Hi Massimo,
I have to apologize as I didn't realize that you were receiving so little feedback on version 5. Personally, I tired 5 at one point and it seemed very different from the workflow in 4x and given that it was still in beta, I guess I was just kind of waiting for it to get a little further along so that I could give it a run-through in a live (but not super critical) environment. For me, it's really hard to give good feedback unless I can really use the program in my actual workflow. That said, I'll give this beta a try right away and hopefully have some feedback for you soon.
QLC+ 5.0.0 Beta2 release
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gmint
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:04 pm
- Real Name: George Qualley IV
Massimo,
I had a chance to download version 5 and play with it some. Unfortunately, I very quickly had a crash with the composition I use in my small club so I wasn't really able to test it in a live environment. I did try to go through and play with some things in order to provide some feedback. First of all, let me say that I was initially not a fan of the UI. But, I read a comment that you made somewhere else that the design goal here is to make the UI touch friendly and after using it for a bit, I think I can your logic in this choice. It's not very pretty, but it does seem to be functional, and that is certainly the most important aspect for this program.
A couple of things that I saw that I liked very much:
1) I love the ability to set a PIN for each page in the VC. One of the areas that that makes QLC+ really useful for me is that I can setup a pretty dummy-proof lighting desk where basically anyone can just punch up different patterns without having to worry about people changing things or getting into areas where they don't belong. My ideal use case for this would be to just have a fullscreen interface that couldn't even be quit without a PIN and no controls other than the ones I put there. In my opinion this is really one of QLC+'s strongest suits.
2) I like that the Grand Master is no longer always shown on the main UI for the same reason as I mentioned before. One of the few things that people can screw up now is to turn down the grand master (usually inadvertently) and it's kind of hard to catch.
3) I like the fact that the remote connections can be enabled from the main UI and doesn't require a trip to the command line.
4) I like the that there are some alignment tools available for laying out the virtual console. I would LOVE it if there were distribute horizontal and distribute vertical options. This would save me SO much time.
5) UNDO. This really should be #1. Is Undo actually finally available? This is great. Period.
6) I like the new color scheme. Much more appropriate to the dark environments most of us are probably working in.
Other thoughts. I'm still getting a handle on the slide out pane for doing most of the editing. I can't really say for sure whether I like it or not just yet. I can certainly see some advantages there, but it's just one of those things where I've used QLC+ as it is for so long that anything that is new and different feels just that. There are certainly areas of the version 4 interface that are less than ideal, but as far as I'm concerned, a lot of those things are more really minor things as opposed to items which really require a big overhaul to fix. For example, when I am building a collection, it would be awesome if the checkboxes (to filter what I'm selecting) held their state and the folders that were disclosed did the same. This alone would save me a TON of clicks. But that's a minor issue. Maybe the new UI will solve that, but it certainly doesn't REQUIRE a new UI.
The one area which I honestly haven't really used much until about three months ago was the show section of the program. Personally, I find this the least polished part of QLC. In building some audio synced shows I experienced a fair amount of crashes and a good deal of lost work. Moving things around feels a bit kludgy and just not really very tight and polished. I'm sure a lot of this has to do with QT. I really didn't have an opportunity to test that in v. 5 yet.
Personally, the reason that I haven't ever spent a lot of time playing with version 5 is mainly because 4x does about 95% of what I want it to do. The other 5% that it doesn't are rather minor issues so I don't really spend a lot of time thinking about what I wish was different. I'll try to think of some more things, but I'm excited to see that you're back at work on version 5!
I had a chance to download version 5 and play with it some. Unfortunately, I very quickly had a crash with the composition I use in my small club so I wasn't really able to test it in a live environment. I did try to go through and play with some things in order to provide some feedback. First of all, let me say that I was initially not a fan of the UI. But, I read a comment that you made somewhere else that the design goal here is to make the UI touch friendly and after using it for a bit, I think I can your logic in this choice. It's not very pretty, but it does seem to be functional, and that is certainly the most important aspect for this program.
