The latest version of Vista features a new simpler layout. No matter whether you have worked with Vista before or are seeing it for the first time itís worth taking some time to get familiar with the new window layout and options.
Menu bar
At the top of the window youíll see the main menu bar. Click on any menu heading to access Vistaís dialog boxes, submenus and commands.
The main menu bar also shows:
- the show file name – if Autosave is turned on youíll see ë[A]í after the show name
- the Grand Master level setting
- the time.
Main toolbar
At the top of the window youíll see the main toolbar which is common to ALL windows. This toolbar contain the most frequently used buttons and is divided into three sections. The centre section contains 12 buttons that map to the Function buttons on Vista consoles and the ëFí keys on your keyboard you can be customized to suit your style of operation.
Window navigation
You switch between the main windows using the 6 buttons on the top left side of the main toolbar. You can also switch between windows by selecting the Patch, Console, Fixture Chooser, Timeline, Playback or Output option from the View menu.
- Hovering over the icons shows the button name.
| This button | does this |
 (Alt + 1) |
displays the Patch window |
 (Alt + 2) |
displays the Console hardware simulation window |
 (Alt + 3) |
displays the Programmer Fixtures window |
 (Alt + 4) |
displays the Programmer Timeline view. |
 (Alt + 5) |
displays the Playback control window |
 (Alt + 6) |
displays the fixture Output window |
V1 classic style window navigation
If you prefer to select windows from the bottom of the screen you can open a toolbar that emulates the earlier versions of Vista. To do this select the ëVista Toolbarí option from the View menu.
Vista places the toolbar at the bottom of the window:
Click on the buttons to select the Patch, Console, Fixture Chooser, Timeline, Playback or Output window.
The Soft buttons
The twelve buttons in the centre of the main toolbar provide quick access to frequently used commands, functions and windows.
- If you are using a T series console these buttons are automatically mapped to the function buttons, above the LCD / tablet.
- If you are using an I or S series unit the first 6 (5 on the S3) buttons are automatically mapped to the function buttons in the top centre section of the control surface.
- For all Vista systems you can use your keyboard F1-F12 buttons to activate these buttons.
- You can display text labels, for the function buttons, at the top of your tablet or monitor. To do this select the ëSoftkey Toolbarí option from the View menu.
Standard buttons
When you first start a new show Vista loads the standard set of buttons but you can customize each and every button, as described below.
| This button | does this |
 |
Saves the show file to disk |
 |
Opens a new Cuelist in the Editor |
 |
Opens an existing Cuelist in the Editor |
 HiLite |
Turns on the Editorís ëHighlightí mode. When you are focusing or testing your fixtures you can use Highlight to bring up the intensity of each fixture automatically when you select it in the Fixture Chooser. |
 Store Part |
displays the Store Part window where you can save the contents of the editor to any cue in any cuelist. Store part provides many options and must be used for tracking to operate correctly. See Store Part on page xxx |
 Store All |
displays the Store Look window where you can save the complete output (the look on stage). Storing this way will ensure that when you play a Cue back it will appear exactly as it did when you saved it |
 Clear |
Clear all information coming from the Live tab. If a Cuelist tab is selected this button closes that tab. |
 Update |
displays the Update window where information coming from the Editor (the Live tab or any Cuelist tab) can be used to update one or more Cues and Presets. |
 Blind |
Turns the output from the editor off. In this mode you can still edit cues but there will be no output sent from the editor to your fixtures. |
 Live |
displays the Live time window where you can set a fade time that applies to any selections you make from the editor palettes or presets. |
 FX |
displays the SmartFX window where you can create and edit effects. See SmartFX on page 7-1 |
 Release All |
Clicking this button releases all the fixtures from their current settings as determined by the cuelists that are running and returns them to their default state. |
Modified soft buttons
The soft buttons provide different functions when you press the Red (Shift), Green (Alt), Yellow (Control) or Blue (Control+Alt) modifier.
Shift set (Red modifier)
Hold down the Red modifier button or the Shift button, on your keyboard, to access and display the Shift set.
| This button | does this |
| Next Fixture | Used to step through fixtures, selects the 1st fixture (or the one after the current selection) and de-selects the others. Each subsequent press selects the next fixture. Useful when focusing fixtures. |
| Previous Fixture | Used to step through fixtures, selects the last fixture (or the one before the current selection) and de-selects the others. Each subsequent press selects the previous fixture. Useful when focusing fixtures. |
| Invert | Inverts the fixture selection (i.e. all selected fixtures are de-selected and all de-selected fixtures are selected). |
| Active | Selects all the active fixtures (i.e. those that have Intensity). |
| Programmed | Select all the fixtures that are programmed in the current cue. |
| All | Selects every fixture. |
| De-select all | De-selects all fixtures |
| Previous selection | Vista remembers the last set of fixtures you selected; you use this button to toggle back to your previous fixture selection. |
| Next selection | If you have used the previous selection command this button will toggle back to the fixture selection you had before pressing previous selection. |
| 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 ëback to normalí. |
Alt set (Green Modifier)
Hold down the Green modifier button or the Alt (Option) button, on your keyboard, to access and display the Atlt (Option) set.
