Selecting a fixture mode

Fixture modes provide information about lighting devices that will be exported to a lighting console or visualizer. Some fixture modes are specific to the Vision program, while others are available in General Device Type Format (GDTF) (see Workflow: Visualizer data exchange for more information about GDTF).

If you plan to export to a lighting console or a visualizer, specify a GDTF Fixture Mode. If you are exporting to Vision and want the option of using Vision fixture data, specify a Vision Fixture Mode as well.

The import of lighting devices in Vision depends both on the fixture mode settings in Vectorworks and on the import options in Vision. You can import lighting devices using GDTF data, Vision data, or a mix of both in the same scene file. For more information about the required settings, navigate to help.vision.vectorworks.net and refer to the section on "Setting the fixture type for MVR import."

In Vectorworks, the DMX Footprint is set automatically by the selected fixture mode. If fixture modes are specified for both Vision and GDTF, the GDTF mode sets the number of channels. Fixture modes are specified in the Lighting device properties. The Vision fixture mode can also be specified when inserting lighting devices.

The Vision Fixture Mode and GDTF Fixture Mode dialog boxes list the available fixture modes. Enter text in the search box to filter the list. Click a column heading to sort the list, and click the disclosure arrows to expand the list. Click on a mode to select it.

Changing device properties

Advanced light properties

Exporting Vectorworks Spotlight Data

Workflow: Visualizer data exchange

Editing GDTF data

Visualizer data mapping

Exporting MVR files