Structures and rigging hardware: the builder, the truss reference and alternatives

The «Structures and rigging hardware» section in «Production» builds a portal, an arch, a backdrop frame, a cube, a totem or a hanging frame from trusses: it picks the segments, corners, bases and hardware, works out the weight, checks the load and stability and draws an A3 sheet for the workshop. The structure can be put on a floor plan or sent to an order's estimate. The section also holds a reference of trusses and rigging hardware with sizes and loads, and alternatives to bulky trusses. A beta feature by invitation, together with «Trusses and lights» of the floor plan.

Learn more: Help · Features.

Reviewed: 2026-10-21

How to use it

Open «Production» and choose «Structures and rigging hardware» in the left column. From a floor plan, the link «Reference and builder» in the «Add» menu under the «Trusses and lights» group leads here.
On the «Builder» tab choose what you build: «Portal», «Truss arch», «Backdrop frame», «Cube (box)», «Totem» or «Hanging frame».
Set the sizes in millimeters, the truss (square 290 or 400, triangular 290, flat 290) and the base. In the «What hangs on the structure» block enter the weight of the screen, the banner and the fixtures.
On the right you see the checks, the weight, the specification and an A3 sheet with the front, top and side views at once. A red line means an overload or a risk of tipping: follow the hint in it.
Click «Download PDF», «Put on the floor plan» or «Send to production».

What the builder puts together

The builder puts a structure together from standard truss segments 0.5–4 m long: for every span it takes the fewest segments, and of equal options the one with the fewest different lengths. Corners with 0.5 m legs are part of the size, so sizes go in steps of 0.5 m. If a size does not fit, AURA adjusts it and says «Sizes fitted to the truss lengths».

«Portal»: two towers on bases, a header and two 2-way corners. «Backdrop frame»: a frame of four trusses standing on the floor with two braces to the back; «Brace reach, mm» sets how far they go.
«Truss arch»: two towers and an arc bent to order at its radius. The arch is at least half its width high plus 500 mm for the towers. «Cube (box)»: four legs and a frame on top with 3-way corners.
«Totem»: one tower with a base plate and a top plate. «Hanging frame»: a frame of four trusses at the hanging height, with hanging points at least every 6 m, on electric hoists or on steel slings to the venue's points.
The specification lists every segment, corner, base and piece of hardware. A joint of a square truss takes 4 conical connectors, 2 pins per connector and an R-clip per pin; a triangular truss takes 3 connectors, a flat one 2. A hanging frame gets hoists, slings, shackles and safety cables, and towers get 20 kg ballast plates when needed.

Load, stability and wind

AURA compares the load on the top (the header, the top of the arch or frame, a frame span between points) with the truss's typical table for that span. For the square 290 and 400 trusses it is the same table as in «Trusses and lights» of the floor plan. A screen and a banner count along the whole length; one or two fixtures hang at the middle and count double.
Over 80 % of the allowed load: «Close to the limit». Over the allowed load: «Overloaded», take a 400 truss, shorten the span or remove part of the load. A span longer than the table: ask a rigger.
Stability is the ratio of height to base: the plate under a tower, the reach of a frame's braces or the shorter side of a cube. Up to 3 : 1 the structure is stable, up to 6 : 1 it needs ballast (AURA says how many kilograms on each base), above that it needs braces, guy lines or a wider base.
The «Outdoor structure: check the wind» box adds wind up to 14 m/s on the banner and screen and makes the limits stricter: 2 : 1 and 4 : 1. In a strong wind the banner and screen are taken down, and an outdoor design is agreed with an engineer.
This is a guide for planning, not an engineering calculation: the reference values are approximate, check the data sheet of the truss that will come to the venue.

The workshop drawing and the PDF

The A3 sheet is drawn the same way as «Construction drawings»: front, top and side views, the scale is chosen by itself, violet dimensions follow the parameters. The front view gives the lengths of all segments, the opening and the clear height under the header.
«Download PDF» gives two A3 sheets: the drawing and the specification with the weights, the totals and what the checks said.

Putting it on the floor plan

«Put on the floor plan» offers your floor plans and «New floor plan». The plan opens and the structure's trusses go into the middle of the sheet as a group: they are moved, turned and saved like ordinary trusses.
A portal, an arch and a backdrop frame go as one span on towers, a cube as four spans on towers, a hanging frame as four hung spans, a totem as a short truss on a tower. The plan draws the arc of an arch as a straight span.
Trusses can be put on a plan by those who have the «Trusses and lights» beta. A plan with them opens and saves for the whole project team.

Sending it to production

«Send to production» offers the orders where you change the estimate and see prices, or creates a new order. The structure's elements go into the order's estimate as lines without prices under «Structures» with the structure's name, and the PDF drawing goes to «Order files».
Sending the same structure again updates its lines instead of adding new ones, and the drawing becomes a new version of the same PDF in «Order files». Set the prices in the order's estimate.
«Send to production» is inactive while AURA recalculates the structure after an edit or while the parameters have an error: the order gets exactly what is shown on the screen.
After sending, «Open the estimate» and «Open the order» lead to the order. If «Drawings» are open to you, «Open the drawings» is there too: the same order's «Drawings», where arches, backdrops and boxes are drawn from the studio's materials.

The reference of trusses and rigging hardware

The «Reference» tab holds element cards: sizes, weight, working load, when to use it and notes. The search looks in the name, sizes and use; next to it you choose a group and a truss.

Groups: trusses, corners and cubes, bases and towers, hoists, connections, clamps and shackles, slings and cables, items for decor (tension fabric frames, pipe and drape, ballast).
A truss has a table of lengths 0.5–4 m with weights and its allowed load by span: spread along it and at the middle (half the spread load). Corners give a weight for each truss; hoists, clamps, shackles and slings give a working load.
The reference is brand-neutral: the values are approximate, take the exact ones from the manufacturer's data sheet.

Alternatives to bulky trusses

The «Alternatives to trusses» tab has nine ways to hide the equipment or do without a truss: decorative boxes and truss cladding, fabric covers, pipe and drape, hanging on slings from the venue's points, light frames with tension fabric, box columns, false walls, podiums with cable channels and cable masking.
Each one says when to use it, its pros, its cons and what affects weight, setup and price. «Order from production» puts the alternative as a line without a price into the estimate of a chosen or new order: specify the sizes and materials there.

How it differs from «Trusses and lights» and «Construction drawings»

«Structures and rigging hardware» put together and check one whole structure: specification, weight, load, stability and a sheet for the workshop.
«Trusses and lights» in the floor plan place trusses and fixtures around the venue and count the fixtures' load on each truss. A finished structure from the builder can be put on the plan.
«Construction drawings» in an order draw arches, circles, backdrops, podiums and boxes from the studio's materials, with checking and approval. The truss builder does not replace them.