Adding Splines and Fixtures

Fixtures on the Mapping field are placed using two tools: Add Fixture creates one fixture per click, while Add Spline draws a line along which fixtures are arranged automatically. Below is how to use them, what the program fills in for you (fixture type, port, addresses), and what's worth adjusting right after creation.

How a spline differs from a set of single fixtures, and which to choose for a specific object, is covered in the article Splines and Single Fixtures. Both buttons are located on the toolbar of the Mapping window; its full description is in the article Панель инструментов.

What to Set Before Placing Fixtures

Several settings determine what the new fixtures will look like. Check them before the first click — fixing them afterward takes longer.

Fixture Type

The button to the right of the add tools. In a new project it reads RGB — the default fixture: three channels (red, green, blue) and a size of one pixel. Click the button to open the Fixture Library, choose the fixture you need there, and click Select Fixture. The button only works while the Add Fixture or Add Spline tool is active — while another tool is selected, it's labeled Select Fixture and can't be clicked. The chosen type is remembered and applied to every following fixture and spline until you change it.

Port

If a device port is selected in the Fixtures window, every new fixture is immediately placed inside that port — no need to patch it separately. If no port is selected, fixtures are created outside of devices and remain in the project's general fixture list, from which they are later dragged into ports (see Patching Fixtures).

Auto-Patching

A toggle button on the toolbar, enabled by default. With auto-patching on, each new fixture gets the next free address: after the last fixture of the selected port, or, if no port is selected, after the last unpatched fixture. Fixtures placed one after another fill the address space in sequence. With auto-patching off, all new fixtures are created at address 1 (universe — the first universe of the selected port), and addresses must be set manually.

Snap to Grid

A button on the right side of the toolbar, enabled by default: fixture coordinates are rounded to a whole field pixel, so fixtures land exactly on grid cells. Turn it off only if fixtures need to sit between cells. The grid itself becomes visible after enabling the menu item View → 2D Mapping → Show Pixel Grid.

Single Fixtures

1. Click Add Fixture on the toolbar.
2. Move the cursor over the field. A green square crosshair shows where the fixture will be placed; with snap to grid on, it moves from cell to cell.
3. Left-click — the fixture is created.
4. Keep clicking: the tool stays active, so you can place a hundred fixtures in a row.
5. When done, switch back to the Select and Move tool — it's used to select and move fixtures.

What happens as you do this:

• The fixture appears on the field and in the Fixtures window — inside the selected port, or in the project's general fixture list. It's named after its type with a three-digit number: RGB001, RGB002, and so on.
• With auto-patching on, the address of each next fixture shifts by the channel count of the previous one. When fixtures stop fitting in a universe, addressing continues in the next universe — large series can be placed without tracking universe boundaries.
• Clicking the same spot again doesn't create a second fixture: two fixtures won't accidentally end up stacked on top of each other.
• Made a mistake — Ctrl+Z undoes the addition. An already created fixture can be deleted with the Delete key in the Fixtures window: on the mapping field itself, this key doesn't delete fixtures.

Splines

A spline is a polyline along which the program arranges fixtures automatically. This is how LED bars, strips, garlands, and building facade outlines are defined: you draw a single line, and it can hold anywhere from three fixtures to three hundred.

1. Click Add Spline.
2. Left-click where the line should start.
3. Each following click places a new vertex. As you move the mouse, the upcoming segment stretches after the cursor; vertices are marked with small green squares.
4. To get a strictly horizontal or vertical segment, hold Shift (or Ctrl): the new vertex snaps in line with the previous one if it deviates from it by less than 5 pixels.
5. Press Enter — the spline is created. There must be at least two vertices, otherwise there's nothing to complete.

Good to know:

• The tool stays active even after Enter: the next click on the field starts a new line, no need to click the button again.
• Esc erases the line in progress, and it can be drawn again; if fewer than two vertices have been placed, Esc exits the tool back to Select and Move.
• The finished spline stays selected — its bounding box and properties are immediately visible.
• In the Fixtures window the spline appears as a single row named Spline001 — all its fixtures are patched, moved, and addressed as one unit.
• Drawing can be undone with Ctrl+Z.

How Many Fixtures on a Spline

A freshly drawn spline gets 100 fixtures, evenly spaced along its entire length. The actual number is set in the Properties window — select the spline and adjust the Fixture Count parameter. Fixtures are redistributed along the line immediately, and addresses are recalculated automatically.