A couple of things that I saw that I liked very much:
1) I love the ability to set a PIN for each page in the VC. One of the areas that that makes QLC+ really useful for me is that I can setup a pretty dummy-proof lighting desk where basically anyone can just punch up different patterns without having to worry about people changing things or getting into areas where they don't belong. My ideal use case for this would be to just have a fullscreen interface that couldn't even be quit without a PIN and no controls other than the ones I put there. In my opinion this is really one of QLC+'s strongest suits.
2) I like that the Grand Master is no longer always shown on the main UI for the same reason as I mentioned before. One of the few things that people can screw up now is to turn down the grand master (usually inadvertently) and it's kind of hard to catch.
3) I like the fact that the remote connections can be enabled from the main UI and doesn't require a trip to the command line.
4) I like the that there are some alignment tools available for laying out the virtual console. I would LOVE it if there were distribute horizontal and distribute vertical options. This would save me SO much time.
5) UNDO. This really should be #1. Is Undo actually finally available? This is great. Period.
6) I like the new color scheme. Much more appropriate to the dark environments most of us are probably working in.
Other thoughts. I'm still getting a handle on the slide out pane for doing most of the editing. I can't really say for sure whether I like it or not just yet. I can certainly see some advantages there, but it's just one of those things where I've used QLC+ as it is for so long that anything that is new and different feels just that. There are certainly areas of the version 4 interface that are less than ideal, but as far as I'm concerned, a lot of those things are more really minor things as opposed to items which really require a big overhaul to fix. For example, when I am building a collection, it would be awesome if the checkboxes (to filter what I'm selecting) held their state and the folders that were disclosed did the same. This alone would save me a TON of clicks. But that's a minor issue. Maybe the new UI will solve that, but it certainly doesn't REQUIRE a new UI.
The one area which I honestly haven't really used much until about three months ago was the show section of the program. Personally, I find this the least polished part of QLC. In building some audio synced shows I experienced a fair amount of crashes and a good deal of lost work. Moving things around feels a bit kludgy and just not really very tight and polished. I'm sure a lot of this has to do with QT. I really didn't have an opportunity to test that in v. 5 yet.
Personally, the reason that I haven't ever spent a lot of time playing with version 5 is mainly because 4x does about 95% of what I want it to do. The other 5% that it doesn't are rather minor issues so I don't really spend a lot of time thinking about what I wish was different. I'll try to think of some more things, but I'm excited to see that you're back at work on version 5!
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ShagLight
- Posts: 121
- Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2023 5:13 pm
- Real Name: David
First of all, thank you for your hard work! I have been using QLC+ 4xx for years doing stage lighting for bands. I just installed 5.0 b2 on my spare laptop and will be testing it thoroughly. I'll be posting my thoughts, problems, and questions. Right off the bat I'll say it definitely takes some getting used to being accustomed to 4xx.
NO, I AM NOT THE SOUNDMAN!
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GiuseppeBLDC
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Feb 17, 2023 4:35 pm
- Real Name: Giuseppe Isoli
Massimo, thank you very much for your hard work. With QLC+ 4xx you introduced me in the world of Stage Lightning. I'm looking forward to use 5.0.0 trying to be helpful with reports!
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kproth
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2023 2:31 pm
- Real Name: Kevin Roth
Massimo, as others have said, thanks for you very hard work for this community!
As a newer user with a simple need for a lighting console, I hadn't tried v5 yet because it's in beta and I wanted to know that something was stable. But since I've been dabbling in making some external-input related functionality changes for my use case, I did end up looking at v5 to understand if the behaviors I was working on in v4 were the same in v5 or not.
I will admit, at first glance I had a hard time finding things in v5. But after a little time spent poking around, it's not so bad.
