Entertainment Insights From The 2018 Vectorworks Design Summit

From November 4-6, over 600 attendees from 18 different countries descended upon the desert landscape of Phoenix, Arizona for the fourth annual Vectorworks Design Summit held at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass. Of the industries in attendance, 46% hailed from the entertainment sector—16% higher than architecture, the second leading industry. With 39 speakers leading 54 sessions, over 90 hours of training were available, including AIA and ASLA CEUs.

“Our basic purpose of this event is of course training,” says Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar, “but for me, it's more than training. It is about increasing the awareness of Vectorworks around the world.”

On Monday morning, Sarkar kicked off the Summit with resounding success during an opening keynote about the latest features and future trends of the software. “Everybody is very accepting of what we are trying to do in terms of the direction the company,” he says. “Of course, there are a few issues with the software that we need to solve. That’s always there, but we keep working on the robustness and stability of the software every year.”

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Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar presents during opening keynote. Photo by Jason Dixson Photography. Image courtesy of Vectorworks, Inc.

Vectorworks vice president of marketing, Jeremy Powell also presented during the keynote, giving particular insight into the General Device Type Format, or GDTF. Vectorworks, Inc., MA Lighting, and Robe lighting have jointly developed this new data format to standardize the exchange of device data between consoles, CAD, and previsualization software. Additionally, Spotlight 2019 now features My Virtual Rig (MVR): an open-file-format container that packages the GDTF files for all of the lighting fixtures in a design, along with a complete 3D model and data describing the positions and 3D elements. The response most often heard, is “Finally.”

“Since we announced this at Prolight + Sound last year, there has been an outpouring of support,” notes Powell. “It has been tried before and failed, and I think to some extent, the end users had almost given up.” So what makes it different this time? “Before, it was always one manufacturer trying to make it happen, and therefore, nobody wanted to support them because they would be the ones in charge. People have been telling us that this way is really great because everybody knows the three brands involved, and you're actually representing the parts that need to be connected better.”

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Vectorworks VP of Marketing Jeremy Powell presents during opening keynote. Photo by Jason Dixson Photography. Image courtesy of Vectorworks, Inc.

Teresa Hull, designer for Visual Workhorse, Inc., presented the session, “GDTF and How to Add it to Your Workflow,” where she called the collaboration on the new data format a community service project. “That was really great way for a user to talk about it,” comments Powell. “‘Nobody had to do this,’ she said. ‘This is for us.’ That's what I like about the enthusiasm. I think it's a great, healthy sign.”

Seventeen manufacturers have already pledged their support, their logos proudly displayed on the GDTF website. The intent is that the lighting manufacturers will upload GDTF files for new and existing fixtures; Robe has already uploaded nearly 20 products. With MVR now available in the MA Lighting grandMA3, there will be more consoles to follow. “I'm hopeful that by Prolight + Sound next year, a lot of people will be converting their data,” says Sarkar.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. More features are on their way, including the GDTF forum, resourceful help files, and the free Fixture Builder, which is predicted to arrive at the end of November. While the MVR currently does not support media servers, there are plans to add it in the future.

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2018 Vectorworks Design Summit attendees listen to opening keynote. Photo by Jason Dixson Photography. Image courtesy of Vectorworks, Inc.

Another popular topic at the 2018 Design Summit was the new augmented reality (AR) capabilities in the Vectorworks Nomad mobile app, which was released in April. The iOS version is currently available through the Apple App Store, and the Android version is set to be released on Google Play in 2019.

During the keynote, some of AR’s more practical uses were showcased. “Say there is an empty room. You can see whether your tables and chairs are going to fit properly, or you can measure the room with just a few clicks,” explains Sarkar. “One day, we hope that you will be able to click on something, and it will give you the data, like a maintenance record. It is slightly utopian, but we are looking into it.”

“There have been some interesting uses,” adds Powell, “like James Simpson showed during his session, ‘Design Visualization for Entertainment.’ In the example video, people were on stage, clearing out a show, while he’s sitting there with his AR, looking at the next show on the stage.”

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Scott Parker presents “Using Spotlight With Braceworks” at 2018 Vectorworks Design Summit. Photo by Jason Dixson Photography. Image courtesy of Vectorworks, Inc.

The keynote also featured a sneak peek at the new Learning Management System (LMS). This new e-learning platform will serve as the main training for Vectorworks software, complete with admin tools to track progress of team members and an official certification program.

Previously, training materials could be found in different languages, from different distributors, in different formats, and sometimes, with different, inaccurate processes. “We want to make a centralized platform for all our resources and make it very homogenous,” says Sarkar. “Initially, it will be free for our Vectorworks Service Select members, who are in our maintenance program.”

The LMS is set to be released in early 2019; in the meantime, Vectorworks invites its users to share suggestions for the name of this new e-learning platform.

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Attendees were invited to unleash their creativity on the 2018 Vectorworks Design Summit Sketch Wall. Photo by Jason Dixson Photography. Image courtesy of Vectorworks, Inc.

Overall, the Design Summit was a success and a huge hit with the entertainment market. “It is the fastest growing sector, and we’re putting a lot of resources into it,” notes Sarkar.

“Many years ago, when Vectorworks first got started with lighting design,” adds Powell, “many used to say, ‘Oh, they’re an architecture company that just happens to be useful for lighting. They don’t care about us.’ It is important to note how central to a lot of our conversations the entertainment industry really is. We have really ramped up in a lot of ways over the years, and I'm personally very proud of not just the success we've had, but the commitment from the people we’ve hired and partnered with to make sure that the industry is moving in a better direction. I'm excited about where we have come to and where we are going.”