The Lighting Patch Editor

The Lighting Patch Editor, found in Workspace Settings, is divided into two tabs: Patch and Definitions.

The Patch Tab

The Patch tab allows you to view and edit the instruments and light groups in the workspace.

New Instrument ⌘N. Click here to add one or more instruments to the workspace. When you click the button, a popover will appear giving you several options, including the number of instruments you want to create, the definition they should use, and so on.

New Group ⌘G. Click here to add one or more light groups to the workspace. When you click the button, a popover will appear giving you several options, including how many groups you want to create and whether you would like the currently selected instruments to be included in the newly created group or groups.

Auto-patch Selected… Automatically assign DMX addresses to the instruments currently selected in the patch list. QLab will display a dialog box which allows you to choose the DMX device you want to use, as well as the starting address. QLab will then assign addresses to the selected instruments according to the specifics you enter into the box.

Delete Selected ⌘⌫. Delete the selected instrument(s) and/or light groups(s) from the workspace.

MIDI Controls. Click here to jump to the Light Dashboard section of the MIDI Controls section of Workspace Settings.

The Patch Table

All instruments and light groups in the workspace are listed here, sorted alphabetically by name. You can click on the right-pointing disclosure triangle to reveal the parameters for each instrument, or the instruments contained in each light group.

Name. Names must be unique within a workspace, and can contain letters, numbers, and spaces only.

Address(es). This column displays the DMX address or addresses for the instrument. You can double click to edit the address. If the instrument requires multiple addresses, enter only the starting address. Although multiple instruments cannot be assigned to the same address, QLab will allow you to enter an address which is already used. Instruments with conflicting addresses will be highlighted in red, and those instruments will not work until the conflict is solved. Without an applicable license installed, any instruments using more than the freely allowed 16 addresses will also be highlighted in red.

Addresses must be unique per universe, per device.

Output. This column displays the output device, Art-net or USB, that the instrument is set to use. If the output device supports more than one universe of DMX, that information is shown as well.

FOr multi-universe devices, the first universe is numbered 0. Art-net additionally allows 128 nets, each containing 16 sub-nets. Each sub-net contains 16 universes. So, the first 512 addresses in a lighting system are all part of universe 0, which is part of sub-net 0, which is part of net 0. Since sixteen universes contain 8,192 addresses, you likely will not need to worry about net or sub-net unless you have a very complex show.

Note. For your notational pleasure.

You can right-click (or control-click or two-finger-click) on the column headings to show several more columns which are hidden by default:

Definition. Shows the instrument definition for the instrument. Click on the definition icon to choose a different instrument definition.

Groups. Lists the light groups that the instrument belongs to, not including the default “all” light group, which all instruments always belong to.

You can also hide any of the default columns as you prefer.

Beneath the patch table is a sort of mini-inspector that shows details of the selected instrument or light group.

Name, Note, and Definition are all duplicate, alternative views for the same information listed in the patch table. You can view and change each of these properties in both places.

Output. Starting with QLab 4.1, you can use both Art-net and USB DMX devices to communicate with lighting equipment. Each individual instrument can be assigned to either the Art-net network or to an individual USB DMX device.

If you assign the instrument to Art-net, QLab will display Universe, Sub-Net, and Net fields for you to fill in. These fields should correspond with the configuration of the Art-net node that the instrument is connected to.

If you assign the instrument to USB, QLab will display a Device drop-down menu of available USB DMX devices. If you select a USB device has more than one universe, a text field will also be displayed allowing you to select which universe the selected instrument should use. Note that the first universe of a device is always universe 0.

If you select “None”, the instrument will remain unpatched. Unpatched instruments are not displayed in the Dashboard.

It’s important to remember that all Art-net nodes on a network share one set of Universes, Sub-Nets, and Nets, whereas all USB DMX devices have their own, unique sets of Universes. If you have two single-universe Art-net nodes both set to universe 1, sub-net 2, net 3, then the address space is shared on both devices, and you have a total of 512 addresses available to use. If you have two single-universe USB DMX devices, they each refer to themselves as universe 0, but they are in fact separate address spaces and you have a total of 1024 addresses available to use.

