Using the Programmer Sidebar

The Programmer Sidebar has two tabs:

The Palette tab includes panels to control all the main aspects of your lighting fixtures: intensity, position, colour gobo and beam.

The Components tab includes the items you store such as Groups, Presets, Extracts and Snapshots along with the in-built effects.

The Palette tab

If it’s not already selected, click on the Palette tab in the sidebar

Summary or detailed view

You switch between the ‘All’ (or summary) view and the detailed views of the different control panels using the 7 buttons below the Palette tab.

This button…	does this…
All	displays a combined view of the most commonly used controls for Intensity, Position, Colour, Gobo and Beam
	displays a detailed view of the Intensity controls
	displays a detailed view of the Position controls
	displays a detailed view of the Colour controls
	displays a detailed view of the Gobo controls
	displays a detailed view of the Beam controls
Custom	displays controls for every feature of the selected fixture(s). These controls are mainly used to control features that do not appear on the other panels or to set chanels to values that are normally not used.

Common features of the palettes

All palettes have a popup menu that you open by clicking the palette type button:

Click on the drop down arrow on any of the palette type button to open a popup menu

This option…	does this…
Clear	This option lets you clear all events for that parameter type or just some of those events. For example the Colour popup lets you clear the Colour wheel or Colour Mix or just the individual CMY events
Home	This option lets you reset all events for that parameter type to their default setting (for example no intensity, 50% pan and tilt, colour white etc).
Create Preset	This option opens the Preset window so you can create a new preset.
New Effect	Clicking on this option opens the Create effect window where you can select an effect type, the features to include and enter a name for the effect.
Stop effect	This option lets stop effects that are running for that parameter type

Many of the palettes have slider bars that provide a quick and easy way to set a value:

To adjust a slider setting, either:

• click the arrows at the left or right hand end to go to 0% and 100% respectively
• click and drag in the slider bar to set the value you want
• click in the value box and type a value using the keyboard.

To set attributes for one or more fixtures, select the fixtures you want in the Fixture Chooser panel, then click on the Palette you want to use.

Checking that everything is working

One of the first things you’ll probably want to do after setting up your rig and patching it all in on the Patch screen, is check that everything’s working. The quickest way to do this is to select the fixtures, one-by-one or in groups on the Fixture panel, and crank the intensity and colour up a bit.

To do this:

1. Select the ‘All’ view of the palettes.
2. Select one or more fixtures in the Fixture panel.
3. Click the right-arrow icon at the end of the Intensity slider on the intensity palette.
4. Click anywhere in the colour palette.
5. The selected fixtures show that colour at full intensity

• You can also use the encoder wheels to set Intensity, Position, Colour and any other parameter.

• If you can’t see any output from your fixtures check that the Grand Master is turned fully clockwise and that the faders on the Superplayback panel are up.

Highlight and Lowlight

When you are focusing or testing your fixtures you can use Highlight feature to bring up the intensity of each fixture automatically when you select it.

To do this, either:

• Click the Highlight button – normally softbutton #4 (F4 on your keyboard or,
• Select the Highlight option from the Tools menu (Ctrl+H).

You can alter how highlight works by updating the highlight and lowlight presets. See The Highlight and Lowlight presets on page 5-48.

Using the All panel

The All panel has controls for all the most commonly used features of your fixtures. It provides a quick easy way to set Intensity, Position, Colour, Gobo and Beam without swapping panels. The same controls plus any advanced ones are available on the individual feature panels. See page xxx

Intensity

In this view the Intensity panel shows the most used intensity features :

In this view:

• the 10 to 90 buttons sets the intensity of the selected fixtures to the corresponding percentage value
• the Intensity slider controls the intensity of the selected fixtures in a percentile range.

You’ll notice that as you change the intensity settings, the icons on the Fixture panel change to reflect this.

Position

The Position panel gives you control of the direction in which the selected fixtures are aimed:

To adjust the position, click on the round target symbol and drag it to the spot you want .

You’ll notice that as you change the position ‘compass’ on the Fixture panel icons change to reflect this.

Fine Mode

Some parameters, such as position, can be difficult to control when the palette is in normal mode. To switch to fine click on the ‘Fine’ button. Repeat this to turn fine mode off.

Setting colour

The Colour palette provides four buttons so you can choose the way you want to set your colours:

• HSV – hue and saturation values
• Sliders – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow or Red, Green, Blue or Hue, Saturation, Value sliders
• Swatch – colours by Lee name and number
• Colour wheel – for fixtures that have colour wheels.

