VectorWorks Lights Up Belle & Sebastian's World Tour

Lighting designer Tyler Littman has designed the lighting for the US leg of Belle & Sebastian's 2006 world tour using VectorWorks.

"VectorWorks Spotlight was a godsend for me on this tour," says Littman, lighting designer and principal of Sholight Entertainment Design Group. "Each venue required a completely different lighting plot and presented a new set of challenges, because each site varied drastically in size, shape, and hanging potential. Because the concerts were happening at dusk, with the show beginning in complete daylight and ending in complete darkness, the lighting had to be extremely diverse. But thanks to VectorWorks, I was able to create drawings for each show and make revisions incredibly quickly."

He continues, "In fact, I create anywhere from one to six lighting plots a week, and VectorWorks Spotlight helps me create a plot from start to finish with incredible speed and ease. I can move seamlessly from dropping in trusses and lights to checking dimensions and adding details. Being able to work in a 3D hybrid environment helps me better understand spatial challenges. And some of the new rendering capabilities in RenderWorks version 12, like radiosity, the new physical lighting options, area and linear lights, and volumetric lighting really allowed me to play with a bunch of different options and effects to achieve what I wanted."

The Glasgow-based Belle & Sebastian is in the middle of an extensive tour that has recently included Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, and Japan. The band continued its 2006 tour with appearances in New York on July 4; Los Angeles on July 6; and Columbia, Maryland, on July 8; then headed to Spain, Portugal, Iceland, Holland, and Austria before returning to the United Kingdom for further appearances. Littman will be continuing on with the band for some select European shows, including Spain and Portugal.

Based in New York, Sholight Entertainment Design Group has been providing lighting design and production services for the television and music industries, as well as the corporate world, for more than ten years. Some of Sholight's high-profile events include The International Emmy Awards, productions for MTV2, David Bowie, Lionel Ritchie, Basia, Jenny Lewis, Santana, Natalie Cole, and many large festivals and events in the New York area.

VectorWorks Spotlight is used by scene and set designers worldwide to design sets for TV shows, major motion pictures, Broadway musicals, and more. Lighting designers worldwide use VectorWorks Spotlight to design lighting for theatrical events, live concerts, corporate functions, and museum exhibits.

Nemetschek North America is a wholly-owned subsidiary of European software giant Nemetschek AG. A global leader in design technologies, Nemetschek N.A. has been developing CAD software for the AEC, entertainment, landscape design, and manufacturing fields since 1985. VectorWorks, its flagship product, is one of the world's best-selling cross-platform CAD applications. An all-in-one solution that's easier to learn and use and more cost-effective than most other CAD programs, VectorWorks is ideal for firms that don't have unlimited IT budgets.