Object Settings

The Object Settings section in Document Options contains settings that affect CAD objects such as fixtures, hang structures and drawn objects.

Fixture Settings tab

Options on the Fixture Settings tab determine how detailed simulation and wireframe views are. These options can affect the speed of beam simulation in views. For more information on simulation options, see Visualization.

Wireframe Beam Details

Options to simulate effects with Wireframe view beams.

• Stick Beams Only: Select this checkbox to only display beams as stick beams. Selecting this option might increase system performance.

Note: The Stick Beam option only applies to the representation of beams in Wireframe views. Beam visualization in Shaded views is not affected.

• Other Beam Details: Select this checkbox to enable other details for beams.
• Center Line: Select this checkbox to draw a point from the fixture to the point on the stage where the center of the beam hits. If the fixture has CMY color mixing, the line will change color to match the output from the console.
• Beam Angle: Select this checkbox to display the photometric data of the fixture’s beam angle instead of the field angle.
• Head Height Circle: Select this checkbox to enable checking the light coverage at a certain height (the height of the performer).
• Complex Gobos: Select this checkbox to display complicated gobo patterns with details and coloring.

Shaded Beam Details

Options to simulate effects with Shaded view beams.

• Colors: Clear this checkbox to ignore color settings and have all beams displayed as open-white.
• Prism: Select this checkbox to simulate prism effects. This might increase the number of lines that WYSIWYG has to draw, thus slowing down processing power.
• Gobos: Gobo wheels often take a lot of processing power and can slow down the refresh rate of other fixtures’ updates unnecessarily. If you are concerned about cue timing, clear this checkbox to disable gobos.
• Gobo Rotation: Select this checkbox to simulate gobo rotation. This option can slow down the refresh rate substantially as gobos can be rotating even when the fixture’s intensity is at zero.

Symbol Alignment

Options for organizing symbols.

• Line up symbols: Select this checkbox to line up fixture symbols at specific angles, and then select an increment from the drop-down list. Symbols will shift from their focused position to the nearest increment of the chosen angle. For example, symbols will be drawn in one of four directions when the increment is set to 90 degrees. This setting does not affect the focus of the beam; rather it is intended for the “cleanliness” of the printed plot.

Symbol Fill

Options for fixture symbols to be filled with a choice of colors and fill percentage.

• Enable: Select this checkbox to enable Symbol Fill.
• Percentage: Select this radio button if you wish to fill using the same hue of the Fixture Symbol, and select the percentage from the drop-down list for the hue intensity.
• Custom Color: Select this radio button and click the cell to choose a different color.
• Use Gel Color: Select this radio button if you wish to fill using the gel color that is attached to the fixture. Gel color will be displayed if only one gel is applied to the fixture.

Note: Once the Symbol Fill feature is enabled, the 2D fixture symbols will be displayed as filled in CAD Wireframe 2D views only, and not in Isometric view.

Focus mode

Allows you to choose to focus a fixture as you hang it in your drawing. Specify one of the following options to set how a fixture will react after you hang it in a plot:

• None: This setting indicates that you can continue to hang fixtures uninterrupted.
• Focus after hang: If enabled, you will be prompted to focus each fixture as you hang it. Once the fixture is focused, you can continue hanging other fixtures.
• Focus towards origin: If enabled, the fixtures that you hang are automatically focused towards the user origin.
• Enable beam dragging: Select this checkbox to enable click and drag positioning of beams in CAD, DESIGN, and LIVE modes. This option is also available on the CAD Options toolbar in CAD, DESIGN, and LIVE modes.

Hang Structure Settings tab

Options on the Hang Structure Settings tab affect how hang structures, such as pipes and truss, are placed or drawn in CAD mode.

Hang Options

Options that affect how fixtures are placed.

• Snap Interval: If Pipe Snap is enabled (in the Draw Defaults tab), the number entered into the field will be used as the interval used for snap spacing.
• AutoUnit: Select this checkbox to automatically assign a unit number to each fixture that is hung. This option is available for pipes only. It does not apply to truss.
• Auto-Unit Order: The direction in which fixtures will be assigned a number, either Stage Left to Right or House Left to Right.
• Enforce Minimum Spacing: Type the minimum spacing between fixtures. This option prevents you from hanging the fixtures too close to one another.

Pipe drawing mode

Options that affect how pipes are drawn.