Add to Group… Clicking this button will display a pop-up of all light groups in the workspace, and allow you add the selected instrument(s) and/or light group(s) to a light group. Light groups can indeed contain other light groups.

Below the button is a list of the light groups that the selected instrument(s) and/or light group(s) belong to.

The Definitions Tab

The Definitions tab lists every light definition used by at least one instrument in the workspace. Definitions are copied into the workspace from the Light Library when that definition is chosen in the patch. If all the instruments using a particular definition are deleted from the workspace, however, the definition remains in the workspace until it’s manually removed.

Filter. Type here to temporarily filter the list of definitions by name, to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.

Definition List. Definitions are hierarchically sorted by manufacturer, and listed in alphabetical order. Selecting a definition allows you to view and edit its details to the right of the window.

There are three buttons beneath the list:

• Create a new instrument definition in the workspace.
• Duplicate the selected definition within the workspace.
• Delete the selected definition from the workspace. QLab will not permit you to delete a definition that is currently being used.

Editing Instrument Definitions

Instrument definitions must include a unique name, a manufacturer, and at least one parameter. Starting with QLab 4.5, lights can also have virtual parameters which enable the use of complex controls like color pickers.

Default. A definition can optionally have a default parameter, which is the parameter that will respond to commands that do not specify a parameter. In most cases, the default parameter is intensity, so that you can use commands like 1 = 100 or 1 = 50 and control the brightness of the light. If you want to set a different default parameter, or set no default parameter, use this drop-down menu.

To add a parameter to the currently selected instrument definitions, click the button below the Parameters table. Click to delete the last parameter from the current instrument definition.

The Parameters table has five columns: #. The order in which parameters are listed is defined by the manufacturer of the lighting instrument. If you are creating your own definitions, be sure to add parameters in the correct order according to the manufacturer’s specifications.

Name. Parameter names must be unique per instrument, and contain only letters, numbers, and spaces.

16-bit. Some lighting instruments and accessories use two DMX addresses for a single parameter to allow much more precise control; two DMX addresses allows for a range of 0 to 65,535. Check this box to assign the parameter to use two adjacent addresses together as a single 16-bit address.

Use %. DMX values range from 0 to 255. Check this box to have QLab express the parameter in terms of a percentage scale. This does not alter the behavior of the parameter at all; it only alters how the parameter is displayed in the Light Dashboard and in cues.

Home. Set the home position for the parameter. For dimmers, that’s usually 0%, meaning off. For irises it’s typically 100%, meaning open. For moving mirrors it’s usually 50%, meaning center.

Below the table are two buttons:

Save to library. If the definition does not exist in QLab’s global Light Library, you can click here to add it. Saving a definition to the global Light Library allows that definition to be used in any workspace.

Update from library. If the definition in the workspace has the same name as a definition in the global Light Library, but different parameters, you can click here to update the workspace’s definition to match the global one.

Virtual Parameters

Virtual parameters are a way of grouping together several related parameters of a light. These parameters can then be controlled together with a single light command, and with a corresponding control tool in the Light Dashboard.

There are four types of virtual parameters, each of which behaves in a specific way. To create a new virtual parameter, navigate to the Virtual Parameters tab of the Parameters table, click on the pop-up button at the bottom, and select from the four options:

• RGB Color. This virtual parameter is used to combine color parameters on lights which use additive color mixing in order to use an additive color picker control in the Light Dashboard. A light needs at least one red, one green, and one blue parameter to include in an RGB Color virtual parameter, and if the light has additional colors, such as white, amber, or lime, those can be added as well. If your light contains multiple cells or zones with their own color controls, you can create multiple RGB Color virtual parameters; one for each cell or zone.
• CMY Color. This virtual parameter is used to combine cyan, magenta, and yellow color channels on lights which use subtractive color mixing (or simulated subtractive color mixing) in order to use a subtractive color picker control in the Light Dashboard.
• Pan/Tilt. This virtual parameter is used to combine pan and tilt parameters in order to use a pan/tilt control in the Light Dashboard.
• One-to-Many. This virtual parameter is used to create a single control that simultaneously commands multiple individual parameters. For example, if you have a multi-cell strip light that does not have a master intensity channel, you could create a One-to-Many virtual parameter that includes the intensity parameter for each cell. This virtual parameter will then function as a master intensity control for the whole fixture. One-to-Many virtual parameters can include both regular parameters and other virtual parameters.

