Hi Brandon;
If you perform a search within the
vectorworks resource manager [vw2017 and above] you'll see a number of "Light Acc...
Template Holder"s. These are all default gobos, and will insert as static accessories. Double-click in the RM to select the Temp holder of your choice, click once in the desired symbol, click a second time to define which way you want the static accessory to
face, and click a third time **on** the symbol, in order to select it as the host. The Temp Holder will now be a static accessory assigned to that symbol.
<shameless_self-promotion>
Now, as for SoftSymbols, I'll state for the record that I'm the designer for the entire product
line. I illustrated the RP-5 Graphic Standard for
USITT, and wrote some amount of the written text included in the standard. After the standard was released, i overhauled the illustrated document to create the SoftSymbol
USITT Object library.
The Vw version has been significantly updated over the years; the resources now contain 3D components that are properly pointed straight down, and the pieces inside appear to be properly assigned to the Parts Record - in any 3D view, a lighting device automatically rotates and aims towards an assigned Spotlight
Focus Point.
That said, there is still an extensive amount of data missing from any of the Light Info Records; in my brief review of the Vw2018 library, there is still no beam or field degree information, no weight,
no color frame size, and no information whatsoever in the LIRM. This means you can't really turn light beams on and observe how big the
cone of light that will be projected; you don't know how much weight will be loaded on any Lighting Position; you won't be able to calculate the number of sheets of
gel required for each color [unless you fill in the default data in Lightwright]; and you can't accurately calculate weight or
gel count in a metric environment.
On top of that, in order to view resources of the Vw version, you are forced to paste in a sample of each resource in the document, just to see how it looks - or you're forced to search through the Resource Manager to look for what you want, rather than just scanning the document. Finally, if you want a reference document to show you all the graphic choices, you have to turn on and print each
page one at a time, since all the layers of lights are on top of one another.
Last, the Nemetschek version covers the basic food groups of lighting instruments, but doesn't really contain many of the accessories contained in the RP-5 Graphic Standard. The SoftSymbols contains every one of them.
I invite you to take a look at the pdf of the entire library to fully examine what is contained in the library, allowing you to make a full comparison between the two libraries. The cost of the SoftSymbols
USITT Object Library is only $20, approximately the cost for four cups of Starbucks coffee.
Please contact me off-list should you have any further questions.
</shameless_self-promotion>
Steve Shelley
Designer, SoftSymbols
www.fieldtemplate.com
