Once you’ve got your Vista system connected and powered up you can patch your fixtures the way you want them using the Patch window.
If it’s not already open click on the Patch icon or select the ‘Patch’ option from the Window menu, Vista displays the Patch screen:
This is where you set up all the fixtures in your rig. You tell the Vista which DMX channels each fixture is assigned to, and in which universe, and can set a range of parameters to customise how each fixture operates.
Adding fixtures to the patch
The Fixture Type box in the sidebar gives you a few ways to add fixtures to the patch. You can:
- choose a fixture from the ‘Factory’ folder, which lists the most up to date fixtures in the Vista library by manufacturer and then in alphabetical order.
- choose a fixture from the ‘User’ list, which includes all fixtures that you have created.
- choose a fixture by first typing in the ‘Search’ box to filter the list down to just those fixtures that match what you’ve typed.
Choosing a fixture from the Factory list
To add a fixture from the Factory list:
- Click the ‘+’ symbol beside ‘Factory’ in the Fixture Type box. Vista displays a list of manufacturer’s folders.
- Click the ‘+’ symbol beside the name of the manufacturer you want, to display the list of fixtures in that folder.
- Scroll down the list until you find the fixture you want.
Adding the fixture to the patch panel
Once you’ve selected the fixture you want, there are two ways to add it to the patch panel:
- you can drag and drop one or more fixtures onto a specific DMX location on the panel, or
- you can use the Patch tab to place multiple copes of the fixture onto the patch panel.
Dragging and dropping individual fixtures
To patch fixtures this way, just click on the name of the fixture in the Fixture type box, type a number in the ‘Quantity’ box and drag the fixture(s) over to the spot on the patch panel where you want it.
When you ‘drop’ the fixture, Vista fills the required number of DMX channels with that fixture’s details. This example shows 8 Vari*lite VL2500 spot fixtures that use 22 DMX channels each, dropped onto channel 1:
Once you’ve dropped a fixture onto the patch panel you can move it around to any channel by clicking on it and dragging it to a new location.
Vista represents the fixture as a solid coloured bar with an ID number before the name. The bar covers as many DMX channels as the fixture needs, and some fixtures will take up more channels than others.
A solid colour shows that this fixture is currently selected. If you click anywhere else in the patch panel, Vista de-selects the fixture and makes the colour transparent to show that it’s no longer selected.
In our example above the selected fixture is called ‘2 VL2500Sp’. This title consists of two components:
- a unique ID number [2], that Vista assigns automatically. This number identifies the fixture uniquely within the whole system, across all the universes (i.e. no two fixtures will ever have the same unique ID number).
- a name (VL2500Sp)), which you can change if you want in the Name field on the Properties tab.
Patching multiple fixtures with the Patch box
If you prefer using the keyboard to patch your fixtures you can use the Patch tab in the sidebar.
You use this feature to add multiple instances of a fixture at once. To do this:
- Select the fixture you want from the ‘Factory’ or ‘User’ lists in the Fixture Type box.
- In the Quantity field, enter how many of this type of fixture you want to add.
- If not already selected, click the Patch tab to display the Patch box:
- If you want to give the fixture a different name, type it in the Name field.
- If you want to assign a specific set of unique ID numbers to this group of fixtures, click in the Fixture Number from field and set the unique ID number (e.g. <44>) you want for the first fixture in the group. If you don’t set this, Vista assigns the next valid number.
- Type a number in the ‘Multi Patch’ box if you want multiple copies to be patched as one fixture. Use this option, for example, when patching multiple dimmers as a single fixture.
- In the DMX Universe field, Vista automatically displays the number of the currently selected universe. If you want to add these fixtures to another universe, enter the universe number.
- In the DMX address field, set the number of the DMX channel where you want this group of fixtures to start. If you’ve already added any fixtures to this universe, Vista displays the next channel number in sequence.
- If you prefer, you can patch fixtures to an ‘absolute address’ For example typing 513 in the Absolute address field, automatically sets the Universe to 2 and the DMX number to 1. If you’ve already added any fixtures to this universe, Vista displays the next channel number in sequence.
- In the Spacing field, Vista displays the number of channels each instance of the fixture you’ve selected will take up. If you want to leave empty channels between each fixture you can increase this number. For example, if a fixture normally uses twelve channels and you increase this number to 14, Vista leaves a gap of two channels between each fixture in the group.
