Up until this point, most of the process has been fairly theoretical. During the analysis process you have made some decisions about how you would like the show to look, and have an idea of how you would like to use the elements of light- intensity, direction, color, shape, and movement. Through the development of the magic sheet and pre-planning of cues, you have made some concrete steps towards the realized design, but these steps are still only a small piece of the puzzle. The next step, building the light plot, is the key that connects the design process with the production itself. This is the most technical of the steps in the process, and may be the single step that takes the most time.
In this section, I will continue to use the mostly fictional list of Systems and Specials that I used as an example earlier in this process, and I will describe the steps that are necessary for a designer to complete when drawing the light plot.
Most lighting designers today use an electronic CAD tool to create the light plot. While I will not be going into the use of these tools here, there are lots of good resources to learn the software. My software of choice is Vectorworks, but I have also used drafty-app in the past, and encourage that tool as well, especially for the budget-conscious early-career designer. These aren't the only tools out there, but they may be a good place for you to start your exploration.
The steps to building a professional light plot are:
In this section, I will continue to use the mostly fictional list of Systems and Specials that I used as an example earlier in this process, and I will describe the steps that are necessary for a designer to complete when drawing the light plot.
Most lighting designers today use an electronic CAD tool to create the light plot. While I will not be going into the use of these tools here, there are lots of good resources to learn the software. My software of choice is Vectorworks, but I have also used drafty-app in the past, and encourage that tool as well, especially for the budget-conscious early-career designer. These aren't the only tools out there, but they may be a good place for you to start your exploration.
The steps to building a professional light plot are: