Circle Truss Rotation and convert to LP

[Jonathan K]

Greetings all,

I hunted around for a while looking for some info on this. I am sure it's been covered but...

To rule out anything odd going in my plot I started a new drawing to "play" with the circle truss only.

Draw a circle truss with the round truss tool.

12" x 12" box with 10' radius.

Segment length 45 degrees.

Check draw 3d only.

3d rotate 90 degrees.

Doing a vertical circle truss upstage center with a custom lace and grommet screen.

This is all pretty easy enough. However, when I convert to lighting position the truss is no longer visible in top/plan. I would like it to be a lighting position to aid in inserting fixture objects. Is there a better method to do this, or am I missing a step?

Regards,

jon

[Jonathan K]

Slight addition to my previous. The truss disappears in top/plan but is visible in top view. I always hesitate to use the word but is this a bug?

[Pat Stanford]

Not a bug, just a hybrid object.

When you drew the truss you drew it as a 3D object. When you converted it to a Lighting Position, it became a hybrid object. A hybrid object shows it's 2D parts in Top/Plan view and it's 3D parts in all other views.

Since you don't have a 2D part, the Top/Plan is empty.

The work around is to draw the 2D and incorporate it into the symbol.

[Jonathan K]

I think this is just something fundamental I am not quite comfortable with. Sorry for the basics questions. I am by no means a professional drafts-person. I don't think that I fully understand the differences between top/plan and top view.

Let me see if I get this straight. I am starting with a hybrid object and dropping the 2d component in order to get the desired orientation. Then switching back to a hybrid object when converting to a lighting position. Therefore the object will not show up in top/plan in which only 2d data is visible?

Ultimately it doesn't matter if I have the object showing up in the top/plan because of the way we look at a show in viewports. I can simply use top view for rigging plans instead of top/plan.

Funny I could probably hang this element in real life faster than I can draw it!

Thanks Pat!

jon

[michaelk]

Jon

You happened to pick one of the few cases where this is an issue.

The fix to go back to hybrid after your done the roation is easy:

From the Resource Browser, Edit > Edit 3D.

Once inside the edit space, switch to top or top/plan view then draw the lines and rectangles you want to be used in 2D. Exit the symbol.

{This means, of course, you can't rotate the symbol again!}

Try to edit the 3D part of the symbol again, and the 2D stuff you just added will be gone. They found their way home to the 2D part.

One way around this is to take a 3D only truss, rotate it to taste, and create a 3D only symbol. Then insert that symbol (as just a 3D symbol) onto your drawing. Draw 2D geometry over the top of it. Select both the 2D geometry and the 3D symbol and create a new symbol. Convert that second symbol to a light position.

Now you can still change the orientation of the truss in the original 3D symbol and it will change in the 3D part of the position object - without having to keep going back and forth from hybrid to 3D.

Hope that makes sense....

michaelk

[Jonathan K]

I think in this particular show I am working on going through the extra steps isn't going to be necessary. I think I understand what's going on in this instance and why. Like I said the only place that it really affects me is in the rigging sheet layer.

I will however keep this in mind for the next time I run into this.

Thanks for the advice Michaelk and Pat!

jk