- When you’ve set all the fields the way you want them, click the Patch button. Vista adds the group of fixtures to the patch panel.
- If you’ve already added a bunch of fixtures between say, channel 10 and channel 50, and you add another batch starting at channel 1, Vista fits as many of them as it can into channels 1 to 9, then ‘flows’ the rest over to channel 51.
- After you type in the search box you can use the ‘Down Arrow’ button on your keyboard to move the cursor into the list of fixtures and then tab through the Quantity and other fields.
Changing universes
Each universe can only handle a certain number of fixtures, depending on the number of DMX channels each fixture needs. To add fixtures to another universe, click another Universe tab at the top of the patch panel to display the next set of DMX channels.
Re-arranging fixtures on the patch panel
Moving fixtures around the patch panel
Once you’ve added fixtures to the panel you can re-arrange them however you want. Just select the fixtures you want and drag them to a new channel; when you drop them on the screen, Vista re-arranges them all from that channel.
Note that you can’t place them in such a way that any of the channels will ‘fall off’ the end of the universe.
Renaming fixtures
To rename one or more fixtures select them in the universe panel and choose the Properties tab in the sidebar:
Enter the name you want to give the selected fixtures in the ‘Name’ field and hit Enter. Vista renames all the fixtures you had selected.
Renumbering fixtures
To change the unique system-wide ID number (e.g. <12>) of a fixture (it is not possible to renumber more than one fixture at a time):
- Select the fixture in the universe panel.
- Choose the Properties tab in the sidebar.
- In the ID field, enter the new ID number and hit Enter on your keyboard.
Deleting fixtures
You can delete fixtures from the patch panel at any time To do this:
- Select the fixture in the universe panel.
- Select the ‘Delete fixtures’ option from the Patch menu or right click on the fixture(s) you want to delete and select ‘delete’ from the popup menu.
Setting fixture properties
Once you’ve added the fixtures to the patch panel and placed them where you want them, you can set a number of properties for each fixture using the Properties and Transforms tabs in the sidebar.
To view and set the properties for one or more fixtures, use the pen to select the fixtures you want on the patch panel. Vista displays the details of those fixtures in the Properties and Transforms tabs:
- If you select multiple types of fixture, Vista displays the details of the first type you selected. If the Patch box is currently displayed, press the Properties tab to display the Properties box.
Properties tab
| Name | The name you entered or Vista assigned to this fixture when you dropped it onto to the patch panel. You can edit this here if you want to. |
| ID | The unique system-wide ID number assigned to this fixture when you dropped it onto the patch panel. You can change this number here if you want to, but note that Vista won’t allow you to use a number that’s already assigned to another fixture. |
| Type | This field displays the fixture model type and is not editable. To change the type of fixture without having to remove it click on the ‘Change Fixture Type’ button (see XSwapping a fixture typeX). |
| Customise wheels | Click this button to open the ‘Customise Gobo and Colour wheels’ window. You can change the colour and gobo wheel settings for the selected fixture in this window. |
| Change Fixture type | Click this button to change the type of fixture without having to remove it from the patch. (see XSwapping a fixture typeX). |
| Notes | This field is used to display notes about the fixture. You can add whatever you like in this field. |
Transforms tab
| Preheat | A percentage value that sets the voltage the fixture lamp will sit at until you switch it on. This is useful for lamps such as Par 64s that take time to switch on from a cold start. |
| Limit | A percentage value that determines the maximum intensity the fixture will ever reach. This is useful if you want to prolong lamp life or prevent fixtures from ever reaching full intensity. |
| Dimmer Curve | This popup lets you select a dimmer fade curve. The default option is Linear but you can select one of the available options; Linear, Damp, Snap Start, Snap end, Square Law, Inverse Square, Switch, Hot power, Flourescent and Sinus |
| Preview in Chooser | Check this box if you’d like the fixture icons, in the chooser, to display the effects of the Intensity transforms. |
| Invert pan | Selecting this checkbox reverses the sweep of the pan for this fixture. This is useful when you’re coordinating the sweep directions of fixtures hung in different directions. |
| Invert tilt | Selecting this checkbox reverses the sweep of the tilt for this fixture. This is useful when you’re coordinating the sweep directions of fixtures hung in different directions. |
| Swap pan/tilt | Selecting this checkbox swaps the pan and tilt controls, so the fixture will pan when given a tilt command and vice-versa. This is useful for coordinating the movements of fixtures hung on vertical trusses or pipes. |
| Preview | Check this box if you’d like the fixture icons, in the chooser, to display the effects of the Position transforms. |
Advanced transforms
The advanced button provides access to more Fixture ‘Transformers’ that allow you to further customize fixtures. For example the Pan and Tilt Offset parameters allow you to correct the home position for fixtures that are hung at an angle.
