e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual

Transcription

1 e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual

2 e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT V1.0 Open Beta System Manual Edition Published by: Traxon Technologies Europe GmbH Karl Schurz-Strasse 38 Paderborn, Germany 2015, Traxon Technologies Europe GmbH, all rights reserved Questions and comments to: Typos to: : documentation@traxontechnologies.com Available for free download from (scan QR code for quick access) Subject to modification without prior notice. Typographical and other errors do not justify any claim for damages. All dimensions should be verified using an actual part. Except for internal use, relinquishment of the instructions to a third party, duplication in any type or form - also extracts - as well as exploitation and/or communication of the contents is not permitted.

3 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: - Contents 1 How to read this manual Structure Special notes Introduction Digital Lighting Control About SYMPHOLIGHT System prerequisites Installation Demo and production mode Automatic updates Principles The layer concept of SYMPHOLIGHT Workflow Migration from Lighting Application Suite to SYMPHOLIGHT Creating a show in SYMPHOLIGHT Automation Output Log User interface Main menu Application settings Configure Backup Application Settings Setup The Setup Window Build Mode Patch Mode Background Image and Label Mode Using engines Layouts Groups Toggle Identify Fixtures mode Setup window icons, commands and functions Content Window Principles Window structure Control and properties Adjust mapping to fixtures Cues Scenes and the Scene Editor Using Scenes for simple configurations Property Animation Angle animations...27 i

4 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Frame rate animation for videos Working with Gradients Content window icons, commands and functions Properties of Content objects Sequence properties Cue properties Automation Principles Triggers Defining Triggers Available Triggers Available Conditions Available Actions Scripting The GUI Editor Action Pad on mobiles Automation window icons, commands and functions Page properties Object properties Output window Principles Player window icons, commands and functions Z-position and priority DMX Output window SYMPHOLIGHT Scripting Language description Scripting in SYMPHOLIGHT Open Beta Example scripts Notes...49 ii

5 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: How to read this manual - Structure 1 How to read this manual 1.1 Structure The manual is divided into three main sections. The first section gives a general overview how to install SYMPHOLIGHT and prerequisites as an overview. The second section shows basic principles. The third section describes in detail the single areas and feature sets. Special markup Preconditions and critical functions are shown like this (example): Change the Windows password within six weeks after installation. Otherwise the user account will be locked and cannot be unlocked! Useful hints, shortcuts and functions are shown like this (example): You can zoom in and out with the scroll wheel of your mouse. Keeping the mouse wheel pressed, will zoom in steps of 10 percent. In the whole manual, all keywords describing key elements of SYMPHOLIGHT will be written with capitals. So doing something is a kind of action, but an Action with capital letter is an Action from the automation in SYMPHOLIGHT. 1.2 Special notes Throughout the manual, the term multi-select is used. This means the possibility in Windows to select groups or sequences of elements by keeping the Cntl or Shift key pressed to select elements in a list. See the Windows documentation for a description. Online help functions When editing properties in the Properties window, a help text and a description is displayed in the lower part of the Properties window. Common time format in SYMPHOLIGHT SYMPHOLIGHT uses time values is the format dd.hh:mm:ss:ms, where dd = days, hh = hours, mm = minutes, ss = seconds and ms = milliseconds. 3

6 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Introduction - Digital Lighting Control 2 Introduction 2.1 Digital Lighting Control Over the last decades digital systems replaced conventional analog lighting control instruments. However, this is not the only change in lighting technology. The story began with single RGB elements like pars and flood lights, developed over moving heads and more complex fixture types. Today, media LED solutions with thousands, if not ten-thousands of RGB pixels became a standard. e:cue released its first version of the Lighting Application Suite (in short: LAS) in The LAS was an application suite to setup a configuration with engines, fixtures and everything else to have a physical representation of the installation. Later you can create illuminations, light shows with effects and much more to run on your selection of fixtures. The LAS was the central application for creating light shows and controlling complex lighting projects, and to control your network and all devices in it. In its life cycle the LAS began in the world of some cuelists with triggers and actions and grew into the world of media displays and complex effects. The overall development of lighting went from fixture-oriented to media-oriented applications, as mentioned before with high resolution media walls and very complex solutions. Today configurations with hundreds of DMX universes are no exception today, they are daily business for Traxon and e:cue. For this reason, the LAS needed a successor that reflects these new world of lighting control. This is e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT About SYMPHOLIGHT SYMPHOLIGHT is a software application to design, program and test medium to very complex lighting designs and lighting applications. SYMPHOLIGHT realizes a single application for the complete cycle of a project, from setting up fixtures and interfaces ( patching ), design and test the show and execute and control the show in realtime. 1 Whenever SYMPHOLIGHT is written, e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT is meant. 4

7 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: System prerequisites - About SYMPHOLIGHT Main features are: y Native Windows application for 32 and 64 bit versions y Timeline design y Dynamic lighting with media and effects and static lighting with Scenes y Layer concept for media like images and videos, and effects y Built-in effect library with color and intensity effects including fades, channel effects and more y Built-in fixture library with generic and vendor-specific fixtures y Flexible and powerful trigger engine for automation and control y Separation between design and execution state for flexibility and stability y Separate preview of shows in design and execution y Extendable with C# script language 3 System prerequisites For running SYMPHOLIGHT the system must meet the following specifications: Minimum configuration for all sizes: Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 32 Bit or better Internet Explorer 10 or better 4 GB RAM A minimum of 20 GB hard disk space Dual-Core processor or better DirectX9 supported graphics adapter A minimum of one Ethernet interface for connections to engines and interfaces Recommend configuration for small to medium projects (~ pixels) Quad-Core desktop processor (e.g., Intel Core i5) nvidia GeForce GTX 760 class graphics adapter Recommend configuration for large projects (~ pixels) Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 64 Bit or better 8 GB RAM Quad-Core high-end desktop processor (e.g., Intel Core i7) nvidia GeForce GTX 780 class graphics adapter 4 Installation On the e:cue Lighting Control Engines 2 SYMPHOLIGHT is pre-installed. On all other systems proceed as follows: y You must have administrator rights to install e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT on Windows. y Insert a CD/DVD with the SYMPHOLIGHT installer into the drive or plug in an USB stick with the SYMPHOLIGHT installer. y Open the Windows Explorer, navigate to the CD/DVD drive or USB drive. y Double-click on the installer, the installer will ask for permission and acceptance of the copyright conditions. 5

8 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Installation - Demo and production mode y Select the installation language. y After the installer has finished, click OK. The installer places an optional shortcut to SYMPHOLIGHT on the desktop. Double-click the icon to start SYMPHOLIGHT. If application updates are available, SYMPHOLIGHT will download and install updates. The Windows Activation Code for the LCE2 is on the housing behind the front panel. After starting the LCE2, do not shutdown the system until the desktop shows. Change the Windows password within six weeks after installation. Otherwise the user account will be locked and cannot be unlocked! 4.1 Demo and production mode SYMPHOLIGHT requires a protection dongle to run in production mode. This dongle is part of the delivery when you purchase SYMPHOLIGHT as separate software. In the Lighting Control Engines, the dongle is part of the server system and already built-in ion the mainboard. Without a dongle, SYMPHOLIGHT runs in demo mode with full functionality, but without generating any DMX output. All existing LAS Programmer Enterprise users with a LAS Enterprise dongle can use SYMPHOLIGHT`s full version without additional costs. 4.2 Automatic updates On startup, SYMPHOLIGHT is able to find and install updates automatically. This requires an active Internet connection during startup. The check for updates can be enabled or disabled in the application settings from the main menu. After downloading the update, the update will be installed. This again requires administrator rights on the system. 6

