AV Integrator Cramer Inc., Others Getting Boost from New Plug-in Software
Vectorworks is arguably the most popular CAD program utilized in the live event industry. Through the years several companies have come up with clever plug ins that made the program work more efficiently in one particular field or another.The connectCAD software is a suite of plug-ins for Vectorworks that lets you rapidly create clear wiring schematics. Using a standard CAD package, coming up with this takes you a significant amount of time creating, checking and maintaining. With connectCAD, this time is cut in half and considerably reduces the chance of mistakes, saving users money and hours of work. On top of that, connectCAD lets users easily make clear concept drawings, detailed physical layouts and impressive 3D visualizations and reports with clear wiring lists, smart cable numbering and labeling and bill of materials— all with just a few clicks.
User Benefits
We spoke with Nathan Morgan, technical director of AV integrators Cramer Inc., and here’s what he has to say about the plug-in. “Prior to using connectCAD, we created basic wiring diagrams using simple lines in Vectorworks to create a video flow. Making updates and changes proved to be very problematic. It was very basic, at best; and, more importantly, very time-consuming. After we made the investment to use connectCAD, it enabled us to take our detail to the next level and beyond — everything from socket designation to rack elevations to equipment spreadsheets — even the ability to check and markup our drawings for any errors.”
Clear wiring schematics save a huge amount of time in setup and troubleshooting, just by knowing where all the wires are supposed to go and what their function is. You also need to specify the physical location of equipment in rooms and racks. Layouts in connectCAD are built by drag-and-drop. Equipment dropped into racks and rack frames just snaps into place. ConnectCAD estimates cable lengths between equipment items. You can also put equipment, racks and technical furniture on floor plans, and the program again tracks their location and estimates cable runs between them.
But the major challenge of AV systems design is keeping drawings in sync with reality. In the fast-moving world of AV technology, the final equipment installed may well be different from that specified at the start of the project as new models emerge. This program makes it simple to respond quickly and effectively to changes and make revisions with a minimum of effort. It allows design to follow and keep pace with the flow of real-world projects.
A Tough Challenge
“For Cramer, all this was no more apparent than when we first implemented it for use on the largest and most technically involved event that Cramer produces,” says Nathan.
“Our client, a leading legal firm, needed a meeting where it could engage its partners face-to-face, across the country. Cramer was asked to deliver a distinctive and collaborative experience across multiple meeting sites in multiple cities — more than 2,000 attendees in 20 cities, to be exact. But here’s the twist. Each week, the meeting is held in five sites simultaneously, and the partners at each site must experience the same meeting as well as collaborate from site to site. So what did we do? We built a closed-circuit satellite network to link all cities together in high definition, in real-time, allowing our client to present live and engage the attendees in discussion. In addition to producing a continuous flow of live presentations and pre-produced video, Cramer helped shape and play out the look-and-feel across all show collateral, including décor, to ensure one experience, one event.”
The combination of Vectorworks and connectCAD allowed Cramer to view the entire project as a whole in one design system. It’s a fact of life that AV designers also get involved in space planning, technical furniture design and presentations, often working together with other consultants (HVAC, acoustics, electrical and structural engineers, etc.). By embedding connectCAD within Vectorworks, system drawings are fully integrated with building designs, letting users define where equipment is in relation to other building systems and space requirements.
Nathan adds, “With the goal in hand, we started designing our network in ConnectCAD. In less than a week, we were fully designed and tested. From Satellite Truck to Projection Screen, we were all dialed in with our ConnectCAD workflow. The next step was creating all the reports, and beginning the inventory allocation and equipment purchase process. This is an undertaking in itself when replicating for five sites — it took more time than it did to design it! Once all the equipment was at Cramer, we began the rack building, cabling manufacturing and wiring process, following the ConnectCAD plan to a T.”
Checking the Details
To help installers tasked with building a system, connections and devices on the drawing can be extracted as lists with a single click. Installers can work through the list line-by-line, making sure that nothing gets forgotten. In turn, they can note on-site changes in the cable list, which can then be imported and compared to the original drawing. ConnectCAD redlines the drawing to show the changes and updates drawings to as-built status in a matter of minutes. Doing this manually takes hours. Keeping drawings up to date with connectCAD is fast and 100 percent accurate.
Nathan explains further, “Once we had all the pieces in place, we had five fully tested, fully functional custom video switching/playback racks, five custom satellite video racks, five custom cable trunks and five onsite video infrastructures (screens, projection, cameras, etc.). At each site, the gear rolled off the truck, the engineer was given the video flow, and things were set, wired and tested in a couple hours. That’s execution!”
ConnectCAD is designed to assist users in every stage, from design to implementation, without “taking over.” Drawings look the way users want them to. Lines go exactly where they draw them, not where the program decides. The look of Cramer drawings follows their distinctive house style, for example. They can do this because in connectCAD all the visual elements are user-editable so users can customize everything they need.
The process of creating devices is also surprisingly fast, and devices are saved as you create and edit them, so you never have to drawing anything twice. In practice, this workflow is faster and safer than relying on external device libraries, which could open the door to outdated or erroneous data. You design rapidly with full confidence in the accuracy of your work, with no sacrifice of speed.
In connectCAD, the drawings are the primary source of all information —a source you can inspect and verify simply by looking at them. Reports are created by algorithms that read the drawing rather than relying on an external database. This removes all issues of database synchronization, leaving a simple and safe workflow.
Summing Up
Let’s give Nathan the last words. “ConnectCAD has proven to be the perfect complement, not only for Cramer, but we feel for Vectorworks 2015 as well. For over a decade, the live events/staging department at Cramer has been using Vectorworks to design our room layouts, fabricate custom sets and manage all our audio/visual, rigging and lighting needs for all the events we do in venues worldwide.
“At this point in time, we use ConnectCAD on virtually every project our department touches at Cramer, regardless of its size. This has not only helped us with our equipment management, it has served as a vital tool in our goal to ensure we are 100 percent accurate in what we do. We utilize every facet that connectCAD has to offer us. It gives us confidence in how we properly manage our assets in a clear, concise and organized manner, but more importantly saved us a lot of time in the process. ConnectCAD and Vectorworks has been a winning combination.”
For more information on connectCAD, please visit www.connectcad.com.
