Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2010 - 60

book

reviews
arnold wengrow

editor

Light Plot Deconstructed
by Gregg Hillmar; Columbia, Maryland,
Nemetschek North America, 2009; 92pp. Paper
(spiral bound), $40.00.
Reviewed by William browning
Gregg Hillmar has for several years been the
"go-to" demonstrator for vectorworks software
at USITT and ldI conferences. If you've attended one of those conferences recently, you've
probably either sat through or at least stopped
for a few minutes to watch him demonstrate the
use of vectorworks in drafting light plots. As a
working lighting designer based in Richmond,
virginia, Hillmar uses the software regularly in
his "day job" (he also teaches at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, virginia) and is uniquely qualified for that task. This book is a carefully
and thoughtfully organized presentation of the
best of Gregg Hillmar demonstrations, including
his warm and often humorous style. It is just as
he says on the concluding page of his text, "an intentionally short and easy to follow journey from
a new, unformatted file to a plot out the door."
When I first approached the task of reviewing this new publication, I had hopes that
it might serve as a good primer for learning
how to use vectorworks software, since I am a
longtime AutoCAd user. While it doesn't fulfill
on that hope, it does provide a lot of insight into
the purpose and potential uses of many of the
features of the software, such as classes, various
palettes, sheet layers, design layers, and so on.
More importantly, and true to its title, the book
provides a wealth of in-depth information and
techniques for using the many light-plot-specific
Spotlight tools.
As noted, the book is very brief at less than
100 pages, but it is well-focused and organized
for its intended purpose: using vectorworks to
draw light plots. After a short introductory history lesson about drafting light plots before the
age of computers, the author begins his true
plot line by opening the software and starting a
new drawing file. Hillmar then carefully explains
the essential vectorworks basics, including the

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display area setup followed by
explanations of important software concepts, features, and
settings. Along the way he regularly indicates his personal preferences for many of the features
and settings, including his rationale for those choices, but he is
always clear that you are free to
make your own choices to suit your own working
process and style. Most if not all of the discussions of various features include screenshot illustrations of the various dialogue boxes, palettes,
etc. Unfortunately many of these illustrations are
too small to read easily without magnification. I
found it useful to have vectorworks up and running on a computer as I read the book so that
I could have a larger version of the illustrated
item available to help understand the discussion.
Admittedly, younger eyes may not have the same
difficulty with the book's illustrations.

Features and capabilities
A little less than half way through the book the
plotline shifts from vectorworks basics to the
specifics of vectorworks Spotlight and its numerous features and capabilities. Using his own
working procedure as the context, Hillmar does
a masterful job of pointing out the power of
many of the lighting design features which can
share data, routinize a process, and/or simplify
the steps in many actions. He is also forthright
about what he considers to be a deficiency in
any of the various features of the software.
In addition to the drafting history retrospective at the very beginning of the book, Hillmar often returns to that discussion throughout
the text to illustrate a point he is making. His
frequent historical references to the process of
drafting a light plot "In Ye Old days," as he calls
them, clearly elucidates the enormous advantages of computer drafting. For those who can
recall those earlier days, he perhaps even conjures a bit of nostalgia.
This book is an excellent example of how
one designer uses the vectorworks Spotlight
software in his working process. It is filled with

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numerous suggestions of ways
to organize and streamline your
workflow process. It is not (nor
does it claim to be) a primer for
the basic vectorworks software,
but it does illuminate many important software concepts. Although a bit pricey given its size,
this book would be an excellent
reference text for any class about
lighting design graphics which
uses vectorworks as its software
platform. Additionally, if you are a lighting designer and plan to learn the vectorworks Spotlight
software and use it in your work, this book would
be a welcome aid in that process. Sure, you could
just sit in on one of Hillmar's demos at the next
USITT conference and get much of the information that is available in the book, but what do you
do three weeks later when you are under pressure to get out that plot and you can't remember
what he said about how to use the Twoferring
tool? If you're smart, you'll pull out this book.
William Browning, is Head of Technical
Production in the Professional Theatre
Training Program at the University of
Delaware where he regularly designs
lighting and teaches advanced courses
involving computers. He also serves as the
USITT Technical Production Commission's
Associate Editor for Td&T.

A Practical Guide to Stage
Lighting, 2nd Ed.
by Steven louis Shelley; Amsterdam, boston,
Focal Press/Elsevier, 2009. 488 pp. Paper, $49.95.
Reviewed by Ellen E. Jones
A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting should not
be confused with either inspirational volumes
that show fabulous color pictures of the work of
major designers or introductory stagecraft textbooks. This book offers specific information for
lighting designers operating outside academic
or resident theatres. Steve Shelley's thirty-plus
years in the professional arena are the foundation for the design processes he has developed.
The book also reflects his unique voice and

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2010