I've been using
VectorWorks more and more lately to try to get more familiar with it, and I'm currently drafting the
plot for my next show. But for some reason I've always had trouble with something that should be fairly simple. How do I get things like
channel numbers, color, and
focus point to display on the
plot? I have typed some of this information in the appropriate areas, but I cannot find any way to get these things to display. Can anyone help me out?
I'm not at a VW machine, but here goes.
Assuming that all the
instrument symbols you've placed in the drawing have been Converted to Instruments and the Positions converted to Light Positions, you now need to create and assign Label Legends
Depending on the VW version, Label Legends are in the Spotlight section. You create a new legend - US/DS S4
Par, as example. Go to choose Fields and check
mark Channel,
Dimmer,
Unit Number, Color and whatever else you need. Check Right Read for all this stuff so the text reads correctly should you rotate a
unit. Check on Container and choose a container for assorted attributes - say Circle for
Channel, Hexagon for
Dimmer,
etc...
(As a side note - you can create your own containers - elongated
channel circle, larger hexagonal container
etc... by simply drawing a container as a new symbol directly on the drawing, then saving the object as a new container in the containers folder. You have to label the new container differently - you cannot
call the new circle "Circle, unless you delete the old one first.)
Close out of Fields and go to Edit Label. If the default symbol shown is a S4
ellipsoidal, delete it and place an S4
Par in it's place. Then click and drag the attributes to where you want them to live around the symbol. 2 tricks. Click on the
Channel text and edit the text to say "Ch". Same for
Dimmer making it "Dim". You can also right click and edit the proprties of the attibute text, changing the font style, size, bold,
etc... useful for making
Channel bold, or Color, or adjusting font size to the symbol boundaries.
Create lots of legends. L/R S4
Par, US/DS S4
Ellipsoidal, L/R S4
Ellipsoidal, US/DS PAR64, US/DS 6" Fres.
etc.... as many as you think you need. I believe VW 12 allows up to 25 label legends. As a shortcut, you can create a legend for all the SL Side Shakespeares, as example, save it, go to the Label Legends folder in the Resource Browser and duplicate the SL Shake legend, re-naming the new one as SR Shakespeare. Now go back to Spotlight, edit the SR legend, select all and do a Rotate - Flip Horizontal.
Close out back to the drawing. Select all the S4 Pars that focus US/DS then go back to Spotlight - Assign Label Legend, click on the appropriate legend and OK. You should now have attribute label legends showing next to the units. You'll need to do some editing of the attribute placement in the Label Legend Manager to get the assorted pieces of info to be correctly placed around the units. You can also do individual placements of the attribute data, by selecting the
unit, then placing the pointer on the blue handle (VW 12) for the assorted pieces of data (
Channel,
Dimmer, Color,
etc...) and Hold Click and Drag to a new position. Useful for eliminating occasional overlapping of symbols and attribute info., but best method is to edit the legend so everything looks uniform.
As you edit in data in the Object Info Browser window (and press Enter), the data should appear in the appropriate locations according to how you've created the label legend.
Hope this helps.
Steve B.