9 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Principles - The layer concept of SYMPHOLIGHT 5 Principles 5.1 The layer concept of SYMPHOLIGHT SYMPHOLIGHT works timeline-oriented and with a layer concept similar to graphic editors like Adobe Photoshop or video editing like Adobe Premiere Pro. The set of fixtures used in one configuration or part of a project is called a Layout. With these Layouts you build one or more Sequences. Every Layout in a Sequence can have one or more Layers. Content of a single pixel in one Layer can be an intensity value and a transparency value, here called Opacity. All content will shine through the Layer above, as long there is an Opacity value set lower than 1. Let us take an example of a Layout and two Layers. The result, when playing the Sequence, is the video and the e:cue logo in front. As the still image has a transparent background, the video in the lower Layer comes through. So this would only be possible with images in PNG or GIF format. JPG images do not support transparent backgrounds. You can also set the Opacity of a Layer manually in the Properties window for the content of a Layer. Here is the Layout RGB Layout with 64PXL Boards. There are two Layers, the first Layer has a PNG image of the e:cue logo with transparent background. The lower Layer has a video showing an animation. Here now the top Layer contains a JPG image with a cogwheel, which has no transparency. Setting the Opacity value in the properties for this Layer with the image to 0.6, the lower Layer with the video shines through. 7

10 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Principles - Workflow 5.2 Workflow The workflow with SYMPHOLIGHT for most projects will follow these steps: Setup your fixture configuration and addressing scheme. Distribute DMX universes and start addressing to the target settings of your DMX output engines. This configuration scheme is called a Layout. You can also import patch files created with the Patchelor of the Lighting Application Suite from version 5.x and higher. Insert and setup your external engines and interfaces, e. g. Butler S2 or XT2. Save your project for safety reasons with a unique name. Create your show. Import videos or images in various formats. All imported media will be converted to a final format and placed in the Media Library. These media can be dragged into the sequence. Or: Apply color and intensity effects as main content and drag them into the sequence. Create fades, overlays and other visual effects. The applied content can be previewed in real-time. Create automation and control in the automation area. Create an end-user control interface with the graphical user interface Action Pad. y Publish your show and execute it. 5.3 Migration from Lighting Application Suite to SYMPHOLIGHT If you are familiar with the e:cue Lighting Application Suite (LAS), SYMPHOLIGHT will show a completely new interface and way of programming. The LAS was mainly cuelist-oriented. SYMPHOLIGHT works with a timeline concept similar to the Sequencer and Emotion FX. Setting up the fixture configuration is similar to the Patchelor. You can even import patch files from the Patchelor into SYMPHOLIGHT and reuse your configuration. There are even more similarities with the LAS, like the Media Pool or the Fixture Library. It is not possible to use or import shows from the Programmer, as the concepts and formats are completely different. An important change is not only the path from cuelists to timelines but also the layer concept. The Sequencer of the LAS did not support a layer concept, the tracks were played in parallel. Also the Live FX window is now replaced by effects from the effects library directly. Also, the Trigger Engine of SYMPHOLIGHT is much more powerful and flexible compared to the Programmer. Scripting in the Programmer of the LAS was done with a C-like dialect. SYMPHOLIGHT also allows scripting, but now with C#, which is a successor of the C language. C# in SYMPHOLIGHT runs in a.net environment, so SYMPHOLIGHT scripting is far more powerful than the C scripting in the Programmer. Use the standard C# and.net documentation to learn more about C#. 8

11 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Principles - Creating a show in SYMPHOLIGHT 5.4 Creating a show in SYMPHOLIGHT The user interface of SYMPHOLIGHT already reflects the steps to create a show or an application. In the top right row in the SYMPHOLIGHT window there are for tabs with the names Setup, Content, Automation and Output. These are the usual steps to take when setting up a project. Setup The first step is setting up your lighting configuration with luminaires and all other components and elements. You can select engines and interfaces like Butler XT2 or Butler S2 and drag them into the project area, the middle part of the window. After that, you select fixtures from the list on the left side. You can place single fixtures or arrays of fixtures like pixel boards. To represent your later configuration, fixtures can be bound to DMX universes and addresses. Also, fixtures can be grouped. You can put fixtures in one or more than one group. Grouping has a direct effect on the later content creation, as fixtures in one group have their own track in the timeline. If you do not create any specific groups, all placed fixtures will belong to one Layout. Content After setting up your fixture configuration, the next step would be creation of content. This happens in the Content window. Understanding the features and principles is important to use SYMPHO- LIGHT effectively and efficient. Content is built from one or more Layers. Each Layer is comparable to layers in graphic or image editors. SYMPHOLIGHT works with a timeline and layers as main control element. Nevertheless, static content is still possible and will be shown in detail later. At the beginning, there are two layers. One is valid for all. This is the collection of all color channels of all luminares that have RGB channels. The layer for intensity layers are the channels for all monochromatic fixtures. When placing fixtures in the setup step, fixtures will be assigned to the respective layer. Building more than one group during setup will create additional layers. In these layers you can place media like images or videos, or effects from the Effect Library. Layers higher up in the layer hierarchy have a higher priority in visibility. Effects can be color or intensity effects. Be aware, that all fixtures are assigned to the two initial layers for color faders and intensity faders automatically, depending 9

12 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Principles - Automation on the data in the Fixture Library during setup of the fixtures. To place media or effects from the windows in the upper right, drag-and-drop them from Effects or Media Library into the layer in the timeline. After placing elements in the Layer, properties for the element can be adjusted in the lower right Properties window. One set of Layers and content builds a Sequence. You can have as many Sequences as you need. Each Sequence realizes a part of the show or application. You can add or delete Sequences as necessary. Later, when adding Triggers and Actions during automation, Sequences are the main target of operation. 5.5 Automation After the fixtures and content have been created, you can setup automation. The Automation windows has more than one function. In this window general automation as well as scripting and the GUI editor are available. General automation consists of Triggers, Conditions and Actions. A Trigger comes up, when a certain event is raised. This can be start or stop of a Sequence, a time or date or receiving data over an interface. When the Trigger occurs, you can limit the execution of a related action with Conditions. If Conditions are true, the Action for the Trigger will be executed. In this example the Trigger will come all 240 seconds, on certain days, only for 10:00 to 18:00. The action is that Sequence #1 will be started. In the upper right corner, there is a selection of automation functions. This includes C# scripting and the GUI editor for a graphical end user interface for SYMPHOLIGHT. 10

13 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Principles - Output 5.6 Output The output window controls the way the content is displayed and detailed information about the output. The output window also contains a preview of fixtures and content. 5.7 Log Also, from the output window, you can start and stop sequences. The output window shows, what is really sent to the fixtures. If you edit the content in the content window, the changes are not valid until you make the changes valid with the green check symbol. Editing happens in the so called blind mode, except the parameter Auto save changes in timeline is set in the application options. The log is the last tab of the main window of SYMPHOLIGHT. Here error messages and warnings are collected from the whole system. A detailed description of messages and their meanings is part of the addendum of this manual. 11

14 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: User interface - Main menu 6 User interface 6.1 Main menu In the upper left corner you find the main window menu for SYMPHOLIGHT. Here is a list of selectable commands and their functions. File New Open Save Save As... Import Patch... Export Patch... Edit Undo Redo View Hide Tracks for empty groups Show Grid Preview Tools Configure Backup Settings Bulk Change Configure Keyboard Shortcuts Help System Manual About Create a new project Load an existing project Save the current project Save the current project under a new name Import a SYMPHOLIGHT (.xqs) or Patchelor (.pdoc) patch file Export current setup as SYMPHOLIGHT patch file (.xqs) Reverse the last change Repeat the last undone action If a Group is empty, it is not shown Show grid in Setup window Enable preview in Content window Enable Backup and define role Define application options like paths, network interface and logging Change properties for all media or effects Assign keys to functions See the System Manual Application information 12

