The Components tab

If it’s not already selected, click on the Components tab at the top of the sidebar:

This is where you store, select and organize your Groups, presets, Extracts, Effects, Cuelists and Snapshots. The window is divided into different areas that allow you to:

• choose how you want to view the components
• choose the type of component you want to work with – Groups, Presets, Effects, Extracts and Snapshots
• choose a component and either activate it or modify it in some way
• create new pages that let you group components into custom sets.

This screen provides quick access to all the elements used for programming and playback of a show. To choose the component type you use the buttons at the top of the left column:

This button…	does this…
QP1	displays a multi-panel ‘Quick picker’. The Quick pickers provide an easy way to arrange and select Presets, Groups, Extracts SmartFX and more.
QP2	displays a second multi-panel ‘Quick picker’.
Groups	displays and let’s you select or modify the groups you’ve saved.
Presets	displays and let’s you select or modify the presets you’ve saved.
FX	displays and let’s you select any of Vista’s built in effects
Extracts	displays and let’s you select or modify the Extracts. you’ve saved.

The parameter Filter bar

If you are working with Presets, Effects or Extracts the Parameter Filter bar can be used to filter the items that are displayed or the features that are stored:

If you are recording a Preset the filter bar shows which parameters are being recorded and which are not. You can click on any of the icons to either include it or exclude it. Included parameters are highlighted.

For more information about presets and filters see Presets on page 5-46.

If you are applying a item that includes more than one parameter type you can use the filter bar to filter out any parameters you don’t want to use. For example you might have a Preset that includes Intensity, Position and Colour but you only want to use the Colour part. In this case you would click on all the filter bar icons except Colour before selecting the preset.

When you are applying presets from the Components panel the Preset will fade in over the ‘Live Time’ . For example you might be working in the Live programmer tab and want to fade some lights into a colour or position over several seconds. To do you use the Live Time window:

Components window tools

If you are working with Groups, Presets, Effects or Extracts there is a toolbar at the bottom of the panel that acts on the list of items

This button…	does this…
[ + ]	Creates a new component of the selected type.
[ – ]	Allows you to delete a component
Search	typing in the ‘Search’ box filters the list down to just the items that match what you’ve typed.
X	Clears the search box.

Quicker Picker panels

The Quick Picker panels provide an easy way to select any of the following items you’ve created:

• Groups
• Presets
• SmartFX (FX templates)
• Cuelists
• Extracts
• Favourites
• Snapshots.

The Sidebar has two panels (QP1 and QP2) that normally display three quickpicker panels. To adjust size of a Quick picker click on the divider bar and drag up or down. To hide one or two of the Quickpickers drag the divider(s) to the bottom of the panel. You can set what a Quick picker displays by choosing an option from the drop-down menu at the top left side of each column. Once you’ve chosen the type of information you want the column to display, you can also select what page you want to display within that column using the second drop-down menu. To add a page to a quickpicker right click on the panel you want and select ‘add new page’ from the popup menu. To delete a page from a quickpicker right click on the panel you want and select ‘remove page’ from the popup menu. Deleting a page does not delete the items on that page. To copy an item hold the ‘Alt’ key (or Green modifier) while dragging the item from one page to another.

• You can also have Quickpickers at the bottom of the main programmer window and on external touchscreen monitors.

The Multi Quickpicker

The multi-quickpicker contains 4 quickpicker panels and normally appears at the bottom off the Fixture Chooser and Timeline window. If it’s not already open select the ‘Multi Quick Picker’ option from the View > Add Floating Window menu, Vista displays the Multi Quickpicker

The Multi Quickpicker is a floating window, it can either be docked inside the main window or it can float on top of or beside the main window.

To un-dock a floating window, click on the header bar and drag it off the main window. To dock a floating window drag it inside the fixture layout or timeline panel and drop it on the left, right. top or bottom of the panel.

The Multi Quickpicker normally display four quickpicker panels. To adjust the width of a Quick picker click on the divider bar and drag left or right. To hide one or two of the Quickpickers drag the divider(s) to the right of the panel.

• You can also have Quickpickers on external touchscreen monitors.

