Easier and more versatile Channel Selections
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 1:18 am
QLC+ v2.12.2
Wouldn't it be 'easier' to have a common, more versatile, way to select the channels for scenes etc. ?
Now Fixtures->Channel Groups, Functions->Scene, 'Dump dmx values to a function' all have a Channel selection dialog but all are very different and each with their own strengths and limitations.
My suggestion is that anywhere in the software where we have to select channels we should have the same kind of selection dialog...
First off all we should note that a Scene is implicitly also a Channel group (all the channels used in the scene) and a Channel group is implicitly also a Fixture group (all the fixtures in the group).
So anywhere in the software where we can select a Channel group we should also be able to select a Scene and anywhere in the software where we can select a Fixture group it should be possible to select a Scene or Channel group as well.
Now my suggested channel selection dialog... (Hopefully I can make it clear in just words)
The dialog will have two panes:
Left pane: Shows all selected fixtures (Like the left pane in the current Add Scene dialog, but then with 'expand' and channel checkboxes like in the "Dump dmx values to a function" dialog).
Right pane: Shows the Channel selections, with + or - in front of each group indicating to add or remove the channels from selection. The final channel selection will be processed in top-down order from this list (adding/removing channels in the given order).
For the dialog:
There will be a (global) 'Select' button to add both Fixtures and +Channels from a Scene or Channel group.
For the left pane:
There will be an add buttons to add fixtures in the left pane (selected from a Single fixture, Fixture group, Channel Group or Scene), removing channels from the left pane can be done by right-clicking the fixture and selecting Delete.
For the right pane:
There will be +/- buttons to add channels to the right pane (selected from a Channel group or Scene) "+" means add channels to selection, "-" means remove channels from selection.
There also will be up/down buttons to move the selected line(s) in the right pane up or down.
Right clicking a line in the right pane will give the options: Move to top, Move to bottom, Delete and Invert (change sign +/-).
Selection process:
Use the global 'select' button to add both Fixtures AND +Channels from a Scene or Channel group ("Dump dmx values to a function" will do this automatically when selecting a Scene first)
and/or add Fixtures to the left pane
and/or add +/- Channels to the right pane,
optionally change the order of the channel selection in the right pane.
Finally we can check and modify the selected channels for every fixture in the fixtures pane (Like in the 'Dump dmx values to a function' dialog, but now the tri-state checkboxes are: unchecked=excluded, checked=forced include, grayed-out=selected via the channel selection pane), An option 'Apply changes to fixtures of the same type and mode' in the left pane could still be present here.
Note 1) There should be a predefined Fixture group <All Fixtures> and a predefined Channel group <All Channels> (All channels of all fixtures).
Note 2) The option "Dump only non zero values" should be replaced with special predefined Channel groups <All Zero Channels> and <All Nonzero Channels> (Which can be +/- added to the right pane.).
Note 3) With this suggested change a possibility to create Channel groups by just Type and Mode would be VERY handy too (Like a Channel Group "All-RGBW": <All Fixtures> Intensity-Red + Intensity-Green + Intensity-Blue + Intensity-White, Or a Channel Group "All-PanTilt": <All Fixtures> Pan-Pan + Pan-Pan fine + Tilt-Tilt + Tilt-Tilt fine, etc.) Such a group would apply to all fixtures which have this type+mode kind of channels.
Then you could just select a Fixture (group) in the left pane and the +Channel group(s) All-RGBW and/or Channel group All-PanTilt in the right pane, done !
You wanna control the Pan and Tilt of the fixtures used in a specific scene ? Just add the Scene as a Fixture group in the left pane and add +Channel group All-PanTilt in the right pane, Done !
New Scene ? Just select the Fixtures and Channels as described above. (You can even select multiple scenes to combine their Fixtures and Channels into a new scene and still have the option to add/remove specific fixtures/channels in a simple way.) In this case the values of the selected channels in the new scene should reflect the current state. So if you are in operate mode and have a fantastic scene you would like to save ? Just go to Functions->New scene and 'Select' the appropriate Scene(s) and/or Channel group(s) (Could often be just as simple as 'Select' <All Channels>) , Done !
I am aware that this feature request seems very complicated but I think it shouldn't be too hard to implement and I am convinced that it will be a much faster way to setup a workspace/show.