15 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Application settings - Configure Backup 7 Application settings 7.1 Configure Backup With Tools Configure Backup... you define a master/slave configuration for fail-save operation. If the master server fails, a slave system takes over control. 7.2 Application Settings Set the check mark for Activate Backup Mode. Select the show file used, this must be identical for both servers. Define the role of this server, if it is the master or the slave. Define the IP address for the slave server. Master and slave server must be in the same network segment. When the master server recovered from a downtime or a failure, the master takes back master role automatically. With Tools Settings, you define the general application settings for SYMPHOLIGHT. The dialog for Application Settings is divided in four tabs: General, View, Network and Logging. General Location for Project files Load last saved Project on startup Ask the user to save changed projects Number of recently used files Auto save changes on timeline Check for updates at start View Anti Aliasing Show Grid Hide Tracks for empty Groups This is the default location where shows and project files are stored. If this is checked, SYMPHOLIGHT will load the last project after SYMPHOLIGHT was closed If SYMPHOLIGHT gets closed and this mark is checked, and there are changes in the projects, SYMPHOLIGHT will ask to save these changed projects. Default = off. In the File menu, the last used projects are shown. This is the maximum number of shown project files. Default = on. If changes are made in the Timeline and you leave the Content window and the option is enabled, the changes are saved automatically. If disabled, SYMPHOLIGHT will ask if the changes should be saved. Default = on. During startup, check if application updates are available on e:cue site (requires Internet connection) Use anti aliasing in the preview. Default = off. Show the grid in the Setup and Content window. Default = on. When a Group is empty and contains no fixtures, it is hidden in the Content window. Default = on. 13

16 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Application settings - Application Settings Default height for Tracks This is the default height for display of Layers. Choose Small, Medium or Large. Default = Medium. Network Interfaces for e:net Web Server Enable Web Server Network Interface Select the IP address of the network interface that is used for connections to engines and interfaces. Default = Windows user area. Check to enable the SYMPHOLIGHT web server. The IP address for the web connection of the Action Pad. Port The port for the web connection. Default = In Windows 7 and later a user without administrative rights is not allowed to change the system configuration. To access the web server your system administrator can set an exception rule, so also users without admin rights may start the web server and access it externally. Ask your administrator to enter credentials for an admin login. Logging Location for Log files* Log to text files* Log to SmartInspect files* Enable local SmartInspect console* Minimum log level * Changing these settings requires a restart of SYMPHOLIGHT. Select the path for the SYMPHOLIGHT log files. Default = C:\ Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\ecue\Sympholight\Logs. If set, ASCII log files are used additionally to the internal format. Default = off. If set, the SmartInspect format is used for log files. Default = on. Activate the SmartInspect console for log view. Default = off. Select the lowest log level, where notifications are stored. Default = Message. 14

17 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Setup - The Setup Window 8 Setup 8.1 The Setup Window In the Setup Window, you patch your fixture configuration with all other components like engines, interfaces and fixtures. You also assign DMX universes and addresses to fixtures. Devices and fixtures Mode Selection Workspace Properties Select devices from the Device Library and fixtures from the Fixture Library. Drag and drop them into the Workspace to add them to the Setup. 8.2 Build Mode Select Build Mode, Patch Mode, Background Image Mode and Label Mode. There are two ways to add and place fixtures. Here fixtures, foreground and background elements are placed. View and change device properties like DMX addresses and universes for engines and fixtures. y Use the Mode Selection to set Build Mode select the single bulb icon (create fixture). y Select a fixture from the Fixture Library and Drag-and-Drop it into the workspace. Or y Use the Mode Selection to set Build Mode select the single bulb icon (create fixture). y Select a fixture from the Fixture Library and click into the Workspace to place the fixture. To edit a fixture, use the Build Mode, click the fixture. The fixture turns blue and gets a yellow frame. You can now click and move the fixture with the yellow frame. 15

18 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Setup - Patch Mode Placement can be aligned to a grid. If the grid is enabled, you will see grid markers in the background of the Workspace. In the Mode Selection, there is a grid icon, click it to enable the grid or to disable. Click on the small triangle right of the grid icon to change the grid size, horizontally and vertically. To zoom in and out for the workspace, there is a slider in the upper left corner of the Workspace. Move the slider or click the plus and minus icons to zoom in and out. You can also zoom in and out with the mouse wheel. To change properties of a fixture, click the fixture in the Workspace. In the Properties Window, you now can change values like assigned DMX universe and DMX address. 8.3 Patch Mode In Patch Mode, you select the wiring of fixtures in the DMX universes. Usually, when placing fixtures in the Workspace, SYMPHOLIGHT assigns DMX universes and addresses according to the number of addresses the fixtures covers in linear mode. You can change the wiring by clicking on a connection, keeping the mouse button pressed and redirecting the connection to another fixture. Use the dots in the middle of a fixture as start or end point of a connection. SYMPHOLIGHT can also do an automatic addressing with the four icons in the center of the Mode Selection. Click into the workspace and press Cntl-A to select all fixtures, select fixtures with dragging a rectangle over all fixtures to select, or select single fixtures keeping the Cntl key pressed. Click on an auto-adressing icon to execute automatic address assignment. If fixtures are added and removed again, the now unused DMX universes will stay in the configuration. To remove the redundant universes, select or multi-select the universes and delete them manually. 16

19 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Setup - Background Image and Label Mode 8.4 Background Image and Label Mode With Background Image Mode and Label Mode you can place background images or labels with text in the Workspace. Click the picture or the text block icon in the Mode Selection. Select an element to add or remove the current selected element. Use the Properties Window to change size, color, font or other parameters. 8.5 Using engines Engines like Butler XT2 or Butler S2, that are already connected to the server, are discovered automatically. Right-click on the engine to add them to the show. In the Device Properties you can change the assignments of outputs to DMX universes in the show. As soon as you add an engine to a Layout and assign universes, the engine will come online. Make sure to have assigned DMX universes to outputs! 8.6 Layouts You can create different Layouts in a show to contain different fixtures and engines. Fixtures can also belong to more than one Layout. To create a new Layout, click the window icon in the upper left corner in the Devices Window. To add existing fixtures in one Layout to another Layout, drag and drop the fixture(s) from the first to the second Layout. These Layouts will become separate tracks in the Content Window. Layouts represent a way of grouping fixture sets for different use in a show. Fixtures with intensity channels only will create All Intensity Faders Layers, fixtures with RGB or RGBx channel will create All Color Faders Layers. 8.7 Groups In one Layout, you can select or multi-select fixtures by keeping the Cntl key pressed and clicking fixtures, or keeping the left mouse button pressed and drawing a rectangle around fixtures. Click the Create Group icon in the lower icon menu to create a new group. In the Content window, Groups get a separate layer. You can place effects or media in the Layer and the will only be mapped to the fixtures in this group. Remember, that due to the layer concept in the timeline, content is only visible if the opacities of the upper Layers are lower than 1. 17

