Fixture Library
Fixture Library is a list of fixture profiles shared by the whole program. It's where you pick which fixture type any given project element will use: how many channels it has, what each channel means, and how the fixture glows in the 3D View window. The library includes standard pixel fixtures, ready-made profiles of real manufacturer models, and fixtures you've created yourself.
The library isn't tied to a project but to the program: a fixture added to it once is available in every project on this computer. For how fixture kinds differ from one another and what the channels mean, see Fixture Kinds and Types.
Opening the library
The window can be opened in three ways:
- the Settings → Fixture Library menu — at any time;
- the button showing the current fixture's name on the Mapping window toolbar. It's available when the Add Fixture or Create 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 doesn't 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 can't be opened — calling it again just brings the already-open one to the front. Which sections were expanded and which were collapsed is remembered by the program until the next time it's opened.
Library sections
On the left of the window is a tree of four sections. Each fixture is shown with its picture next to its name.
| Section | What's inside | Can it be edited |
|---|---|---|
| LED Fixtures | The program's standard fixtures, arranged into the LED Pixels, LED Wallwasher and LED Spotlight groups — the same sets of channels (RGB, RGBW, single-color white) for three kinds of glow | No, selection and copying only |
| Manufacturers | Ready-made profiles of real models, grouped by manufacturer: linear fills, spotlights, pixel strips, moving fixtures | No, selection and copying only |
| My Fixtures | A plain list of fixtures you've created yourself or copied here from other sections | Yes |
| Used in Project | Fixtures assigned to the fixtures of the current project. The section is filled in automatically | No, selection and copying only |
Standard fixtures and manufacturer fixtures are protected from changes: when one is selected, the fields on the right are locked. To get your own variant of a factory fixture, copy it to My Fixtures.
What's 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, and below it are two blocks.
3D Preview — how the fixture looks and glows in the three-dimensional scene:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Fixture Beam Type | The fixture's kind: pixel, linear, or spotlight |
| Length, Angle°, Depth, Height, Size | The beam's dimensions. The set of fields depends on the selected beam type — a spotlight has angle and height, a linear fixture has length, angle and depth |
Next to it is the fixture's image and a Change Image link, which lets you replace the picture of your own fixture with any image of your choosing.
DMX Settings — how the fixture looks from the control line's side:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Channel Count | How many DMX channels one fixture takes up |
| Channel table | The channel's sequence number and purpose. 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 |
| Moving Fixture | Checked for fixtures with pan/tilt mechanics |
| Pan, min / max, Tilt, min / max | Rotation limits in degrees. They're used by the PAN TILT Animation effect |
This description is convenient to check against a real fixture's datasheet: if the channel count and their order match the DMX mode set on the fixture itself, the fixture will behave correctly.
Assigning a fixture from the library
For fixtures you're about to draw:
- On the Mapping window toolbar, choose Add Fixture or Create Spline.
- Click the adjacent button showing the current fixture's name — the library opens.
- Find the fixture you need in the tree and select it.
- Click Select Fixture in the bottom-right corner of the window.
- The toolbar button will show the new name. From now on, every fixture and spline you draw will be of this type.
For fixtures already placed in the project:
- Select the fixtures or splines you need — on the Mapping field or in the Fixtures window.
- Open the library: the Settings → Fixture Library menu, or the Fixture Type button in the Properties window.
- Select the new fixture in the tree and click 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 adjusted manually — see Патчинг приборов.
The Select Fixture button only works when there's something to apply the selection to: the fixture-adding tool is active, or fixtures with a different current type are selected on the mapping.
Copying a fixture to "My Fixtures"
Factory fixtures can't be changed, but you can make a copy and edit that instead. Select the fixture and call Copy to Personal — with the button at the bottom of the window, the item in the Edit menu, or the right-click menu on the fixture. The copy appears in the My Fixtures section with Copy added to its name and is selected right away — all that's left is to rename it and adjust its channels.
Fixtures from the Used in Project section are copied the same way. This is handy when a project has come from another computer: if it uses a fixture that's missing from your library, the copy will save that profile 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 profile with three channels: red, green, blue;
- Moving Head — a profile with pan/tilt channels (pan, pan fine, tilt, tilt fine) and the Moving Fixture checkbox already enabled, with Pan limits of 0–540° and Tilt limits of 0–180°.
The new fixture is selected right away and can be configured on the right. For details, see Создание пользовательских приборов.
Fixtures can only be deleted from the My Fixtures section: select a fixture and press Delete or Backspace, or choose Delete from the right-click menu or the Edit menu. The program will ask you to confirm the deletion.
Deleting a fixture from the library doesn't break projects where it's already assigned: the fixture's profile is also stored inside the project itself, so the fixtures keep working and their profile 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 reminds you to save in two cases:
- when closing the window with unsaved changes, a prompt appears: Save library? — Yes saves the edits, No reverts the library to the state it was in when the window was opened, Cancel leaves the window open;
- when clicking Select Fixture with unsaved changes, a prompt appears: The library must be saved before selecting a fixture, save it? — Yes saves the library and applies the selected fixture, Cancel returns to the window without changes.
Saving the library is unrelated to saving the project: these are separate actions, and one doesn't replace the other. When you save, changes to a fixture's profile are applied to every fixture in the project it's assigned to: for example, if you adjust the channel count, the fixtures in the project will take up the new number of addresses.
Library and project
The profiles of fixtures in use are stored not only in the program's library but also in the project file itself. As soon as a fixture is assigned, its profile is added to the Used in Project section and saved together with the project. This is why a project opened on another computer works correctly even if that computer's library doesn't have this fixture.
The Used in Project section is kept up to date automatically: when a fixture stops being used — for example, you've changed the type of every fixture that had it — its profile is removed from the project.
Frequently asked questions
- The "Select Fixture" button won't click. Neither the fixture-adding tool is selected nor any fixture on the mapping is selected, or all the selected fixtures already have this exact type.
- The fields on the right are grayed out, nothing can be changed. You've selected a fixture from the LED Fixtures, Manufacturers or Used in Project sections — they're protected from changes. Copy the fixture to My Fixtures and edit the copy.
- After restarting the program, my fixtures are gone. The changes weren't saved. Only File → Save Library (or answering Yes to the prompt when closing the window) makes library edits permanent.
- The model I need isn't in the library. Take a similar fixture as a base, copy it to My Fixtures and match the channels to the datasheet — see Создание пользовательских приборов. For a plain pixel strip or bar, a separate profile isn't needed: a standard fixture from the LED Fixtures section will do.
- The model in the "Manufacturers" section has several rows with similar names. These are different DMX modes of the same model. Choose the one that's set on the fixture itself, otherwise the channels will be mismatched.
- The fixture takes up a different number of addresses than expected. Check the Channel Count of the selected fixture: that's exactly how many DMX addresses one fixture will occupy.