Any remarks, questions and or suggestions are welcome !
Wouldn't it be 'easier' to have a common, more versatile, way to select the channels for scenes etc. ?
Now Fixtures->Channel Groups, Functions->Scene, 'Dump dmx values to a function' all have a Channel selection dialog but all are very different and each with their own strengths and limitations.
My suggestion is that anywhere in the software where we have to select channels we should have the same kind of selection dialog...
First off all we should note that a Scene is implicitly also a Channel group (all the channels used in the scene) and a Channel group is implicitly also a Fixture group (all the fixtures in the group).
So anywhere in the software where we can select a Channel group we should also be able to select a Scene and anywhere in the software where we can select a Fixture group it should be possible to select a Scene or Channel group as well.
Now my suggested channel selection dialog... (Hopefully I can make it clear in just words)
The dialog will have two panes:
Left pane: Shows all selected fixtures (Like the left pane in the current Add Scene dialog, but then with 'expand' and channel checkboxes like in the "Dump dmx values to a function" dialog).
Right pane: Shows the Channel selections, with + or - in front of each group indicating to add or remove the channels from selection. The final channel selection will be processed in top-down order from this list (adding/removing channels in the given order).
For the dialog:
There will be a (global) 'Select' button to add both Fixtures and +Channels from a Scene or Channel group.
For the left pane:
There will be an add buttons to add fixtures in the left pane (selected from a Single fixture, Fixture group, Channel Group or Scene), removing channels from the left pane can be done by right-clicking the fixture and selecting Delete.
For the right pane:
There will be +/- buttons to add channels to the right pane (selected from a Channel group or Scene) "+" means add channels to selection, "-" means remove channels from selection.
There also will be up/down buttons to move the selected line(s) in the right pane up or down.
Right clicking a line in the right pane will give the options: Move to top, Move to bottom, Delete and Invert (change sign +/-).
Selection process:
Use the global 'select' button to add both Fixtures AND +Channels from a Scene or Channel group ("Dump dmx values to a function" will do this automatically when selecting a Scene first)
and/or add Fixtures to the left pane
and/or add +/- Channels to the right pane,
optionally change the order of the channel selection in the right pane.
Finally we can check and modify the selected channels for every fixture in the fixtures pane (Like in the 'Dump dmx values to a function' dialog, but now the tri-state checkboxes are: unchecked=excluded, checked=forced include, grayed-out=selected via the channel selection pane), An option 'Apply changes to fixtures of the same type and mode' in the left pane could still be present here.
Note 1) There should be a predefined Fixture group <All Fixtures> and a predefined Channel group <All Channels> (All channels of all fixtures).
Note 2) The option "Dump only non zero values" should be replaced with special predefined Channel groups <All Zero Channels> and <All Nonzero Channels> (Which can be +/- added to the right pane.).
Note 3) With this suggested change a possibility to create Channel groups by just Type and Mode would be VERY handy too (Like a Channel Group "All-RGBW": <All Fixtures> Intensity-Red + Intensity-Green + Intensity-Blue + Intensity-White, Or a Channel Group "All-PanTilt": <All Fixtures> Pan-Pan + Pan-Pan fine + Tilt-Tilt + Tilt-Tilt fine, etc.) Such a group would apply to all fixtures which have this type+mode kind of channels.
Then you could just select a Fixture (group) in the left pane and the +Channel group(s) All-RGBW and/or Channel group All-PanTilt in the right pane, done !
You wanna control the Pan and Tilt of the fixtures used in a specific scene ? Just add the Scene as a Fixture group in the left pane and add +Channel group All-PanTilt in the right pane, Done !
New Scene ? Just select the Fixtures and Channels as described above. (You can even select multiple scenes to combine their Fixtures and Channels into a new scene and still have the option to add/remove specific fixtures/channels in a simple way.) In this case the values of the selected channels in the new scene should reflect the current state. So if you are in operate mode and have a fantastic scene you would like to save ? Just go to Functions->New scene and 'Select' the appropriate Scene(s) and/or Channel group(s) (Could often be just as simple as 'Select' <All Channels>) , Done !
I am aware that this feature request seems very complicated but I think it shouldn't be too hard to implement and I am convinced that it will be a much faster way to setup a workspace/show.
Any remarks, questions and or suggestions are welcome !
