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software

Software.

Hidden line rendering hacks with Vectorworks

Vectorworks is my primary stage modeling tool for tours and any other work that I do, but I agree with the consensus (a consensus I firmly and un-scientifically believe in) that Vectorworks is a huge, extremely sophisticated and often very-badly-behaved piece of bloatware. It does what I want it to do, but it does so in ways that are un-intuitive, extremely slow, and frustratingly inconsistent. For instance, select a fixture symbol that you’ve dropped onto a design layer, and you can do all the things you’d expect to be able to do: move the symbol around, rotate it, etc. Make that same symbol a “fixture”, however, and suddenly, using the rotation tool no longer works. You can rotate it only… Read More »Hidden line rendering hacks with Vectorworks

Building complex set geometry

Recently, I’ve been making some updated packets to send to potential clients. Included in them are some set designs that I’ve done in the past for artists both large and small, to show clients the range of my design abilities. One of the things that I like to do – especially with smaller set designs that are on a correspondingly small budget – is come up with some sort of visually interesting set piece. An interesting fabric structure, metal or wood cut into an interesting shape to catch (or block!) light, whatever. The idea is to create some sort of visual interest on stage that doesn’t involve expensive lighting effects. While pieces like this are relatively easy to draw (especially… Read More »Building complex set geometry