20 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Setup - Toggle Identify Fixtures mode 8.8 Toggle Identify Fixtures mode This is test function which allows to test and check your setup and patching. Click on an engine in online mode and click the flash icon in the main icon toolbar of the Setup window. A single pixel will run through all universes and DMX addresses. Either as an RGB pixel or as an intensity pixel. If you select a single fixture in the Layout, assigned to an engine and to a address, the fixture will blink. This way you can also identify fixtures in your Layout. 8.9 Setup window icons, commands and functions Depending on the selected mode, the right part of the icon menu changes. Only the first four icons for the mode selection are constant. If a command works on selected fixtures, keep the Cntl key pressed and left-click fixtures to add them to the selection. Or keep the left mouse button pressed and draw a rectangle over fixtures to add them to the selection. Layout selector: select the Layout to work on. Build Mode: select, place and modify fixtures in the Layout. Build mode: Create fixture: select a fixture from the Devices Library, click this icon and click into the workspace to place fixture. Or drag-and-drop fixture from the Devices Library into the workspace. Create fixture matrix: select a fixture from the Devices Library, click this icon, keep left mouse button pressed and draw a rectangle matrix in the workspace. Remove selected fixtures from the Layout. Align Objects: align selected fixtures left/right/top/bottom/horizontal center/vertical center. Space evenly: align selected fixtures with same distance, horizontally or vertically. Distribute Objects: distribute selected fixtures with top/left/right/ bottom edges or with horizontal or vertical center. Create group from selection: in the current Layout, create a fixture Group from the selected fixtures. Creates new Layer in Content for this Layout. Snap to grid: use a grid to place fixtures in the workspace. 18

21 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Setup - Setup window icons, commands and functions Grid selector: define the distances in the grid.??? Click the Patch mode icon to switch to Patch mode: Patch Mode: chance or auto-route connections between fixtures. Patch mode: As manual patch mode, left-click a start or an end point of a fixture connection, keep the mouse button pressed and move the connection point to another fixture. Use manual patch mode to change the wiring scheme or to add connections to unconnected fixtures. Auto Addressing: auto-address the selected fixtures in horizontal rows. Auto Addressing: auto-address the selected fixtures in vertical columns. Auto Addressing: auto-address the selected fixtures in snake mode in rows. Auto Addressing: auto-address the selected fixtures in snake mode in columns. Toggle Identify Fixtures mode. Click the Background Image Mode icon to switch to this mode: Background Image Mode: click icon to select this mode. Background Image mode: Add Background Image: click to add a background image. Click the background image to move or to resize. Remove Background Image: click the background image, click icon to remove this background image. Toggle Identify Fixtures mode. Click the Label Mode icon to switch to Label mode: 19

22 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Setup - Setup window icons, commands and functions Label Mode: click this icon to switch to Label mode: Label mode: Add Label: click to add a Label. Click the Label to select it, define the properties of the Label in the Device Properties window on the right (text, color, font etc.). Remove Selected Label: click a Label to select it, click icon to remove this Label. Toggle Identify Fixtures mode. Devices Window on the right top: New 2D Layout: add a new Layout in the current Setup. New DMX Universe: add a new DMX universe in the Layout. The next, not already assigned universe is added. You can add universes which are not assigned to an engine or interface. Delete: delete the selected element in the Devices window, DMX universe or Layout. Device Properties window on the right bottom: If any element, a fixture, a Label or a background image is selected, you can set the properties of the element like text or font for a Label, DMX address and universe for a fixture etc. 20

23 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Principles 9 Content Window 9.1 Principles The Content Window of SYMPHOLIGHT is the central area where you create the show, its content and how this content is handled. SYMPHOLIGHT works with a timeline like a sequencer. All functions and control is based on this timelines. The content of a show is organized in Sequences, Sequences contain Layouts. The Layouts again are created during Setup. Depending on the types of fixtures placed in Layouts, a Sequence contains different Layers. If the fixtures in a Layout are RGB-capable, the Layers will be color faders. If the fixtures only support intensities, the Layers will be intensity faders. Changing content in the timeline, only after clicking the check mark in the Control window (Save Sequence), the changes are saved and transferred to the live view except option Auto save changes in timeline is set. 9.2 Window structure Preview Preview Control Layers Media/Effects Properties In the Preview Window, you see the simulation of the output that is sent to the fixtures. The Layout, that is displayed, can be selected by the dropdown box at the bottom of the Preview Window. There is also a magic wand in the Layout selection of the Preview window to create an example show content. Zooming in and out is also possible with the mouse wheel. Control The Control Section provides a selector for the current working Sequence, an icon to create a new Sequence or to delete a Sequence. Changes in the Sequence can be saved or undone. 21

24 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Control and properties Additionally information about the running Sequence is displayed and you can add or delete elements in a Layer. Layers The Layers contain the real content of the show. In the Layers, media content or effects are placed. To place media or effects, select Media Library or Effects in the upper right window and drag it into the Layer of the Sequence. For the selected media or effect in the Layer, you can change properties in the Properties Window. Looping can be assigned to a media element or an effect by selecting the element and dragging the end of the element. To create a new Layer for a Layout in a Sequence, drag-and-drop a Media Library element or an effect on top of an existing Layer. Next, you can rearrange the Layers by keeping the header of a Layer clicked and moving the Layer above or below another Layer. Media/Effects To add media to the Media Library, use the clap board icon. In the opened dialog, select media to be added to the Media Library. Several video formats are supported and will be converted to a certain format in the Media Library. You can create subfolders in the Media Library with the folder icon in the top menu of the Media Library. Properties When an effect or a media element is selected in a Layer, you can edit the properties of this element in the Properties Window. 9.3 Control and properties All dynamic content is available in the Media Library. You can use videos, images or effects. Just drag-and-drop content from the Media Library into a Layer in the timeline. All properties of an effect can be adjusted in the Properties window. When you adjusted an effect with properties different from the basic settings, you can save this effect in the Effects library above this Properties window. Give the effect a new, unique name and save it. There are some more control elements in the main menu of the Timeline window. You can set up an effect template, delete effects or layers, enable or disable timeline snapping and much more. Use the filter option to select only certain content. Every Layer has two small buttons in the Layer header. With the M icon you can mute (switch off) a Layer. With the S icon you can solo the Layer, so it becomes the only active Layer. 22

25 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Adjust mapping to fixtures 9.4 Adjust mapping to fixtures By default, an image, video or effect will be mapped to the full Layout size. Adjust the mapping by selecting the object in the timeline and change the mapping. Use the four corners to change the size or the pin at the top to rotate. Keep the left mouse button pressed in the area to move. Keep the Shift key pressed when resizing to keep the ratio of the area constant. Click the icon in the lower left to reset the mapping to the full Layout. 9.5 Cues You can add Cues to the timeline. Cues are control elements for fades or to control playing of content. Cues control fade ins and outs as well as playing states. If you know Cues from the Programmer of the LAS, do not be confused. Cues in SYMPHOLIGHT are control elements, not lighting scenes! To add a Cue, right-click a free area of a Layer, or rightclick in the Cue track (the grey band between time markers and Layouts) and select Create new Cue, or double-click into the Cue track. A new Cue will be created. Click on the Cue and adjust its properties in the Properties window. By default Cues refer to the Cue settings of the Sequence. To set the Sequence properties, click in an empty area of the Timeline. In the Sequence properties, the default behavior for all Cues is defined. This is the Skip Mode (DoNothing, CrossFade or FadeFromLastFrame), the fade in and fade out times and more. These Cue properties are used if not defined otherwise. To change the Cue properties for a single Cue, click the Cue to select and change the properties in the Properties window. 23