To add a transform click the Advanced button to open the transform window then click the Add button to choose a transformer.
Some of the transformers are also available from the Properties tab as described above. To choose one of the advanced transformers click on Pan offset or Tilt Offset.
| This option… | does this… |
| Minimum | Sets the minimum (percentage) value for this feature. For example setting a value of -25 on Pan means the fixtures will only pan left ¾ of their normal range |
| Maximum | Sets the maximum (percentage) value for this feature. For example setting a value of -25 on Pan means the fixtures will only pan left ¾ of their normal range |
| Offset | Sets the offset angle. For example setting a Pan offset of 45 would move the fixtures Home position by 45 degrees |
| Value Curve | This popup lets you select a fade curve. The default option is Linear but you can select one of the available options; Linear, Damp, Snap Start, Snap end, Square Law, Inverse Square, Switch, Hot power, Flourescent and Sinus |
| Invert | |
| Preview in Chooser | Check this option to see the effect of the transform shown on the fixture chooser icons. |
Channels tab
This is a list of the features and channel numbers of the fixture and which DMX channel is controlling each feature.
Macros tab
This tab displays and allows you to edit the Strike, Douse and Reset macros for the selected fixture(s). The syntax is:
[channel] @ [value] # [wait time in milliseconds] ; [next command]
i.e. 15@249#4000;15@0#2000
Some fixtures require more complex macros. For example a fixture might require; ch1 to 255, ch4 to 17,ch 6 to 1, ch 8 to 0, ch 11 to 0 and ch 15 to 84 and for these channels to be held for 6 seconds, and sent back to default
In this case each command must state a wait time. For the example above the macro would be:
1@255#0;4@17#0;6@17#0;8@0#0;11@0#0;15@84#6000
That will send the specified values to all channels simultaneously and hold them for 6 seconds.
- If you add or modify a fixture macro the new setting is automatically applied to all fixtures of the same type.
Viewing the patch in different ways
Vista gives you three different views of your patch so you can get different types of information about the patch. To change the view, select the table, List or DMX option from the View menu or click one of the three corresponding buttons: in the toolbar.
Table view
The Patch screen defaults to the Table view, as shown earlier in this section. This is the view you will use most of the time: here you can drag and drop fixtures into the patch panel for each universe and arrange them the way you want them.
List view
If you choose the List option Vista displays the fixtures as a list with columns for the fixture:
You can choose the columns you want to show or hide by right-clicking in the header row and choosing the fields you want from the popup menu. You can also re-arrange the columns by clicking on the column name and dragging it to the left or right. The default column arrangement is:
Fixture Label (as shown in the chooser window),
ID number
Name
Fixture type
Patch part – for fixtures which re patched in 2 or more parts. For example some fixtures have a Intensity (Dimmer) part that is patched separately
DMX Universe
DMX Address
If you click on any of the column headings the list will sort by that column. Click again to change the sort from ascending to descending or vice versa.
DMX view
If you choose the DMX option Vista displays a table view where each cell shows the DMX channel and its output level:
You use this screen to display the output values of each and every DMX channel. Each cell displays the channel number and it’s DMX output value. The cells are clear if there is no output and change to a highlighted box if the output is adjusted. To display another output simply click on one of the other Universe tabs at the top of the display.
Controlling the fixtures
The Patch menu includes commands to control whatever fixtures are currently selected on the Patch panel there are also buttons for three of these commands:
Note that only some fixture types support these functions; refer to the user guide for your fixture types.
| This command… | does this… | |
| Strike | Ignites the lamps in the selected fixtures. | |
| Douse | Switches off the lamps in the selected fixtures off. | |
| Reset | Resets the selected fixtures to their factory default settings. This is useful if a fixture has a control problem and you need to get it ‘back to normal’. | |
| Park | Holds the fixture in it’s current settings.
