Display Modes Overview
The Mapping window shows two things at once: the placed fixtures and the animation running on them. While there are few fixtures, this is convenient, but on a large project the picture quickly becomes cluttered — addresses overlap each other, spline lines get in the way of viewing the effect, and layout frames cover the fixtures. That's why almost everything drawn on the field can be turned on and off separately.
Display settings are gathered in two places: five checkboxes on the right side of the Mapping window toolbar — Fixtures, Effects, Layout, Mask, Background — and the items in the View → 2D Mapping menu. They affect neither the data sent to the fixtures nor the export result — it's only the picture on screen.
Fixtures and Effects
The first two toolbar checkboxes are responsible for the main content of the field. Both are enabled by default.
- Fixtures
- Draws the fixtures themselves — small green squares, one per pixel. Patched fixtures are slightly lighter than unpatched ones, selected ones are red. Along with the fixtures, spline lines, address labels, and a white frame around the first fixture of each spline appear.
- The fixture square is filled with plain green, not the color actually being sent to that fixture: it is a marker showing where the fixture is placed. To see the fixtures in color, enable Mask (see below).
- Effects
- Draws the animation itself — across the entire working area of the field, regardless of whether there are fixtures there or not.
| Fixtures | Effects | What is visible and when it's needed |
|---|---|---|
| on | on | Default mode: animation across the whole working area, green fixture markers on top of it. The overall picture of the project |
| on | off | Only fixture markers on a black field. Shows how the fixtures are arranged, with nothing distracting from the layout |
| off | on | Only the animation, without fixtures, splines, or labels. Convenient for adjusting the effect itself — size, position, speed |
| off | off | Empty field. Layout frames and toolbar service markings remain |
Two notes:
- While the Fixtures checkbox is cleared, fixtures on the field cannot be selected or dragged with the mouse — this prevents accidentally moving them while working on an effect. During this time, the needed fixture is selected in the Fixtures window.
- The checkboxes are not saved either in the project or in the program settings. At the next launch, Fixtures, Effects, and Layout are enabled again, while Mask and Background are disabled.
Mask, Layout, and Background
The remaining three checkboxes on the same toolbar turn on and off everything drawn besides the fixtures and the animation.
- Mask
- The view closest to reality: the effect fill fades out, and only the fixtures remain on the black field — each in the color currently being sent to it. This is roughly how the animation will look on the installed object. The checkbox is off by default.
- Mask takes priority over Fixtures and Effects: while it is enabled, these two checkboxes have no effect — fixtures are shown in color even if Fixtures is cleared, and the effect fill is not drawn even if Effects is set. Address labels, spline lines, and white spline-start marks are not displayed in this mode.
- Layout
- Draws the layout boundaries: a white rectangle with green squares at the corners and the layout name next to the frame. The frame of the selected layout turns red, and if the working field itself is selected, its border is highlighted in light green (lime). The checkbox is enabled by default; clear it when the frames get in the way of viewing the animation. For more about layouts themselves, see Создание и изменение лейаутов.
- Background
- Shows the layout's backdrop image — for example, a photo of the object used to place the fixtures. The image is opaque: it covers the animation, but fixtures and layout frames are drawn on top of it. The checkbox is off by default, and it only makes sense to enable it if an image file is loaded for the layout (or for the working field itself) in the composition and the Show Image property is enabled — the Background section of the Properties window.
Fixture Labels
While the Fixtures checkbox is enabled, each fixture's DMX address is displayed next to it. What else is shown besides the address is set in the View → 2D Mapping menu. These settings are remembered and remain in effect until you change them.
| Menu Item | What is added to the fixture |
|---|---|
| Show Fixture Universes | The universe number with the letter U in front: U1, U2. Needed when the project has more than one universe and a fixture can no longer be identified by address alone |
| Show Pixel Numbers | The fixture's sequence number with a # sign: #1, #2. Numbers are counted within the port in patching order; for unpatched fixtures — by the overall list. Helps find a fixture that turned out to be "in the wrong position" on the object |
| Show Fixture Multi-Addresses | Changes the address itself to a continuous one. If a port spans several universes, fixtures in the second universe get addresses 513–1024, in the third 1025–1536, and so on, instead of starting from one in each universe. This makes it easier to check the addressing of a long line spread across several universes |
Labels are drawn at the field's scale and shrink together with the fixtures: to read the addresses, you need to zoom in on the field, and on the overall project view they are not shown at all — this is normal.
