Import a lighting plot into DMX software

How does lighting plot import work?

1. 1

   Attach the venue's documents

   Open a show, click the paperclip beside the assistant and add the plot, the patch sheet and the tech spec together. Tell it which one wins when they disagree — for example, "the patch sheet is authoritative for mode and address".

2. 2

   HitLight builds a proposal

   HitLight can import a venue's lighting plot, patch sheet or technical specification — PDF, PNG, JPEG, CSV or XLSX — and propose the fixtures, DMX patch, trusses, pipes and booms, and stage objects it finds.

3. 3

   Review it by fixture type, in 3D

   Each fixture type is one card: confirm the profile and DMX mode, check the copies' addresses and positions, or skip it. The 3D preview shows the proposed rig on your stage, and you can drag a truss or a free-standing fixture to correct it before anything is applied.

4. 4

   Apply what you approved

   Nothing changes until you approve it. You review the proposal by fixture type in a 3D preview, correct positions or skip items, and apply only what you confirm. Applying never deletes existing rig data and never touches your scenes or cues.

What does HitLight import from a plot?

• Fixtures and their patch. Model, DMX mode, universe and start address, matched against HitLight's fixture library. If your fixture is not in the library, point HitLight at the PDF that came with the light — or a photo of the DMX chart — and it drafts a working profile in seconds.
• Mounting structures. Pipes, booms and trusses as drawn, with fixtures hung underneath them rather than floating in space. Move a truss later and its fixtures move with it.
• Stage objects. Risers, stairs and seating rows where the plot places them, so the 3D stage looks like the room you are walking into.
• Groups. Groups the documents define arrive as fixture groups you can select and program together.

The importer brings in the plotted setup, not a venue's list of available stock. Fixtures it cannot place stay unplaced for you to decide, rather than being guessed.

How accurate is an imported rig?

Good enough to save the typing, not good enough to skip the check. A plot is a drawing, and drawings are ambiguous: symbols overlap, positions are approximate, and patch sheets disagree with plots. HitLight runs an independent top-down check of the proposed layout against the source and flags what does not line up, and anything it is unsure about stays pending for you rather than being guessed. Heights and exact focus still need a look on site.

What can you do once the rig is imported?

Everything else in HitLight works on the imported rig straight away: describe a look and the assistant programs it for those exact fixtures, run Auto Show from the music, or build cues and timelines by hand.

HitLight exports a show for grandMA3: an MVR file with the patch, 3D positions and GDTF fixture files, plus a macro XML that recreates groups, colour presets and sequences with a cue for each scene step. See HitLight and grandMA3.

HitLight exports show paperwork: a lighting plot as PDF and a patch list as CSV, generated from the live rig.

Last verified 4 October 2026.