Shared   |   Auto-Manage   |   Add and Remove

While you build your Plot layout, Lighting Designer is also creating a list of all the gear you’re using. If you want to be able to order extra gear or are working off a set gear list, you can build a Truck and use that to add objects to the Plot instead of using the Inventory. This can be a huge help on shows with many setups off one package. If you just think of it as a real truck, you understand how it works.

To see your Plot’s Truck, switch to Lighting edit mode and tap the truck button in the top left, next to Objects. The Truck table will show you how many of each type of object you’re using in that Plot, and also how many you have total on the Truck.

Shared

Each Plot can either share a Truck with its whole Show, or have its own Truck (for breakaway days, etc). You can change back and forth between the two using the Shared switch at the top of the Truck table. Objects will copy from Shared to Individual, and merge in the opposite direction. When you switch back to Shared, your Plot’s Truck is discarded.

Note: If a Plot uses a Shared Truck, that’s the gear list that will always appear in emails you send. Individual Plot Trucks will be listed underneath.

Auto-Manage

Trucks have the Auto-Manage property set to on by default. This means your Truck will always contain exactly the number of objects as your Plot (or if your Truck is shared, the highest number of that object in any of the Show’s Plots). Don’t worry about how many you have; LD will just tell you what that number is.

If you turn auto-manage off, you have complete control over your Truck. That means you can add extra gear, or build the Truck package before you even start plotting. Starting with v3.3.3, you can also have more Plot objects than are on the Truck, like if you want to show multiple setups in one Plot (LD will show those numbers in a red warning color, just in case you didn’t mean to overuse that item).

Add and Remove

In the bottom toolbar of the Truck table, there are three options (four if Auto-Manage is off): Favorite, (Add/Subtract), Add to Plot, and Swap. The consistent three work the same way as the buttons in the Inventory creation table, while the minus and plus signs allow you to change the number of objects in the Truck, which will only appear if Auto-Manage is off. The only restrictions are the same which can prevent you from deleting an object. If some other Plot that’s sharing the Truck has more of one type of object, then the minus key will be disabled.

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