• Draw from start: Select this checkbox to have pipes drawn by specifying the start point and the end point (from one extremity of the pipe to the other).
• Draw from Center: Select this checkbox to have pipes drawn by specifying the center point and one end point or extremity of the pipe.

Truss Assembly

Options that affect how truss is assembled.

• Automatically group truss: Select this checkbox to group truss objects together in a similar manner to choosing Group from the Edit menu. This option is helpful in that it treats the truss as a single unit and allows you to perform actions more effectively on multiple objects. If you want to edit one truss object, you must first use the Ungroup command on the Edit menu to remove the grouping from the truss objects.
• Only snap to truss on editable layers: Select this checkbox to enable a truss section to automatically snap onto truss sections in layers that were set as editable in the Layer Database.

Truss/Pipe Thickness and Symbol Fill

Options that affect how truss and pipe symbols are displayed in Wireframe.

• Enable Thickness: Select this checkbox to display Truss and Pipe symbols with thickness in 2D CAD Wireframe views and in associated paperwork views (Not in isometric views). Clear this checkbox to display the truss and pipe objects as line drawings.
• None: Select this checkbox to disable Symbol Fill, and the 2D truss and pipe objects will not be filled when displayed in Wireframe.
• Percentage: Select this radio button if you wish to fill using the same hue of the truss or pipe object, and select the percentage from the drop-down list for the hue intensity.
• Custom Color: Select this radio button and choose a custom color from the color select box as fill color for the truss or pipe object.
• Default Pipe Thickness: Type a new value to change the default thickness of the pipes in your drawing.

Truss Dividers

Options that affect how truss dividers appear.

• Use Truss Properties for Truss Dividers (Line Weight and Color): Select this checkbox to have truss dividers match the appearance of their truss. Clear this checkbox to define custom colors for the dividers.
• Use thick lines for Truss Dividers: Select this checkbox if truss dividers will not use the same properties as the truss. Thick lines are used for truss dividers. Use the buttons below to change the color of dividers.
• Linear Divider Color: Click this button to choose a custom color for linear dividers.
• Angled Divider Color: Click this button to choose a custom color for angled dividers.

Object Settings tab

Options on the Object Settings tab affect how various simple objects are drawn in CAD mode.

• Line Weight: Select from this drop-down list, the default thickness of lines created.

Point Options

Options that affect how points are drawn in CAD mode.

• Point Size: Sets the default size for all points. You can view a sample of the chosen size in the box to the right.
• Point Type: Indicates the default point type in your show document. You can choose to display points as a Dot, Cross, Square, or Circle.

Segment Options

Options that affect how multi-segment objects are drawn.

• Cylinder Segments: The number of segments into which you want to break a cylinder.
• Cone Segments: The number of segments into which you want to break a cone.
• Sphere Segments: The number of segments into which you want to break a sphere.

Stack Options

Options that affect how objects are divided.

• Cone Stacks: The number of horizontal divisions into which you want to break a cone.
• Sphere Stacks: The number of horizontal divisions into which you want to break a sphere.

Rigging Point Options

Options that affect how rigging points are displayed.

• Fill text labels using background color: Select this checkbox to display Rigging Point labels filled with the Wireframe, Layouts, or New Plots background color.

Linear Scale mode

Options that affect how linear scales are drawn.

• Draw from start: Select this checkbox to have linear scales drawn by specifying the start point and the end point (from one extremity of the pipe to the other).
• Draw from Center: Select this checkbox to have linear scales drawn by specifying the center point and one end point or extremity of the pipe.

Drawing Options

Options that affect how linear scales are drawn.

• Paste Base point: Select this checkbox to enter a base point before an object is copied or cut. This will be the object’s reference point for paste commands. Clear this checkbox to allow the base point to be the insertion point of the object.
• Interactive object creation: Select this checkbox to allow yourself to draw objects using the mouse instead of entering values in dialog boxes.

Dimensions tab

Options on the Dimensions tab affect how various dimensions are drawn by default.

• Display Units: The type of measurement unit displayed for dimensions in CAD mode. Choose the default imperial measurement units between Feet & Inches or Inches.
• Display Dash (for Imperial): When this option is enabled, a dash is displayed between foot and inches in imperial measurements, e.g. 6’-8 3/4”.
• Display Alternate Units: Select this checkbox to display a second measurement with your dimensions, in the alternate unit. For example, if metric is your set unit but also wish to display all of your dimensions with both metric and imperial values, enable this option. The drop-down list offers the display unit options for the alternate unit displayed.