26 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Scenes and the Scene Editor Important parameters for a Cue are Play Mode (Continue: continue playing, Wait: pause on end of Cue, Repeat: loop this Cue) and Regular Fade Out Mode, e. g. to realize a cross fade between two content elements in a Layer. Uncheck the box Use Sequence Fade Times to set fade times different from the times defined in the Sequence properties. 9.6 Scenes and the Scene Editor Beside dynamic content like videos, images or effects you can also use static content. Scenes are the tool when you want to send DMX output to non-fixtures like DMX switches or if you want to define static DMX output to few fixtures. These Scenes compare to Cues in the Programmer of the LAS. To create static content as Scene the Scene Editor is used. Scenes can be used in the All Color Faders/Intensity Faders Layer like any other content. We show Scenes for the All Color Fader Layers here. Intensity Scenes work the same way, but with only one or few channels. To create a Scene in the Content window, click Scenes in the window of Media Library, Effects and Scenes. Here you can add new Scenes by selecting the current Layout, to create Scenes for, and clicking the Create new Scene icon in the top menu above. Use the Fixture and Group Overview window to select fixtures for the Scene. Here a new Scene for the RGB Layout was created, by a double-click on the Scene you can edit the name of the Scene. Select the created Scene and open the Scene Editor with Scene Editor in the left bottom menu row of the window. y On the left side of the Scene Editor all fixtures in this Layout are shown. y Select or multi-select a single or multiple fixtures in the Scene overview on the left. y You can now set all RGB pixels of the fixture to a certain color or DMX values. y Use numeric values for the three channels of the pixels or use the color picker. Select single 24

27 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Using Scenes for simple configurations pixels of the fixtures to set them to a color or a value. y The Item number is the relative position of an RGB pixel in the fixture, here for a 64PXL Board RGB. To keep the lists visibility, all items are grouped in pages. Switch between pages with the navigation below the Scene Editor. When the definition of the Scene is complete, you can drag the Scene onto a Layer in the Timeline window or onto the Scene Track. Playing the content now shows the color settings of this Scene as content if the Scene is placed in an All Color Layer. Changes are directly transferred and saved in the Scene. With the percent icon in the top row you can select entry in absolute numerical or percent values. Here now the Scene RGB Default Scene is used as any other content. As only settings for the first 64PXL Board were used, only the small area has Scene content. For Scenes in RGB Layouts you can set the color channels and Opacity. For Scenes in Intensity Layouts, you can set intensity and Opacity. The Opacity defines how much of the Layers below is visible. A zero means full opacity, 255 means no opacity. 9.7 Using Scenes for simple configurations Scenes allow non-media applications. Here is a show for just few fixtures and simple color changing. 25

28 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Property Animation The Layout consists of four Traxon 1PXL Cove Lights RGB. To create a simple color changing effect follow these steps: y Create the Layout in the Setup window. y In the Content window, go to Scenes and create the static Scenes for the four Cove lights in the Scene Editor. As these are 1PXL versions, this takes only some clicks and the color picker. y Go back to the Timeline, place the three Scenes in the All Color Faders Layer for the Layout. Every Scene is here set to a length of five seconds. y Place three Cues in the Cue track. Keep snapping in the Timeline window enabled and re-size the three Cues corresponding to the lengths of the three Scenes. y Either use the fade-in and fade-out times of the Sequence, or unlink the fade properties of the cues from the Sequence. y Select Play Mode as Continue, Regular Fade Out Mode as CrossFade. Play the Sequence. 9.8 Property Animation For certain properties of an effect or a media element you can use a Property Animation. This way, a property of an element can change over time. Not for all properties, a Property Animation is possible. Right-click on the property name, in the context menu either Add Property Animation is disabled (greyed out) or enabled. Select Add Property Animation. An additional Layer below the selected Layer will be added, where the animation is defined. Right-click into the Animation Layer to select the animation mode. 26

29 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Angle animations Animation Interpolation Step Interpolation will set the selected property directly in one step. Animation Interpolation Linear Interpolation will calculate intermediate steps for a continuos property change. Double-click into the Animation Layer to set a keyframe. Click the keyframe to set its properties in the Properties window, e. g. size, angle, frame rate etc. The properties for the keyframe are value and position. If several keyframes are set, a blue line shows the direction and slope of the resulting animation. The Animation Layer also has a mute button in the Layer header, to disable or enable the animation. 9.9 Angle animations Note that animating an effect regarding the angle is measured in radiants, not in degrees. Positive values are clockwise rotation, negative value counter-clockwise Frame rate animation for videos For videos, SYMPHOLIGHT supports a tool for frame rate interpolation for videos. The tool is available at This tool re-samples videos for slow motion or hi-speed playback to avoid hard frame rate delays. Download then Free Video FPS Converter from the site and install it in your system. At startup, SYMPHOLIGHT will detect the tool automatically. Place a video in a Layer in the Sequence, select the video, right-click in the Properties window of the video on Frame Rate and select Add Property Animation. Double-click in the Property Animation below the video to place key frames and change the frame rates to create slow-mo or hi-speed effects. 27

30 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Working with Gradients 9.11 Working with Gradients In many places in SYMPHOLIGHT, you can select Gradients, for example for backgrounds or colors in the GUI Editor. Gradients are not a single color, but a span of one or more colors over an area. A single pure color is handled as a special case of a Gradient. The Gradient Editor A single color can be defined either by picking a color in the left color picker, or editing the color and intensity values with faders on the right. The line at the bottom of the editor is the color span, indicating the Gradient Stops and is called the Gradient Preview. The Gradient Stops define the points where color changes are placed. The faders have the following functions: y Red/Green/Blue: the three color channels of a color. y Hue: the color type. y Saturation: deepness of the color. y Value: intensity of the color. y Alpha: amount of transparency. Single color Use a single Gradient Stop, use the minus icon right of the Gradient Preview to remove additional Gradient Stops. The position of the single Gradient Stop has no meaning now. Define the color now. Open the Color Library on the right to save this color as color template. Gradient Use at least two Gradient Stops. If Gradient Stops are not placed at the beginning or the end, the area in front or after will wear the same color as the Gradient Stop. Add Gradient Stops with the plus icon right of the Gradient Preview. Click a Gradient Stop to select it, move it and set the color properties. Click another Gradient Stop to edit this one. Save this Gradient as a template in the Gradient Library. 28

31 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Content window icons, commands and functions 9.12 Content window icons, commands and functions Preview window top left: Select the Layout to see in the Preview window. Reset View: re-zoom the current project view to fit for the Preview window size. Generate a test Sequence for the current Layout. Timeline window bottom left: Sequence Selection: select the Sequence to work on. New Sequence: add a new Sequence for this Layout. Delete Sequence: delete the current Sequence. Save Sequence: confirm changes to this Sequence, route changes to real output. Revert to Original Sequence: revert all changes and restore to last saved state. Play Sequence: play to current Sequence and stop, except Loop Mode is defines in the Sequence properties. When Sequence is playing, toggles with the Pause icon: Pause: pauses the playing, if clicked again resumes Sequence playing at the paused frame. Previous Cue: skip backward to previous Cue. Next Cue: Skip forward to next Cue. Stop: stop playing Sequence and skip to beginning of Sequence. Play Selected Effect: plays only the selected Effect in this Sequence, loops always. When selected Effect is playing, toggles with the Pause icon: Pause Selected Effect: pauses playing selected Effect, when clicked again resumes playing the Effect. 29