Quickpicker popup menu

Flash Button

Depending on the component there are various options available on the Quickpicker context menu. To open this menu right-click on the label area of any component. Vista displays the context menu:

This option…	does this…
Cuelist Properties	Opens the Cuelist properties window – see below.
Lock item	Locks the selected component. Components that have be locked will not be altered or replaced when a new Page or Snapshot is loaded.
Clear item	Clears the selected playback – the assigned component is removed from the control.
Clear page	Clears all playbacks on the current page – the assigned components are removed and a blank page is left.
Delete page	Deletes the current page.
Set as default playback layout.	Sets the selected cuelist’s buttons and faders as the defaults for all new cuelists.
Snapshot enabled	Allows the selected playback to be included in a snapshot.
Set as default cuelist configuration	Sets the selected cuelist’s properties as the defaults for all new cuelists.
Adjust contrast	Adjusts the contrast of the selected LCD window

• You can also play and release cuelists by selecting them (Alt + select to release) in a Quickpicker that has been configured this way – see below.

Arranging the Quicker Picker panels

When you first display a Quick picker panel you’ll see the items are laid out as buttons in a grid. You can re-arrange the items into a single or multi-column list and change the how each item is displayed.

To do this click on the settings icon to open the Quickpicker settings window:

This button…	does this…
Icon size	adjusts the size of the icons displayed in the Quickpicker.
Text size	adjusts the amount of space available for the label.
Padding	adjusts the amount of space between the icons.
Icon	click this button to display just an icon for each item.
Label	click this button to display just a text label for each item.
Both	click this button to display both an icon and a text label for each item.
Multi-list	click this button to arrange the items in a multi column list. The items are laid out across and then down.
Single list	click this button to arrange the items in a single column list.
Touch screen	click this button to arrange the items in a grid suitable for use on an external touchscreen.
Icon view	click this button to arrange the items in a compact grid of icons without labels.
Auto-arrange	Arrange the icons by Name (alphabetically) or by ID (number)
Cuelist Playback	When the selection box is ticked, selecting a cuelist will play it. To release a cuelist hold the green modifier (or press Alt) and select the cuelist.
Apply to all	click this button to apply these settings to all Quickpicker windows.

Presets labels

When you select some fixtures, the preset labels change to indicate which are available:

This label…	indicates…
Greyed	this preset does not have any settings stored for the selected fixtures.
Normal	this preset has settings for some or all of the selected fixtures.
Ticked	this preset is being used on the selected fixtures.

Groups

If you have a big rig, the last thing you want to do is manipulate dozens of individual fixtures. To make it easy to control all the fixtures in your rig Vista automatically creates groups for each fixture type that you patch. You can also create your own groups.

A group can consist of any number of any type of fixtures; it’s entirely up to you what you put in a group. Some typical groups might be all the even or odd fixtures of one type, all the fixtures on the back truss, or all the fixtures you’re using on one particular part of the stage.

Creating groups

When you are first creating groups it’s easier to be in a layout that shows the Groups panel in the sidebar. If you’re seeing something else, click on the Components tab and select the ‘Groups’ button:

To create a group:

1. Select the fixtures you want in the group:
2. Click the [+] Add Group button at the bottom of the Group panel. Vista opens the Create New Group window:
3. Type a name for the Group and click OK or press Enter. If you don’t want to name the Group right away you can accept the suggested name and rename it later.

You can create as many groups as you want, and you can also create any number of ‘groups of groups’.

Presets

Presets are the ‘building blocks’ that you use to create cuelists. They represent common sets of attributes that you know you’re going to want to use over and over again, such as a particular colour (e.g. Red) or position (e.g. on the drummer).

Presets are useful for two reasons. First with presets you can quickly assign Intensity, Position, Colour, Gobo, Beam and other values to any number of fixtures without having to adjust the settings individually for each one. Second if you store your cues using presets you can quickly update all your programming without having to edit every cue.