Hue and Saturation values

The HSV tab provides a colour spectrum and a saturation slider:

To pick a hue and its saturation, just click on the shade you want in the spectrum area, and drag the slider bar below the colour panel to set the saturation level.

Cyan, Magenta and Yellow/Red, Green Blue

This tab gives you the option of setting your colour using either CMY or RGB or HSV values:

Click the relevant ‘slider mode’ button to choose the method you want, then adjust the sliders to set the colour.

Swatch

This tab provides the actual gel colours, numbers and names from the Lee swatchbook so you can pick the exact colour you want:

Click in the Colour, Number (#) or Name (N) button to sort the list by name number or colour. You can also search for a name or number by typing in the search box.

Colour wheel

When using fixtures with colour wheels, you can use this tab to select the colour slot (or position) you want this fixture to use:

Fixtures that have more than one colour wheel will show a line of available colours for each wheel. The colours are displayed in the same order as they are on the wheel. Just click on the colour swatch to select it.

You can move the colour wheel by small increments, to create slit colours, by clicking on the Index button and adjusting the slider to rotate the wheel forwards or backwards.

You can also rotate or spin the by clicking on the Rotate button and slider to spin the wheel forwards or backwards:

If the colour wheel is spinning you can reverse the spin direction by clicking on the Reverse icon or stop it by clicking on the Stop icon.

Setting gobo

The Gobo summary panel displays icons of the gobos available on the selected fixtures:

If you have only one type of fixture selected, the icons Vista displays represent all the gobo types of that fixture. Fixtures that have more than one gobo wheel will show a line of available gobos for each wheel. The gobos are displayed in the same order as they are on the wheel. You can select a gobo from one wheel and leave the other set to open or a gobo from each wheel to combine the patterns.

To choose a gobo, click on the icon representing the gobo shape you want. If you have more than one type of fixture selected the gobo icons will be greyed out because their gobos are different..

Rotation

You can move the gobo wheel by small increments, to create split patterns, by clicking on the Wheel and Index buttons and adjusting the slider to rotate the wheel forwards or backwards.

You can also rotate or spin the Gobo wheel by clicking on the Wheel and Rotate buttons and adjusting the slider to spin the wheel forwards or backwards. If the gobo wheel is spinning you can reverse the spin direction by clicking on the [Reverse Icon] or stop it by clicking on the [Stop icon]

On some fixtures you can rotate the individual gobos. For these fixtures:

• You can move the selected gobo by small increments, to align the image, by clicking on the Gobo and Index buttons and adjusting the slider to rotate the gobo clockwise or anti-clockwise.
• You can also spin the selected gobo by clicking on the Gobo and Rotate buttons and adjusting the slider to spin the gobo clockwise or anti-clockwise.
• If the gobo slot is spinning you can reverse the spin direction by clicking on clicking on the Reverse icon or stop it by clicking on the Stop icon.

Setting beam size and focus

The summary Beam panel has two tabs for controlling the most used beam attributes:

Focus

The Focus tab controls the focus and zoom of the selected fixtures:

Use the focus slider to soften or sharpen the beam shape. Use the Zoom slider to make the beam spread softer or sharper.

Iris

The Iris tab controls the beam size (or diameter) of the selected fixtures, if they have an iris.

Use the iris slider to make the beam size. Use the Zoom slider to make the beam size smaller or larger.

Using the detailed panels

Intensity

Click on the Intensity button to select the detailed settings panel for all fixture channels in the Intensity group:

In this view: the 10 to 90 buttons set the intensity of the selected fixtures to the corresponding percentage value. the end most percentage buttons set the level to 0% or 100% while the others increase or decrease it in 5% or 10% increments. the Intensity slider controls the intensity of the selected fixtures in a percentile range if the selected fixtures have a strobe capability, the Strobe slider controls the speed of the strobe if the selected fixtures have blackout shutters, the Opened and Closed buttons set the shutter position.

Custom values

Some fixtures have effects and other special features that can be used by setting a channel to a particular value. These features vary from fixture to fixture so they aren’t included in Vista’s ‘generic’ controls.

See About Custom values on page 5-36 for more details on using the custom control panels.

Position

The detailed Position panel provides a larger version of the position target panel.