32 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Content window icons, commands and functions Playing State: show the current play state and time cursor position. Live Preview on Stage: if this mode is enabled, the Content preview is sent as real DMX output to the fixtures. If this mode is disabled, no DMX output is generated and you edit in blind mode. Create Effect Template: creates a new Effect template from the current selected Effect and its properties, adds a new template to the Effects library. Delete Effect/Track: deletes the selected Effect or Track in the Sequence. Resize Effect: resizes the Effect to cover all fixtures in the current Layout, if you resized or moved the effect mapping to fixtures. Auto Preview Selected Effects: toggles preview of the selected Effect only. Enable/Disable Snapping on Timeline: toggles snapping of media, Effects and Cues in the Layer in the Timeline. Follow Cursor on Timeline: if enabled, the view on the Timeline always follows the cursor while playing. If disabled, the view on the Timeline stays fixed. Show/Hide tracks from other Layouts: if enabled, all Layers from all Layouts are visible. If disabled, only Layers for the current Layout are visible. Show/Hide Track for Scenes: Enables or disables the Scene Track. Layers and the Sequence window: Zoom Timeline in and out. Media Library, Effect and Scenes window: Media Library: Layer State: mute (disable) this Layer or solo (only this Layer is active, all others muted) this Layer. New Folder: add a new folder to the Media Library. Add Media: add videos and images to the Media Library. Delete Media or Folder: delete the selected media or folder from the Media Library (multi-select possible). 30

33 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Properties of Content objects Effects: Import Effect Template: import a saved.qet file Template into the Effects Library. Export Effect Template: save the selected Effect as.qet file Effect Template. Delete Effect Template: delete selected Effect Template (only possible for user-created Effects). Scenes: Create new Scene: create a new Scene, Scene Layout or a general Layout must be selected. Delete selected Scene: delete the selected Scene, a Scene must be selected, multi-select possible. Properties window: Show or hide Display Names and Identifiers of objects. When using objects for scripting or with the Action Pad, be sure to assign unique identifiers to objects Properties of Content objects The first six properties are common for all objects. Angle IsEnabled Length Position Size Start Rotate the object in radiants (360 = 2 x 3.14 rad) Show the object in Preview and Live view. If disabled, the object is hidden, but still present. Run length in the Layer Position of center Size of the object in mm Start time in the Layer. All other properties are specific to object types like images, effects or cues Sequence properties The behavior of the Sequence is mainly controlled with the Sequence properties. Also properties of Cues can be taken from the Sequence properties, or can be defined separately. Click into an empty area of the Sequence to set the properties of the Sequence. Cue Skip Mode Fade mode when using the skip functions. CrossFade: perform cross fade when entering next Cue. FadeFromLastFrame: use the last frame for fade. 31

34 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Content Window - Cue properties Cues Fade In Time Cues Fade Mode Cues Fade Out Time Display Name Identifier Loop Segment Begin Loop Segment Enable Loop Segment End Loop Sequence Mutual Exclude Collection ID Priority Start Position The fade-in time for Cues, default = 1 second. Fade mode in standard play. CrossFade: perform cross fade when entering next Cue. FadeFromLastFrame: use the last frame for fade. The fade-out time for Cues, default = 1 second. The name displayed as Sequence name. Unique identifier for this Sequence. Define a loop segment begin position. Marked in the Cue track in the Timeline with a green marker. Default for new Cues (see Cue properties). Enable looping the defined loop segment. Default for new Cues (see Cue properties). Define a loop segment end. Marked in the Cue track in the Timeline with a red marker. Default for new Cues (see Cue properties). Loop the whole Sequence. If not zero, a mutex group id where only one Sequence may play at one time. If zero, no mutex grouping. Render Priority: Sequences with higher priority overwrite values from Sequences with lower priority. Absolute position of the Sequence Cue properties Display Name Fade In Time Fade Out Time Identifier Is Skip Stop Position Length Play Mode Regular Fade Out Mode Skip Fade Out Mode Use Sequence Fade Times The name displayed as Cue name. The fade-in time. The fade-out time. Unique identifier for this Cue. This is a stop position when using the skip functions. Length of the Cue. Behavior during play mode. Continue: continue playing. Wait: wait at this position. Repeat: repeat this Cue. Fade mode during regular play mode. CrossFade: perform cross fade when entering next Cue. FadeFromLastFrame: use the last frame for fade. Fade more when using skip functions. CrossFade: perform cross fade when entering next Cue. FadeFromLastFrame: use the last frame for fade. Ignore fade times from Cue, use fade times from Sequence properties. 32

35 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Principles 10 Automation 10.1 Principles The window for Automation contains the Trigger Engine, the scripting functions and the GUI Editor for the Action Pad. With the Trigger Engine you can automate the behavior of SYMPHOLIGHT regarding events and status changes. With Scripting you can add functions and features of SYMPHOLIGHT by programmed macros in C#. The GUI Editor is used to create graphical user interfaces for mobile devices or external web browsers Triggers Triggers are created on certain events. An event can be a status change of a Sequence, a changing signal for a digital input or receiving an UDP packet. This event creates a Trigger, the Trigger leads to an Action, for example starting or stopping a Sequence, calling a Cue or a change of properties for an element. If the Trigger leads to an Action is determined by a Condition. The Action will only be executed, if the defined Condition is met. This can be the state of a Sequence, or a time/date Condition, or an astronomical clock Condition like sunrise or twilight. A special feature in SYMPHOLIGHT is the astronomical clock. This way you can define Triggers for astronomical events like sunrise, sunset or twilight times. You can invert a Condition by checking box invert. Now the Action will be executed if the Condition is not met. 33

36 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Defining Triggers 10.3 Defining Triggers To define a Trigger, go to the Automation tab and the Trigger Engine. Triggers, Conditions and Actions Workspace Parameter overview Select a Trigger from the list of Triggers. Drag-and-drop the Trigger into the Trigger overview. Above, a periodic Trigger was selected which executes every 60 seconds. Select a Condition from the list, drag-and-drop it onto the Trigger. Click on the Condition, click on Configure... and define the Condition. Here it is Monday to Friday, from 8:00 until 19:00. Select an Action, drag-and-drop it on the Trigger. Click on the selected Action in the Trigger overview and give it parameters in the Properties window on the right. Here the Action is: Start Sequence#1. To delete a Trigger or an Action, select it in the Trigger overview and click the red cross in the menu bar above. When a Trigger is selected in the overview, you can execute it manually with the play icon in the top menu of the Trigger overview. 34

37 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Available Triggers 10.4 Available Triggers When using the term object in SYMPHOLIGHT, an object is any system object. For example a Sequence or a Cue, or a device or an interface. Show Initialized Time Trigger Astronomic Trigger Sequence Started Sequence Stopped Sequence Paused Sequence Resumed Sequence Completed Sequence Cue Changed Sequence Trigger Point Reached LCE Dry Contact Changed Stream Data Received Packet Data Received Named Event Occurred Periodic Trigger Create Trigger when the show was loaded. Use this Trigger to start activities after loading the show. Create a timed Trigger depending on month, week, date, time or time range. Select an astronomic event like noon or twilight time to create a Trigger. Select the astronomical type, e. g. civil or nautic. Create a Trigger when a defined Sequence starts. Create a Trigger when a defined Sequence gets stopped. Create a Trigger when a defined Sequence gets paused. Create a Trigger when a defined Sequence switches from paused to running. Create a Trigger when a defined Sequence reaches its end and completes. Create Trigger when Cue advances to the next Cue. Create a Trigger when the defined Trigger Point is reached. Create a Trigger, when an LCE2 dry contact opens or closes. Create a Trigger when a string is received over a serial interface. Create a Trigger when a packet is received over an UDP interface. Create a Trigger when a Named Event from an engine was received. The name is a character string. Create a periodic Trigger every n seconds Available Conditions And Operator Or Operator Sequence Running Sequence Paused Connect Conditions with the AND operator. Connect Conditions with the OR operator. True if a defined Sequence is running. True if a defined Sequence is paused. 35

