5. Creating a layout

One of the best things about Vista is the ability to work visually. On some desks, the only way to identify a light is by a number. The lighting designer or operator has to keep lists showing each light's number, and can only refer to them in that way - "Bring up 18, 19, and 20." Vista allows us to create a visual layout clearly showing what each light does, so we can talk about "the toplight" or "the frontlight" or "the blue lights," rather than using lists of numbers. This is faster and easier.

Taking the time to make a good layout saves time in plotting (creating cues) as you can easily select the exact light you're looking for, rather than finding a light by trial and error. It is best to do the layout before you start focusing, as it assists in reminding you what each light is for. 

The standard rig show file comes with many of the fixtures already laid out. Working in your own show file, you may wish to modify the layout or include fixtures specific to your own show.

Laying out icons

All the icons can be moved. Click on the icon/s, and drag them to where you want them. To deselect an icon, click in empty grey space. How you lay out your icons is a matter of personal preference and the requirements of the show - my preference is to create a physical layout for the commonly used elements of the wash (ie, representing where the lights are in the rig), and a groups layout for the specials (ie, more a list view for things that are infrequently used). This is the default layout for the standard rig. Although a physical layout can seem like the best choice for all the lights, think about how you will refer to or think about lights. When plotting, you generally won't point and say, "Turn on that light over there." You'll ask for the frontlight, or toplight, or blue light. It is best to use your layout so the purpose is clear - the physical position of the light is, in a way, incidental.

Also consider what lights may be used together, and lay them out in a way that is easy to select.

In the example below, from the standard rig, the physical layout of the wash elements is on screen left in the red box, the special elements centre screen in the yellow box, and currently unused dimmers are screen right in the blue box (boxes are added for clarity and cannot be created in Vista).

Names

If you've done a clear layout, you should be able to identify most of the lights just by the layout. However, some lights, like specials, need additional information. You can change the name below the icon from "Dimmer" to something more useful. 

Left-click on the icon/s, then right click, select Items, then Rename. Note: You must left-click first for this function to work. You can then type the new name. Keep it short as there is limited space for icon names.

Notes

Sometimes you might want more information than fits in a name. In this case you could use Notes. A note allows you to type as much as you'd like and can either be attached to an icon or free. To create a free note, click on the grey background, and select Notes, then Add Note. Type your note, then position it wherever you'd like in the layout. 

To create a note attached to an icon, right-click the icon and select Notes, then Add Note. Type your note and position it where you'd like it. The difference between this note and free note is that there will be a yellow line running from the note to the icon. 

Delete notes by clicking on them and pressing the Delete key. 

Icon colour

Rather than using names or notes to tell you about a light's colour, you can assign an icon colour. This makes your lights faster to identify. To assign an icon colour, right-click the icon/s, select Items, then Icon Colour. Choose the desired colour and click OK. 

Below is an example showing some coloured icons. 

Icon colour is most useful for indicating the gel colour of the light, but you can also use it to sort your lights into other categories.

Gel colour

When an icon is selected and given intensity, it lights up in white. The icon colour does not affect this.

You can further customise your layout by adding a gel colour, so the illumination colour is the same as (or different to) the icon colour. To do this, right-click on the icon/s, select Items, then Gel Colour. Select the desired colour and click OK. When the light is given intensity, it will now show the selected colour.

Note that the movers and LED strips show the selected colour automatically.

Groups

In Section 3, Controlling Lights Manually, you may remember the yellow pentagons representing groups. Grouping fixtures allows you to quickly select multiple fixtures which will often be used together. Groups in the standard rig are frontlight (FL), toplight, high sides (HS), backlight, movers, LED strips, and gobos.

To select a group of fixtures, click on the appropriate group icon. All the grouped fixtures will be selected. You can then control all the fixtures together using the normal method.

To create a group, select the desired icons, right-click, select Fixture Groups, then New Fixture Group. Type the name of the group and click OK. A yellow pentagon will be created with the name, which can be moved anywhere in the layout. Fixtures can belong to multiple groups, and can still be used independently.

You can customise the group icon in the same way as the individual fixture icons (changing its colour, adding notes etc).

To delete a group, you must right-click it in the Groups multi quick picker in the bottom left of the screen, and select Delete.

There are many wonderful ways you can customise your layout - right-click on the background or the icons and see what you can discover!

Although it can take some time to perfect your layout, you will easily make that time back when creating cues.

Up next... Creating cues