Labels are drawn for each pixel, not for the spline as a whole. For a line of two hundred fixtures that's two hundred numbers, so it's best to keep Show Pixel Numbers and Show Fixture Universes turned off until you actually need them.
Splines and the Pixel Grid
Two more items in the same menu control the field's markup:
- Show Splines
- The spline line is a thin gray polyline connecting the fixtures. It shows the order in which the pixels run and where the line bends. Turn it off if the lines get in the way of viewing the animation: the fixtures themselves stay in place.
- Show Pixel Grid
- A grid of cells, each the size of one field pixel. It shows whether a fixture is placed exactly within a cell. The grid appears only when zoomed in a lot and disappears on its own when you zoom out — otherwise it would merge into a solid fill. It is not linked to the Snap to Grid toolbar button: the grid is visible without snapping, and snapping works even when the grid is off.
The start of each spline is marked with a white square frame around the first fixture. It is drawn whenever the Fixtures checkbox is enabled and cannot be turned off separately: it shows which end of the line addressing starts from. If the animation runs along the line in the wrong direction, flip it with the Reverse property (see Properties).
Info Fields
The bottom three items of the View → 2D Mapping menu turn on service labels over the field:
| Menu Item | What it shows | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Coordinates | Cursor position in field pixels, on two lines — X and Y | Top left |
| Scale | Current zoom level in percent. 100% — one field pixel equals one screen point | Top left, below the coordinates |
| Frames Per Second (FPS) | The rate at which the field is redrawn | Bottom left |
Coordinates are useful when fixtures need to be placed at pre-calculated points, and Frames Per Second when the project starts lagging and you need to see whether the computer is keeping up.
Hidden Fixtures
Toolbar checkboxes affect the entire field at once. You can remove just part of the fixtures from the picture using their visibility — the checkbox to the left of a fixture, spline, port, or converter in the Fixtures window. The Visibility property in the Properties window toggles the same thing.
This is not a display mode but a state of the fixture itself, and it works at a deeper level:
- a hidden fixture disappears from both the Mapping window and the 3D View;
- its channels are zeroed out — no data is sent to the physical fixture;
- the address, universe, and position in the port are preserved for the fixture, patching is not disturbed;
- the state is saved together with the project.
This is handy for temporarily "turning off" half of the object to work on the other half, or to check which port is responsible for a specific section. If a fixture is not lighting up on the object while the animation is running in the program, check visibility along the whole chain: fixture → port → converter.
Configured Elsewhere
- Display of the 3D View window — the model grid, auxiliary 3D objects, 3D GIF boundaries, red lines, and scene grid — is gathered in the View → 3D View menu, see 3D Toolbar.
- The View → Export Mask item has nothing to do with display: it saves the fixture layout to a file, see Exporting Mask.
- The program's windows themselves can be shown or hidden via the Window menu, and their layout can be saved via Workspace.
If Something Goes Wrong
Fixtures disappeared from the field. Check in order: the Fixtures checkbox on the toolbar, the visibility of the fixtures, port, and converter in the Fixtures window, and whether the field has drifted off to the side — the Z key fits all content into the window.
Fixtures are green, not colored. That's by design: a green square is a fixture marker. To see what color is being sent to the fixtures, enable the Mask checkbox.
Fixtures are visible, but there's no animation between them. The Effects checkbox is cleared — or Mask is enabled, which doesn't draw the effect fill. If fixtures remain black even in Mask mode, it's not a display issue: check whether there's an effect in the composition and whether playback is running on the timeline.
A photo is shown instead of the animation. The Background checkbox is enabled: the layout's backdrop is opaque and covers the effect. Clear the checkbox.
Addresses can't be read. Zoom in on the field with the mouse wheel: labels grow together with the fixtures, and are not shown at all on the overall view.
Too many numbers on the fixtures. Turn off Show Pixel Numbers and Show Fixture Universes — only the address will remain.
Fixtures can't be selected with the mouse. Either the Fixtures checkbox is cleared, or the toolbar has a tool selected that doesn't work with fixtures — for example Hand or Add Spline. Switch to Select and Move, see Панель инструментов.
The pixel grid isn't visible. It's enabled via View → 2D Mapping → Show Pixel Grid and only appears when zoomed in a lot.