Place shapes and saved trusses

Workspace layout

For a complete current workflow, start with Manual construction. For rectangles, curves, continuous profiles and curved closing rails, see construction paths and sweeps.

Open Manual construction and use Profile in the left rail for the shape, dimensions, anchor and orientation. Extrude holds member length and end extensions. Select a Construction runs row to edit its settings. Changes affect only that run and explicitly linked peers. Done closes the panel without reverting settings; Draw run prepares an independent new run.

The extrusion slider spans the available space beside the numeric input. Its red centre marker indicates zero; use the numeric input to enter an exact length.

Choose what each CC target receives

Create a run with CC checked, then use Object placement to select Shape or Saved Truss. Shape placement defines a new profile in the measurement card; it does not require selecting or drawing a source object elsewhere in the model.

Activate Draw run before picking a run’s start and end. Opening Profile or another settings tool stops drawing and keeps existing previews visible. Done closes the settings without starting another run.

The Shape choices are None, Rectangle, Circle, Half Circle and Isosceles Right Triangle. None leaves spacing references without a solid member. Select a real shape and set its dimensions, orientation and extrusion for construction geometry. Curved shapes also offer Simple and Smooth preview geometry detail.

Understand anchors

The anchor chooses which point of the profile attaches to each CC target. Center is useful for center-to-center construction. Corners and edge centers let an outside face follow the reference. Rectangle and saved-truss placement offer a nine-position grid; other shapes expose the anchor positions supported by their geometry.

An anchor changes position relative to the target, not the profile’s size. Half-width endpoint offsets work most intuitively with a center anchor. After changing an anchor or rotating the profile, check the outer edges instead of assuming the same overall bounds still apply.

Set profile and member dimensions

Width and Height describe the profile. Orientation chooses its base plane, while the measured run helps align the profile along that plane. Extrusion supplies the member length away from the profile; it is separate from the measured run length.

For example, a horizontal X-directed run, a 48 × 98 mm rectangle, orientation Y and positive 2400 mm Extrusion produce vertical members before further transforms. This separates three design decisions: where the members are distributed, their cross-section and their length.

When working in inches, inspect the actual dimension readout: nominal profile inputs can be converted to actual member sizes. Endpoint insets and the generated geometry use those actual sizes.

Use a saved truss

Save the definition in Truss Builder, choose Saved Truss in Object placement and select it from the list. The definition supplies the truss geometry; the CC run distributes complete trusses along its direction. Shape, extrusion, bevel and frame controls are disabled for this placement mode. Spacing, anchors, rotation, numeric Move and mirroring remain relevant.

Use Bottom left or Bottom right to seat a heel on the run instead of centering the truss. Check the first truss from an end view and a side view before placing the full row. Place Trusses commits the current batch.

Independent saved-truss runs

Each run keeps its own truss definition, settings and placement offsets. Shape runs and different saved-truss runs can be generated together. Protected runs retain their settings and still generate. Each run becomes its own Custom group, using its name or the default Run 1, Run 2, etc.. Select a row to edit it; use the chain button only when runs should share settings. See construction runs.