My main dislike is that I work on a 1600x900 15" laptop screen, and I don't love how much bigger all the UI bits are -- I'm working in a desktop mode, not on a tablet or phone, so I have a mouse and keyboard and prefer to see as much as possible at once. Is there a setting somewhere to scale down the size of the UI widgets? Perhaps at least a master font-size setting? I'll log this in the v5 forum too, btw.
I also keep wishing the "Save" button was visible in the main toolbar...
As a newer user with a simple need for a lighting console, I hadn't tried v5 yet because it's in beta and I wanted to know that something was stable. But since I've been dabbling in making some external-input related functionality changes for my use case, I did end up looking at v5 to understand if the behaviors I was working on in v4 were the same in v5 or not.
I will admit, at first glance I had a hard time finding things in v5. But after a little time spent poking around, it's not so bad.
My main dislike is that I work on a 1600x900 15" laptop screen, and I don't love how much bigger all the UI bits are -- I'm working in a desktop mode, not on a tablet or phone, so I have a mouse and keyboard and prefer to see as much as possible at once. Is there a setting somewhere to scale down the size of the UI widgets? Perhaps at least a master font-size setting? I'll log this in the v5 forum too, btw.
I also keep wishing the "Save" button was visible in the main toolbar...
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Yestalgia
- Posts: 421
- Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2021 9:31 am
- Location: Australia
- Real Name:
- Contact:
Are you used to clicking save? There is the shortcut: Ctrl+s for that.
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Dariusz
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2023 4:04 pm
- Real Name: Dariusz
Hello Massimo,
Many thanks for Your hard working.
Currently I'm a Freestyler user for my work. But this SW has many limitations. From long time i'm following development of QLC. It's a great concept, intuitive and user firendly.
But lack of some features holding me to migrate to QLC. These features are included in professional soft, and few of them, in Freestyler (QLC couldn't be worse in any feature!
)
1) Override mode of function button, or "highest priority mode"
When the "normal" functions are enabled, in some situations is needed to modify show by temporary swap some channels values.
Simple example:
Playing collection included function "open" for heads shutters. The collection includes also movement, gobos, color, dimmer, prism.
Than we want to make forced strobe effect.
With the "Override" it's simply. Just create function including strobe values on shutter channels. Next, create button with assigned this function.
In button options mark option called "Highest priority" or "Override".
Now when use this button, the values from "override funtion" replacing the values from original function (of course only channels that overlapping in same time).
When button off, the operating continues by "normal" function values.
This function is included in FS. It should be in QLC
2) Submaster assignable to fixutures/groups/channels
This feature also occurring in other softwares.
This is needed when we want by easy access to dimm group of fixtures.
Of course, it can be realised by slider assigned to dimmer channel. But dimmer doesn't have to be a constant value funtion.
For example: we have a "dimmer wave" effect created on 8 fixtures group. And we want, by simple live solution, dimm these fixtures but we want also save the dimmer effect behavior.
Of course now we can achieve this by submaster slider into common frame with function. But it makes limitations.
The better, more felxibility and more "professional" is possibility to assign for submaster slider any channels, like in level mode.
Of course options from "grand master" mode - reduce or limit, are also much expected.
3) Button off behavior/ slider close behavior
Another feature is flexible define what happens with channels (or functions like "movement", "shutters", dimmers") when we turns off the button.
Some functions we want to close shutters / go dimmers to 0, but others - not.
4) Advenced BPM triggering
Here i don't have specified ideas, but i think it should be improved also
- Changing chaser / seqence steps by beats
- DMX value from audio level
- Flashing by beats
- Dividing / multiplication beats for each chaser / sequence
- Smart automations, like: when no sound, play function, etc.
Thank You
Dariusz
Many thanks for Your hard working.
Currently I'm a Freestyler user for my work. But this SW has many limitations. From long time i'm following development of QLC. It's a great concept, intuitive and user firendly.