Creating presets

To create a preset:

1. Select one or more fixtures.
2. Set any of the Intensity, Position, Colour, Gobo, Beam values on the palette the way you want them.
3. Then either:
• Click on any of the palette type button and select the the ‘Preset’ > ‘Create Preset’ option from the popup menu or,
• Select the ‘New > +Preset’ option from the Components menu ,or
• Click on the ‘+ Preset’ button in the Components toolbar. (To open the Components toolbar choose the Toolbar > Components toolbar from the View menu.
• Right-click in a Presets Quickpicker and select the Create preset option.

Vista displays the Create New Preset window:


4. Enter a name for the preset in the name box (beside the icon)
5. Click on the icon and select and different image if required.
6. Set the Preset store options:

This option…	does this…
Name	Allows you to name the new preset.
Global Values	Tick ‘Create Global Values’ if you want to be able to use this preset on any fixture, of any type, even if it is not selected when you store the preset. Tick ‘Create Fixture Type Values’ if you want to be able to use this preset on any fixture, of the same type, even if it is not selected when you store the preset.
Filter Fixtures	Normally only the selected fixtures are included in the Preset. If you want to include all fixtures, in the preset, click on the drop down box and select the ‘All’ option
Filter Output	Normally presets store the values that the fixture(s) are outputting, no matter whether they are coming the Live tab of the Programmer or from any Cue that is playing. To only store values coming from the active Cue (in the Programmer) click on the drop down box and select the ‘Current Cue’ option.
Filter Features	Presets are normally per-palette, i.e. you create separate presets for intensity, colour, gobo, beam and miscellaneous features. However the filter bar lets you include or exclude any features. To include a feature click on it’s icon so that it is highlighted. To exclude a feature click on it’s icon so that it is not highlighted.
Display Preview panel	Tick this checkbox to shows a preview of the fixtures you have selected and the features that will be stored in the preset.

7. Click the OK button. Vista creates a new Preset that appears in the Presets panel of the Component Sidebar and in Quickpickers set to show All presets or ones of the feature type you’ve created.

Editing presets

You can use the Programmer to add, remove or change information stored in a preset. There are two ways to open a preset for editing:

• in the Sidebar Components tab you can right-click on the the Preset and select the ‘Edit’ option from the popup menu.
• in the Multi Quickpicker you can right-click on the the Preset and select the ‘Edit’ option from the popup menu.

Once the Preset is open in the Programmer you can make changes in the same way as you do when editing a Cue:

• select fixtures in the Fixture Chooser window and add, remove or change settings using the palettes or encoders, or
• select fixtures or Event bars in the Timeline window add, remove or change settings using the palettes or encoders.

To save changes to a Preset, choose the Save changes to Preset option from the Components menu (Alt / Option + S).

Updating presets

You can use the Programmer to update the information stored in a preset. To do this:

1. While a editing the cuelist, select the fixtures you want to change or add to the preset.
2. Make the adjustments you want using the palettes.
3. Right-Click on the preset in the Presets panel or a Quick Picker and select Update from the popup menu.
4. Vista displays the Update Preset window where you can .

• You can also update Presets when you Update a cuelist, that’s being played back.

The Highlight and Lowlight presets

There are two special presets, Highlight and Lowlight, that set the behaviour of fixtures when Highlight mode is on.

1. when you select a fixture it goes to the Highlight preset
2. when you deselect a fixture it goes to the Lowlight preset.

To edit either of these presets you do this:

1. Set the fixture(s) Intensity, Position, Colour, beam etc.
2. Right click in the Sidebar, Components, Presets panel and select the ‘Update Highlight Preset’ or ‘Update Lowlight Preset’.

Live Time

If you are working live with Presets, Palettes or any of the Sidebar panels the ‘Live Time’ window can be used to control crossfade time.

When you are applying a presets or simply selecting a (non-linear) value in the sidebar palettes you can set a time for the Preset or selected value to fade in. For example you might be working in the Live programmer tab and want to fade some lights into a colour or position over several seconds.

To set the Live Time:

1. Click the ‘Live’ button on the main toolbar. This button is normally mapped to Function Key F10 on the keyboard. You can also select the ‘Live Time option from the Tools menu.
2. Enter a time in seconds or click on the drop down box and select one of the live time presets.

