Looking for shapes and stencils

[Robert R Kircher, Jr.]

I need to find Theater and Theater lighting stencils for Visio 2003. Anyone
have any ideas?


TIA

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

Before anyone responds, there are no theatrical stencils at
visio.mvps.org/3dparty.htm, but there is a request for those shapes.

Robert, what types of shapes are you looking for? Lighting panels, booms and
lights?

I had considerd a useful shape that represented the light distribution would
be useful. It would give the riggers an idea of where to place the light and
where to aim it.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm

 

[Robert R Kircher, Jr.]

I have a Visio diagram of a theater created using the standard building
stencils. I use this diagram and the building stencils to design sets. As
a side bar, I was thinking of creating a group of shapes that represent my
inventory of flats, platforms, doors, stairs and other pieces used to create
these sets.

Recently my daughter who does the lighting asked me to place into my drawing
the exact locations of all the electrics, bastard beams, and cat walks so
she could use it for light plots. Now there is of course professional
software that does all this but we're not interested in that kind of
investment.

So I thought there may be stencils created, much like the typical networking
stencils, that show generic lighting fixtures types and offer some control
over direction and angle etc. The optimal stencil would also have
provisions for display of the coverage of the light on the stage given the
distance, angle, focus, and the use of things like barn doors. It would
also provide data fields for gel colors, Channel numbers, and other data
specific to that light.

Here is an example from a MAC based plotting software:
http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/lpac/pdf's/rep_pict_2002.pdf

I've checked with the fixture manufactures to see of they provide stencils
similar to Dell with their PC/Server stencils but wasn't able to find any on
their website.

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

I have tried contacting compainies like Strand in the past without success.

Shape creation is relatively easy and for the time being, you can use simple
rectangles to represent the lights. You would be very lucky to find Visio
shapes, but you may be able to find Autocad shapes (which can be converted)
or documentation that shows images of the lights (though you are more likely
to find pictures)

We also seem to be thinking on the same lines with the idea of an optimal
shape displaying coverage. The other features are built into Visio as custom
properties (soon to be called Shape Data)

If you do have luck with creating the shapes (or need help creating them)
you can contact me through visio.mvps.org

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

It's been almost since I did theatrical lighting, so Strand is the only
company I remember as being in the business. What are the other companies
involved in lighting? I would like to see what is available that can used to
create the shapes.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

try thirty years. (It's been a very busy week)

John... Visio MVP

 

[Robert R Kircher, Jr.]

ETC, http://www.etcconnect.com/home.asp, is the company we use for most of
our lighting. They do have some nice images that could be lifted and used
for shapes but that becomes a bit to specific for that brand. Good for me
but maybe not for others.

It seems that most of these manufactures have their own light plot software
so I doubt they'd be likely to cooperate with those of us who want to create
shapes for products other then their own.

Although I have done it before for AV/Home Theater equipment, I have limited
experience with shape creation and the shapes I'd like to have are a bit too
complicated for me based on available time. I can create the basic shape
and add some data values but to add functionality like automatically
defining the angle of the fixture and determining and displaying the
coverage and adjusting the coverage based on things like focus and barn
doors is beyond my knowledge.

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

That is is a GOOD site, but there is a lot of information. The product
sheets would be a good starting point. They have both 3d and 2d images of
the lights and other equipment.


John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

Take a look at (page 5 and onwards)
http://www.usitt.org/bookstore/downloads/RP-2 2006.pdf



John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm