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SoftSymbols™
 
 
What others are saying
When I started using Vectorworks some 16 years ago I was fortunate to come across the Field Template SoftSymbol range not long after. They are the absolute benchmark for high quality, detailed and most of all clearly drawn symbols. They are the first ones I reach for when starting a new design and as a side by side comparison with the stock supplied VW symbols…well there is no comparison.
Max Conwell
Lighting Designer, Naked Eye Lighting Ltd., www.nakedeyelighting.com
Some [lighting designers] have always drawn their own symbols. If that’s the path you choose, that’s fine. For everyone else, there’s Steve Shelley and his SoftSymbols™. The range of products covered is remarkable. The price, given the amount of work that must be involved, remarkably low. Which is perhaps why they’re so widely used, particularly by lighting designers and their associates in America - a country that really does care about beautiful light plots. If you do too, check them out: this is a working classic, still in use daily...
Rob Halliday
Lighting Designer and Author for Light and Sound International, February 2020
What makes SoftSymbols so useful is that they are thoroughly researched, well made and above all, stick to some rigorous drafting standards that are maintained across the whole catalog.
Mark Doubleday
Lighting Designer, UK
Soft Symbols are my Vectorworks symbol library of choice, and have been since my tenure as Hubbard Street’s Lighting Director. Steve has created a product that is incredibly thorough, thoughtful, and well-organized. It looks great at any scale, is appropriate for every type of lighting gig, and could only have come from someone with his level of experience and attention to detail. It is an invaluable resource to me and will continue to be my go to library for the foreseeable future.
Matt Miller, Freelance Lighting Designer/Director
Chicago, IL
SoftSymbols are the symbol library of choice for the Lincoln Center Festival, and for all my other professional activities. They are cleanly built, graphically sophisticated, and the libraries are by far the most complete. There’s no other choice as far as I’m concerned.
Aaron Copp, Lighting Coordinator, Lincoln Center Festival, and freelance lighting designer
New York, NY
I did the Lab Rep Plot revisions with SoftSymbols. LOVE IT! So does the crew and the union House Elec. We also think the twenty-or-so production teams coming into the Lab this spring (who’ll receive print copies of this drawing) will love it too. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have SoftSymbols™ - I trust my layouts again, since your symbols are the same size as the objects they represent (DUH!), and my drawings look more like my drawings again. Woo hoo!
Martha Mountain, Freelance Lighting Designer
Washington DC

Educational Site Licenses

To:
All Lighting Design Faculty teaching Vectorworks® CAD drafting
From:
Field Template™
Re:
Simplifying your CAD drafting classes

Hey professors, how many of these situations sound familiar?

  • Lighting symbols and legends don’t match between students plots.
  • Lighting symbols and legends don’t match between classes.
  • Hand-traced symbols don’t match computer-generated symbols.
  • Students’ plots don’t look professional.
  • Every plot uses different symbology. None of the symbols make sense.
You need a matching, professional drafting standard that extends across the board.
The solution? The SoftSymbols™ Educational Site License Package!
  • Standardize your lighting graphics between students, classes, and theatres.
  • The symbols match, whether they’re hand-traced or printed out on paper.
  • These are the professional symbols used on Broadway, the West End, and around the world.

The SoftSymbols™ Educational Site License Package starts with the following:

2D Drafting elements Library
USITT RP-2 Graphic Standards Library
The 60-page "Practical Guide to Spotlight Symbols"
Shelley Scales Library
Shelley Sections Library
Lighting Positions Library

Add to that by choosing any five Vectorworks object libraries from this menu:

ADB
Altman
Altman Striplights
Arri
BriteLight
CCT
Chroma-Q
City Theatrical
Clay Paky
Coemar
Color Kinetics
Diversitronics
ETC Update 2011
[ETC] Selador 2011
GAM
High End
LSD
Lycian
Martin
Morpheus
NeXXus (Supervision)
NSI Colortran
NSI Colortran Archive
Reiche & Vogel
Robe
Robert Juliat
Rosco
Seachanger
Selecon
Strand
Strand Arichive
Strong
James Thomas
Vari-Lite
Wildfire
Wybron
Put them together, and this SoftSymbol™ Educational Site License Package can be installed on each light lab computer for only $60 a machine.
  • All symbols match between light plots and classes.
  • All applicable symbols match between printout and hand traced light plots.
  • Students are encouraged to copy files onto their personal computers.

So What’s the Catch?
The concept of an Educational License may seem noble on the surface, but it is also business-based. Replicating the same SoftSymbol files on a number of stations in the computer lab incrementally increases the overall cost, but also increases our bottom line. Simply put, a single SoftSymbol Educational License is not viable; at least two stations in the computer lab must be involved.

Broad Declaration
Field Template’s commitment is to codify, clarify, and distribute USITT and other international drafting standards. Whether you use our templates or our object libraries, they are all the same.

CONTACT US TO CONSTRUCT YOUR SOFTSYMBOLS™ SITE LICENSE PACKAGE!
(By purchasing a SoftSymbol™ Site License, you agree to the Terms of Use.)

Visa, MasterCard, American Express, cashier’s checks, and educational purchase orders are currently accepted. Sorry, we can’t process personal checks, and we can only process cashier’s checks in US dollars. SoftSymbols™ Educational Site Licenses are valid for a three year period, initiated at the date of initial download. SoftSymbols™ Site Renewal is required prior to the end of the three year period in order to avoid site deactivation. Don’t want an Educational Site License? Want the Whole Enchilada?

Take me to the shopping cart! (By clicking on the shopping cart link, you agree to the Terms of Use.)
Tell me more about the symbols!

 

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