Scene and Effect Editing

Overview

The SwiftTec DMXLightShow software suite allows scenes and effects to be created easily using a simple editor. Scene and effects are a powerful feature within the software which allow lighting states to be recorded and retrieved at a click of a button.

Scenes vs Effects

The main difference between Scenes and Effects are the devices they affect when selected.

An effect is associated with a set of selected devices. A scene affects all devices.
Only one Scene can be active at a time
Multiple Effects can be running at any given time
The DMXconsole software only supports a fixed number of Scenes and no Effects
The DMXdj software only supports Effects
The DMXtheatre software only supports Scenes

Creating and Editing Scenes

To edit a scene or effect simply right-click wth the mouse on a scene/effect to be edited and select Edit from the popup menu. To create a new scene or effect right click in the scene list or effect list window and select Create Scene/Effect from the popup menu. The full DMXmanager software effects can be converted to scenes and vice versa.

Main Scene Editing Screen

You will be presented with a window similar to the above one which allows you to change all aspects of the scene. The upper section of the window deals with the scene attributes:

Name - the displayed name of the scene normally chosen by the user to be meaningful, e.g. "Night Scene" or "Flashy Loop"
Loops - the number of times the main sequence of frames will play (default: 1) before stopping
Loop continuously - when selected the main frame sequence will not stop until another scene is selected or the scene is stopped
Text and Background - allow the scene button text and background colours to be modified

The lower section of the window allows frames to be added, edited, removed or resequenced.

Sequence Selection This is the sequence selector. Each scene/effect consist of three sequences:

Scene Start - Plays when the scene/effect is started

Scene Body - The main body of the scene which can run continuosly until stopped

Scene Stop - Plays when the scene/effect is stopped

The frame list The frame list is the list of frames for the currently selected sequence. Each frame has an action, a duration and a trigger. Frames can be created using the frame creation controls to the right (see below) and moved around or deleted using the buttons to the left.

Multiple frames can be selected to move blocks of frames about in the sequence or to delete large groups of frames easily.

Frame selection is done using the left-mouse button to click on the desired frame(s). To select a range of frames click on the first frame in the desired selection, then hold down the Shift key whilst clicking on the last frame in the desired selection. To select a number of individual frames click on the first desired frame to be selected, then select the other frames whilst holding down the Ctrl key.

This section allows the frame parameters to be set

the duration of the frame in seconds

the action type

fade - a smooth fade

switch - an instant change

trigger - the frame trigger

auto - follows immediately after previous frame

manual - waits for the trigger button to be pressed

These parameters can be applied to the currently selected frame(s) by clicking the Apply Settings button

Frame details This section can be used both to create and edit frames.

The add frame button will create a new frame using the specified parameters (above) in the position selected - at the top or bottom of the sequence, above the first selected frame or below the last selected frame. The frame will be created using the specified duration, action and trigger. If the action is fade a snapshot of the current state of the devices will taken automatically.

To edit a frame click on it in the frame list. The devices will be updated to reflect the state represented by the frame. You can now start modifying the frame by changing the actrion, duration or trigger or by changing the device state using the device controls. Any changes will be automatically saved in the selected frame.

Using this mechanism a complex sequence of device states can quickly be assembled to create sequences that are only limited by your imagination (and the connected devices of course!).

NOTE: If you select multiple frames you can change the action, trigger and duration parameters for all selected frames but the device states will not be recorded.

Group Selection Scene and effects can be organised in groups. The group selector allows the group to be selected.

Device selection When creating a effect you must first select which device an effect will operate on. Click the Select Devices button then click on each device in the main device list which you wish to use with the effect. When you have completed this operation click the Finish Selecting Devices button. You will then be able to add frames which affect only the devices that you have selected.

To save the changes click on the Save button. To cancel all changes simply click the cancel button.

Actions

The following actions are available:

Delay - do nothing for the specified duration
Fade - fade devices for the specified duration to their new settings. Please note that smooth fading only works for devices with dimmers and RGB colour levels which can be modified smoothly. All other channels types are switched immediately to thewir new state.
Save - Saves the current state of the devices
Restore - Restores the state of the devices to their saved state. Please note that there is only one save buffer per scene / effect. Multiple saves will overwite each other.
Effect Start - This frame will trigger the start of another effect. Press the select button to select one or more effects to start
Effect Stop - This frame will trigger the selected effects to be stopped. Press the select button to select one or more effects to stop
Effect Stop Group - This frame will trigger the all effects in the selected group to be stopped. Press the select button to select one or more effect groups to stop
Effect Stop All - This frame will stop all running effects

The effect start/stop actions have 2 options available:

Quick stop - this forces the durations of all frames of effect's stop sequence to zero
Wait for completion - this will cause the current scene/effect to wait until the selected effects/scenes have started or stopped.

Triggers

The following triggers are available:

Auto - The frame is started as soon as the previous frame is completed
Beat - The frame waits for the previous frame to complete and then waits for the next beat to fire
Manual - The frame waits for the previous frame to complete and then waits for the manual trigger window to be clicked.

The actual triggers available for a given frame depends on the software being run and if a scene or effect is in operation.

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	This is the sequence selector. Each scene/effect consist of three sequences: Scene Start - Plays when the scene/effect is started Scene Body - The main body of the scene which can run continuosly until stopped Scene Stop - Plays when the scene/effect is stopped
	The frame list is the list of frames for the currently selected sequence. Each frame has an action, a duration and a trigger. Frames can be created using the frame creation controls to the right (see below) and moved around or deleted using the buttons to the left. Multiple frames can be selected to move blocks of frames about in the sequence or to delete large groups of frames easily. Frame selection is done using the left-mouse button to click on the desired frame(s). To select a range of frames click on the first frame in the desired selection, then hold down the Shift key whilst clicking on the last frame in the desired selection. To select a number of individual frames click on the first desired frame to be selected, then select the other frames whilst holding down the Ctrl key.
	This section allows the frame parameters to be set the duration of the frame in seconds the action type fade - a smooth fade switch - an instant change trigger - the frame trigger auto - follows immediately after previous frame manual - waits for the trigger button to be pressed These parameters can be applied to the currently selected frame(s) by clicking the Apply Settings button
	This section can be used both to create and edit frames. The add frame button will create a new frame using the specified parameters (above) in the position selected - at the top or bottom of the sequence, above the first selected frame or below the last selected frame. The frame will be created using the specified duration, action and trigger. If the action is fade a snapshot of the current state of the devices will taken automatically. To edit a frame click on it in the frame list. The devices will be updated to reflect the state represented by the frame. You can now start modifying the frame by changing the actrion, duration or trigger or by changing the device state using the device controls. Any changes will be automatically saved in the selected frame. Using this mechanism a complex sequence of device states can quickly be assembled to create sequences that are only limited by your imagination (and the connected devices of course!). NOTE: If you select multiple frames you can change the action, trigger and duration parameters for all selected frames but the device states will not be recorded.
	Scene and effects can be organised in groups. The group selector allows the group to be selected.
	When creating a effect you must first select which device an effect will operate on. Click the Select Devices button then click on each device in the main device list which you wish to use with the effect. When you have completed this operation click the Finish Selecting Devices button. You will then be able to add frames which affect only the devices that you have selected.