Fixture Library

Fixture Library — a program-wide list of fixture descriptions shared across the whole program. From it you choose which fixture a particular project element will be: how many channels it has, what each channel means, and how the fixture lights up in the 3D View window. The library includes standard pixel fixtures, ready-made descriptions of real manufacturer models, and fixtures you have created yourself.

The library is not tied to a project but to the program: a fixture added to it once becomes available in every project on this computer. For how fixture views differ from one another and what channels mean, see Виды и типы приборов.

How to open the library

The window opens in three ways:

• menu Settings → Fixture Library — at any time;
• the button with the name of the current fixture on the toolbar of the Mapping window. It is available when the Add Fixture or Add Spline tool is selected, and shows which type new fixtures will get (in a new project — RGB);
• the Fixture Type parameter in the Properties window of a selected fixture or spline — the button is labeled with the name of the fixture currently assigned to it.

The library window does not block the program: you can leave it open and keep working on the mapping. It closes with the close button or the Esc key. A second such window cannot be opened — calling it again brings the already-open window to the front. Which sections were expanded and which were collapsed is remembered by the program until the next time it is opened.

Library sections

On the left of the window is a tree of four sections. Each fixture shows its picture next to its name.

Section	What's inside	Can it be changed
LED Fixtures	Standard program fixtures, arranged into groups: simple channel sets (RGB, RGBW, single-color white) for three kinds of light emission — pixel, linear fixture, and spotlight	No, selection and copying only
Manufacturers	Ready-made descriptions of real models, grouped by manufacturer	No, selection and copying only
My Fixtures	A simple list of fixtures you created yourself or copied here from other sections	Yes
Used in Project	Fixtures assigned to fixtures of the current project. The section fills automatically	No, selection and copying only

Standard fixtures and manufacturer fixtures are protected from changes: when they are selected, the fields on the right are locked. To get your own variant of a factory fixture, copy it to My Fixtures.

There is no search field in the window: you find the model you need by expanding the Manufacturers section and the groups inside it. If the model is not there, pick a similar one or describe the fixture yourself — see below.

What is shown about the selected fixture

As soon as you select a fixture in the tree, its description opens on the right. At the top is the fixture's name, below it two blocks.

3D Preview — how the fixture looks and lights up in the three-dimensional scene:

Parameter	Value
Beam type	Fixture kind: Pixel, Linear, or Spot
Length, Angle°, Depth, Height, Size	Beam dimensions. The set of fields depends on the selected beam type: a spot has angle and height, a linear fixture has length, angle, and depth

Next to it is an image of the fixture and a Change Image link, which lets you replace the picture of your own fixture with any of your choosing.

DMX Settings — how the fixture looks from the side of the control line:

Parameter	Value
Number of Channels	How many DMX channels one fixture occupies
Channel table	Sequence number and purpose of the channel. The row order is the channel order: the first row corresponds to the fixture's address, the second to the next address, and so on
Rotating fixture	Checked for fixtures with rotation mechanics
Pan, min / max, Tilt, min / max	Rotation limits in degrees. They are taken into account by the PAN TILT Animation effect

This description is convenient to compare against a real fixture's datasheet: if the number of channels and their order match the DMX mode selected on the fixture itself, the fixture will behave correctly.

How to assign a fixture from the library

For fixtures you are about to draw:

1. On the toolbar of the Mapping window, select Add Fixture or Add Spline.
2. Press the adjacent button with the name of the current fixture — the library opens.
3. Find the fixture you need in the tree and select it.
4. Press Select Fixture in the bottom right corner of the window.
5. The button on the toolbar will show the new name. Now all drawn fixtures and splines will be of this type.

For fixtures already placed in the project:

1. Select the needed fixtures or splines — on the Mapping field or in the Fixtures window.
2. Open the library: menu Settings → Fixture Library or the Fixture Type button in the Properties window.
3. Select the new fixture in the tree and press Select Fixture.