The Patch Menu

When the Lighting Patch Editor is active, the Tools menu becomes the Patch menu, containing tools for working with the lighting patch:

Unpatch All. Remove the DMX address assignment for all instruments in the workspace. Needless to say, the instruments will need to have DMX addresses reassigned before they can be used. Unpatched instruments are not displayed in the Dashboard.

Unpatch Selected. Remove the DMX address assignment for the instruments currently selected in the patch list.

Auto-patch All… Automatically assign DMX addresses to all instruments in the patch list. QLab will display a dialog box which allows you to choose the device you want to use, as well as the starting DMX address. QLab will then assign addresses to all instruments according to the specifics you enter into the box, moving sequentially through to the last parameter of the last instrument. This will overwrite any existing DMX assignments, but will not alter instrument names, definitions, light group assignments, or any other attributes.

Auto-patch Selected… Automatically assign DMX addresses to the instruments currently selected in the patch list. QLab will display a dialog box which allows you to choose the device you want to use, as well as the starting DMX address. QLab will then assign addresses to the selected instruments according to the specifics you enter into the box, moving sequentially through to the last parameter of the last instrument. This will overwrite any existing DMX assignments, but will not alter instrument names, definitions, light group assignments, or any other attributes.

MIDI Controls

Starting with QLab 4.3, the MIDI Controls section of Workspace Settings allows you to configure, or bind, MIDI messages to control and respond to instruments and light groups. This makes it possible to use any MIDI device as a physical controller for the Dashboard.

Listen on MIDI channel. This lets you restrict the MIDI channel that QLab will use for incoming MIDI control of the Dashboard. It can be set to follow the channel set in the General tab, or set to “any”, or to any MIDI channel. This setting has no effect on any other MIDI behavior of QLab.

Send MIDI feedback to. If you choose a MIDI output here, QLab will send MIDI feedback for any instrument or group which has a MIDI control assigned to it. This is needed for motorized MIDI fader controllers or touchscreen controllers to follow along with QLab. If you are using a non-motorized physical controller, this setting has essentially no effect. Otherwise, it’s generally best to set this to send MIDI feedback to the MIDI device you’re using with the Dashboard.

On channel. This is the MIDI channel that QLab will use to send MIDI feedback. It can be the same or different as the listening channel, although most MIDI setups will generally use the same channel.

Light Patch. Click here to jump to the Light Patch section of the Light section of Workspace Settings.

The MIDI Bindings Table

All instruments and light groups in the workspace are listed here, sorted alphabetically with light groups listed first, along with a special “selected” light group which is discussed below. You can click on the disclosure triangles to view the parameters of each instrument or group.

Selecting an instrument, group, or parameter in the list allows you to bind a MIDI command to that item. You can edit the binding manually by choosing a message type from the drop-down menu and typing in an associated value, or you can click the Capture button and QLab will listen for and capture the next incoming MIDI message.

Click the X button to remove the assigned binding.

When an instrument, group, or parameter has a binding assigned, the type and first byte of the MIDI message will be displayed in the MIDI Bindings table.

Selected

The special “selected” group which appears here shows all parameters of all instruments in the workspace, much like the “all” group. When a MIDI message is assigned to the “selected” group, that MIDI message is used to control any instruments and/or groups which are currently selected in the Dashboard.

This can be a very convenient way to use a relatively small MIDI controller to control any light in your workspace, or to use a controller as a way to adjust a set of parameters (like color, or pan and tilt) for any given instrument.

Multi-parameter Instruments and Light Groups

If a MIDI message is bound to the top-level of a multi-parameter instrument or light group, the message will be passed to the default parameter of that instrument or light group. To underscore this, the same MIDI message is listed again in italic text next to the default parameter.