Event seating plan

[davidpaulstanley]

Is there an easy way to create seating plans for conferences and events in Autocad LT?

See attached example. 

In Vectorworks you can draw a shape, populate it with chairs with a click and change the spacing between chairs and take into account exits and gangways etc and count them. You can also set the focal point (i.e. the stage or screens) and all the chairs will face that direction. I can't seem to find an easy equivalent in Autocad? 

I'm trialing both apps and this will help me make a decision soon as this will be the bulk of my purpose along with adding truss lines, fixtures, drapes and walls etc to existing blank DWGs. 

[paullimapa]

Why are you comparing LT to a product that costs more than double the price ?

[pendean]

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@davidpaulstanley wrote:

....I'm trialing both apps and this will help me make a decision soon as this will be the bulk of my purpose along with adding truss lines, fixtures, drapes and walls etc to existing blank DWGs. 

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Vectorworks offers specialized variants designed to each perform a very specific task 

LT is, well, is nothing remotely close

https://www.autodesk.com/products/autocad/compare 

[davidpaulstanley]

Thanks. I'm fully aware of what VW is capable of, I work in live event production. However, despite that, most exhibition halls and rigging teams I work with still use Autocad. So I'd still like to explore this product. And even the teams that use VWX don't use it to its full capacity and still only use it for basic 2D floor or rigging plans that ACADLT is more than capable of. The only thing that's outstanding is the question I asked about seating arrangements. There must be a way to organise an array of chairs and then be able to change the size / distances etc perhaps using a polar array or similar. Or fill a space with items and re-arrange. I just can't find this online anyway. If this is achievable then there's no reason for 90% of VWX users paying more for features they will never use. 

[davidpaulstanley]

My question was about seating arrangements. 

[pendean]

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@davidpaulstanley wrote:

My question was about seating arrangements. 

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LT is not VW. You can explore the tools like ARRAY to sort of get a result that is passable for most users that don't know VW at all.

What else would you like to ask?

[paullimapa]

The answer is obviously no 

[davidpaulstanley]

Wow what amazing help. I've worked it out and actually it is possible.  People should really only comment on here if they know the product well.

[davidpaulstanley]

Yes, as I said, I'm fully aware Acad is not VWX. However I refused to believe people don't use this software for complex and acurate seating plans (such as auditoriums, stadiums, events and site plans) so after experimenting I worked out it is possible to quickly create square, curved or creative setting plans including live chair (block) counts etc. Yes its not quite a 1 click job like in VWX but for the savings its worth the few more minutes it takes. I do have more questions but I'll just work them out myself again. 

[pendean]

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@davidpaulstanley wrote:

...Yes its not quite a 1 click job like in VWX but for the savings its worth the few more minutes it takes...

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Since you provided no details to help others in the community with a solution if they needed one for your type of challenge, we'll guess you did it the long hard way already suggested.

[RobRocks]

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@davidpaulstanley wrote:

People should really only comment on here if they know the product well.

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The people that are trying to help you are well seasoned veterans. Have a look at their stats, if you have any doubt.

[Washingtonn · Accepted solution]

Although my stats are not as impressive as other responders, I'm posting a short video showing a simple method to generate a curved seating layout in AutoCAD using blocks and arrays - no sound but with step by step text

[davidpaulstanley]

Thanks again for the chat and for now posting this in the public space. Really helpful. Thanks.

[RobRocks]

I thought you already figured it out.

What was your method?

[paullimapa]

For those who are unfamiliar with what VectorWorks offers out of the box on seating layouts here’s a video demonstrating the seating layout features back in version 2020. You pay for what you get. 

[Washingtonn]

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@paullimapa wrote: "You pay for what you get."

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...which appears to be the main reason OP asked the initial question.  He was concerned about paying more for VW than he would ever need or use.  AutoCAD LT, about one-fifth the cost, might be the best option.

[paullimapa]

From OP:

”In Vectorworks you can draw a shape, populate it with chairs with a click and change the spacing between chairs and take into account exits and gangways etc and count them. You can also set the focal point (i.e. the stage or screens) and all the chairs will face that direction. I can't seem to find an easy equivalent in Autocad? “
Simple answer LT has no equivalent. Since that’s OPs “bulk” of the work Vectoreorks is the best solution for this… IMHO

[pendean]

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@paullimapa wrote:

...Simple answer LT has no equivalent. Since that’s OPs “bulk” of the work Vectoreorks is the best solution for this… IMHO

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OP does not value their time as a commodity of $$ value, they only see the initial sunk cost: no point in beating this dead horse now 😐

[paullimapa]

Totally agree with you on this one

[jskalaXDDX5]

@davidpaulstanley wrote:

“…most exhibition halls and rigging teams I work with still use Autocad. So I'd still like to explore this product.”

I agree you get what you pay for, but at some point, maybe a person might be happiest paying for both.  I can say with certainty that in what could loosely be called the “entertainment industry,” it is an advantage in terms of convenience and career opportunities to have a working knowledge of both AutoCAD and VW.

Yes, content can be exported/imported between the two.  And yes, VW certainly has “niche” features and abilities “out of the box” that are not natively available in AutoCAD.   

But if the majority of one’s collaborators are using AutoCAD, where is the harm in exploring AutoCAD? 

While AutoCAD may not have the nifty “built ins,” in my opinion it has a lot more going for it in terms of (easily) customizing one’s own automation.

And fun.  I have never found VW to be fun to use.  Pre-determined work flows without much room for creativity.  Try a Youtube search for “Vectorworks macro” and see how far a person needs to scroll before hitting the AutoCAD videos. 

Not very far.

And the Google gets a person stuff like this:

https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/topic/49044-macro-to-switch-from-imperial-to-metric-standar...

Uffda.

Creating a one button toggle might not be the easiest thing in AutoCAD either, but it would take all of five minutes to make one command that changes -DWGUNITS and -UNITS to metric and decimal and another command that changes them back to imperial and architectural, if that was all a person wanted to do.  And the changes could apply to “dimension objects” and not just “dimension display.”  If one used -DIMSTYLE then maybe APPLY with maybe a CROSSING selection…lots of options…

Not sure how to get a “SysBeep;” though…so if one really wanted to have that…and dialogue boxes…then maybe the extra dough for VW is worth it.

Still better off though I think learning both for the performing arts.  VW especially for lighting design.