Production design, paperwork and show control for live events and broadcast.
Q1Draw it. Q2Spec it. Q3Run it.
Forectra is one file for the whole production. Design LED, lighting, projection, rigging, scenic, audio and seating in one 3D model, print the paperwork in one click, and run the lights from the same file.
20 days free. Card required. We email you before any charge.
Front Office Sports Tonight runs on Forectra. The show airs on FOX stations and streams on Samsung TV Plus.
Demo stage, rendered in ForectraBuilt inside a working design studio.
Forectra grew out of Seth Easter Design, a New York production design studio for broadcast and live events. It does what our own shows need, and it runs one every night.
Its founder, Seth Easter, is a three-time Emmy-winning production designer with more than 20 years of network news, six Olympics and presidential debate stages behind him.
| Qty | Item | Makers |
|---|---|---|
| 2,194 | Lighting fixtures, with DMX modes | 40+ |
| 644 | Fixtures with their real gobo wheels | |
| 130 | LED cabinets | 17 |
| 861 | Rack devices | 104 |
| 25+ | Paperwork page types | |
| 20 | Export formats |
From the first call to the last cue.
One file carries the show through every stage. We haven't found another tool that designs the show, prints the paperwork and runs the lights from the same file.
Drop in the venue
OBJ, GLB, DXF, MVR or a PDF plan. Units are detected on import.
Build every department
Screens, lights, projection, rigging, scenic and audio, with real products and real weights.
Send a link
The client orbits the model and measures it in a browser. Nothing to install.
Print the package
Plots, spec sheets, rigging, power, signal and budget, in one click.
Check the shelf
The rental house sees what's short before the quote goes out.
Hand off to the crew
DXF, MVR, Excel, and rasters with every panel numbered.
Run it
The plot is the console. sACN out, and the look holds if the app closes.
Every department in one model.
Screens, lights, projection, rigging, scenic, audio, racks, cable and seating share one 3D scene, with real products, real weights and real power. Change it once and everything that depends on it follows, paperwork included.
Any wall shape
Flat, curved, circle, S-curve, wave, portal, floor and cutouts.
See every beam first
Haze, gels and gobos. Focus by clicking any surface.
Model anything
FOR-Sketch: push/pull, inference snaps, holes, cuts and groups.
AI assistant
"Mirror this truss." "Total power?" It shows each change before it makes it.
Workspaces
Dedicated shops for the gear you spec most. Every one comes with the license.
| Workspace | What it covers | Library | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Shop | Flat, curved and portal LED walls, with the pixel-accurate Raster Builder. | 130 cabinets from 17 makers | Open |
| Lighting | Place, focus, gobo and patch. Anything missing pulls from GDTF Share. | 2,194 fixtures from 40+ makers | Open |
| Rack Shop | Racks built to the RU, with live weight, power and current. | 861 devices from 104 makers | Open |
| Venue and seating | Rooms, doors, tables, guest lists, place cards and meal counts. | 18 standard tables | See it |
| Staging and audio | Platforms, barricades, soft goods, speaker arrays and the speaker schedule. | Built in | Open |
The paperwork comes out of the model.
25+ page types drawn straight from the design: plots, spec sheets, rigging, power, signal, cable, seating and budget. Change the design and every page follows. Anything unverified is flagged on the page, never invented.
11 of the 19 pages in a real export of the demo stage. Pick any page.
The render, then the signal underneath.
Drag across the image. The finished look is on one side, and on the other is the raster map the video team builds against: every cabinet, processor feed and content target.
The plot becomes the console.
Every fixture you placed is already patched. Open FOR-Lighting and the plot is your magic sheet, with submasters, scenes and a cue stack. Live sACN at 44 Hz, and it holds the look if the app closes.
Web Control
Run lights from the browser through the Forectra Companion on a local computer. Bring your own sACN node.
F App
The desktop app with lighting control built in. The show runs locally, so a dropped internet connection can't take the lights down.
Forectra Console
Touch screens, faders and show buttons in a road case, running the same show file. The first units are in build.
Forectra runs Front Office Sports Tonight every weeknight. The show airs on FOX stations and streams on Samsung TV Plus.
Set the room. Seat every guest.
Venue & Seating draws the ballroom, fills it with real tables and chairs and seats the guest list, in the same file as the stage and the screens.
- RoomsRectangle or freeform, with live square footage. Doors cut real openings, and the floor can be wood, carpet or a photo of the real one.
- Tables18 standard tables, from 36 in. rounds to 8 ft banquets and highboys. Fill a room in one click and the chairs set themselves.
- Guest listImport a CSV, drag names onto chairs or auto-seat the rest. VIP and dietary flags show at the seat.
- PaperworkThe table schedule, seating chart, place cards and meal counts print with the Spec PDF.
Also theater-style audience blocks, lecterns, crowd cut-outs and barricade runs. Turn it on from Modules in any project.