But lack of some features holding me to migrate to QLC. These features are included in professional soft, and few of them, in Freestyler (QLC couldn't be worse in any feature!
)1) Override mode of function button, or "highest priority mode"
When the "normal" functions are enabled, in some situations is needed to modify show by temporary swap some channels values.
Simple example:
Playing collection included function "open" for heads shutters. The collection includes also movement, gobos, color, dimmer, prism.
Than we want to make forced strobe effect.
With the "Override" it's simply. Just create function including strobe values on shutter channels. Next, create button with assigned this function.
In button options mark option called "Highest priority" or "Override".
Now when use this button, the values from "override funtion" replacing the values from original function (of course only channels that overlapping in same time).
When button off, the operating continues by "normal" function values.
This function is included in FS. It should be in QLC
2) Submaster assignable to fixutures/groups/channels
This feature also occurring in other softwares.
This is needed when we want by easy access to dimm group of fixtures.
Of course, it can be realised by slider assigned to dimmer channel. But dimmer doesn't have to be a constant value funtion.
For example: we have a "dimmer wave" effect created on 8 fixtures group. And we want, by simple live solution, dimm these fixtures but we want also save the dimmer effect behavior.
Of course now we can achieve this by submaster slider into common frame with function. But it makes limitations.
The better, more felxibility and more "professional" is possibility to assign for submaster slider any channels, like in level mode.
Of course options from "grand master" mode - reduce or limit, are also much expected.
3) Button off behavior/ slider close behavior
Another feature is flexible define what happens with channels (or functions like "movement", "shutters", dimmers") when we turns off the button.
Some functions we want to close shutters / go dimmers to 0, but others - not.
4) Advenced BPM triggering
Here i don't have specified ideas, but i think it should be improved also
- Changing chaser / seqence steps by beats
- DMX value from audio level
- Flashing by beats
- Dividing / multiplication beats for each chaser / sequence
- Smart automations, like: when no sound, play function, etc.
Thank You
Dariusz
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dannyrod01
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2023 4:32 pm
- Real Name: Daniel Rodrigues
Hi Massimo,
Have been waiting for this however I cannot begin to test as it keeps crashing at start up. I have tried on 3 different systems 2 running windows 10 pro and 1 running windows 11 home. Any advice?
Have been waiting for this however I cannot begin to test as it keeps crashing at start up. I have tried on 3 different systems 2 running windows 10 pro and 1 running windows 11 home. Any advice?
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GGGss
- Posts: 3073
- Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:15 pm
- Location: Belgium
- Real Name: Fredje Gallon
Did you install it under administrator rights?dannyrod01 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 4:42 pm Hi Massimo,
Have been waiting for this however I cannot begin to test as it keeps crashing at start up. I have tried on 3 different systems 2 running windows 10 pro and 1 running windows 11 home. Any advice?
Do you run it under administrator rights (at least for once?)
Reason: there are .dll's which have to be registered in Windows and since it's a beta, Windows security interferes heavily, leaving your system somewhere in the universe - hence crashing QLC+ v5.
All electric machines work on smoke... when the smoke escapes... they don't work anymore
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gmint
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:04 pm
- Real Name: George Qualley IV
I would second both of these ideas. Obviously some of this can be achieved through the use of HTP but not everything and I very much like these ideas.
I'm not sure I fully understand this because I can already do a lot of these things with the current BPM setup in QLC but I'm always open to more flexibility.
I'm not sure I fully understand this because I can already do a lot of these things with the current BPM setup in QLC but I'm always open to more flexibility.
Dariusz wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 4:58 pm 4) Advenced BPM triggering
Here i don't have specified ideas, but i think it should be improved also
- Changing chaser / seqence steps by beats
- DMX value from audio level
- Flashing by beats
- Dividing / multiplication beats for each chaser / sequence
- Smart automations, like: when no sound, play function, etc.