You’ll notice that on this panel you can also adjust just the pan or just the tilt by using the Pan and Tilt sliders located on the bottom and left side of the target panel.

Fine mode Position, can be difficult to control when the palette is in normal mode. To switch to fine mode click the ‘Fine button’. Flip Click this button to rotate and invert the fixture(s) so that it is pointing at the same position. Custom values Some fixtures have effects and other special features that can be used by setting a channel to a particular value. These features vary from fixture to fixture so they aren’t included in Vista’s ‘generic’ controls. See About Custom values on page 5-36 for more details on using the custom control panels.

Colour

The detailed Colour palette let’s you choose how to control the colour mixing mechanism and the colour wheel(s) in your fixtures:

The buttons, in the middle of the colour panel select the colour mechanism. There are three options.

• HSV – hue and saturation values.
• Lee – Lee colour swatch.
• Wheel – pick a colour from the fixture’s colour wheel

If a fixture only has a colour mixing mechanism (CMY / RGB) you can choose a colour from the HSV or Lee swatch section and it will be applied to the mixer mechanism. The colour wheel section will not be available.

If a fixture has a colour mixing mechanism (CMY / RGB) and a Colour wheel you can choose a colour from the HSV or Lee swatch section and it will be applied to the mixer mechanism. You can also choose a colour from the Wheel section of the colour panel it will be applied to the colour wheel. This means you can set different colours for the mix mechanism and the wheel.

If a fixture only has a Colour wheel(s) you can choose a colour from the HSV, Lee or Wheel section of the colour panel it will be applied to the colour wheel. If you choose colours from the HSV or Lee section the nearest colour on the wheel is selected.

Hue and Saturation values

When you select the HSV colour option the colour panel provides a colour picker panel and a set of sliders:

To pick a hue and its saturation, just click on the shade you want in the spectrum area, and drag around to select a colour and set the saturation level. You can also adjust the colour using the three sliders. Click the HSV, CMY or RGB ‘slider mode’ button to choose the method you want, then adjust the sliders to set the colour.

Lee Swatch

This option provides a list of Lee filters so you can pick a colour by it’s name, number or swatch.

Click in the Colour, Number (#) or Name (N) button to sort the list by name number or colour swatch. You can also search for a name or number by typing in the search box.

Wheel

When using fixtures with a colour wheel(s), this option provides a graphic representation of the colour wheel so you can see exactly what colours are available and where they are on the wheel:

If a fixture has more than one colour wheel the buttons above the colour wheel will be available. To choose the colour wheel you want to work with click on the corresponding button. You can move the colour wheel by small increments, to create split colours, by clicking on the Index button and adjusting the slider to turn the wheel forwards or backwards. You can also rotate or spin the colour wheel by clicking on the Rotate buttons and adjusting the slider to spin the wheel forwards or backwards: If the colour wheel is spinning you can reverse the spin direction by clicking on the [Reverse Icon] or stop it by clicking on the [Stop icon] If you have more than one type of fixture selected, Vista displays a tab for each fixture type at the top of the panel. . To choose the fixture type you want to work with click on the corresponding tab.

Custom values

Some fixtures have effects and other special features that can be used by setting a channel to a particular value. These features vary from fixture to fixture so they aren’t included in Vista’s ‘generic’ controls.

See About Custom values on page 5-36 for more details on using the custom control panels.

Gobo

The detailed Gobo panel provides a graphic representation of the gobo wheel so you can see exactly what patterns are available and where they are on the wheel:

If a fixture has more than one gobo wheel the buttons above the gobo wheel will be available. To choose the wheel you want to work with click on the corresponding button. Rotation You can move the gobo wheel by small increments, to create split patterns, by clicking on the Wheel and Index button and adjusting the slider to turn the wheel forwards or backwards. You can also rotate or spin the wheel by clicking on the Wheel and Rotate buttons and adjusting the slider to spin the wheel forwards or backwards. If the colour wheel is spinning you can reverse the spin direction by clicking on the [Reverse Icon] or stop it by clicking on the [Stop icon]

On some fixtures you can rotate the individual gobos. For these fixtures:

• You can move the selected gobo by small increments, to align the image, by clicking on the Gobo and Index buttons and adjusting the slider to rotate the gobo clockwise or anti-clockwise.
• You can also spin the selected gobo by clicking on the Gobo and Rotate buttons and adjusting the slider to spin the gobo clockwise or anti-clockwise.
• If the gobo slot is spinning you can reverse the spin direction by clicking on the [Reverse Icon] or stop it by clicking on the [Stop icon]

If you have more than one type of fixture selected, Vista displays a tab for each fixture type at the top of the panel. . To choose the fixture type you want to work with click on the corresponding tab.

