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Vectorworks Spotlight

By Vectorworks, Inc.

4.5 out of 5 stars
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Vectorworks Spotlight Pros and Cons: Top Advantages and Disadvantages

Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews

Generated from real user reviews

Users value the collaborative features of Vectorworks Spotlight, enhancing teamwork and communication in their projects. (1 mentions)
Users value the ease of collaboration with Vectorworks Spotlight, recognizing its status as the industry standard for CAD. (1 mentions)
Users find that collaboration is seamless with Vectorworks Spotlight, establishing it as the industry standard for CAD. (1 mentions)
Users value the seamless collaboration capabilities of Vectorworks Spotlight, enhancing teamwork in their projects. (1 mentions)

Top Pros or Advantages of Vectorworks Spotlight

1. Collaboration
Users value the collaborative features of Vectorworks Spotlight, enhancing teamwork and communication in their projects.
See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Joe G.
JG

Joe G.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"A must for entertainment drafting"

What do you like about Vectorworks Spotlight?

This is the industry standard for CAD in my industry and makes it easy to collaborate.

2. Ease of Use
Users value the ease of collaboration with Vectorworks Spotlight, recognizing its status as the industry standard for CAD.
See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Joe G.
JG

Joe G.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"A must for entertainment drafting"

What do you like about Vectorworks Spotlight?

This is the industry standard for CAD in my industry and makes it easy to collaborate.

3. Easy Collaboration
Users find that collaboration is seamless with Vectorworks Spotlight, establishing it as the industry standard for CAD.
See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Joe G.
JG

Joe G.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"A must for entertainment drafting"

What do you like about Vectorworks Spotlight?

This is the industry standard for CAD in my industry and makes it easy to collaborate.

4. Team Collaboration
Users value the seamless collaboration capabilities of Vectorworks Spotlight, enhancing teamwork in their projects.
See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Joe G.
JG

Joe G.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"A must for entertainment drafting"

What do you like about Vectorworks Spotlight?

This is the industry standard for CAD in my industry and makes it easy to collaborate.

Vectorworks Spotlight Reviews (24)

View 1 Video Reviews
Reviews

Vectorworks Spotlight Reviews (24)

View 1 Video Reviews
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24 reviews
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Joe G.
JG
Technical Director
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"A must for entertainment drafting"
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

This is the industry standard for CAD in my industry and makes it easy to collaborate. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

Still have issues with features that have been around a long time, I know they are making software for many industries and entertainment is a smaller market, but I wish they would spend more resources on us. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Entertainment
UE
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"good and glitchy"
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

The library of common item is really helpful.

I also like the smart options dispay as It’s a way to quickly find the tools you constantly use while drawing, without having to move your cursor away from the section you are currently working on.

Its a all-in-one design, documentation, and production package for the entertainment industry. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

This program is very heavy and possibly the reason why this doesn't work as smoothly as other similar tools.

Moreover, tutorials of the tool are nit exhaustive enough. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

David W.
DW
Light Board Programmer
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Ubiquitous but glitchy"
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

Vectorworks Spotlight is the widely accepted industry standard for lighting, projections, and sound design in live entertainment. It can also generate XML files that can be read and modified by third party applications to extract the data attached to objects in the Vectorworks drawing. The feature set within the application is extensive, and there is a way to accomplish nearly anything you might need to do from within Spotlight without having to use add-on software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

The overall stability and reliability of Vectorworks is not what it should be, to the point where I typically feel the need to save after every series of operations I perform. Sometimes features randomly glitch out until the program is restarted, and sometimes updates and upgrades to the software break interoperability with other programs that rely on Vectorworks' XML data file. The annual upgrade cost compared to the new features that are added in each release is very steep. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Abhishek B.
AB
Software Engineer
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Best in class tool for modeling, drawing, graphics and presentation"
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

This is one of the best tool for creative modeling. The precision drawing feature helps you take care of the minute details with high levels of precision. When it comes to graphics this software works elegantly. I would highly recommend it to my teammates. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

Not much to dislike except that it takes a lot of ram and cpu processing power. They could optimise it a bit. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Events Services
UE
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Great software with a bunch of bugs"
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

Powerful software that is industry standard for lighting design. Great CAD and 3D-Software, perfect for stage-, set- and lighting design. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

A bunch of bugs and crashes sometimes make it hard to work efficiently with it.

Some features are too limited, I could think of a buch of options that would make it easier to work with it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Events Services
UE
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"The most useful tool for planning a live event"
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

I like the rigging tools and the libraries of common items. I can quickly create truss systems with hanging elements and positions. I can also build systems in 3d. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

I dislike the amount of processor power the application requires. I have a very high end gaming computer and even it struggles with the program. It also crashes quite often which can be very frustrating. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Jamie M.
JM
Director of Technology
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"The industry standard for a reason"
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

Built in libraries containing instruments, ease of importing and exporting many file types Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

Legendary instability that has become a joke to all users, paired with unnecessary yearly updates Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Joseph L.
JL
Scenic Studio Supervisor
Entertainment
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Great program for drafting"
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

We utilize it to create drawings for our lighting rig Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

Not much, they have great product support Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Entertainment
UE
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Industry standard program works well"
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

It's a very powerful rendering and drawing engine with a lot of options for kinds of drawing, and since it's a BIM program the potential for asset management is tremendous if you use it right. VW also allows plugins and the creation of custom tools without TOO much headache, down to a very granular level of control which though daunting, can be very very useful in streamlining workflow. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

It's a very steep learning curve, with a lot in the way of basics tutorials for tools, but not a lot in the way of "so you want to do this thing - here's how you might tackle that task"

The behavior of lighting in the program is also pretty subpar, and in order to get Cinema 4D to make light behave better you have to shell out even more money. It's already VERY expensive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Erin H.
EH
Production Coordinator
Events Services
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Great program "
What do you like best about Vectorworks Spotlight?

The palletes are useful and easy to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vectorworks Spotlight?

You cannot edit on Dropbox if someone else is in the file. And it does not show if someone else is in it Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.