Everyone on the show, in the same file.
Producers, directors, clients and the other departments see the real model, not a PDF of it.
- Client ViewSend a link. They orbit the 3D model and take measurements in their browser. It's view only, with nothing to install.
- Collaborator linksAnother designer opens the full show, makes changes and sends it back with a note. You see what changed and accept or reject it.
- WalkthroughsRecord a walkthrough video from saved cameras for the people who won't open a link.
Design from what's on the shelf.
Asset Control is for rental houses and venues. Import your inventory and every design draws from it: stock counts in the picker, unstocked products locked, shortages flagged before the quote.
- ImportA RentalWorks export, or any CSV or Excel sheet with item, quantity and location.
- ConstrainTurn on "Constrain to my inventory" and designers can only pick products you stock.
- Shortage reportUsed, available and short while the design is still a draft. It exports to Excel.
- SwapRight-click a wall to change it to a product you stock. The grid, content and rigging stay put.
Today it covers LED screens. Lighting and the rest of the shop are next.
Talk to us about a rental or venue plan
It fits the way shows already get made.
Nobody has to throw out their tools. Bring in the venue and the plot, and hand every department files their software already opens.
- In
- Vectorworks plotsMVR, DXF
- Venue modelsOBJ, GLB, DXF
- Floor plansPDF
- FixturesGDTF Share
- InventoryRentalWorks, CSV, Excel
- Guest listsCSV
One show file for the design, the paperwork and the control
- Out
- Spec PDF25+ page types
- Drawings and rigsDXF, MVR
- Media serversdisguise Live Push, Unreal nDisplay
- Schedules and budgetsExcel
- SeatingPlace cards, meal counts
- LightingsACN to any node
- LED and video
- ROEAbsenAOTOBarcoINFiLEDUniluminLeyardPixelFlexSamsungSonyLGBromptonNovaStar
- Lighting
- RobeMartinClay PakyVari-LiteHigh End SystemsETCElationChauvet ProfessionalGLPAyrtonAstera
- Audio
- L-Acousticsd&b audiotechnikMeyer SoundDiGiCoYamahaShureSennheiser
Makers in the Forectra product library. Names and marks belong to their owners.
What you can count on.
General notes
A production designer answers.
Questions go to someone who designs shows for a living, not to a ticket queue.
Your files are yours.
Export DXF, MVR, Excel and PDF whenever you want. Nothing is locked in.
No surprise charges.
Twenty days free. We email you before any charge, and you can cancel anytime.
It never guesses.
Unverified power or weight is flagged on the page, never invented.
The show stays up.
The Mac and PC apps run the lights with no internet, and sACN holds the look if the app closes.
It keeps getting better.
Updates ship continuously and are included with your license.
Made by the people who make shows.
Forectra exists because our own shows needed one file that the designer, the shop, the client and the crew could all trust. We build it the way we design: to the deadline, and to the drawing.
"Forectra isn't here to replace the deep CAD suites. It's for designers, rental houses and broadcast teams who want speed without giving up accuracy."
Seth Easter, founder. Three-time Emmy winner, with ADG and DuPont-Columbia awards.
One show file. Five ways to run it.
Start with the design license. Add lighting control the way your room needs it, and move up without rebuilding the show.
Forectra design license
Every workspace, every library, the Spec PDF and all 20 exports, in the browser.
- Every workspace and every library
- The Spec PDF, with 25+ page types, and all 20 exports
- Unlimited projects
- Imports MVR, DXF, OBJ, GLB and PDF plans
- Rigging math and processor recommendations
- Client View links and collaborator reviews
- Venue and seating, with guest lists and place cards
- The AI assistant
| Add | What it is | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Lighting control | ||
| Web Control | Run lights from the browser through the Forectra Companion. Bring your own sACN node. | +$300a year |
| F AppRecommended | Lighting control in the Mac and PC desktop app. The show runs locally, even if the internet drops. | +$600a year |
| Hardware | ||
| Forectra ConsoleFirst units in build | A road case with lid and deck touch screens, 8 faders with OLED labels, encoders and show buttons. Includes 2 years of license and support. | $8,495one time |
| Forectra MiniIn development | A 10.1 in wall touch panel and DMX node with simple built-in software, for podcast, photo and executive studios. | $2,399all in |
| Forectra MicroIn development | The DMX node on its own. Run it from your own tablet or phone, or add our preloaded tablet. | $799tablet extra |
| Rental houses and venues | ||
| Asset Control | Load your inventory and design from what you stock, with shortage reports before every quote. | Talk to uscustom plans |
Launch pricing in US dollars, subject to change. Hardware ship dates will be announced. The Console's license renews after year two.
Bring us your next show.
$1,800 a year or $180 a month, with 20 days free. Already in Vectorworks? Bring the plot in as MVR or DXF.