38 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Available Actions Sequence Stopped Sequence Finishing Check Property Time Condition Astronomic Condition True if a defined Sequence was stopped. True if a defined Sequence is complete and finished. True if a defined property of an object, e. g. a Sequence or a device, matches a given condition. True if a defined time Condition is matched. Relates to the Time Trigger. True if an astronomic Condition is met. Relates to the Astronomic Trigger Available Actions Start Sequence Pause Sequence Stop Sequence Finish Sequence Go To Previous Cue Go To Next Cue Go To Cue Set Relay of LCE Controller Show Alert on LCE Display Send String to Serial Send UDP Packet Change Property Invoke Object Method Script Actions Start a Sequence. Pause a Sequence. Stop a Sequence. Finish a Sequence, set timeline cursor to end of Sequence. Go to start of the previous Cue. Go to start of next Cue. Go to a specified Cue. The address is the index of the Cue. Set state of an LCE2 relay output to closed or opened. Show an alert on the display of the LCE2. Send a string to a serial port. Send a packet to an UDP Ethernet port. Change a property of an object, e. g. a Sequence or a device. Execute a method of an object. Example: SerialPort0 SendString AB09 ASCII. This is a universal object Action. Execute a scripting macro. 36

39 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Scripting 10.7 Scripting In the Scripting tab, you can create macros in the C# language, which are compiled and can be executed as Actions. To create a new script, click New Script, the editor window will now contain a skeletal script to fill with statements. You can Compile the script to check for errors, save it, export it or delete or close it. To edit the script after closing, double-click on the script name in the left window. After the script is complete, it will show in the list of possible Actions under Script Actions. You can use the complete scope of the C# language. For a language description and introduction please refer to standard books and courses. Details about Scripting and related APIs can be found in a separate chapter 12 SYMPHO- LIGHT Scripting. 37

40 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - The GUI Editor 10.8 The GUI Editor With the GUI Editor you can build a graphical user interface for SYMPHOLIGHT, called the Action Pad. You can connect to the SYMPHOLIGHT via the build-in HTTP server and control SYMPHO- LIGHT with a LAN or WiFi connection. To create a new page for the GUI Editor, click on the folder icon left in the Target Device window or on the plus tab in the page. Select the target display size in the Properties window below the Target Device window. You can now set all other properties for the page here, like background color or grid use. Depending on the selected element in the GUI Editor, the Properties window will reflect the properties of this element. To place control elements in the page, drag-and-drop elements from the left window into the page. Possible elements are Buttons, toggle Buttons, images, Labels (text elements), Faders and the Color Picker. Place the element on the page and resize it to fit your needs. A special element is the Inline Frame. After placing it in the page and selecting it, enter an URL in the Properties for the Inline Frame. The content of the web page will be displayed in the frame. In the top menu of the GUI Editor, you can align selected elements or copy and paste elements. Clicking on the earth icon, your standard browser will be opened and redirected to this Action Pad page. If you do not have admin rights on this system, let your system admin create an access right in the settings of SYMPHOLIGHT! Make sure that the web server is enabled in the Tools menu of SYMPHOLIGHT! Actions for Buttons Properties and behavior of Buttons and Faders are defined in the Properties window. Click a Button and set the properties in the Properties window. To assign an Action, click the Action property, Create new.... You will be redirected to the Trigger list to define an Action for this Button. 38

41 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Action Pad on mobiles 10.9 Action Pad on mobiles You can use the Action Pad on standard web browsers or on mobile devices. To access the Action Pad from mobile devices, scan the QR code in the left bottom corner and connect your mobile to your SYMPHOLIGHT system. All standard browsers are supported. Be sure that the selected page size and resolution of the Action Pad page and your mobile device fit Automation window icons, commands and functions Trigger Engine Window: Delete a whole Trigger, a single Condition or a single Action. Undo the last addition of a Trigger, a Condition or an Action.. Redo the last undone action. Scripting Execute this Trigger and assigned Action manually, for testing purposes. You can create new Scripts, edit existing Scripts by double-clicking the Script in the selection list, or delete/replace/delete Scripts. You can import external scripts as.cs files. GUI Editor Drag and drop control elements from the left window into the page. Insert a Button, define the look and feel in the Properties window, assign an Action to the Button (redirects to Trigger Engine window). Insert a Toggle Button, define the Toggle On and Toggle Off event in the Properties window (redirects to Trigger Engine window). Insert an image in the page, select the path and look in the Properties window. Insert a Label, define the text, look and feel in the Properties window. Insert a Fader, in the Properties window, assign a Sequence to this Fader as State Control. Insert an Inline Frame, which takes HTML content from a web server. Assign the URL in the Properties window. 39

42 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Automation window icons, commands and functions Insert a Color Picker, the selected color is mapped to a single color Effect in a Layer. After mapping the Color Picker to the Effect, start the Sequence in the Output window s player. The Color Picker of the Action Pad only works on the Output window, not on the Preview in the Content window. The QR-encoded HTTP address for this server and Action Pad and a link Action Pad to start your local default browser (web server must be enabled in Tools in main menu). Workspace menu icons Copy the selected object(s), multi-select possible, to the clipboard. Paste the content of the clipboard into the page. With right little arrow, you can open a menu to paste multiple contents the clipboard content. Delete the selected objects, multi-select possible. Undo the last action. Redo the last action. Select more than one object, align these objects left/right/center/top/ middle/bottom. Space objects evenly, using the average distance of all distances. Distribute objects, left/center/right, top/middle/bottom. Bring selected object(s) to front. Bring selected object(s) one step to front. Send selected object(s) one step back. Send selected object(s) to back. 40

43 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Page properties Execute your default web browser and display current project, web server in SYMPHOLIGHT must be enabled. Target Device: Create a new Device Project, select the display size/type, add pages to the project with the plus tab in the workspace. Delete the selected Device Project, delete pages in the project by the right cancel icon in the page tab in the workspace Page properties Page Name Page Name Color Screen Resolution Background Color Background Image Image Horizontal Alignment Image Resolution Image Vertical Alignment Show Grid Snap To Grid Displayed name of the page. The font color for the page name. Width x height of the page in pixels. Background color for the page. Select a background image from a file. Placement of the image horizontally. Select the size mapping of the image in relation to the screen size. Placement of the image vertically. Show the grid in the page when in design mode. Enable or disable snapping while placement of objects. Grid size is 20 x 20 pixels Object properties Button Button Text State Font Font Size Shape Active Background Color Hover Background Color Text on the Button. Right-click in the text field to use Autotext values. The state of the Button depending on a Sequence, a property of it, an operator and a value. If nothing defined, the state depends on the activation state. The font type of the Button text. The font size of the Button text. The shape of the Button. The color gradient of the Button, when not pressed. The color gradient of the Button, when moving the mouse cursor over the Button. 41

44 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Object properties Inactive Background Color Border Color Preview Visible Position Size Enable Select Action Trigger Event Goto Page by Name Goto Page by Absolute Goto Page by Relative Goto Page by Special Bold Text Italic Text Active Text Color Hover Text Color Inactive Text Color Text Horizontal Alignment Text Vertical Alignment Text Line Format The color gradient of the Button, when it is pressed. The color gradient of the Button border. The color gradient of the Button in the preview of the GUI Editor. If the Button is visible in the Action Pad. To enable or disable Buttons in the Action Pad, but not in the GUI Editor. Button position in the Action Pad. Size of the Button. If disabled, the Button is grayed out, but without function. Select an Action for this Button. Can be a Trigger or a page redirection. If the Button s Action is a Trigger, select an available Trigger or create a new one in the Trigger Engine. For page redirects: name of the target page. For page redirects: absolute position of page. For page redirects: relative position of page. For page redirects: First(previous/next/last page. Button text is bold. Button text is italic. Text color when Button is clicked. Text color, when moving the mouse cursor over the Button. Text color, when the Button is unused. Horizontal alignment of text in the Button. Vertical alignment of text in the Button. Multi line, single line or word wrap. Text Padding Tool Tip Padding of the text in the Button top, right, bottom and left. Text that is displayed as tool tip with delay Text End Ellipsis When text is shortened, display... Decode Autotext Active Background Image Hover Background Image Inactive Background Image Decode Autotext in the Button text. When clicked, use file as background image. When mouse-over, use file as background image. When element not used, use file as background image. 42