Note: In the Draw Defaults window, if Imperial is the selected default measurement unit, the Display Units will be Imperial and the Display Alternate Units will be Metric and vice versa.

Linear Dimensions

Options to affect the default settings of linear dimensions.

• Text Height: The default text height for linear dimensions object in CAD mode.
• Text Offset: Sets the default distance of the text above or below the dimension line in CAD mode.
• Extension: The default length of the extension lines for linear dimensions in CAD mode.
• Offset: Sets the default offset value for linear dimensions in CAD mode. The offset is the distance between the extension lines and the object being measured.
• Arrow Type: Select the default arrow type for linear dimensions in CAD mode. There are several styles available to choose from.
• Arrow Size: Select the default size of the arrow head for linear dimensions in CAD mode.

Baseline & Continue Dimension

• Extension: The default length of the extension lines for both Baseline and Continue Dimensions.
• Spacing Size: The default length of the space between the stacked and subsequent baseline dimensions from the same extension base line.

Arc Length Dimensions

Options to affect the default settings of arc length dimensions.

• Text Height: The default text height for arc length dimensions in CAD mode.
• Text Offset: Sets the default distance of the text above or below the dimension line in CAD mode.
• Extension: The default length of the extension lines for arc length dimensions in CAD mode.
• Offset: Sets the default offset value for arc length dimensions in CAD mode. The offset is the distance between the extension lines and the object being measured.
• Arrow Type: Select the default arrow type for arc length dimensions in CAD mode. There are several styles available to choose from.
• Arrow Size: Select the default size of the arrow head for arc length dimensions in CAD mode.

Radial Dimensions

Options to affect the default settings of radial dimensions.

• Text Height: The default text height for radial dimensions in CAD mode.
• Arrow Type: Select the default arrow type for radial dimensions in CAD mode. There are several styles available to choose from.
• Arrow Size: Select the default size of the arrow head for radial dimensions in CAD mode.

Linear Scale

Options to affect the default settings of linear scales.

• Text Height: The default text height for linear scales in CAD mode.
• Text Position: Select the default position of text that appears for linear scales.
• Tick Interval: Select the default interval at which ticks will appear on linear scales.
• Tick Mode: Select the default mode of which ticks appear on linear scales.
• Major Ticks: Select how major ticks will appear on linear scales.
• Tick Style: Select the default tick style that will appear on linear scales.

Fonts tab

Options on the Fonts tab affect how text is displayed by default on dimensions, scales and labels.

CAD Text Labels

The default setting of CAD Text Labels text.

• Font: The default font used for the text. Select the desired font type from the drop down menu.
• Bold: Select this checkbox to make the default text bold.
• Underline: Select this checkbox to make the default text underlined.
• Italics: Select this checkbox to make the default text italicized.
• Arrow Type: The style of arrow head used on the dimension.
• Arrow Size: The size of the arrow head used on the dimension.

CAD Dimensions

The default setting of CAD Dimensions text.

• Font: The default font used for the text. Select the desired font type from the drop down menu.
• Bold: Select this checkbox to make the default text bold.
• Underline: Select this checkbox to make the default text underlined.
• Italics: Select this checkbox to make the default text italicized.

CAD Linear Scales

The default setting of CAD Linear Scales text.

• Font: The default font used for the text. Select the desired font type from the drop down menu.
• Bold: Select this checkbox to make the default text bold.
• Underline: Select this checkbox to make the default text underlined.
• Italics: Select this checkbox to make the default text italicized.

New Plot Text Labels

The default setting of New Plot Text Labels text.

• Font: The default font used for the text. Select the desired font type from the drop down menu.
• Bold: Select this checkbox to make the default text bold.
• Underline: Select this checkbox to make the default text underlined.
• Italics: Select this checkbox to make the default text italicized.
• Arrow Type: The style of arrow head used on the dimension.
• Arrow Size: The size of the arrow head used on the dimension.

Fixture Layout Labels

The default setting of Fixture Layout Labels text.

• Font: The default font used for the text. Select the desired font type from the drop down menu.
• Bold: Select this checkbox to make the default text bold.
• Underline: Select this checkbox to make the default text underlined.
• Set Font for New Labels in Pres Layouts: The default setting of Set Font for New Labels in Pres Layouts text. Click this button to change the settings.