Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1989 - 32

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Figure 3: Lighting instrument schedule for My Three Angels generated
by JCN Lighting Apprentice.

WORKING WITH CAD

Implementing our CAD system has clearly increased our
productivity, eliminated many time-consuming and repetitive tasks, and allowed us to spend more of our time on
the actual design process. In shan, we have been able to
produce more finished products in the form of floorplans,
working drawings, light plots, and lighting paperwork.
Essentially, we view our CAD system as a real plus, and
while we're not ready yet to totally abandon our drafting
t3bles and equipment, we do seem to be moving in that
direction. The Generic software system lets us draw a
wide variety of lines and shapes (including rectangles,
circles, ellipses, and arcs); import component files (predrawn images either created by the user or purchased from
an outside vendor); and create and place text on our
drawings.
Once we begin a basic drawing, the CAD system allows
us to edi t our work in a number of ways. All or any part of a
drawing can be resized, erased, copied, or rotated around
an axis point. A "zoom" feature allows us to work in fine
detail, and a "pan" feature allows us to "slide" a drawing
around on the screen. Specific "views" can be saved and
then recalled as needed, and we can work on any of 256
layers. Commands can be entered either via the keyboard
or the mouse, and text can be slanted, rotated, or resized as
desired.
"Reference points" may be emered and then erased as
needed, and a "rubber-banding" feature (which indicates
where the line we're drawing will be placed) is always
available. Measurement can be in English or metric units,
with decimal precision of up to eight places. Distance can
be measured in absolute tem1S or relative to the last point
entered.
Color selections for the cursor, text, and lines may be
changed (within the limits of our video graphics display),
and new "default options" may be selected. Our CAD
software also includes a "customizing" feature that creates
a batch file of unique default values (screen-size limits,
text and cursor size, grid scale, etc.).
With Dot Plot. our CAD drawings can be printed on a
large number of dot matrix (as well as some laserJ printers.
Many printers can suppon several different resolution
levels, and drawings can be plotted either to a user-defined
scale or to fit the drawing to a specified paper size.
30

TD&T·

SUMMER 1989

CAD AS A THEATRE DESIGN TOOL

HOTES

Typicall)\ we begin with our theatre's basic floorplan (Figure II, creating each set on a separate layer; for example,
Act One might be on layer three, Act Two on layer four, etc.
Once each set has been completed, we save it as a separate
drawing (Figure 21. "What happens if we change this?"
questions are handled either by displaying options
onscreen or by printing out multiple versions. While our
CAD system can't make final design decisions, it does
allow us to make more readily informed choices. (We hope
our student directors will evemually make use of this
process so that they can more readily see how blocking is
affected by floorplan. Ideall)\ through the use of CAD
systems our student directors and designers will have a
better appreciation of theatre as a collaborative an.J
Once a drawing has been approved, copies of it (along
with any necessary working drawings) are generated for
production personnel. Lacking a plotter, our floorplan
sizes are effectively linlited to a 14-inch width. Given our
stage dimensions, the largest scale we can use is Yo" = 1'0"
(unless we want to create the drawing in sections and then
"cut and paste"). We have not found this limitation a problem, but for those who wish to work in larger scale, a
plotter would be essential.
If changes in the design are needed, revised copies are
plotted and distributed. (This is one area where CAD has
been a godsend - coffee-stained floorplans with scratchouts/doodlings are replaced by up-to-date copies, and we
can even deal wi th the old problem of "I don't like it-let's
get back to the original idea."1
In sum, Generic's software allows us to create timely
and detailed floorplans and working drawings. The program is most precise, handles changes well, and lets us
concentrate on designing rather than on "reinventing the

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Figure 4: CAD-generated light plot for Monmouth College production of

My Three Angels.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1989
