SpotlightPlacing lighting pipe ladders

Tool

Tool set

Lighting Pipe Ladder

Rigging/Braceworks

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, you can access a variety of standard lighting pipe resources and custom styles (see Concept: Plug-in object styles). 

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

Style

Opens the Resource Selector to select a symbol for placement; double-click a resource to activate it

To insert a lighting pipe ladder:

Click the tool.

Do one of the following:

Click Style on the Tool bar to select a resource from the Resource Selector.

Click Preferences to open the object properties dialog box and specify the tool’s default parameters.

The parameters can be edited later from the Object Info palette.

Do one of the following:

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

To insert a horizontal ladder, click Rectangle Insertion mode.

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

Optionally, create a style resource from the object (see Creating plug-in object styles).

Click to show/hide the parameters.Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter

Description

Roll Angle

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 a name for identification and reporting purposes. When the lighting pipe ladder is used as a hanging position, this name automatically populates the Position field of any attached load objects. 

Index

Specifies a unique identifier for the ladder, which is combined with the Position Name for identification and reporting 

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

Creates 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

Displays 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 device 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

LightingDesign103766.png 

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 Snapping to the grid); 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 class prefix 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.

Vertex Parameters

Edits the pipe vertices; see Editing vertex-based objects

Equipment Subparts

Lists the subparts that make up the object. These subparts are counted and reported separately in equipment and inventory lists.

The parameters must be selected for display for this type of object in Spotlight preferences: Inventory pane.

Equipment Virtual Parts

Virtual parts are associated with an object and are reported in equipment and inventory lists, but do not display in the drawing. After adding virtual parts, they are listed in the Object Info palette.

Edit Virtual Parts

Opens the Virtual Parts dialog box to add virtual parts to the object; see Managing virtual parts and independent virtual parts

Assign Sources

Opens the Assign Sources dialog box to assign the object and its subparts and virtual parts to an inventory source; see Assigning equipment to an inventory

Inserting hanging positions

Concept: Hanging positions

Concept: Rigging objects

 

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