that you say that. Recognize any of these names?
Don Holder
Ken Posner
Natasha Katz
Paul Gallo
Beverly Emmons
All of these designers (most of whom have a decent-sized Tony shelf) draft their 19s and 26s according to Option B (EDITED)*. This is actually why I thought it would be interesting. In New York, I see this probably just under half the time, but I've never seen it outside of New York. Every regional theatre or summerstock I've worked for uses the X, and that's what I was trained in as well, and what I use. But I've seen the slash enough to the point where I check the key every time before hanging, just in case. (And yes, I know, we should always check the key no matter what, but I'm sure we've all started working before checking the key at one point or another.)
The only reasoning I've ever heard for this variation is that it's easier to hand draft - instead of drawing a line and rotating your straightedge to write another one, both 19s and 26s only require one line inside the symbol. I don't know if that's the truth or not, it's just the only explanation I've ever been given.
*It's likely that many of these designers don't even know what symbols are being used, as their Associates tend to do most of the drafting. So it's possible that there could be plots out there where these designers use Xs for 19s instead of the single slash. All I'm saying is that I have seen/worked from at least one plot by each of these designers where a single slash is used for 19s.
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Option A is right (and these designers).... The others are wrong....
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Option A is certainly the standard. Anything different than that (aside from the VW standard of just putting the degree number) is incorrect. As others have mentioned, I would take little responsibility if things got hung wrong because the person who drafted the plot didn't follow the standard. Now, we have lots of standards in this industry, and apparently, like rules, they seem to be made to be broken.
Next thing to consider. From the list of designers in the thread so far, I can almost guarantee that none of them actually draft their own plots. They probably hand a rough to and assistant and the assistant probably sends it off to the theatre. I would venture to guess that most of those designers, if they drafted their own plot (and I bet some would still do it by hand) would use the appropriate standard (that being Option A).
[rant about LDs and paperwork]
Then don't even get me started on the fact that 90% of the LDs that I work with have no real idea how to set up their paperwork in LightWright, and just turn on data exchange and call it a day. Most of the time I have to spend a good bit of time cleaning up the LW file I get for each show so that it makes sense. Things like multi-circuit unit numbering, lights with attributes, scrollers and accessories always need to be fixed.
Just like there is a right way and a wrong way to draw a plot, there is a right way and a wrong way to put your information in LW. Generally the raw data from data exchange is wrong, but people think that DE is like a god-send, but it isn't, you still have to look at your paperwork!
Oh, and draft in a normal scale, I hate getting plots in 3/8"=1'-0"!
[/rant]
Next thing to consider. From the list of designers in the thread so far, I can almost guarantee that none of them actually draft their own plots. They probably hand a rough to and assistant and the assistant probably sends it off to the theatre. I would venture to guess that most of those designers, if they drafted their own plot (and I bet some would still do it by hand) would use the appropriate standard (that being Option A).
[rant about LDs and paperwork]
Then don't even get me started on the fact that 90% of the LDs that I work with have no real idea how to set up their paperwork in LightWright, and just turn on data exchange and call it a day. Most of the time I have to spend a good bit of time cleaning up the LW file I get for each show so that it makes sense. Things like multi-circuit unit numbering, lights with attributes, scrollers and accessories always need to be fixed.
Just like there is a right way and a wrong way to draw a plot, there is a right way and a wrong way to put your information in LW. Generally the raw data from data exchange is wrong, but people think that DE is like a god-send, but it isn't, you still have to look at your paperwork!
Oh, and draft in a normal scale, I hate getting plots in 3/8"=1'-0"!
[/rant]
I'm sorry, that's my pretty glaring mistake. These designers all use Option B, keeping in mind my disclaimer from above.
jglodeklights
Well-Known Member
I have never seen option B. either. I have, however, seen a Yale educated designer who uses symbols like that option B 26 that I believe are based on the actual lens train configurations of a Source 4. I personally use the standard VW text symbols with editing done by me to include the USITT standard as well. This comes from working, sometimes, with people who are not familiar with USITT.
I hate getting plots that I need a scale rule for in the first place. All of my plots have distances marked out on them at intervals such that they can be hung without the use of a scale rule to interpret the plot.
More and more I'm not even plotting. For my purposes, iPads make paper plots irrelevant. It's not a perfect solution for most, but I've personally found PDF plots on iPads to be less cumbersome than paper plots. They can also be marked up quite easily. Myself and one of the local TD's both love it because we can check off lights as we go by putting green marks on them. We can flag lights that need to be returned to in another color.
As for the Opt A/B, per USITT, the line parallel to the end of the luminaire is for 70° lenses.
If you want to get me started on a drafting convention worth arguing about, let's talk about the atrocity that is that USITT uses the construction industry's elevation height symbol as a sightline marker.
It's called Selective Service: sss.gov. Every male Source Four must register within three months after his 18th birthday. He is then issued a draft card to be carried at all times, and randomly assigned a number. As troops are needed, the lower the number, the more likely that fixture will be called upon to serve. Some unit s volunteer, which lowers the number required to be drafted. Other luminaire s try to dodge the draft by defecting to Canada, others try to claim they are unfit for service, or claim conscientious objector status for religious reasons.
Compare to Israel, where every young person is automatically expected to perform a stint in the armed services.
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
Well now, let's not be too pedantic. (Yes, I said that!)
Back in the dark ages, pre-CAD, I was taught that the "open", unadulterated symbol should be used for the most common type in one's inventory. Thus in one small venue it could mean a 4½ x 6½, while in another larger it might designate 6x16. Just makes sense when hand drafting with a stencil.
Synchronize
Active Member
None of the above! I color code the barrel of my source fours and have the degree printed inside the barrel. Granted, I don't hand draft plots. This works out really well considering that most venues also have their source fours color coded. Match the venues color code and, wallah, lazy electricians are less likely to screw it up. Red source four on plot/hang card matches red source four on meatrack.
About two years ago now, I hung a large Jules Fisher plot. For whatever reason, he did the plot himself, and it looked very much like the drafting for Hair that can be seen at the Theatrical Lighting Database, with all Source Fours depicted as PAR can symbols and hand-written degrees for everything except 26deg fixtures (which were open for the reason Derek wrote above). I'm sure that there are very few designers who are actually turning in plots like that, but they are apparently out there.
One thing for certain is that Broadway NYC is very much a world all their own. They do things their way, think it's the only way and quite frankly, if it works,, why change it.
As to the symbol choices used, that's really between the ALD's drawing the plots and the production electricians hanging it. If the electricians are used to Option B, as shown in the OP, then that's what they'll use 'cause that's what everbody is familar with. Just like film folks know what a Baby Baby is.
It's when you leave the cocoon of Broadway and need to communicate with all sorts of folks in a lot of different venues that a standard becomes more important.
techieman33
Well-Known Member
That's why you should always check the key on the drawing. Standards are nice, but it seems like everyone in this industry has their own standard that is the "right" standard that everyone else should recognize.
As someone who has worked with some of these designers directly, they do hand-draft their own plots according to option B. But if you say that they hand it to assistants, of you look at the plots for the likes of Wicked or Spiderman, drawn by Karen Spahn or Viviene Leone both are very well respected Associates, they both follow the option B.
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