For example to provide fixed lighting for backstage.. Once you’ve parked a fixture it will ignore all instructions until it is un-parked. |
|
| Unpark | Sets a parked fixture to operate normally. | |
- These five commands are available through the Fixture menu and by right-clicking on the fixture icons in the Programmer or Patch window.
Cloning fixtures
Cloning is a special way to add fixtures to your patch. This method is useful if you’ve already programmed your show and want to include some new fixtures automatically in any Cuelists, Groups and Presets that you’ve created.
To clone one or more fixtures:
- Select the fixture(s) you want to clone from the Patch table or list view.
- Select the ‘Clone Fixtures’ option from the Patch menu or right-click on the patched fixture and select Clone from the popup menu. Vista creates a clone of the selected fixture(s) in the fixture pool at the bottom of the Patch window
- Drag the cloned fixture(s) into the patch table.
- You can change the fixture type of the cloned fixture(s) by selecting the ‘Change Fixture Type’ option from the Patch menu,
Exporting and importing patch information
To save time, you can import and export patch information from comma-separated value (.csv) files.
Exporting the patch
You can also export a .csv file containing your current show’s patch information. To do this:
- Select the ‘Export Patch file…’ option from the Patch menu. Vista opens the Export Patch window
- Give the file a name. The .csv extension is automatically appended.
- Navigate to the directory or folder whee you want to save the file.
- Click the Save button to confirm and the new fixtures are added to the patch.
Importing the patch
You can also import a .csv file containing your patch information. You can import a file that you have exported from another show or you can create a file in a text editor or spreadsheet program. The easiest way to do this is to create a spreadsheet laid out as follows and save it as a .csv file using the Save as function.
| ID | Univ:Adrs | Fixture Type | Fixture Name |
| 1 | 3:2 | Dimmer | Dimmer |
| 36 | 3:24 | Dimmer | Dimmer |
| 41 | 3:75+3:34 | copy_of_Scroller Dimmer | Scrl Dim |
| 42 | 3:76+3:35 | copy_of_Scroller Dimmer | Scrl Dim |
| 101 | 1:1 | Mac 2000 Wash (Colour Wheel) 16 bit | Mc2000Wc |
| 102 | 1:22 | Mac 2000 Wash (Colour Wheel) 16 bit | Mc2000Wc |
| 201 | 2:1 | ColorSpot 700E AT Mode 1 | CSp700a1 |
| 202 | 2:37 | ColorSpot 700E AT Mode 1 | CSp700a1 |
| 301 | 1:221 | VL2000 Spot Enhanced 16 bit | V2000Se6 |
| 302 | 1:241 | VL2000 Spot Enhanced 16 bit | V2000Se6 |
| 316 | 5:1 | Color Block 2 Mode 3 | ColBk2m3 |
| 317 | 5:17 | Color Block 2 Mode 3 | ColBk2m3 |
| 432 | 9:1 | MediaMaster Layer Full 1.0 | MeMaLF10 |
| 433 | 9:44 | MediaMaster Layer Full 1.0 | MeMaLF10 |
| 437 | 12:22 | VL3000 Spot | VL3000Sp |
| 438 | 12:50 | VL3000 Spot | VL3000Sp |
In this example the spreadsheet has a header row, which is optional, but shown here for explanation. The columns are laid out like this:
- an ID (1), which determines the fixture’s unique ID
- a Universe : DMX address number (1:1), that sets the Universe and DMX start address for this fixture
- a Fixture Type (<VL3000 Spot>), that sets the type of fixture that will be patched
- a Fixture Name (<VL3000Sp >), that sets the fixture name.
For two-part fixtures (i.e. fixtures with an external dimmer that is patched separately) you need to include both parts of the patch included in the Universe/Address column. The format for the two parts is Control+Intensity.
In the example above, Fixture ID 41 is a Scroller Dimmer with the scroller part patched to Universe 3 Channel 75 and the Intensity part patched to Universe 3 channel 34.
The ID, Universe:DMX Address information and Fixture Type must be in the .csv file. If you don’t specify a valid Vista Fixture Type, Vista prompts you to choose the correct fixture from a list when you import the file. The fixture Name does not need to match the name used in the Vista library.
