Use of Gobos in Open Fixture Library

[floEdelmann]

Hi Massimo,

We'd like to (finally) add support for Gobos in the Open Fixture Library. The relevant GitHub issue is here: https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ ... ssues/1181

The way we imagine the feature to work is as follows: We have a directory with Gobo images (SVG / PNG), similar to the one in QLC+. For each gobo image, there is a JSON file with metadata (gobo name, keywords, and where the gobo image was extracted from).

Also, there are alias lists, which map gobo names/IDs (e.g. Robe product numbers, QLC+ filenames, …) to our gobo images. This way, we can …

1. … search by manufacturer if their gobo is already included.
2. … skip including the gobo image in an export ZIP if it's already included in the lighting software's library.

I've already started working on the feature on the gobo-resources branch. The most interesting commit is this one, where I add some gobo images + their metadata, add them to the QLC+ alias file and use them in a fixture.

Now on to the questions:

1. Would it be possible for us to use QLC+'s gobo images like this?
2. Do you know any legal restrictions for gobo images (both copied exactly from somewhere, and recreated e.g. with Inkscape)? How is this handled in QLC+?

Thanks a lot in advance for your response! (And keep up the good work with QLC+!)

Best regards,
Flo

[mcallegari]

Hi Flo, QLC+ gobo folders are the names of manufacturer who gave me their permission to use their gobos (via email)
In Others are miscellaneous ones, not necessarily copyrighted.
The tricky part here is that PNGs were low resolution and almost unusable, with a SVG file you can actually laser print a gobo disk at high quality.
I haven't asked permissions (again) to each manufacturer when I switched to SVG, so there might be complications...
On the other hand some user manuals include vector graphics, so anyone can extract a high quality gobo. Also there is always the "reverse engineer" way...which is basically the one we used to convert some PNGs to SVG without the "source" material.

This is the picture, don't know if it answers you and is of any help.
For me personally, you can use QLC+'s SVG in OFL, also because you guys contributed with some of them.

[floEdelmann]

Hi Massimo,

thanks for your answer, this already helps us a lot. I think we will then start with the gobos from QLC+ that are in fixtures we already have, and ask other manufacturers for their permission as we come across their gobos.

I'm already looking forward to enhancing our fixture definitions with gobos and also contributing some improvements back to QLC+ of course