Inserting curtains and borders

The Soft Goods tool creates a curved or straight stage curtain or border. To draw a curtain, either use the Soft Goods tool, or create a polyline and then select the Create Objects from Shapes command (see Creating objects from shapes).

To display hanging points for soft goods objects, enable Hanging Point Classes in the Braceworks preferences (see Braceworks preferences).

1. Click the tool and the creation mode. The Corner Vertex or Point on Arc modes are recommended. For more information on the polyline drawing modes, see Creating polylines.

3.Select either Curtain or Border from the Function list, and specify the tool’s other default parameters. The curtain or border parameters can be edited later from the Object Info palette. However, certain parameters are not available for borders.

5.Click to set the end of the segment and the beginning of the next. Continue drawing segments in this manner until the curtain or border object is complete, and then double-click.

Once created, the soft goods object can be reshaped by double-clicking on it. The Reshape tool is automatically activated, to reshape the object directly in the drawing.

Parameter	Description
Function	Select either Curtain or Border (for pipe-and-drape assembles, see Inserting pipe-and-drape assemblies )
Adjustable Length	Specifies the length of a straight curtain or border
Height	Indicates the height of the curtain or border
Top Trim	Displays the height at the top of the curtain or border, taking into account the height of the curtain and its elevation
Bottom Trim	Displays the height of the bottom of the curtain or border (the distance from the floor)
Show Centerline	In Top/Plan view, displays the curtain center line or the border reference line
Show Markers	Places an indicator at the start, end, or both ends of the curtain
Add Pipe	Draws a pipe with the curtain; the length of the pipe is the same as that of the curtain
Add Track	Draws the curtain track
Track Width	Sets the width of the curtain track
Show Traveler Pull	Shows the traveler pull on the left or right of the track, or hides the traveler pull
Add Solenoids	Adds curtain release solenoids
Ends Inset	Indicates the distance from the ends of the curtain where the first solenoid is placed
Target Spacing	Enter the desired spacing between the solenoids
Actual Spacing	Displays the resulting solenoid spacing
Total Solenoid Count	Displays the total number of solenoids placed
Open From
Width	When a curtain opening has been selected, specifies the width of the opening
Show Ghost Curtain	Displays the open section of the curtain with dotted lines in Top/Plan view
Reverse Side	For borders, switches the curtain to the other side of the center reference line
Running Length	For curved curtains, shows the total curtain length
Stock Drape Width	Specifies the width of an individual drape panel
Minimum Overlap	Indicates the total distance of curtain overlap
Tied Fullness %	Sets the overlap percentage at each curtain tie, and affects the Total Drape Count
Total Drape Count	Displays the number of drape panels required based on the specified stock drape width
Show Drape Breaks	Places markers where each drape ends and the next one starts
Show Overlap	Indicates where the drapes overlap
Simple 2D	Temporarily simplifies the Top/Plan view of the curtain or border, showing it as a line
Simple 3D	Temporarily simplifies the 3D view of the curtain or border, showing it as a flat surface
Pleat Width	Indicates the distance between pleats
Pleat Depth	Indicates the depth of the curtain pleats
Flip Pleats	Switches the positive and negative portions of the pleats
Adjust Starting	For borders, offsets the starting point of the border
Adjust Ending	For borders, offsets the ending point of the border
3D Curtain Options	Opens the 3D Curtain Options dialog box, for setting the appearance of the curtain in 3D; see Setting soft goods 3D display options
Current Option	Displays the currently selected 3D option
Location	Enter notes about the curtain or border location, if desired
Material Color	Enter notes about the curtain or border color (does not affect the curtain appearance)
Material Type	Enter notes about the curtain or border material (does not affect the curtain appearance)
Top Finish	Select the finish for the top of the curtain or border
Spacing	Sets the spacing for tie, hook, or grommet finishes
Bottom Finish	Select the finish for the bottom of the curtain or border
Sides Finish	Select the finish for the sides of the curtain or border
Sewn Fullness %	Specifies the curtain or border fullness information (does not affect curtain appearance)
Lining	Enter notes about the curtain or border lining material
Note	Enter any miscellaneous information required, such as stock number or other data
Text Options	Opens the Text Options dialog box, to enable the display and format the text of labels; see Formatting soft goods object labels
Default Text Positions	Text labels can be moved by dragging their control point; this option returns them to their default locations
Classes	Opens the Classes dialog box, to specify class naming for the various portions of the soft goods object. This allows portions of the soft goods to be set to visible, grayed, or invisible. Use the standard class, select a class from the list of classes present in the drawing, or create a new class. Select <Soft Goods Class> to place the soft goods element in the same class as the soft goods object. ● Class Prefix: Specifies an optional default root class naming standard for all soft goods parts; click Assign Default Classes With Prefix to begin all soft goods class names with the prefix, so that they are sorted together. ● Assign Default Classes With Prefix: Sets the class names for all soft goods elements to the standard, using the Class Prefix if there is one. ● Soft goods elements: For each portion of the soft goods object, specifies the class name standard; the class names shown here are applied to the elements.
Update	Updates the object when changes have been made to the Object Info palette parameters
Load Information	A soft goods object is considered to be a distributed load in Braceworks calculations; the curtain line needs to be parallel to the rigging object. Load information is used for Braceworks calculations and reports (Braceworks required).
Include in Calculations (Braceworks required)	Includes the soft goods object in Braceworks calculations; deselect to exclude the object from participating in structural calculations
Load Group Name	The load category is always Scenery for soft goods objects
Load ID	Enter a unique ID for the load for informational use in reports
Load Name	Identifies the object in load calculations
Distributed Weight	Enter the distributed weight of the soft goods object; changes here also affect the Total Weight value
Total Weight	Enter the total weight of the object
Vertex Parameters	Edits the vertices of the path object that the curtain is based upon; see Editing vertex-based objects