grandMA3 User Manual Publication

Release Notes 2.0


Get Started

Do you need help getting started in grandMA3? Perfect - here we describe a few quick steps to get you rolling. The manual will explain functionality in detail while the MA e-Learning within the MA University offers you all kinds of training. All information can be accessed through the MA Lighting website www.malighting.com.

Let's go! To leave the Release Notes, tap I agree on the top right corner. The main screen of grandMA3 software opens. On the right side, you can see predefined views on view buttons. To switch between the views, tap the view buttons.

If this is your first time starting grandMA3 software, patch some fixtures first. Or you can load one of the demo shows delivered with the software. Either way, press Menu. If you use grandMA3 onPC software, there is a  symbol in the top left corner there. Clicking the  symbol is the same as pressing Menu on a console.

Tap Backup and then Load, now you are ready to load shows. You would like to get right on it? Switch Shows to Demo Shows in the title bar first. To do so, tap Shows repeatedly until it says Demo Shows. Once Demo Shows is displayed, it is possible to select any of them. After you selected a demo show, tap Load.
In case a show was already loaded, a pop-up will appear asking if you want to save the current show first before loading the new one. It's up to you!

Here we go! Now you are ready to work with the grandMA3 software. It is as easy as that! Again - there are view buttons there, which change the screen content. At the bottom, you will find the encoder bar and the command line. Technically that is all you need to get started. For more information, see the grandMA3 help menu. To access the help in the console or the onPC, tap the view buttons named Help or visit the Online Manuals on the MA Lighting website. If you want to learn the grandMA3 software step by step, please see the Quick Start Guide and join the MA e-Learning - it's free of charge and available on the MA Lighting website.

Have fun with using our grandMA3 software - Find all the improvements and changes of this software version further down.

Hint:
The grandMA3 software will start using the show file (or status) that was in operation before the software was shut down.

Bug Fix Version 2.0.2.0

Other Enhancements

 Added the Select NDI Bandwidth setting for video pool objects set to Source NDI: The user can choose between the values Lowest and HighestSelect NDI Bandwidth defines the quality at which the NDI stream is request from the sender. By default, the value is set to Lowest.


 Improved Import and Export in the Show Creator menu:

  • The Gaps setting in the Import and Export tabs are now independent from each other.
  • When entering Import or Export, the default states of Gaps for Import and Export are applied:
    • Import: Gaps on
    • Export: Gaps off

Bug Fixes

3D

Description
The software could crash while loading a show file when using materials in meshes extensively.

Command Line and Macro

Important:
In order to preserve your looks on stage, the output for the following described recipe bugs is not corrected automatically, when loading a show file from v2.0.0.4.
If you want to re-cook all recipes in your show file, execute Cook DataPool Thru /MergeLowPriority.
 
Description
When  importing a timecode show, the Cue Destination of timecode events was not imported if the timecode event had Go+ set up as a token.
When exporting and importing data pools or pages, the assigned objects could be moved to different executors. This bug is now fixed.

When exporting data pool or pages, the executors are always exported with gaps, even if Gaps is disabled.
When importing data pools the information about the assigned object in cue recipes for the value property was lost.
When moving timecode events while being in a session on other stations the selected events were moved to the same time. The distance of the events to each other was discarded.
Having several recipes using the same selection and using different selective presets caused incorrect cooking results.
When changing recipes, the cooked data from other recipes that used selective presets was discarded.
The data of recipes without MAtricks could not be cooked when several recipes used the same selection but only one of them used MAtricks.
The hostname of xPort nodes was set to "Waiting" when the interface was set to use DHCP and no DHCP server was available.
The software could crash when doing a screenshot while the scale factor of the display was not set to 1.

Patch

Description
The order of columns in the Patch menu was different compared with v1.9.7.0. 
In the Live Patch it was possible to change the Coarse, Fine, and Ultra DMX channels of fixture types.
When importing fixture types that have two or more geometries with identical names, the linking of the attributes to the geometries were lost.

Windows

Description
The tool bar and the Record button could not be displayed in the Timecode Viewer window when switching on the Setup mode.

Release Version 2.0.0.4

Features

The latest release of grandMA3 version 2.0.0.4 rolls out several enhancements that enrich your lighting experience. Besides numerous improvements based on your highly appreciated feedback, many new and clever features have found their way into the software. Read on for a quick introduction and find links for more information.


