Novedge Pulse™ of Kevin Lee Allen

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Your World, Reimagined, a design competition using Vectorworks One of the things [more...]

Sweeeeeet. Time to design, time to play, with a perpetual calendar good for 87 years. We could probably retire by then. Gear Patrol introduced us to the A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar ($189,000 in rose gold, $213,000 in platinum) won’t need to be corrected until the year 2100 (only one in four [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Referencing Vectorworks files for collaboration. Referencing is a great way for a team [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Classes, You Can Never Have Too Many Vectorworks Classes Some of my friends [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Layers, I do like me some Vectorworks Layers Layers are like sheets of [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. What’s inside a Spotlight Lighting Device-Part 1 Well, a lot really, but here’s one [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Paper Free? Vectorworks Nomad 2.0 takes us a step closer I really do believe [more...]

I’m stepping out of the design world for a moment to tell you about a wonderful customer service experience I had yesterday. In the midst of research, conference calls, plowing through laminate samples and fabric swatches, I suddenly remembered I needed to order Pup Corn, a treat that our Bichon, Sophia, really likes. Since we [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Vectorworks Template or Stationery Files Not to be confused with Stationary files. They don’t exist [more...]

“Who needs a car in L.A.? We got the best public transportation system in the world!” says private detective Eddie Valiant in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Matt Novak of the Smithsonian Magazine Blog Paleo Future writes about the rise and dominance of the car in Los Angeles. It is a fascinating read [more...]

I came across an article by the Associated Press announcing the release of an amazing photo database of 870,000 photos of New York City from the mid 1800’s through the late 20th century.  No one, two or twenty photographers could ever shoot a collection as vast and varied as this, but anonymous municipal workers did [more...]

The MTA has released a series of photographs by Patrick Cashin chronicling the artificial  caves that the 2nd Ave. subway will travel through. There have been problems with this subway line construction, and many people have grown irate over the project, but here I want to focus on the marvels and challenges faced in these caverns. Today [more...]

From Inhabitat – Here’s a list of America’s favorite sustainable craft breweries. We enjoy Sierra Nevada, Harpoon IPA, and Boulevard. Have you tried these or the others on the list? I’m going to check out Fairway to see if they carry these other brews. Kudos to these small craft breweries. They are fine examples of [more...]

Smart Highways, by Studio Roosegaarde is a concept that proposes five energy efficient ways of making highways safer and easier to navigate. First presented at the Design Indaba Conference in March, 2013, the firm will begin testing later this year in the Netherlands. The light emitted from the photoluminescent paint is gorgeous, and the smart highway’s [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Putting the pieces together Over the past few weeks, I’ve mentioned, in the [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Here’s a Goody — CameraMatch Plug-in for Vectorworks 2013 One of the [more...]

I discuss the relationship between Lightwright and Vectorworks at length in Entertainment Design; Scenic, Lighting, and Sound, with Vectorworks Spotlight 2013.This is an important excerpt about good workflow, and avoiding Potential issues. Lightwright was developed by John McKernon and not by Nemetschek Vectorworks. The two work together to ensure a smooth workflow, but they are not one product, like [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Vectorworks Spotlight Lighting Device Preferences So you have a Rep Plot and [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Oh, How I Hate DXF files and How To Make Them Suck [more...]

A Great Way to Learn Vectorworks This is shameless self promotion, but I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t think it would help people. Last Week, Nemetschek Vectorworks announced the publication of the second edition of my book:Entertainment Design; Scenic, Lighting and Sound, with Vectorworks Spotlight 2013. Second Edition. This volume is about 40 pages longer than [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Lighting Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Kevin blogs at Pro Lighting Space on Vectorworks. I see that look [more...]

It was a movie theater, it was used for performance, now it’s a bookstore… in Buenos Aires. This ain’t no Barnes & Noble from out on the highway. The is El Ateneo Grand Splendid. This a temple to the power of the written word in much the way Scribner’s was in New York City. We’d love [more...]

It’s not a Kimpton, but we’d stay at the The Saguaro Hotel in Palm Springs. These folks are not afraid of color, and the space seems to celebrate the desert, and Palm Springs Modernism. The Saguaro interior and exterior are a riot of bold color that pays homage to the swinging midcentury vibe of this desert [more...]

I bookmark things and keep them together as ideas I want to blog about. Of course, that file gets a bit messy and work always gets in the way of blogging. I looked through that file today and found this post by Modernus about And Bob’s Your Uncle Lighting. Some crazy, wonderful, fun stuff. What’s [more...]

We first saw this scene watching the video of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Some time back, Design and Desire in the Twentieth Century posted this seminal clip. We bring it to you here. Before there were large paint companies, like Benjamin Moore, there were small, local paint manufacturers. Parr Paint was my local [more...]

Actually, it arrived a couple of weeks ago, but we’ve been too busy designing to take a breath and really start to talk about the new book. Second Edition, expanded to cover the new features in Vectorworks Spotlight 2013, including an section on Sound Design. This books is over 40 pages longer than the first [more...]

It’s a simple choice. These English Tea Kettles boil water faster than anything else. Worth the investment, we’ve had the model designed for an electric stove and the model designed for a gas burner. Of course, gas is better. In either case, the morning hcallenge is to get the beans ground and the coffee service [more...]

Well, one of them. Scotch is required as well, but the day starts and the creative juices of set and lighting designers begin to flow with the application of coffee. Good coffee, not that crap from a national chain or a diner. With all due respect to diners. Now, we’re coffee snobs, we travel with [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Light Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Kevin blogs at Pro Lighting Space on Vectorworks. I see [more...]

  Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Light Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Kevin blogs at Pro Lighting Space on Vectorworks. I see that [more...]

For the photographer on the go, the AirTracks is an inflatable slider system, meant to replace the weight and bulkiness of metal sliders. Going on hikes and trying to get onto airplanes with a traditional metal slider is neither fun nor easy. The AirTracks takes the silky-smooth movements of a metal slider, and shrinks it [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Light Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Kevin blogs at Pro Lighting Space on Vectorworks. I see that look on face – oh [more...]

Justin Lange, editor at Projection Lights and Staging News invited Kevin to blog at Pro Light Space, Justin’s go to site for professional lighting designers, and lighting technicians. Thanks to Justin, and Pro Lighting Space, I am cross posting Kevin’s blog entries here. Kevin blogs at Pro Lighting Space on Vectorworks. I see that look [more...]

This year, as last, Kevin Lee Allen will be one of the judges for the iSquint/Stage Directions Student Lighting Design Competition (SLDC). In the video below, he discusses some of the things he will be looking for from the various entries. Sweet scarf, right? iSquint.net, Stage Directions Magazine, Nemetschek Vectorworks, City Theatrical and Field Template [more...]