Configuring the DMX & Ethernet Outputs
V2 Vista does not automatically connect Universes to the DMX outputs on your console or to external Artnet devices. To make these connections you click the Connect button on the toolbar to open the DMX Connections screen:
You use this screen to connect to Vista’s DMX outputs, to external Ethernet-DMX interface boxes and to broadcast Art-net and streaming ACN
Vista consoles provide up to four 512-channel DMX outputs. You can add up to twelve more outputs by connecting your own external sACN, ArtNet or PathPort devices to the Ethernet port. You can also add DMX outputs to a console or computer using the Vista USB-DMX cable.
To configure these connections, click the Universes button on the Patch screen toolbar or select the ‘Connect universes’ option from the Patch menu.
This window shows any devices connected via Ethernet or USB to the console or PC , and the connection details of the universe. You use it to set up the DMX connections for each of your universes and to check that they are working correctly.
- You can also connect more than one output to the same Universe. For instance you can connect Universe 1 to DMX output 1 and to an Artnet broadcast device
Connecting Universes to the Console DMX & Ethernet Outputs
The DMX connections window lists all the internal DMX connections, USB-DMX, Ethernet-DMX connection boxes and ArtNet compatible devices attached and visible to the Vista:
In this example above you can see several entries: four are the T4 console’s inbuilt DMX connections ; the others are Ether-Lynx (Art-net) DMX outputs which are on an external interface boxes attached via Ethernet. You may also have Pathport devices and the Vista USB to DMX cable.
- If you can’t see a device that you’ve attached to the Vista it may still be possible to connect to it by using the ‘ArtNet Broadcasting’ mode.
To connect a console or control surface DMX output:
- Find the row that corresponds to the DMX output .
- Click on the box in the ‘DMX Universe’ column and either type a Universe number or use the up and down arrow buttons to select the Universe you want.
To connect an external interface box:
- Find the row that corresponds to the Interface box output. Some boxes will have multiple outputs.
- Click on the box in the ‘DMX Universe’ column and either type a Universe number or use the up and down arrow buttons to select the Universe you want.
Disconnecting an output
To disconnect a DMX output or interface box:
- Find the row that corresponds to the DMX output or interface box output.
- Click on the box in the ‘DMX Universe’ column and either type ‘0’ or use the down arrow buttons to select the ‘Not Assigned’ option.
- To change the settings of an interface box you may have to disconnect it and re-connect it with the new settings.
ArtNet Broadcast Mode
Some ArtNet-compatible devices may not appear in the DMX Connections window. In this case you can set Vista to broadcast ArtNet information without first establishing communication with the device. You can broadcast to up to 256 universes. To add an Artnet Broadcast output do this:
- In the ‘Connect Universes’ window click on the ‘Add Network Connection’ button. Vista opens the ‘Add Broadcast port’ window:
- Enter the Sub-net and port ID then click ‘OK’
- Click on the box in the ‘DMX Universe’ column and either type a DMX Universe number or use the up and down arrow buttons to select the Universe you want to associate wth the Artnet broadcast port.
- Within any Artnet subnet, the maximum number of universes is 16. But you can patch more than 16 universes by using any of the 16 different subnets.
Streaming ACN
sACN is another method used to carry DMX packets over Ethernet and operates in much the same way as ArtNet. To add a sACN multicast output you do this:
- In the ‘Connect Universes’ window click on the ‘Add Network Connection’ button. Vista opens the ‘Add Broadcast port’ window:
- Enter the streaming ACN universe number and priority then click ‘OK’
- Click on the box in the ‘DMX Universe’ column and either type a DMX Universe number or use the up and down arrow buttons to select the Universe you want to associate wth the Artnet broadcast port.
- If sACN devices are receiving information from more than one console (or other controller) they will respond to the one with the highest priority.
Pathport xDMX
Vista can output to Pathport Output Nodes via the ethernet port on your console or computer. To connect to Pathport output nodes you do this:
- In the ‘Connect Universes’ window click on the ‘Add Network Connection’ button. Vista opens the ‘Add Broadcast port’ window:
- If it’s not already selected click on the ‘Pathport xDMX Universe Port’ button.
- Use the Up and Down arrow buttons to select the ‘DMX Offset’ The xDMX universe will start at the next address after the offset number.
- Click ‘OK’
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