Thank You
Dariusz
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JimR4129
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2022 3:56 pm
- Real Name: Jim R
I'll try to give it a go on an "older" MacOS soon. Thanks for letting us know!
I do occasionally see the virtual console crash version 4.12.6 on the Mac (if there are too many clients) so I'm not too afraid to try the 5.0.0 Beta 2.
I do occasionally see the virtual console crash version 4.12.6 on the Mac (if there are too many clients) so I'm not too afraid to try the 5.0.0 Beta 2.
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Landmine9446
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:38 pm
- Real Name:
Just to add my two bits; I'll migrate to version 5.0.0 beta2 and report any feedback.
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Landmine9446
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:38 pm
- Real Name:
Is QLC5 on GitHub? Id like to contribute to GUI improvements.
First of all; congratulations from one developer to another.
GUI:
1) Settings to be able to reduce icon an font size globally, icons and font sizes are too big for PC users. (Touch screen is perfect)
2) Remove the gray background on small icons; replace this with a light border (#eaeaea) and on hover light up gray (PC Users)
Show Manager:
2) The ability to use the "DEL" key on the keyboard to remove tracks or functions on the tracks.
3) Importing an existing show from version 4 does not import the show under show manager.
First of all; congratulations from one developer to another.
GUI:
1) Settings to be able to reduce icon an font size globally, icons and font sizes are too big for PC users. (Touch screen is perfect)
2) Remove the gray background on small icons; replace this with a light border (#eaeaea) and on hover light up gray (PC Users)
Show Manager:
2) The ability to use the "DEL" key on the keyboard to remove tracks or functions on the tracks.
3) Importing an existing show from version 4 does not import the show under show manager.
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kproth
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2023 2:31 pm
- Real Name: Kevin Roth
v5 is the same codebase as v4 - just a different qmake option. https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus/w ... uild-HOWTO
And iirc, the show feature is incomplete and/or being redesigned for v5.
Fwiw, I support the idea of a global/default option for smaller UI elements on non-touch devices. I know it’s already editable for individual elements, but it’d be real nice if a user could select an option to default to smaller fonts and then import their existing v4 show files and have the smaller size get used.
And iirc, the show feature is incomplete and/or being redesigned for v5.
Fwiw, I support the idea of a global/default option for smaller UI elements on non-touch devices. I know it’s already editable for individual elements, but it’d be real nice if a user could select an option to default to smaller fonts and then import their existing v4 show files and have the smaller size get used.
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Landmine9446
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:38 pm
- Real Name:
Thank you; I shall take a look.
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Yestalgia
- Posts: 421
- Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2021 9:31 am
- Location: Australia
- Real Name:
- Contact:
I'm working on some new Icons and will share these in a thread soon. Send me a message if you'd be keen to helpLandmine9446 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 3:31 pm 2) Remove the gray background on small icons; replace this with a light border (#eaeaea) and on hover light up gray (PC Users)
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Sophia1
- Posts: 54
- Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2022 7:53 am
- Real Name: Sophia
Hi everyone,
I want to install QLC+ 5 Beta2 along side QLC+ 4 on Windows 11.
Does anyone have any experience installing QLC+ 5 side-by-side with QLC+ 4?
I'm using QLC 4 in a production environment and need to know that it works...
Thank you so much!!
Sophia
I want to install QLC+ 5 Beta2 along side QLC+ 4 on Windows 11.
Does anyone have any experience installing QLC+ 5 side-by-side with QLC+ 4?
I'm using QLC 4 in a production environment and need to know that it works...
Thank you so much!!
Sophia
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GGGss
- Posts: 3073
- Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:15 pm
- Location: Belgium
- Real Name: Fredje Gallon
First install is always under the administrator account. (If there are .dll's that have to be registered, this is solved by using the admin rights.)
And then you can choose whatever directory QLC+ v4 or v5 uses. Don't put them together in the same directory.
All electric machines work on smoke... when the smoke escapes... they don't work anymore