Custom DMX

Some fixtures have effects and other special features that can be used by setting a channel to a particular value. These features vary from fixture to fixture so they aren’t included in Vista’s ‘generic’ controls.

Beam

The detailed Beam panel provides sliders for all the beam features and a graphic representation of frame (shaping shutters) , if the fixtures have this feature:

Focus Use the focus slider to soften or sharpen the beam shape. Zoom Use the Zoom slider to make the beam angle narrower or wider. Iris The Iris tab controls the beam size (or diameter) of the selected fixtures.

Framing

The Frame tab is specifically for fixtures that have beam shaping frames, so you can shutter-off parts of the beam:

To set the positions you want the frames to be in on the selected fixtures, click and drag each frame to the position you want, as shown in this example: You can also set the rotation angle of the shape or continuously rotate the whole shape using the slider: Index – to turn the framing shutters to the preferred angle click the Index button and move the slider to set the position. Rotate – to continuously rotate the whole shutter assembly click the Rotate button and move the slider to set the speed and direction. Custom values Some fixtures have effects and other special features that can be used by setting a channel to a particular value. These features vary from fixture to fixture so they aren’t included in Vista’s ‘generic’ controls. See About Custom values on page 5-36 for more details on using the custom control panels.

Custom

The detailed Custom panel provides a separate mini setting panel for every channel of the selected fixture. The mini panels are arranged in sections according to their feature type – Intensity, Position, Colour, Gobo, Beam and Miscellaneous. The ‘Misc’ section contains all the mini control panels for all channels that don’t belong in the IPCGB feature groups.

Click on any of the Feature type headings to open that section.

About Custom values

Some fixtures have effects and other special features that can only be used by setting a channel to a particular value. These features vary from fixture to fixture so they aren’t included in Vista’s ‘generic’ controls.

For example some fixtures have special settings for the Strobe channel that provide a random strobe effect. Moving the Vista strobe slider to the left or right will never set the effect running because the slider only operates in the (generic) range that sets the strobe to fast or slow.

To access the special channel features you use the small Custom control panels

Custom panels

The small custom panels are divided into 3 sections:

• the top section shows the name of the channel in a colour coded bar.
• the centre section shows the channel range. This will normally be the same as the channel name but will change if a special range is selected – see below.
• the bottom section shows the channel value. Normally this is shown as a DMX value (0-255) but can be changed to a % value by de-selecting the DMX button.

You can set a custom channel value in three ways:

• click on the up and down buttons, in the bottom section, to adjust the value by + or – 1 each time you click a button
• click in on the value display to highlight it and type a new value with the keyboard
• click in on the value display to highlight it and while holding the pen or mouse button down, not that the cursor changes to an up/down arrow. Now move the pen or cursor up or down as though you were adjusting a slider.

For many fixtures the Vista library includes information about the value channels need to be set to for a particular effect. In this case you can click on the custom panel’s title bar or double-click anywhere on the panel to open the Custom feature window:

Custom feature window

The custom feature window lets you select any special values or a value within a range that is in the Vista library for the selected fixture:

This field…	does this…
Name	Shows the name of the channel or selected channel range.
Range Fader (top)	Adjusts the channel value within the selected range if such a range exists.
Channel Fader (lower)	Adjusts the channel value to any value in the DMX range – 0-255.
Search	For fixtures with large numbers of custom values (for example media servers) you can type in this field to locate a special value or range by name.
Sort	For fixtures with large numbers of custom channels (for example media servers) you can sort the values by ID# (usually as the values appear in the fixtures DMX channel chart) or by Name.
Icon Size	Adjusts the size of the custom value/range selector buttons in the right hand column.
Range buttons	In this column there will always be one button that selects the entire channel range (i.e. 0-255). If the Vista library includes information about the fixtures custom values there will be a button for each of the special values or value ranges. Clicking on the button will set the channel to that value or range. If it’s a range you can adjust the value, within that range, using the top slider.
DMX / Units	This button selects between DMX values (0-255) and units (normally 0-100)
Associated feature panels	If there are other features that are associated with the selected feature,they can be selected and adjusted from within the window.