45 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Object properties Active Image Horizontal Alignment Active Image Vertical Alignment Active Image Arrangement Hover Image Horizontal Alignment Hover Image Vertical Alignment Hover Image Arrangement Inactive Image Horizontal Alignment Inactive Image Vertical Alignment Inactive Image Arrangement Toggle Button (most properties like Button) Toggle Off Event Toggle On Event Image Path Position Size Label Text Text Color Font Font size Bold Text Italic Background Color Decode Autotext Position Size Fader State Control Horizontal position of image. Vertical position of background image when active. Fit, stretch or tile the image for the Button. Alignment of image on mouse-over. Vertical alignment of image on mouse-over. Fit, stretch or tile image on mouse-over. Horizontal alignment of image when inactive. Vertical alignment of image when inactive. Fit, stretch or tile image when inactive. Select or create Trigger when Button toggles to off state. Select or create Trigger when Button toggles to on state. File address for the image. The absolute position of image in Action Pad. The size of the image in pixels. Keep the Shift key pressed when re-sizing with frame corners to change width and height in relation. The text for the Label. Right-click to select Autotext. The color of the text. The font type for the text. The font size for the text. Display text in bold. Display text in italic. Select a color gradient as background. Use Autotext as content. Absolute position of Label in pixels. Absolute size of Label in pixels. Keep the Shift key pressed when re-sizing with frame corners to change width and height in relation. Sequence the Fader works on. 43

46 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Automation - Object properties Range Maximum Range Minimum Orientation Background Image Track Bar Background Track Bar Highlight Thumb Image Show Track Bar Position Size Inline Frame URL Position Size Color Picker Color Position Size XY Mapping To Maximum value in percent. Minimum value in percent. Set Fader vertically or horizontally. Use a file image as background for the whole Fader. Color gradient for inactive part of track bar. Color gradient for active part of track bar. The knob of the Fader. Show or hide the track bar in the Action Pad (use background image instead). Absolute position in Action Pad in pixels. Absolute size of Fader in Action Pad. Keep the Shift key pressed when re-sizing with frame corners to change width and height in relation. Full URL for the Frame content, e. g. com. Absolute position of Frame in the Action Pad. Absolute size of the Frame in the Action Pad. Keep the Shift key pressed when re-sizing with frame corners to change width and height in relation. Starting color for the Color Picker. Absolute position of Color Picker in Action Pad. Size of Color Picker. The shape is always a square. Select the single color Effect in the Sequence the Color Picker is mapped to. 44

47 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Output window - Principles 11 Output window 11.1 Principles The Output window shows the real results being sent to the Layouts, which are the fixtures respectively. In the center, there is a preview of the current running and viewed Sequence. If there are several Sequences, you can select the one to view. Below the Output view, the DMX data is displayed. You can select either byte values or raw RGB. Selection is made with the two tabbed areas below the DMX Output window. In the Preview area, you can zoom in and out with the mouse wheel. On the right side window, there are play control windows. You can start or stop the Sequences, also you can play Scenes defined in this show. This allows checking and testing of shows and configurations. Additionally you can set Opacity in every run control with the fader on the right. Above all play controls, the grand master sets intensity for all fixtures. You can rearrange the player fields by keeping a player clicked and moving it to another place. A yellow bar shows the resulting position. The Output window with the player controls are also the place where you can start and stop standard Scenes and Raw DMX Scenes for testing and for control. The Loop icon on the right side of the players allows looping. The Finish icon stops a looped Sequence or Scene after the current run. 45

48 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Output window - Player window icons, commands and functions 11.2 Player window icons, commands and functions 1 Play controls, play/pause, stop, skip to previous Cue, skip to next Cue. 2 Current position in Sequence. 3 Total length of Sequence. 4 End loop when reaching end of Sequence. 5 Enable loop mode. 6 Submaster for this Sequence. 7 Grandmaster Z-position and priority The position of a player determines its pririty. The higher the position of the player, the higher the priority of the generated output DMX Output window When viewing byte values, you can see the real byte values sent as DMX values. Select the current viewed addresses and universe with the option left above the window. Select a wide or narrow display of data. In narrow display, the rows are limited to 16 byte ranges. You can also highlight changed values by displaying them in red. 46

49 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: SYMPHOLIGHT Scripting - Language description 12 SYMPHOLIGHT Scripting 12.1 Language description Scripting in SYMPHOLIGHT is done in the programming language C#, pronounced as C-Sharp. C# is a multi-paradigm programming language encompassing strong typing, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented and class-based, and component-oriented programming disciplines. It was developed by Microsoft within its.net initiative and later approved as a standard by ECMA-334) and ISO/IEC 23270:2006. C# is one of the programming languages designed for the Common Language Infrastructure. C# is intended to be a simple, modern, general-purpose, object-oriented programming language. The most recent version is C# 5.0, which was released on August 15, Scripting in SYMPHOLIGHT Open Beta C# scripting is included in the open beta version of SYMPHOLIGHT, but not fully supported. Full scripting support will be included in the final versions of SYMPHOLIGHT. So this chapter just shows some examples how scripting in SYMPHOLIGHT looks like Example scripts public static class DemoScripts { /// <summary> /// Sets the opacity of the Sequence Item /// with identifier ColorSequenceItem /// </summary> /// <param name= opacitystring > /// A string containing </param> public static void SetOpacity(string opacitystring) { float opacity; if (float.tryparse(opacitystring, out opacity)) { if (opacity < 0.0f) opacity = 0.0f; if (opacity > 9.0f) opacity = 9.0f; } } ColorSequenceItem.Opacity = opacity / 9.0f; /// <summary> /// Sets the color of the configured solid color 2D /// effect to predefined colors. /// </summary> /// <param name= colorcode > r, g b /// for the respective colors</param> 1 see: 47

50 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: SYMPHOLIGHT Scripting - Example scripts public static void SetColor(string colorcode) { // ProPhotoColor is initialized with RGBA bytes here. switch (colorcode) { case r : SolidColorEffect.Value = new ProPhotoColor(255, 0, 0, 255); break; case g : SolidColorEffect.Value = new ProPhotoColor(0, 255, 0, 255); break; case b : SolidColorEffect.Value = new ProPhotoColor(0, 0, 255, 255); break; } } } /// <summary> /// Sets the gradient of the configured GradientEffect /// to a black-red-yellow gradient /// </summary> public static void SetGradient() { GradientEffect.Gradient = new ProPhotoGradient(new ProPhotoColor[] { new ProPhotoColor(0, 0, 0, 255), // black new ProPhotoColor(255, 0, 0, 255), // red new ProPhotoColor(255, 255, 0, 255) // yellow }); } public static void LogError(string message) { DataLogger.Instance.GetLogbook( ScriptLogger ).LogError(message?? <empty message> ); } 48

51 SYMPHOLIGHT System Manual: Notes - 13 Notes 49

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