| This button | does this |
| Open Cuelist | Opens a new Cuelist in the Editor |
| New cuelist | Opens an existing Cuelist in the Editor |
| Append cue | Adds a new cue at the end of the cuelist being edited |
| Insert before | Inserts a new cue, before the cue that is being edited |
| Insert after | Adds a new cue after the cue that is being edited. |
| Delete Cue | Deletes the selected cue |
| New Preset | Displays the Create Preset window |
| New Extract | Displays the Create Extract window |
| New Snapshot | Displays the Create Snapshot window |
| New Group | Displays the Create Fixture Group window |
| Update Group | Updates the selected group to include any additional fixtures that have been selected. |
| Insert at Playhead | Inserts a new ëFollowí cue at the playhead position. The new cue will be set to play automatically at the time corresponding to the playhead position. |
Ctrl set (Yellow Modifier)
Hold down the Yellow modifier button or the Control button, on your keyboard, to access and display the Control set.
| This button | does this |
| Live properties | Opens a Live tab properties window. |
| Cuelist properties | Opens the Cuelist properties window. |
| Insert Command | Opens the Insert Command window where you can add a command to the cue you are editing (i.e. to play another cue) |
| Convert to release events | Sets the selected events to release the feature. |
| Merge Cues | Merges the events in2 or more selected cues into a single cue. Select the cues in the Cue navigator bar. |
| Show tracked events | Shows or hides tracked events in the time line. Tracked events are shown in a lighter, transparent colour and cannot be selected. |
| Clear Fixtures | Clears all features from the selected fixtures so that they return to their previous state. |
| Home Fixtures | Sends the selected fixtures to their Home settings |
| Block cue | Blocking copies any tracked events into the selected cue and prevents any future changes, to earlier cues from tracking through. This means that no matter what changes are made to other cues in the list, the cue will play back the exact look it had at the time it was blocked.
See Blocking a cue on page 6-18 |
| Super – Block cue | If you ëSuper Blockí a cue, when it runs any features, for the fixtures in the cue, that arenít included in the cue are automatically sent to their home value. This means that the cue will look as it would if no other cuelist was playing. |
| Un-Block cue | Removes redundant events, from the selected cue. This means that if the selected cue includes an event that is the exactly the same as an event that is tracking through from a previous cue, that event will be removed. Unblocking will not change the cueís look. |
| Move in Black | Opens the Move in Black window where you can Mark a cue and add MIB events that pre-set the selected fixtures so that when they turn on you donít see them moving, changing colour etc. |
Ctrl + Alt set (Blue Modifier)
Hold down the Blue modifier button or the Control & Alt buttons, on your keyboard, to access and display the Control-Alt set.
| This button | does this |
| Show selection order | Shows selection order numbers on the fixture icons. |
| Show Tracked Events | Shows timeline events for tracked features. |
| Cue Only Editing | When ëCue-onlyí editing is on all new cue events will be automatically undone in the next cue. |
| Not used | |
| Not used | |
| Set Event Timing | Opens the event timing window. |
| Align Start | Aligns the start position of the selected events. |
| Align End | Aligns the end position of the selected events. |
| Not used | |
| Not used | |
| Stop FX | Stops all running effects. |
| Not used |
Configuring the soft buttons
To change the function of a soft button, right click on the button and choose a command or function from the popup menu. Any command from any menu can be assigned to the soft button. To change one of the alternate sets hold the Shift, Alt or Ctrl key while right clicking.
Soft key toolbar
The soft buttons correspond to the hardware buttons above the main screen on L and T series consoles. To make it easier to identify the buttons you can add on-screen labels below the buttons. To do this select the Softkey Toolbar option from the View menu.
Vista places the softkey labels toolbar at the top of the window:
The Sidebar
To show or hide the sidebar click on the ëSidebarí button at the top right side of the main menu bar:
The sidebar provides access to different features, depending on the window you have open:
Configuring the sidebar
If you prefer the Sidebar can be moved to the left side of all windows. To do this select the Sidebar, ëDock Leftí option from the View menu.
You can adjust the width of the sidebar by clicking on the window divider and dragging to the left or right.
Toolbars
Most windows have optional toolbars that provide buttons for sets of menu commands. To show or hide any of the optional toolbars select the ëToolbarsí option from the view menu.