Live time presets

Vista comes with 2 Live time presets: 2s and 5s. But if you regularly use other time settings you can save these as presets that appear on the drop down list. To do this:

1. Click the ‘Live’ button or select the ‘Live Time option from the Tools menu.
2. When the Live Time window opens select the ‘Custom Timing’ option from the drop down box. Vista opens the Custom Timing window.



3. Set the Fade Time, Delay time and Fade curve for each of the features: Intensity (Up and Down) Position, Colour, Gobo, Beam and Miscellaneous.

This field…	Does this…
Time	sets the fade time in seconds. You can also set the fade time by clicking on the timing bar and dragging the right handle forwards or backwards
Delay	sets the delay time in seconds. You can also set the delay time by clicking on the timing bar and when the cursor turns into a hand dragging the bar to the right.
Fade Curve	sets the fade curve. To set the fade curve click on the icon and select an option from the popup list. See the glossary for more about fade curves

4. Click on the ‘Save as’ button and give this Timing preset a name.
5. Click OK to save. The new Timing preset will now be available on the Live Timing drop down box.

SmartFX

Vista comes with a number of built in effects that you can use to quickly create dynamic looks including intensity pulses, position shapes, colour chases and more.

To see the built in effects, click on the Components tab and select the ‘FX’ button. This lets you apply one of the built in effects with just one click but you can also use the SmartFX window to modify the built in effect or create your own effects from scratch.

See the SmartFX window on page 2-2

Applying a built in effect

To apply an effect:

1. In the Fixture chooser window, select the fixtures you want.
2. Click the FX button on the Components tab. Vista a list of the built in effects:



3. You can click on the filter bar icons to either include or exclude effects that include the corresponding parameter types.
4. Click the Stored (Canned) FX tab. Vista displays the list of available stored (canned) effects. The letters in the ‘content’ column each effect tell you which parameters are in this effect (e.g. I-Intensity, P-Position, C-Colour, etc).
5. To apply an effect, click on the effect you want.
6. To adjust the parameters of an effect, open the SmartFX window and use the controls to adjust it (see Effect controls on page 7-4).

Effects that modulate or swing

The built in effects are pre-set to either swing or modulate. Swinging means the fixtures move between two sets of attributes determined by the effect (e.g. moving from to left to right). Effects that are preset to modulate will apply their own varying attributes about a particular setting (e.g. creating a circle around a position).

Extracts

Extracts are like programming templates and can contain any of the attributes you define on the palettes: intensity, colour, beam, position, and so on. They also store the timing associated with the events.

An extract is a section of a cuelist (or range of events) that you can save and re-apply in other cuelists. By re-using existing material to build new cuelists you can save yourself a lot of time re-creating your favourite lighting effects.

Creating extracts

To create an extract:

1. Select the part of the cuelist or events on the timeline that you want to use as an extract.
2. To store an extract, either:
• Select the Extracts button on the Components tab, in the sidebar. Then click on the + button or
• click on the ‘New Extract button – normally Alt-F8 or
• Right-click in a Extracts panel and select the Create extract option.
3. Type a name for the extract and click the OK button.
4. Vista adds the new item to the extract list.

Applying extracts

To apply an extract:

5. Select one or more fixtures in the Fixture chooser window.
6. Click the Extracts button on the Components tab of the sidebar.
7. Find the extract you want and click on it to select it.

Set the mask buttons so that the attributes you want are applied. Any attribute that is masked, even if it is part of the extract, will not be applied.

Editing Extracts

You can use the Programmer to add, remove or change information stored in a extract. There are two ways to open a preset for editing:

• in the Sidebar Components tab you can right-click on the the Extract and select the ‘Edit’ option from the popup menu.
• in the Multi Quickpicker you can right-click on the the Extract and select the ‘Edit’ option from the popup menu.

Once the Extract is open in the Programmer you can make changes in the same way as you do when editing a Cue:

• select fixtures in the Fixture Chooser window and add, remove or change settings using the palettes or encoders, or
• select fixtures or Event bars in the Timeline window add, remove or change settings using the palettes or encoders.

To save changes to a Extract, choose the Save changes to Extract option from the Components menu (Alt / Option + S).