Trus...

[waszak-the-lamper21]

How do you add support truss? Like the truss that holds up the truss that gets flown...

[ericjames]

You should be able to to just drag the truss into the drawing from the resource browser. Or just draw it yourself. To my knowledge, there is not actually a tool for truss that is not a lighting position.

[waszak-the-lamper21]

Do I need to make that in a different layer than the flown truss?

[ericjames]

Simple answer is no... they do not have to be in a different layer. However, if you want to be able to view either the hanging position or the support without the other, then they should be in different layers so you can set them to different view options.

[waszak-the-lamper21]

I'm sorry if I'm being a pain, but I''m new to vectorworks...how do you rotate the truss to make it vertical, instead of horizontal?

[michaelk]

Depends...

Are you using one of the truss symbols or the truss tool in Spotlight?

What version of VW? (12, 2008, 2009, 2010)

[waszak-the-lamper21]

I used the truss tool in Spotlight for the flown truss, but I could use the symbols if that's easier..

[waszak-the-lamper21]

And I'm using 2009

[michaelk]

Using the truss tool, draw a straight truss of whatever length you need. (you can change it later)

In the OIP enter 90 in the "Hanging Angle" field.

hth

michaelk

[waszak-the-lamper21]

Thanks so much! i knew it would be something simple like that...also, is there a way to turn on the intensity of the lights, so it shines the beam and shows the color of it?

[michaelk]

Yep.

Open the Visualization Palette - Lighting Tab. (make sure "All" is checked)

All the lights in the drawing will be listed. Put a check in the "On" column next to the light(s) you want to turn on.

If you want to get access to the "dimmer", right click on a light in the Viz Palette and choose "Edit". The default is 75%. [That percentage is totally non-real. You can set it 9000% if you want.] [You can also get to the same palette by right clicking on a light in the drawing and choosing "Edit Light..."]

Meanwhile back in the OIP.... Enter the color you want in the Color field of the OIP and VW will use that color in the rendering. Just use the first letter of the manufacturer and the color number. ie. L200 will color the light w/ Lee 200 and R68 will color the light w/ Rosco 68.

Too bad all that isn't place...

hth

michaelk

PS. When you enter a color in the color field VW will also use that color as the pen color for the "Draw Beam" function. So if you are using L218 as the color it may be very difficult to see it when you turn on "Draw Beam".

[waszak-the-lamper21]

Thanks! Ok....one more question then I'm done..I hope..sorry if I'm being a pain. I just got VW 2010...what happened to all the light symbols? In 2009, they had a bunch of manufacturers, such as High End Systems and Altman and all them...now they only have a few symbols. Is there something I'm missing?

[michaelk]

Look in Applications/Vectorworks 2010/Libraries/Objects-Entertainment. There are about 30 different manufacturers.

[waszak-the-lamper21]

I don't have that....when I go into the libraries, all that comes up is default, favorites, and hatches...

[waszak-the-lamper21]

Never mind....I installed the wrong version. Woops! Good thing it was a free one...