Placing lighting pipe ladders

Insert and configure a lighting pipe ladder object with the Lighting Pipe Ladder tool. Lighting pipe ladders function as rigging objects, so lighting devices and other loads can attach directly to the ladder. Lighting pipe ladders support full 3D rotation, and they can be used to create schematic views.

In addition to individual objects created using the Lighting Pipe Ladder tool, it you can access a variety of standard lighting pipe resources and custom styles (see Concept: Plug-in object styles).

● To use an existing lighting pipe ladder style from the resource libraries, click Style from the Tool bar. From the Resource Selector, double-click a resource to activate it. Alternatively, to draw an unstyled lighting pipe ladder, leave the <Unstyled> setting as is.

● To create a custom lighting pipe ladder, click Preferences. From the object properties dialog box, set the default properties. The properties can be edited from the Object Info palette.

● To insert a vertical ladder, click Point Insertion mode and set the ladder’s Width and Height.

4. Click twice in the drawing area to draw the lighting pipe ladder according to the modes selected.

5. Optionally, after placement you can create a plug-in object style, which combines style parameters (with a fixed value established by the style) and instance parameters (which can be set independently for each instance of the styled object in the drawing). See Creating plug-in object styles.

Parameter	Description
Roll	Rotates the lighting pipe ladder on its X axis; the pipe rotates around its insertion point
Hanging Angle	Rotates the lighting pipe ladder on its Y axis; the pipe rotates around its insertion point. When this angle is adjusted, attached load objects may appear to overlap in Top/Plan view.
Rotation	Rotates the lighting pipe ladder on its Z axis; the pipe rotates around its insertion point
Style	Replace, remove, or edit the current style, or create a new plug-in object style for this object. Editing a style changes all instances in the file that use the style.
Hide Style Parameters	Hides the parameters that are set by style; these cannot be edited from the dialog box or Object Info palette
General
Ladder Width/ Height	Specifies the lighting pipe ladder dimensions
Guides	Select how to draw the ladder based on the preview guide rectangle: on the ladder center, inside, or outside
Number of Rungs	Specifies the number of ladder rungs
Evenly Spaced Rungs	Spaces the rungs evenly within the ladder frame; deselect to specify custom rung spacing
Custom Rung Spacing	Opens the Custom Rung Spacing dialog box, to specify the spacing between each ladder rung. Enter the distance between the rungs; the distance from top updates automatically. Click Calculate Even Spacing to automatically space the rungs evenly, as a starting point for spacing or to reset the values; the first and final distances are automatically calculated. To set the top rung to the position at the top of the ladder, click Set Top to Top. To set the bottom rung to the position at the bottom of the ladder, click Set Bottom to Bottom. The position of the other rungs does not change.
Position Name	Enter the name to be used for the symbol when converting the ladder to a hanging position
Index	Specifies a unique identifier for the ladder which is combined with the Position Name for identification and reporting purposes
Location	Optionally, specifies the location for use in reports
Weight	Displays the total weight of the lighting pipe ladder
Pipe
Draw Pipe	Shows or hides the 2D component of the lighting pipe ladder
Line Type	Select either a single or double line for Top/Plan views
Curved Top	Select to create a ladder with a curved top
Measure first rung from	Select whether to measure the first rung from the top or the arc or base of the arc
Show Snap Guide	Select to show a snap guide
Rungs
Diameter	Sets the rung diameter
Render Profile	Select the 3D profile of the rung; this setting affects rendering speed (shapes other than round may render more quickly)
Sides
Verticals	Select where to draw the vertical supports
Profile	Select the side profile
Diameter	Sets the pipe diameter for the sides
Depth	For rectangular profiles, set the depth
Construction Material	Select the material (aluminum, steel, and so on) of the lighting pipe ladder
Wall Thickness	Specifies the thickness of the pipe wall
Tick Mark
Display ticks as	Choose how to display evenly-spaced marks to assist with lighting instrument placement; all options except None also provide master snap points along the lighting pipe ladder when hovering over it.
Centers	Specifies the distance between tick mark centers
Snap intervals between ticks	Specifies the distance between master snap points
Origin	Starts the tick mark placement at the center of one side of the ladder or split equally from the center of one of the ladder sides
Type	Select Line or Dot as the 2D tick mark indicator
Size	Specifies the length of line tick marks or the diameter of dot tick marks
Gap Length	Adds a gap on either side of the tick mark; specify the gap length
Offset	Specify a positive or negative value to shift the tick marks right or left from their centers
Align Tick Marks to Grid	Aligns the center tick mark with the snap grid (see Grid snapping); this does not change the tick mark spacing but it may change the Offset value
Classes
Use Standard Classes	Opens the Use Standard Classes dialog box to set the prefix class used by the pop-up class settings below. Select Existing class to use an existing class from the document as a prefix. Select Other prefix to create a new custom prefix without creating the class.
List of lighting pipe ladder parts	To control appearance and visibility, select a class from the list of classes present in the drawing, or create a new class. Select <Lighting Pipe Ladder Class> to place the part attributes in the same class as the lighting pipe ladder object.
Settings	Opens the Lighting Ladder Settings dialog box, to set the default class for the lighting pipe ladder. Select the Make default for new documents option to always use the specified class as the default class for lighting pipe ladder objects in new files.

Mode	Description
Point Insertion	Inserts the ladder vertically with two clicks to place and set the rotation
Rectangle Insertion	Inserts the ladder horizontally by clicking two diagonal points
Width	Sets the ladder’s width, for use with Point Insertion mode
Height	Sets the ladder’s height, for use with Point Insertion mode
Preferences	Opens the object properties dialog box to set the default preferences for lighting pipe ladders
Lighting Pipe Ladder Style list	Opens the Resource Selector to select a symbol for placement; double-click a resource to activate it