Attention MDs, what stage design software are you using?

have used sketchup since 2011 for designs. Learning curve for sure but fairly simple once you ge the hang of it and find all the props you need.
 
I use a few...
Modeling in Sketchup is awesome as you can “walk through” whatever you make without building it. Very handy. But it can be difficult to translate onto paper on a larger range using an accurate scale (3gun comes to mind).
At the moment i’m
-building a 3D model in Sketchup and creating an animation and 2D picture.
-using a Word template to apply the 2D Sketchup graphic and a link to the YouTube animation.
-Convert the whole mess to PDF.
Having a wealth of samples, models and templates has me down to about 4/5 hours for a match copy.
You may have seen some of mine (NW3G), always room for improvement but they seem to work.

What I’m wanting to do is find a good (easy) editing program so I could publish all the info within a YouTube video and ultimately create a playlist that could be used as a stand alone match copy.
Movie Maker would have worked but Windows 10 doesn’t support it so the search continues...
 
pen-pencil-lined-paper-2929658.jpg
 
I do my initial design work with pencil and paper for overhead views. This gives a good idea of your angles of fire and where targets should be placed, and then do google sketchup for publication copies.

ive been thinking of 3d printing mini targets and walls to do my initial design work and just taking pictures but haven’t had time to build models
 
hungrybeagle said:
I do my initial design work with pencil and paper for overhead views. This gives a good idea of your angles of fire and where targets should be placed, and then do google sketchup for publication copies.

ive been thinking of 3d printing mini targets and walls to do my initial design work and just taking pictures but haven’t had time to build models
Click to expand...

Sketchup can do all of this.
Eye view allows you to walk around and see everything as it would be or easy to pan overhead.
The tricks I found were to always work in a 1:1 scale (everything true to size) and make all the props components.
I first made an accurate model of the range, then made accurate models of every prop available.
Nothing is built on the range model, everything is placed on the range model. This way nothing is anchored and it’s easy to move items around.
Works for me anyway but I have used it a fair bit and it definitely takes time to get comfortable with it (you never learn it all...).
Nothing wrong with paper though, it’s been around awhile.
 
I don't remember where I saw it, but I saw a guy who made miniature models to do his stage design, was freaking cool. Then he'd photograph them and video them for his match copy and online presentation.
 
Another one for Sketchup.
We have a good size team of people collaborating, reviewing and approving stages designs and Sketchup really helps from a safety standpoint as far as angles and target setup. Me likey
(Except for the 2018 web version. That sucks. Stick with 2017 local install)
 
Slavex said:
I don't remember where I saw it, but I saw a guy who made miniature models to do his stage design, was freaking cool. Then he'd photograph them and video them for his match copy and online presentation.
Click to expand...

You saw it in my shared post on FB, but original post is gone now.
 
One of the reasons I like sketchup is that I can print a birds eye view for the people who are doing setup separate from the perspective view that often appears in the stage diagram.s Much easier for them to make things closer to how you want the stages to look.
 
I use paper and pen to make simple birdseye view sketches, then once settled, will use MS Paint to make an isometric projection view. Only because I'm a dinosaur, who hasn't gotten around to trying/learning Sketchup. :)
 
A link to an animation I created for a 3gun match. Not my stages, just my legwork to turn a sketch into a match copy.
The animation is just a link on the PDF or physical copy but it gives you an idea how you can trouble shoot a creative stage prior to building it and it gives a competitor an accurate representation of what challenges they should expect to see.
The first video clearly shows a potential issue for a shoot through which can be easily mitigated as the stage design evolves into a match copy saving time trying to alter the stage when setting it up (in this case, well that wasn’t done but I hope you get the idea).
At some point combining several forms of media Could make an interesting match copy with stage briefing, walk through, commentary, sponsor adds, etc.. all being presented in one presentation.
Whether it has any merit could be argued both ways but I think it’s fun to play with so far (Sketchup).
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwNmMRJncGzrpXZ-xPuvoe3PuIAr_kuXs
 
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