Internationally acknowledged Vectorworks trainer, Francois van der Merwe, presented basic and advanced training from 12-16 March 2018 at DWR Distribution HQ in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a respected lighting designer and a seasoned Vectorworks user, van der Merwe’s main concern was to assist delegates in increasing their workflow.
Van der Merwe has presented training at DWR Distribution, distributors of Vectorworks in South Africa, since 2012. “The programme for every course is unique, and we go through all the changes, updates and added features of the software,” he said. “Vectorworks has been the platform to work on, and in my view, the best choice for our industry.”
With many users relying on tutorials that are focused on architecture, van der Merwe instead demonstrates how to approach a show which is a very different process to how an architect would tackle a building. “Over the years, delegates watch tutorials and pick up habits that are not necessarily beneficial to the entertainment industry. I try to show them a better workflow and how to make the drawing process a lot quicker and easier to understand.”
The Vectorworks training is intensive. “The most noticeable difference for delegates is that their workflow quadruples,” said van der Merwe. “Instead of taking a day to draw a show, they can create a full production in two to three hours.” Delegates are tested and required to draw a stage comprising of staging, set, AV, lighting, trussing and audio. “They do that from scratch within two hours and that is a big improvement,” he concluded.
