TYPES OF TRUSS? COMMON SIZES? TRUSS MATERIALS? STAGE TRUSS LIGHTING AND DJ TRUSS?

stage truss lighting and DJ truss allows lighting designers the freedom to hang static lights or automated fixtures, wherever they choose.  Trusses can be found anywhere lighting equipment is deployed. In Theaters, Concerts, Tradeshows, Arenas, Places of worship, Movie sets, TV studios, Restaurants, Clubs, Bars, Venues, Banquet halls, DJ booths, Stores and Stadiums.

Truss can be connected together to create a structure allowing lighting fixtures, video, audio or other staging equipment to be hung with ease. It comes in several different lengths and when connected together, creates longer spans or different shapes.

The primary materials most commonly used for stage lighting trusses are Aluminum and Steel.

Aluminum truss, because it is durable with a great load/weight ratio, its lighter weight and consequently easier to transport, is the most likely choice for use in concert or stage productions. It is a quick and easy setup and teardown. Most commonly used for stage truss lighting and DJ truss

Steel truss, used for Installations that are permanent and generally indoors and where high load ratings are required steel trussing may be chosen.No matter what your project entails, it is very important to know the load ratings of your truss and always deal with professionals for your design needs. Trussing should never be an afterthought, keep it top of mind.

Truss is generally graded and separated into categories due to its structural abilities and design, which is also directly linked to its costing.

TYPES OF TRUSSING

Deco Truss

Decorative use only, for displays and internal architectural touches in shops, restaurants, bars and clubs. The Deco truss market is unregulated, so while some brands and suppliers may be quality rated and have reasonable weight loading, others will have no form of certification whatsoever and are not suitable for use in public places.

Ladder Truss

The simplest and cheapest form of the industry standard 50mm truss systems, it’s the perfect choice for builds and structures where maximum clear spans and loading are less important factors than appearance or available space, such as exhibition floors and retail displays where the floor space is a premium.

With a large selection of fittings, angled pieces and straight lengths, Ladder truss is very flexible in allowing strong and dependable structures to be created in limited space.

Triangular Truss

Probably the most commonly seen of all the truss types, Tri truss gives you the added stability of a triple pole construct, which gives you significant increases in weight loading, torsional rigidity, and in long length resistance to deflection.

The additional surface area gives you multiple mounting and equipment attachment points. Corner and mid ‘Tee’ sections are available in both ‘Apex Up’ and ‘Apex Down’ configurations depending on the nature of the structure being created and its intended use which can be for both practical and aesthetic reasons.

Tri Truss has a visual appeal of its own, making it eye catching as well as being functional. It has a definite ‘industrial chic’ to its design and its loading capacity allows a large number of lighting fixtures, visual displays and audio equipment to be mounted safely at height, maximizing your available space and giving you the reliability in daily use that comes with a product at this level.

 Square Truss

The strongest and largest of the standard truss designs, Square or Quad truss as it’s also known is the industry’s main truss system for larger builds, rental use and for stage and theatre work.

It offers clear run loading spans of up to 12 meters and lends itself to many different functions and tasks.

Used for exhibition stands, lighting rigs, fashion runway frameworks, audio system flying such as Line Arrays, and for the temporary structures of festival stage roofing systems and stage lighting rigs, it’s the ultimate all rounder tool for the entertainment and business worlds to create durable and functional frameworks with the safe loading and durability to fit into any situation.

The square design eliminates any apex or orientation issues and the large selection of adapters, mounting plates; corner and joining pieces mean that structures are easily accommodated to the available space.

Uses for Trussing

TRUSSING FOR LIGHTING

Long before it found use as a framework product for exhibition booths and stage roof systems, trussing sections were used in theatres and music venues as lighting rigs. Starting off as modified steel scaffold scenery poles, a purpose built aluminum version was soon developed for its obvious benefits of significant weight saving and cheaper cost.

Suitability

Professional lighting units for the most part are designed to be suspended at height from built in handles or chassis points, and easily secured with the industry standard G shape fixing clamps onto pole shaped structures. The nature of a standard stage lighting rig layout means a strong straight fixing system is perfect for the easy location of multiple fixtures, with the clamp fixings and truss surface area allowing easy sideways positioning and position changes, something not possible from units mounted direct to the walls or ceiling.

Versatility

Other benefits of trussing is in all its forms, even ladder truss if installed horizontally, is that it can function as a cable management tray for all the attached lighting fixtures, so the multitude of power and DMX control lines are easily dealt with, and remain quickly accessible for servicing and fixture changes.

It also means that the entire rig can be lowered to floor height in one go, making repairs, troubleshooting or layout changes as simple and safe as possible.

 Performance

The loading capability of modern professional aluminum truss is considerable, with for example a 6m width of our square / quad truss having a total mass loading of 632 kg when the equipment is spanned into a safe fixture pattern.

This provides more than ample scope required for the use of any luminaires on the market, with the average weight now being 10 kg or less for standard range products, and 30-40 kg for the industrial theatre lights.

Diversity in use

For performance lighting rigs and stage shows, trussing can be supplied in circular and semicircular format in a range of diameters, made up from curved sectional pieces.

Rock bands such as Queen and Pink Floyd have made show features from electrically lowering and tilting circle trussing with its edge loaded with moving head lights or fixed spots, and using the center section as a video projection surface through use of canvas. The truss strength and durability in use allows this movement whilst under load to be possible.

