Q Light Controller+

I was wondering whether the colour picker for the click & go can allow one to invoke the picker used in scenes. Maybe on a separate tab?

The use case is that using click & go and save to scene / button, one can use it to set up a show fast, in run mode, when working with a director or lighting designer. The problem is that one often wants to set the lights to a very specific colour value, and often it is: "use the colour we used that other time"

I also think one should be able to enter white and amber values in the colour picker as well. I realise the display cannot cope with that but one usually has all 5 values at hand and if one can enter them in one place, they can be set quickly.

This all would make even more sense if a colour library is added. What I have in mind with this is a user based, separate file (like fixture definitions), that allows one to save a set of pre-defined colours. This list will allow the saving of specific RGB, RGBW and RGBAW values by name. This would allow the colour to be dialled easily among multiple workspaces, users etc. A lot of stage lighting guys have a spreadsheet somewhere with their gel equivalents in RGB(AW). In fact, I would make this file csv format, so that it can be easily edited in a spreadsheet.

If the colour picker and the click & go colour picker then allowed one to select from this list, it would make it a lot simpler to pick exactly the correct colour at any stage - live or during set-up.

So maybe a single colour picker across the entire app that has three tabs, one being the current click & go let's get the colour fast; the second being the same one is currently in scenes, with the RGB and HSV entry fields, but with white and amber added; and the third tab which is a list of saved colours with RGBAW value columns with an edit field for the name and update, save under new name, and delete buttons. The list should also have a little colour box on each line, to preview the approximate (display) colour.

Hi Chris, interesting point.
Sounds like a lot of work for us poor developers

I'll make a thought about it and see if I can come up with a handy solution.

(off topic) I haven't forgotten the Raspberry activity. It's now in a good shape but I still have some system issues preventing to release a decent image. When I have one, you'll be the first I will send it to.

Another note. The difficulty in making you teather guys happy is that your workflow kinda "breaks" what QLC+ has been designed for.
I explain. QLC+ has two modes: design and operate. You guys work in operate but like if it was in design mode.
For example, the color picking tool in the Scene editor already has an "Add to custom color" button and a "Recent colors" selection.
But you use the Click & Go panel (which works in operate mode) that is supposed to be used in live situations, where the exact color value is not a priority.

This is not a complain about your workflow. I am just sharing my thoughts to let you understand what's behind the decisions I've made for those tools

I realise this, as I am thinking of ways to combine the two. For me (cannot dare to speak on behalf of other theatre guys) there generally 3 modes:

1. set-up - add fixtures basic scenes and design a set-up board. This usually includes a large matrix of un-assigned solo buttons. Then I create a multi page frame with detailed controls per fixture and groups of fixtures - the new sub-master feature is a godsend here. If possible one gets to be in situ to see how it looks.

2. live design - this is usually in the theatre. This is often under pressure because the director is there, the actors are there and the lights are not yet fully aimed. This step involves placing the actors in position, picking pre-set scenes and editing them but most often one needs to set up a scene from scratch. In this context I use run mode for quick set-up. If one is lucky you have 2 or 3 such design / rehearsal events.

3. Running live - here we would mostly use one of two methods: a. all scenes set-up to buttons and the operator picks the appropriate button on cue or b. scenes run via cue list - this is most useful when you have to rely on a non-techxpert operator.

So, mostly, I would not use click & go during live performances (also HTP channels make it a bit of pain) but there are usually a few fixtures that needs work this way. Having the exactly correct colour available as a pick from a list, would be wonderful. Especially if its RGBAW capable as there would 2 less sliders required and colour change would be perfect first time and quicker.

And more often than not I can only start the scene work at the technical rehearsal as we move into the theatre a few days before the first performance, but that's just us - we have no theatre of our own.

Adding a colour library will also help with set-up and consistency.

Sorry for the long response, I was hoping to give you some context of our modus operandi.

No problem for the long response !
It's pure gold to help in understanding the QLC+ usage in different contexts.

Another comment re colour picker: The custom colours and recent colours does not persist reliably between sessions and not at all between users or workstations. It is also not named and too few. A typical gel mapping list could have a few hundred in them.