Managing several Light Plot Plates in one Lightwright file

[ligonnp]

Hello all,

I have always gotten the best advice and troubleshooting info on here so I am going to try another question.

Is it possible to combine the info of 2 different light plot plates of the SAME show into a single Lightwright file? Or do I have to import data every time something changes on the "other" plate?

Up until now my lighting designs have been accompanied with a plot that fits on one vectorworks plate. Now that the show has gotten more involved I need to have separate plates. The only other possibility I see is to copy the 2nd plate into the 1st plate vectorworks file so Lightwright will read it all.

Thoughts??

Thanks!

 

[xander]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you using more than on vwx file to draft a singe show?

 

[ligonnp]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you using more than on vwx file to draft a singe show?

Yes,

One file includes the FOH and over stage positions and the other consists of Booms, Ladders, and Truss positions. That's the way the Rep Plot of which I'm working off of was set up.

 

[SteveB]

Hello all,

I have always gotten the best advice and troubleshooting info on here so I am going to try another question.

Is it possible to combine the info of 2 different light plot plates of the SAME show into a single Lightwright file? Or do I have to import data every time something changes on the "other" plate?

Up until now my lighting designs have been accompanied with a plot that fits on one vectorworks plate. Now that the show has gotten more involved I need to have separate plates. The only other possibility I see is to copy the 2nd plate into the 1st plate vectorworks file so Lightwright will read it all.

Thoughts??

Thanks!

If you think about LW as merely being a paperwork extension of the VW data, then I would make a separate LW file for every separate VW file.

But when you talk about "plates" are you creating a separate VW file for sections of the plot that don't fit on one page ?. If that's the case, make the plot 2 pages. File - Page Setup, make the Pages - Horizontal selection a "2" and the drawing will print to 2 pages. You will have to re-locate the drawing onto the page boundaries using the Move Page tool.

This keeps all the drawing data in one file and make the LW exchange work.

 

[ligonnp]

If you think about LW as merely being a paperwork extension of the VW data, then I would make a separate LW file for every separate VW file.

But when you talk about "plates" are you creating a separate VW file for sections of the plot that don't fit on one page ?. If that's the case, make the plot 2 pages. File - Page Setup, make the Pages - Horizontal selection a "2" and the drawing will print to 2 pages. You will have to re-locate the drawing onto the page boundaries using the Move Page tool.

This keeps all the drawing data in one file and make the LW exchange work.

Thanks so much! I did exactly as you said and now it is all working properly. You've helped save me hours of time!

 

[SteveB]

Thanks so much! I did exactly as you said and now it is all working properly. You've helped save me hours of time!

Glad that was the issue.

 

[jglodeklights]

This is a case where Viewports on Sheet Layers can make life SOOOO much easier, assuming your drawing has been classed and layered appropriately.

For those not familiar with Viewports, they are a group of layers and classes rendered to a particular scale and placed on a Sheet Layer. The advantages of working with the design layers as simply a working space that contains all the necessary information and sheet layers with viewports as paper space for printing and exporting image/pdf files are numerous. The first is being able to easily create layouts for multiple print sizes. These layouts can also display information not in its true space, but in a place that allows it to fit on a standard size page, such as ARCH D. That one FOH position too far out into house and creating an awkward zone of emptiness? Simply draw your plot properly on the design layer and create two viewports on the sheet layer. One cropped or just placed with it outside the page boundary, and another cropped to show only the far out there position, and placed within the page boundary. Make a note that it is not in it's real position. You can also class each position seperately and only display the necessary positions by hiding those you don't want to see in the viewport options. Just be careful doing things this way; if you aren't careful in classing objects you might end up with a work light on the opposite side of the space in that position's class and displayed in the viewport. Also, want to print 1/2" scale and 1/4" scale plots easily? Don't note the scale in your scale field on your Title block. Create two sheet layers that have appropriate page sizes for how large the drawings will be. Once you layout your page nicely go back in and use the text tool to insert a scale into your Titleblock.

Viewports also make creating hang cards for each position a snap and easily printed on a standard letter or legal sheet. Just crop to what you need to see and change the scale until it all fits. Or crop for SL and SR booms. There are so many applications viewports can be used for.

 

[patrickh]

i was going to to give a more detailed response encouraging the use of a single file with multiple viewports and sheet layers. I often turn off the page boundaries within the design layers as there is no point in worrying about printing until you create viewports and sheet layers (where you insert title blocks. jglodeklights has already done an excellent job of replying concerning this. I strongly, strongly encourage the use of viewports and sheet layers. It makes absolutely no sense to have multiple files if your computer functions correctly.

 

[blueeyesdesigns]

Is there a good tutorial on this somewhere? I've read a couple descriptions of how to use Viewports to our advantage, but I can't seem to get them working properly or consistently and I really want to employ them effectively...