Trussing and performance lighting go hand in hand, they always have and always will as it offers the strongest and simplest solution to the mounting and display of multiple effects or area defining lighting solutions. Professional aluminum trussing offers fantastic durability and longevity in all manner of environments and is an investment that will pay for itself repeatedly over its long life.

Lighting Rigs

Trussing and lighting are old friends, having been paired up for decades in theatres and professional stage shows the world over as it provides the simplest and most practical solution to the flying of multiple lighting fixtures.

Many large stage shows feature fully electric winch operated truss circles or rectangular truss lighting rigs that are raised and lowered throughout a performance both for artistic effect and to aid in easy set changes, and also for mid performance repair and fixture replacement should it be required by raising the truss up into the ceiling where it can be attached to the fixed position lighting gantries, something not possible with wall fixtures or set position truss. It’s structural ratings compared to its overall weight make it perfect for chain lifting and winching as it adds very little weight over that of the lighting units attached, and its tubular design offers an infinite amount of support and fixing points for the lifting equipment.

Durability and Longevity

You mention aluminum to people and they often think of something that’s not as strong as say steel or that can be easily dented or damaged like the bodywork of a car.

So for starters, Truss is really really tough stuff.

Depending on the required project specifications, this can be either a 2mm or 3mm wall thickness to the tubing sections, both offering enormous strength with minimal weight penalty and giving huge levels of performance in both structural rigidity and deflection under loading.

TRUSS FOR DJS

For the modern working Dj, one that’s taking their own rig out for events for use as stage truss lighting and DJ truss, the choice of trussing over the more traditional stands and lighting bars is a big one to take, and many have either been put off thinking it’s too much for one person to handle, or that it’s too expensive and not worth bothering with.

Visual Appeal

Trussing looks expensive. It has a natural awe factor to its structure and just looks like it means business. When compared to the average cheap lighting T bar or Dj stand its heft and quality stand out and give off a strong and professional look to your rig.

It’s as much a statement of your own attitude as it is a functional item. It can be dressed with custom fit fabric sleeve which can then be internally lit to great effect, it can be powder coated, or be used in its natural state, with all having their own charm.

 Practicality

The trussing systems we manufacture and supply at Stage Concepts use a unique cross bolt mounting design which does away with all the traditional spigots, pegs and pins which take time to fit and are easily lost, and it replaces them with a 4 bolt configuration for an ultra fast build and takedown time coupled with a minimal parts count.

This custom design also gives our trussing a beautiful seamless appearance to its joins, which is especially useful when dressing the truss with fabric sleeve as is popular for weddings and corporate events.

We of course also offer the traditional fixing design truss for customers wishing to replace or upgrade onto their older existing truss systems.

Functionality

In comparison to normal lighting bars and Dj stands, trussing gives you huge increases in both stability and weight loading capability, along with a near infinite choice of clamping surface, flat top plate pieces for mounting of moving head lighting fixtures, uprights and horizontals for hanging lighting and effects units, display screen or monitors, or fabric sections for projection display.

Coupled with a large workstation area for the modern Dj tools such as laptop, media controller, and cd players or turntables when required, a full truss setup has everything you need to support all of your equipment in one structure.

 Self Investment

The DJ that have made the decision to upgrade though have found that a whole new range of work opportunities have arisen, especially from the more lucrative wedding Dj and corporate function circuits, where the aesthetic quality and presentation of your equipment is just as important as your actual performance, and is often a requirement of certain venues.

The systems are completely modular, so can take on many shapes and sizes with the addition or removal of certain segments, which allows you to cater for the widest selection of venues, and lighting requirements.

The professional DJ industry is a competitive market, with companies and individuals all vying for the same jobs. With occasions such as Weddings now offering considerable pay compared to the more common party work, it has never been more important to look as pro level as possible. Our team as GTR Truss can advise you through the best upgrades and products to give your rig the real wow factor that high end customers now look for.

GTR DESIGN TRUSSING

At GTR design and consultation services are offered to all clients and potential clients during the planning and quotation process.

Truss projects differ greatly between customers, with some only requiring us to design a fairly simple display structure for them, whilst other projects may require a specific aesthetic, or substantial loading capabilities along with custom mounts and fixture points.

STANDARD TRUSS DESIGN

Projects utilizing our “off the shelf” trussing sections will normally be those of a more traditional design or simple configuration, with a full range of corner pieces, joiners, footplates and straight sections either in stock or available at short notice. to see our product line click on the following link – Our products

BESPOKE TRUSS DESIGN

For the more complex designs, the custom shapes, the one off systems tailored for that specific location or job, the design work is created at the factory using the latest version of the powerful Sketchup 3D Cad software, which allows full perspective based renderings to be created, and full 3D rotatable PDF documents allowing the customer to view the design fully without requiring specialist software.

GTR Industries

GTR is operating as a dealer for various trussing brands in NA such as: Global Truss America, Pro X Truss and our own  GTR Truss.  Our truss systems and designed truss constructions have found homes in a wide selection as stage truss lighting and DJ truss, both public and private events and for a variety of tasks.

At GTR Industries – We offer design and consulting for AV systems & Trussing design to new commercial construction and remodel projects for: venues, theatres, conference centers, hotels, stores, clubs, churches and bars. We offer a superior service, cost and warranty on all of our products.

• All of our trusses and truss accessories are TUV Certified.
• All of GTR Trussing products have 5 years warranty.