Resources

Field Template Dealers

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

Links: Apps, Blogs, Sites, & Zines

Apps

Vectorworks by Nemetschek. It's what makes SoftSymbols™ possible!
AutoPlot for VectorWorks by Sam Jones. Tools to expedite light plot creation in the Vectorworks® environment.
Lightwright by John McKernon, the best way to keep track of your lighting paperwork.
Josh Benghiat Software, an entire suite of Vectorworks® light plot tools.
Landru Plug-ins, tools for AV presentations, staging, and soft goods.
West Side Systems by Eric Cornwell. His products include FocusPhone, Virtual Light Lab, Template Tiling, and Cue Conversion.

Blogs

Pro Lighting Space; where Entertainment Production and Design People meet!
iSquint; Entertainment Lighting News & Review.
ControlBooth.com; Where being Behind the Scenes is the Main Event.
Blue-Room.org.uk; Bringing Backstage Online [UK-based].
Ramblings of a Techie; The Techie Site [Australia-based].

Sites

United Scenic Artists Local 829, the union that includes professional lighting designers.
Drama Book Shop, the source in New York City for all books theatrical.

Zines

PLSN: Projection, Lights, and Staging News
Live Design: The magazine for LDI, Broadway Master Classes, and architainment.
Lighting & Sound America: The magazine created by PLASA Media, Inc.
Protocol: the quarterly publication published by ESTA.
Stage Directions: the eclectic publication that covers high school to Broadway.

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