What to Install on My Laptop?

[AxlD1234]

I recently decided to pull a old laptop out of the depths on a closet to start using again as a "Lighting" Laptop to test Lights/Look up information

Currently i have on there

Vectorworks 2014 (Student Edition)
Hog 4 PC
GrandMA 2 / MA 3D (Don't Know if it will handle this yet)
Various Manuals for Lighting Fixtures / Boards

Anyone have any free programs to recommend should go on here?

 

[CraigV]

Lightwright
ETC Eos Offline / Nomad
QLC+ (for quick tests)
Adobe Reader

 

[Fountain Of Euph]

Microsoft Word and Excel, or google docs

Sent from Taptalk for Android, this was.

 

[derekleffew]

Fairly dated, but still useful:
http://www.paul-pelletier.com/LDCalculator/LDCalculatorPage.htm .

 

[AxlD1234]

@Goatman is Lightwright Free? ive never been able to find a free version of it for students.

@Fountain Of Euph i already have that. i just didn't mention.

 

[chausman]

Lightwright is cheaper, but not free for students.

 

[CraigV]

Lightwright will let you have 75 line items for free.

I guess its usefulness will depend on if you regularly work with fewer than 76 items or not.

 

[AxlD1234]

Yeah. i work with wayyyyy more then 76 items. so that one will not work for me at all.

 

[RickR]

It's a network world out there.
WiFi snooper tools (MetaGeek)
IP changer utility
sacnview.sourceforge.net/
Cheap DMX dongle wouldn't hurt either.

 

[ScottT]

SACN Viewer
ArtNetominator
Beamwright

Dropbox/Google Drive

 

[AxlD1234]

So i found a way to "cheat" to use LightWright for work and i seem to like it so far. I don't do anything that is networked at the moment. so none of that really matters. Cheap DMX dongle might be an option depending on if i can find one that i like and the software can handle moving lights and LEDs

 

[robartsd]

So i found a way to "cheat" to use LightWright for work and i seem to like it so far.

We don't condone "cheating" to use commercial software that has not been paid for on CB. In most juristicions this would also be illegal.

 

[AsherSB]

I use QLC+ with enttec's open DMX interface, tons of tools built in, easy to use, and almost free. I'd recommend it, but keep in mind it sometimes has stability issues, especially when live editing cues or taking midi input from faders. It's still safe to run a show as long as you know it's limitations.

 

[CraigV]

The way that I "cheat" to use LW is I create lines by fixture, not parameter. Using any console with a fixture library, I'm not really sure why anyone would do anything different on a show with <76 fixtures. When I read what OP wrote, I assumed that was what was meant.

QLC+ was a gateway into me investing in Nomad 256. If you think that this is a possibility in the future, I would recommend getting something different for the dongle, such as the ETC Dongle or a cheap node (DMXKing has some great, fairly cheap ones that will work with both QLC+ and Nomad).

 

[AxlD1234]

The way i "cheated" using it was splitting our house and stage positions up by LightWright file. Multiple files for the venue. but can open both at the same time.

 

[Fountain Of Euph]

The way i "cheated" using it was splitting our house and stage positions up by LightWright file. Multiple files for the venue. but can open both at the same time.

I had to demonstrate to my venue that it was worth the money to purchase LW. I had two files, and after we bought it I merged them. John has made a pritty good business business decision in this regard, since most people who use his software would agree that it's worth the money after they have used it.

Sent from Taptalk for Android, this was.

 

[AxlD1234]

My work has the full software. but since my laptop isn't a "company" computer im not allowed to have the serial number.