The new type applies immediately to all selected fixtures. If the new type has more or fewer channels, the addresses on the port need to be recalculated: with Auto Patching enabled this happens automatically, otherwise addresses are edited manually — see Patching Fixtures.

The Select Fixture button works only when there is something to apply the selection to: the fixture-adding tool is active, or fixtures of a different current type are selected on the mapping.

Copying a fixture to My Fixtures

Factory fixtures cannot be changed, but you can make a copy of them and edit that instead. Select a fixture and invoke Copy to Personal — with the button at the bottom of the window, an item in the Edit menu, or by right-clicking the fixture (in the Used in Project section there is no right-click menu, use the button or the menu instead). The copy appears in the My Fixtures section with Copy added to its name and is immediately selected — all that's left is to rename it and adjust the channels.

A fixture from the Used in Project section is copied the same way. This is useful when a project comes from another computer: if it uses a fixture that is not in your library, the copy will save this description for you, and it can then be assigned in other projects.

Creating and deleting fixtures

The Create menu adds a new template to My Fixtures:

• Fixture — a description with three channels (red, green, blue) named RGB;
• Moving Head — a description with rotation channels (pan, pan fine, tilt, tilt fine) named Move head, with the Rotating fixture checkbox already enabled and limits of Pan 0–540° and Tilt 0–180°.

The template appears at the end of the My Fixtures section — select it, and the fields for configuring it open on the right. For details, see Создание пользовательских приборов.

Fixtures are deleted only from the My Fixtures section: select a fixture and press Delete or Backspace, or choose Delete by right-clicking or in the Edit menu. The program will ask you to confirm the deletion.

Deleting a fixture from the library does not break projects where it is already assigned: the fixture's description is also stored inside the project itself, so the fixtures continue to work and their description remains visible in the Used in Project section.

Saving the library

Everything you do in the window — creating, copying, deleting, editing channels — exists only in the open window at first. To make the changes permanent, run File → Save Library.

The program itself reminds you to save in two cases:

• when closing the window with unsaved changes, the question Save library? appears — Yes saves the changes, No returns the library to the state it was in when the window was opened, Cancel leaves the window open;
• when pressing Select Fixture with unsaved changes, the question The library must be saved before selecting a fixture, save it? appears — Yes saves the library and applies the selected fixture, Cancel returns to the window without changes.

Saving the library is not related to saving the project: these are separate actions, and one does not replace the other. When saving, changes to a fixture's description apply to all project fixtures it is assigned to: for example, if you change the number of channels, fixtures in the project will occupy the new number of addresses.

The library and the project

Descriptions of used fixtures are stored not only in the program's library but also in the project file itself. As soon as a fixture is assigned, its description is added to the Used in Project section and saved together with the project. Thanks to this, a project opened on another computer works correctly even if that computer's library does not have such a fixture.

The Used in Project section is kept up to date automatically: when a fixture is no longer used — for example, you changed the type on all fixtures where it was assigned — its description is removed from the project.

Frequently Asked Questions

• The Select Fixture button cannot be pressed. No fixture-adding tool is selected and no fixture is selected on the mapping, or all selected fixtures already have exactly this type.
• The fields on the right are gray, nothing can be changed. A fixture from the LED Fixtures, Manufacturers, or Used in Project sections is selected — they are protected from changes. Copy the fixture to My Fixtures and edit the copy.
• After restarting the program, my fixtures are gone. The changes were not saved. Only File → Save Library (or answering Yes to the question when closing the window) makes edits to the library permanent.
• The model I need is not in the library. Take a similar fixture as a base, copy it to My Fixtures, and bring the channels in line with the datasheet — see Создание пользовательских приборов. For an ordinary pixel strip or bar, a separate description is not needed: a standard fixture from the LED Fixtures section will do.
• A model in the Manufacturers section has several rows with similar names. These are different DMX modes of the same model. Choose the one set on the fixture itself, otherwise the channels will not match.
• The fixture occupies a different number of addresses than expected. Check the Number of Channels of the selected fixture: that is how many DMX addresses one fixture will occupy.