The remaining spline parameters, in the General section:

Parameter	What It Does
Name	The spline's name in the Fixtures window. Clear names ("Left Facade", "Cornice 1") save a lot of time when patching.
Visibility	A disabled spline isn't shown on the field and can't be selected with the mouse. It can only be selected from the list in the Fixtures window.
Smooth	Rounds the corners: instead of a polyline, the spline becomes a smooth curve. Needed for arches and waves; for strict geometry, it's the opposite — unnecessary.
Pixel Snap	Places fixtures exactly on the cells of the pixel grid. Enabled by default. Turn it off if fixtures need to lie exactly on the line, without rounding.
Address and Universe	The address and universe of the spline's first fixture. The rest are counted from it.
Distribution Type	Uniform — fixtures are spread along the entire length of the line, and you set their number. Fixed Pixels — a fixture is placed at every vertex of the line, and the number of fixtures equals the number of vertices; the Fixture Count parameter has no effect in this mode.
Fixture Count	How many fixtures are on the spline (with uniform distribution).
Address Offset	How many channels to skip between neighboring fixtures on the spline. Usually 0: addresses run back to back. A value greater than zero is needed when part of the channels on the real fixture is unused.
Reverse	Reverses the fixture order: the first becomes the last. Click it if the animation runs along the line in the wrong direction relative to the object.
Fixture Type	A button showing the current fixture's name. Opens the Fixture Library — this is how you change the type of an already created spline.
Go to 3D Fixture	Jumps to the linked object in the 3D View window. The button is only available if such a link exists (see Linking 2D and 3D).

If the fixtures on a spline don't fit into a single universe, the continuation is carried over to the next one automatically — just as with single fixtures.

What to Do Right After Creation

• Move, rotate, resize. With the Select and Move tool: dragging the selection frame moves it, dragging the corners scales it, dragging the side handle rotates it. Details are in the article Мышь, выделение и перемещение, and about size and angle in the article Изменение размера и вращение приборов.
• Adjust the line's shape. Double-clicking the spline (or the Edit Spline button) turns on vertex editing mode: points are moved with the mouse, added by clicking near the line, and removed with the Delete key — the last two vertices can't be deleted. If you select an end point and click away from the line, the spline continues further: a previously drawn line can be extended at any time. Exit the mode with Enter or Esc.
• Remove extra vertices. Right-click in vertex editing mode → Remove Redundant Points: the command removes vertices that don't change the line's direction. Useful after quickly drawing "by eye".
• Patch. If fixtures were created without a port selected, drag them into the device's ports in the Fixtures window (see Patching Fixtures).

Other Ways to Add Fixtures

You don't always need to draw every fixture by hand.

Drag Copy

Drag selected fixtures while holding Ctrl — a copy with the same settings appears at the new location. Ctrl+D also makes a copy of the selection.

Duplicate

This tool makes a whole row of copies at a fixed step at once. Select fixtures or a spline and click Duplicate — a small panel opens under the button with the parameters: Count, Address Offset, X Offset, Y Offset, and the checkboxes Snake Mode and Split Universes. The Apply button creates the copies, Cancel closes the panel. This is how a row of identical bars or a matrix of pixels is created in a single pass.

Convert to Spline / Convert to Fixtures

Several selected single fixtures are combined into one spline, and a spline can be broken back down into single fixtures. Useful when the layout is already done but it's more convenient to work with it differently.

Transfer from 3D

If the scene was built before the mapping, fixtures aren't drawn again: the Magic 2D Button on the toolbar of the 3D View window creates fixtures on the mapping based on the scene's splines and fixtures, and links them to each other right away. Fixtures already transferred to the mapping aren't transferred again. See Adding 3D Splines and Linking 2D and 3D.

DXF Import

A layout prepared in a drafting program can be loaded whole: File → Import → Dxf.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Clicking the field doesn't create a fixture. Another tool is active. For example, Create Layout draws layout rectangles on the field, not fixtures; click Add Fixture or Add Spline.
• The fixture type selection button can't be clicked. It's only available while an add tool is active. To change the type of an already created fixture, use its properties — the Fixture Type parameter.
• All fixtures got address 1. Auto-Patching is off. Turn it on and keep placing fixtures, and set addresses manually in the Properties window for the ones already created.
• There are too many fixtures on the spline. There are 100 by default. Select the spline and set the number you need in the Fixture Count parameter.
• Fixtures are misaligned. Turn on Snap to Grid on the toolbar for new fixtures, and Pixel Snap in the spline properties for fixtures on a line. Straight segments while drawing are obtained by holding Shift.
• Enter doesn't finish the spline. Only one vertex has been placed. Make another click and press Enter again.
• The "Duplicate" button can't be clicked. Nothing is selected: the tool only copies selected fixtures or splines.
• The fixture was created but doesn't light up. Check whether it falls inside the layout that has an effect applied: fixtures outside the layout with the effect stay dark (see Creating and Modifying Layouts and Adding an Effect to a Composition).