The table below shows the different icons that represent a layer options and their meaning.
Clicking on the icon in the layer dialogs will switch the option to the next state. So clicking the 'Layer On' icon will switch the layer to 'Layer Off' another click will then return it to 'Layer On'.
The Beam mode option will go through 3 states, and Layer groups can have an extra state where the state of the layers in the group are not all the same.
Active |
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The active layer |
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Not the active layer |
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Master switch |
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Layer On |
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Layer Off |
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Visibility |
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Visible |
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Invisible |
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Lock |
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Pickable |
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Unpickable |
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Lights |
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Lights On |
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Lights Off |
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Shadow |
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Shadow On |
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Shadow Off |
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Beam mode |
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Solid beam |
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No Beam |
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Stick beam (line for aiming) |
Projections |
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Projection On |
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Projection Off |
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Layer Group |
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Not all layers in the group have the same value |
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Active
There can only be one active layer. This layer will always be visible even if the 'Visibility' or 'Master switch' are turned off.
All new objects, fixtures, groups and assemblies will be put on the active layer.
Master switch
This option turns the layer on/off. When a layer is off, it overrides the other options,
so everything is invisible, unpickable, lights are of, no beams are visibly, no shadows are cast etc.
Visibility
This option allows you to hide objects and fixtures, but please note that is does not influence other options.
So for fixtures, you can hide the fixture, while you can still see the beam and projections, and for objects, you can still see the projections of fixtures, creating 'ghost-like' images.
Lock
This option allows you to lock layers, preventing them to be picked and edited.
Lights
This option allows you to turn the lights of in the scene, while keeping the lens of the fixtures 'lit', so you can see if they are on, but without seeing their influence (beams, projections, shadows) so you can focus on other fixtures.
Shadow
This option allows you to turn of the shadows cast by objects on this layer.
Beam mode
This option allows you to select how the fixture chimneys (beams) are displayed.
Default they are shown as the normal 'smokey' chimneys, but you can also set them to not show at all, or to show them as sticks (single line), so you can see where they are aimed.
Projections
This option allows you to turn on/off the projections of ligh on objects/fixtures on the layer in question.
Disabling this option can increase performance, especially when the objects are very complex.
Also, the projections are not always necessary (like on some trussing etc).