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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

SoftSymbols™ Details

SoftSymbols™ are feature-rich:
  • All of the symbols strive to match the physical size and shape of their lighting instruments (so you can see when you’re trying to fit the 10-pound bag of lights into the 5-pound bag).
  • The basic symbols are the same outlines as Field Templates™ (when you make a correction on the light plot using a Field Template™, it matches the existing symbols on the plot.)
  • All the symbols are simplified to outlines instead of filled with lines (takes it easy on your ink cartridges, and there’s no internal lines getting in the way of graphic information or data text.)
  • All the symbol bodies are simplified to black, white, or greyscale (so you don’t need color cartridges.)
  • All symbol names are shortened (so you can read them with a squished Resource Browser.)
  • Followspots actually look like hand-drafted followspots.
  • Striplights actually look like hand-drafted striplights.

But wait, Conrad. There’s more; SoftSymbols™ comes with a plethora of stuff to make Spotlight even better:

The Aforementioned Plethora of Stuff
Soft Symbols
SpotLight
 
 
 
Provides a graphic example and descriptive text for each resource in each Object Library.
Well, in some cases.
Ability to print a full graphic map showing all the symbols in an Object Library in a single print command.
Well, with ETC, you only need to turn pages on and off, and print, 27 times.
An Object Library of Ayerton products
Ahh. Nope.
SoftMaps© that show all of the symbols and their names for each manufacturer in Version 3.0
Ahh... That’s a No, Bob.
Contact information for each manufacturer
Nada. Zilch. Zero.
Web addresses for each manufacturer
No. Sorry, head to Yahoo or Google.
The SoftGuide©, containing detailed explanations for Resources, Favorites, and the Resource Browser.
No. But the SpotLight manual shows you how to make a drilled hole…
Step-by-step instructions showing how to create or edit 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional symbols.
No. The addendum in the back of the manual gives some clues.
Troubleshooting section (so you don’t have to call Steve.)
No. Call Tech Support and memorize the hold music.
Provides a graphic example and descriptive text for each resource in each Object Library.
Soft Symbols:
SpotLight:
Well, in some cases.
 
Ability to print a full graphic map showing all the symbols in an Object Library in a single print command.
Soft Symbols:
SpotLight:
Well, with ETC, you only need to turn pages on and off, and print, 27 times.
 
An Object Library of Ayerton products
Soft Symbols:
SpotLight:
Ahh. Nope.
 
SoftMaps© that show all of the symbols and their names for each manufacturer in Version 3.0
Soft Symbols:
SpotLight:
Ahh... That’s a No, Bob.
 
Contact information for each manufacturer
Soft Symbols:
SpotLight:
Nada. Zilch. Zero.
 
Web addresses for each manufacturer
Soft Symbols:
SpotLight:
No. Sorry, head to Yahoo or Google.
 
The SoftGuide©, containing detailed explanations for Resources, Favorites, and the Resource Browser.
Soft Symbols:
SpotLight:
No. But the SpotLight manual shows you how to make a drilled hole…
 
Step-by-step instructions showing how to create or edit 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional symbols.
Soft Symbols:
SpotLight:
No. The addendum in the back of the manual gives some clues.
 
Troubleshooting section (so you don’t have to call Steve.)
Soft Symbols:
SpotLight:
No. Call Tech Support and memorize the hold music.
 

 

Tell me the Technical Nitty Gritty

Wow! How much again?

Oh my Goodness, Let Me Have Them
Ugh. Take Me Back to Land of Plastic

SoftSymbols are a collection of VectorWorks resources, and contain no program elements. They are designed to work with the add-on toolkits SpotLight or AutoPlot. They are designed to work with VectorWorks 2008 through 2016, and can do so without either of the toolkits.

They CAN'T design your plot.

They CAN'T do your laundry.

They CAN make your plots look like a million bucks.

System Requirements

  • VectorWorks version 2008 or later.
  • VectorWorks SpotLight or AutoPlot. (To use Label Legends or AutoPlot menu commands.
  • 256 MB of physical RAM, 512 recommended.
  • Color monitor with at least 800x600 resolution, 256 colors or better.
  • At least 110MG of available hard drive space.
  • Mouse or other pointing device (Duh.)
  • Printer is recommended (Duh twice.)
  • USITT
  • FocalPress
  • United Scenic Artists Local USA 829
  • Behind the Scenes
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