Beyond the Basics: Hidden Gems in Vectorworks and Lightwright
Session details:
This workshop is designed to highlight some of the underutilized, underrated, and often "hidden" features in Vectorworks and Lightwright that can significantly enhance workflow for a wide range of industry professionals. While these tools are widely used across lighting design and technical production, many features remain untapped — often due to time constraints, lack of training, or the perception that they are only relevant to certain roles.
Through a lecture-style presentation supported by live demonstrations, this session will offer practical, real-world strategies that attendees can immediately apply to their work. We will focus on how to optimize paperwork, improve efficiency, and better integrate design and execution processes across various production environments — including indoor venues, fly houses, outdoor stages, and touring setups.
Key topics include:
- Creating scalable, detailed Hang Cards using Viewports and Sheet Layers
- Planning cable runs and calculating inventory with the Cable Tool
- Using Lighting Position Summaries for accurate weight distribution in fly systems
- Generating schedules and paperwork with and without Lightwright, using Vectorworks' built-in features and 2-way data updates
- Instrument numbering tips and tricks to speed up documentation
- Data visualization
- Making Magicsheets template with Vectorworks
- Color & gobo counting in Lightwright
- Label setup and printing in Lightwright
While originally developed with Master Electricians in mind, this session has been broadened to support designers, assistants, and educators — anyone who uses Vectorworks and Lightwright as part of their workflow. The session will include time for discussion and sharing examples from attendees’ own experiences.
This workshop is particularly valuable for:
- College-level students and early-career technicians
- Lighting designers and assistants
- Educators seeking to bring practical workflows into the classroom
- Industry professionals looking to enhance their Vectorworks skill set
Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops with Vectorworks installed to follow along, though this is not required.
