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Lighting Visualisation (Mac)

cable

By cable
in Beginners Please

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cable Climbing the roster

cable

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Hi Blue Room,

 

I recently started using some lighting visualisation software on a friends windows computer and thought it was quite useful.

 

I was just wondering if anyone had any lighting visualisation software that worked on a mac with preferably Cham Sys but anything is great.

 

Thanks

Cale

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CharlieH Supervisor

CharlieH

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Posted
Hi Blue Room,

 

I recently started using some lighting visualisation software on a friends windows computer and thought it was quite useful.

 

I was just wondering if anyone had any lighting visualisation software that worked on a mac with preferably Cham Sys but anything is great.

 

Thanks

Cale

Hi Cale,

I use the demo version of Capture Polar. It is a great piece of software, can visualise live from Magic Q, and is available on a Mac. The only restriction of the demo version is that you cannot save your work, and you must finish within 5 hours. For a basic design, this is fine, as you can still export the visualisations as JPGs, you just can't re-open them in Capture.

 

Hope this Helps,

Charlie

 

EDIT TO ADD:

You could take a look at WYSIWYG, as this is an amazing piece of software, but it is tremendously expensive, and is not Mac compatible.

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Grum Chief

Grum

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+1 for WYSIWYG.

 

I've been using it on PC for years but this year I switched over to mac and the difference is amazing. The only down side is that they don't do a mac version so you'll need to get a parallels and a license for windows. It seems like a bit of a step backwards but it runs so much better on a mac.

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lite_lad Deputy Chief

lite_lad

Posted
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There is some software called ESP vision which I use, and is available for mac. Its very similar to WYSIWYG but doesnt have the added features such as helping with paperwork.

Another advantage is that it talks with vectorworks so makes it easy to visualize plans, and since your a student you can download it for free.

and it is compatible with Chamsys as it takes artnet :P

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CharlieH Supervisor

CharlieH

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and since your a student you can download it for free.

From where? I've just been on the ESP website, and unless I'm missing something the student license costs $249. :P If students do get it for free, I would love to as it would enable me to save things, which I can't do with Capture :angry:

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cable Climbing the roster

cable

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Wow Thanks Guys really helpful :rolleyes:

 

@ CharlieH So capture polar demo works well for you??? I had used the golden hammer demo awards off the chamsys website wich are capture polar and thought they worked well I just didnt realise there was a demo.

 

@ Grum What Do you think of parallels?? I've had a look at purchasing but never got round to it because I was worried that it would be slow, unstable etc. Am I just being unreasonable or is it unstable??

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Grum Chief

Grum

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@ Grum What Do you think of parallels?? I've had a look at purchasing but never got round to it because I was worried that it would be slow, unstable etc. Am I just being unreasonable or is it unstable??

 

I had the same concerns but so far I've had no problems at all.

 

Ever used a virtual machine in windows? Then tried to use a USB port and found it's a real pain because you have to go into a settings menu and bind a port to the virtual machine, then re-start the virtual machine and check each port on you laptop until you find the one that is bound to the virtual machine (on my old lappy I had 4 USB ports).

 

You get none of these problems in Parallels. All I did was start the virtual machine, install wyg, plug in my dongle and I got a window asking if I wanted to use the new USB device with mac OS or parallels (with a handy check box to remember this setting) all I did was select parallels and it worked.

 

Macs are so easy. Think of them as a finished product rather than the bodged together kit of parts most PC's are.

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Smiffy Mentor

Smiffy

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Have to agree with Grum. I've been using PC's and Windows since the dawn of time. And a few weeks ago switched to Mac. For the life of me I dont know why I didnt do it sooner. What an improvement. AutoCAD and WYSIWYG are working perfectly well in Parallels too. The only problem I have had was getting the hang of the Mac's Quirks. and after almost two weeks, its like ive never used anything else.

 

Cheers

 

Smiffy

 

officially now a Mac fanboy :rolleyes:

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LXbydesign Mentor

LXbydesign

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seconded to Smiffy and Glum.

 

I wasnt really bothered about the PC / Mac comparison until I started using CAD and visuals programs. Mac wins hands down!! Id be lost without my Macbook pro now.

 

I just use my pc at home now for tinternet and fun suff.

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CharlieH Supervisor

CharlieH

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@ CharlieH So capture polar demo works well for you??? I had used the golden hammer demo awards off the chamsys website wich are capture polar and thought they worked well I just didnt realise there was a demo.

Yup, I love Capture. It can't do all the fancy video walls, and moving scenery and everything that WYG can, but it does enough for a school production (and is very easy to use)!

 

I downloaded the demos of AutoCAD and Vectorworks the other day, and cannot for the life of me make either work! The demos have now expired, and I have no intention of purchasing the full ones because I couldn't make the demo work (probably unreasonable to expect to be able to use it without training, but I could with Capture! :unsure: ).

 

It is basic, but gives you a pretty good idea of what you will achieve when you start the rig.

 

Here are some of the visualisations I have done with it (do excuse the lack of front light in some of them - I couldn't be bothered to put it into Capture - I was in a rush, and the performers wanted to see the effects, not the face-light :rolleyes: )

Band 1

Band 2

Piano Solo in a Music Concert

(By the way, please don't save those images - they are just to show you what Capture can do!)

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Stupod Part-timer

Stupod

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Hi all,

 

It's probably worth noting here that there are versions of wysiwyg available at student friendly prices!

 

You can lease a copy of wysiwyg design for a period of 365 at a time for $259USD or purchase a copy of wysiwyg perform R22 student edition for $529USD all prices are plus tax and shipping.

 

These savings are significant over a full copy so wysiwyg need never look expensive ever again!

 

See www.cast-soft.com for further info

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