Patch window toolbars
There are three toolbars available on the Patch window
View toolbar
To open or close a toolbar select the ëToolbarsí option from the View menu:
| This button | does this |
| Table view | Switches the main panel of the Patch window to the standard Table view. |
| List view | Switches the main panel of the Patch window to the List view where the patched fixtures are shown as a list. |
| DMX view | Switches the main panel of the Patch window to the DMX view where the output of each channel of each fixtures is shown, on the patch table. |
Fixture Macro toolbar (also available on the Chooser & Timeline window
To open or close a toolbar select the ëToolbarsí option from the View menu:
| This button | 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 ëback to normalí. |
Connections toolbar
To open or close a toolbar select the ëToolbarsí option from the View menu:
| This button | does this |
| Connect | Open the DMX Connections window where you can connect your consoleís DMX outputs and any external Ethernet-DMX interface boxes to the patch universes. |
Chooser & Timeline window toolbars
There are nine toolbars available on the Editor windows
Update toolbar
All the buttons, on this toolbar, are available on the standard soft button set. However if you have re-configured the soft buttons this toolbar may be useful:
| This button | does this |
| Opens a new Cuelist in the Editor | |
| Opens an existing Cuelist in the Editor | |
| Store Part | displays the Store Part window where you can save the contents of the editor to any cue in any cuelist. Store part provides many options and must be used for tracking to operate correctly. See Store Part on page xxx |
| Store Look | displays the Store Look window where you can save the complete output (the look on stage). Storing this way will ensure that when you play a Cue back it will appear exactly as it did when you saved it |
| Clear | Clear all information coming from the Live tab.
If a Cuelist tab is selected this button closes that tab. |
| Update | displays the Update window where information coming from the Editor (the Live tab or any Cuelist tab) can be used to update one or more Cues and Presets. |
| Blind | Turns the output from the editor off. In this mode you can still edit cues but there will be no output sent from the editor to your fixtures. |
| Live | displays the Live time window where you can set a fade time that applies to any selections you make from the editor palettes or presets. |
Edit toolbar
To open or close a toolbar select the ëToolbarsí option from the View menu:
| This icon | does this |
| Ctrl X | Cuts the selected item. |
| Ctrl C | Copies the selected item |
| Ctrl V | Pastes the selected item. |
Undo toolbar
To open or close a toolbar select the ëToolbarsí option from the View menu:
| This icon | does this |
| Ctrl+Z | Undo the last action |
| Ctrl+Y | Redo the last action |
Fixture selection toolbar
To open or close a toolbar select the ëToolbarsí option from the View menu:
| This icon | does this |
| Previous selection | Vista remembers the last set of fixtures you selected; you use this button to toggle back to your previous fixture selection. |
| Next selection | If you have used the previous selection command this button will toggle back to the fixture selection you had before pressing previous selection. |
| Previous Fixture | Used to step through fixtures, selects the last fixture (or the one before the current selection) and de-selects the others. Each subsequent press selects the previous fixture. Useful when focusing fixtures. |
| Next Fixture | Used to step through fixtures, selects the 1st fixture (or the one after the current selection) and de-selects the others. Each subsequent press selects the next fixture. Useful when focusing fixtures. |
| De-select all | De-selects all fixtures |
| Invert | Inverts the fixture selection (i.e. all selected fixtures are de-selected and all de-selected fixtures are selected). |
| All | Selects every fixture. |
| Active | Selects all the active fixtures (i.e. those that have Intensity). |
| Programmed | Select all the fixtures that are programmed in the current cue. |
Command Line toolbar
See Using a keypad in the programmer windowon Page 5-52
Fan toolbar
The fan toolbar is used to set how Feature values and Event times are spread.
| This option | does this |
| Linear Fan Diverged from centre. | Fanned values radiate in both positive and negative directions from the base value, starting from the centre of the fixture selection |
| Fan from end Linear from Start | The fanned feature values radiate in one direction from the base value, starting from the first selected fixture. |
| Fan from start Linear from End | The fanned feature values radiate in one direction from the base value, starting from the last selected fixture. |
| Fan from centre. Linear from Extremities | The fanned feature values radiate in one direction from the base value, starting from the first and last selected fixtures. |
| Inverted fan Diverged from extremities | The fanned values radiate in both positive and negative directions from the base value, starting from the first and last selected fixture. |
| Fan from both ends Linear from Centre | The fanned feature values radiate in one direction from the base value, starting from the centre of the fixture selection. |
- To fan a feature or events, select the fan mode and hold the Yellow modifier or Control key while setting the feature value or dragging the event bars.
Components toolbar
The components toolbar includes buttons to create new Presets, Groups and Extracts
| This option | does this |
| Preset | Opens the create New Preset window. |
| Group | Opens the create New Group window. |
| Extract | Opens the create New Extract window. |
Recent Comments