Field Templates

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

The 1/4" Field Template Lite 2017

The Critics also said:

"Although it's the best product on the market, the Field Template is just too danged large." - A young lighting design student
"I still don't need to see all that information about each instrument. I just want to trace the symbols." - Daphne, a disgruntled lighting designer, San Francisco
"Dammit! Shelley removed the 6" grid from the template! That was the best thing about the Field Template!" - A somewhat cranky lighting designer, Fort Lauderdale

We heard your concerns and we felt your pain. But unlike the rest of the world that pays lip service and don't do diddly, we took action! [But in a reduced scale.]

Take a look at this slim, trim (smaller) member of the Field Template Family:

The 1/4" Field Template™ Lite Stencil

First, like the 1/2" Field Template Lite, Shelley grouped the basic package of lighting symbols into their appropriate categories to make them easier to locate on the plastic. This 2017 edition also includes a Pacific, an LED ERS, an ETC Source Four Junior and Source Four Par, along with two moving light shapes.
Then he included the beam spread information under each symbol to allow for easy reference.
He then pre-spaced the symbols on 1’-6" centers incorporating the award-winning Pro•Grid System.
Finally, Shelley aligned the symbols so that the thick horizontal line indicates a batten, the accurate hanging point for each instrument.

The 1/4" Field Template™ Lite Stencil allows accurate light plots to be drafted faster, cleaner, yet at a reasonable cost. Compare the design and quality of the 1/4" Field Template™ Lite against other more expensive templates. We believe you'll find the 1/4" Field Template™ Lite Stencil is an excellent addition to the Field Template™ drafting family.

To purchase the 1/4" Field Template™ Lite Stencil, please check for a dealer near you.

Accepted payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, and American Express