What moves together
Layers, positions, groups and attachments all look like ways of keeping things together. They mean different things, and only one of them makes objects move as one.
At a glance
- Layer
- What kind of thing it is: Rig, Fixtures, Scenery. Moves nothing. Goes out in the MVR.
- Position
- Where it hangs: Front truss, FOH. Moves nothing. Goes out in the MVR.
- Group
- What belongs together for you. Moves together once you select the group. Stays in FlexViz.
- Attachment
- What is physically connected: coupled truss, a fixture on a truss, a fixture on a riser. Moves together while snapping is on.
Layers and positions move nothing
A layer and a position are labels. Choosing a layer does not select what is on it. Clicking a position's row selects everything on it, and that selection then moves like any other; but a click on one fixture in the plan takes only that fixture, whatever position it is on.
An MVR import brings the file's layers and positions. It does not make groups out of them.
Groups move when the group is selected
A click on one member selects just that member. To take the whole group, click it in the Groups panel or choose Select group on a fixture's right-click menu; then it moves, rotates and copies as one. A group can mix fixtures, truss and props, which is what makes it useful for four separate towers or one band's kit. See Groups.
Attachments: the snap switches decide
Two switches in the toolbar, next to the grid controls, decide what happens to everything that is attached to something:
Truss snap covers truss coupled to truss, and fixtures hung on truss.
Prop snap covers fixtures standing on stages, risers and set pieces.
The rule is the same for both: snapping on, an attached assembly moves as one; snapping off, each part moves on its own.
Truss snap on: a coupled run moves as a whole, whichever part you take hold of. Pulling on a fixture that hangs on a truss moves the whole run it hangs on, not the fixture alone.
Truss snap off: each truss moves on its own, and the joint opens. Dragging a fixture takes it off its truss.
Fixtures stay on a truss you move. Even with Truss snap off, the lights on a truss go where the truss goes. They hang on it; leaving them in the air would be the surprise.
Turning snapping back on does not reattach anything by itself. Drop a fixture within reach of a truss, or bring two truss ends together, and they connect again.
Typed values follow the same rule as a drag. With Truss snap on, entering a new position for one truss of a coupled run moves the whole run.
In an MVR export every object is written at the place it hangs. The attachment itself is not part of the file: the next tool sees a fixture where it hangs, not that it hangs on that truss.
Which one to use
To show, hide or structure the drawing: a layer.
To tell the crew and the console where something hangs: a position.
To grab the same handful again later: a group.
To make things move as one because they are built as one: attach them, with snapping on.