“A Powerful Tool That Saves Time and Makes Life Easier” | Inside Ivan Eftimov’s Bold Experiment with Vectorworks Spotlight

Given the demanding specialism of the entertainment design industry, designers may focus themselves on certain projects or disciplines, be it only live events or only television.

This isn’t the case for proTechnica EVENT’s Ivan Eftimov, who isn’t limited to creative boundaries.

The DJ-turned designer has worked for some of Bulgaria’s biggest TV shows, including “X Factor.” But in 2024, Eftimov raised the bar with the televised finale of “Your Face Sounds Familiar” in front of a 40,000-person audience, an unprecedented combination of live event and television design that the designer told Nemetschek Bulgaria was a “bold experiment — the only one of its kind,” created entirely in Vectorworks Spotlight.

For Eftimov and the proTechnica EVENT team, the road to full integration with Vectorworks’ suite of entertainment products began back in 2013. What started with just two licenses quickly grew into a company-wide standard, replacing a clunky amalgamation of tools like AutoCAD and SketchUp. Eftimov described his approach to mastering Vectorworks as “practice, practice, practice.” Such practice doesn’t come from a difficulty with the software. In fact, Eftimov noted that Vectorworks is “a powerful tool that saves time and makes life easier,” and cited Vectorworks University, YouTube, and online communities as useful resources. Rather, it’s a deep-seated motivation to put on unforgettable productions that pushes the designer to learn more, insofar as honing his skills while on holiday.

Driven by the belief that working from a unified digital platform increases both speed and quality, Eftimov advocated for every department to transition to Vectorworks. “In my opinion, when the whole company, from riggers to lighting design and LED screens, works on the same platform, it’s very, very easy for everyone,” he explained.

Eftimov and his colleagues at proTechnica EVENT have also begun using Braceworks, making them early adopters of the entertainment rigging software in Bulgaria. Prior to Braceworks, all rigging and safety calculations had to be done manually or with the help of engineers, which was time-consuming and less efficient. The switch to Braceworks has resulted in significant time savings during project planning and safety checks, especially on major events recently completed and upcoming shows that have already been calculated in Braceworks and verified by engineers.

The Bulgarian designer’s enthusiasm for Vectorworks Spotlight is unmistakable. One feature he highlights is the software’s intuitive transition from 2D to 3D, making both design and communication with teams straightforward: “It’s very powerful to work from 2D to 3D with Vectorworks.”

The 2D workflows in Vectorworks support precise CAD documentation and intuitive graphics. 2D objects are drawn as solid shapes, making understanding one object’s relation to another easier. And when it comes to 3D modeling, Vectorworks’ Spotlight capabilities include push/pull modeling, complex surfaces and curvature, 3D sculpting and deforming, precise solids modeling, and algorithms-aided design. 

Vectorworks also streamlined communication for Eftimov and proTechnica EVENT with clients and collaborators. Previously, Eftimov would redraw the same elements in multiple programs. Now, smooth exports to visualization tools allow clients and collaborators to experience detailed 3D renderings long before a single stage light is hung. 

“Now with MVR-xchange it’s very easy,” the designer noted, referring to the My Virtual Rig file format that packages an entire Vectorworks design and shares it with a previsualization program. That efficiency extends to keeping the entire company on the same page, with a six-license deployment ensuring no one needs to jump between programs or repeat work.

The 2024 “Your Face Sounds Familiar” stadium spectacular marked a new career high point for Eftimov and a rare moment in global television history. Staging a live television finale for 40,000 people meant not only adapting TV set elements to the vast scale and technical realities of a stadium, but also inventing new ways to keep such a massive live audience thoroughly engaged over three and a half hours, including extended commercial breaks. Unlike a typical concert or studio-based broadcast, Eftimov and his team had to create and coordinate nearly 90 minutes of additional concert-grade performances and interactive entertainment by Bulgaria’s top singers and dancers, keeping the crowd focused and energized throughout the event. This ambitious blending of continuous spectacle, live broadcast, and high-impact stage design had never been attempted on this scale in Bulgaria, and, according to Eftimov, likely nowhere else in the world.

Critical to success was leveraging Vectorworks Spotlight for every detail, from custom scenic elements to the signature circle screens and LED walls. 

Adapting to continuous changes, whether to seating plans or technical specifications, proved manageable because of the flexibility built into Eftimov’s Vectorworks workflow. By providing the tools to shift quickly between creative visions and engineering realities, Vectorworks became the invisible backbone of, indeed, a “bold experiment”— one whose success has inspired new standards not just for Eftimov, but for his entire company and beyond.

Featured image courtesy of Ivan Ermenkov.