Single Digit Input

 New in this release

Single Digit Input multiplies all input integer dimmer values below 10 by 10.

To enable/disable Single Digit Input go to Menu - Settings - User Configuration - Profiles.

When Single Digit Input is enabled, the following rules apply:

  • Only whole numbers from 1 to 9 are applied as values 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, or 90.
  • Digits with decimal place, for example 1.5, are deemed as 1.5.
  • When specifying any attribute in a command (Attribute "Dimmer" ...) single digit input is not applied.
  • When using the At command without any additional attributes being specified, the value is taken by the natural readout of the dimmer of the user profile.

To apply a dimmer value of 50 to the currently selected fixtures as single digit input type:

User name[Fixture]> At 5

To apply a dimmer value of 40 to fixtures 1 to 4, type:

User name[Fixture]> Fixture 1 Thru 4 At 4


See also User Settings.


Fixture Type Presets

 New in this release

Fixture Type Presets allow to store presets directly in a fixture type. This can be useful, for example, when you have to use a fixture type in a different show file, and want to save time by creating your standard set of presets again.

Important:
Fixture Type Presets are not part of the GDTF DIN Specification. Therefore, Fixture Type Preset can be only transferred to different show files when using grandMA3 Fixture Types during export and import.

Using the new keyword AutoStore allows to store presets into fixture types.
The syntax AutoStore FixtureType ["FixtureType_Name" or FixtureType_Number] or AutoStore Fixture ["Fixture_Name" or Fixture_Number] makes it possible to store the presets into the corresponding fixture type.
When choosing the fixture type as target, presets that are only available for a special mode are also cloned as Fixture Type Preset for all other modes.
When choosing a fixture as target, presets are only added as Fixture Type Presets to their corresponding modes.

 

To break down feature groups or attributes even further, specify a filter in the If keyword.

Executing the store command with fixtures or fixture types triggers a pop-up that asks the user whether to Merge the existing FixtureType Presets or to Overwrite them.

Explore FixtureType Presets when editing a fixture type. To do so, go to Menu - Patch - Fixture Types - select the desired Fixture Type - Edit - select the desired mode - Edit - FT Presets.

Hint:
The FixtureType editor now separates the different modes of a fixture type. To change a channel of a mode, select the mode first and then edit it.

 

To create presets out of a fixture type, use the AutoCreate keyword:

AutoCreate Fixture ["Fixture_Name" or Fixture_Number] At Preset ["FeatureGroup_Name" or FeatureGroup_Number].["Preset_Name" or Preset_Number]

Creating presets merges them with the already existing presets of the same name. As soon as a dedicated target is defined, the name resolving is ignored, and the presets are stored to the specified target location.

 

Instead of using the command line to store presets into fixture types or creating presets out of fixture types, the Show Creator menu can be used.
To learn more about this new menu, please read below.


Known Limitations:
  • Only presets that have a name, can be used for creating FixtureType Presets.
  • At the moment, all presets are stored to a fixture type, but it should only be possible to store global and universal presets to fixture types.
  • Presets that contain attributes of different feature groups discard these attributes during import.


See also AutoStore, AutoCreateStore Presets to Fixture Types, and Create Presets from Fixture Types.


Show Creator

 New in this release

The Show Creator menu (Menu - Show Creator) combines the former Import/Export menu with new menus. The Show Creator stores presets into fixture types and auto-creates presets out of fixture types (see FixtureType Presets above).
The Show Creator menu offers different tabs:

  • Import: The only changes here are:
    • The addition of Gaps. When Gaps is enabled, the gaps that are part of the XML file will be imported, too.
    • The additon of Clear Collection for the Local area. Tapping Clear Collection resets the collection of items.
  • Export: The only change here is the addition of Gaps. When Gaps is enabled, the collected and empty pool objects will be exported as gaps into the XML file.
    Learn more about Gaps in the /Gaps Option Keyword topic.
  • Create Groups: Creates groups based on the current patch.
    • Left area: Select objects you want to create a group for. Tapping Fixture Types switches to Classes and then to Layers.
      • The right area displays the group pool. The user can collect single places in the group pool where they want to create groups.
    • The Advanced mode changes the menu when it is enabled:
      • A center area appears that allows to select only a reduced set of fixtures that are matching the selected objects in the left area.
    • Tapping Clear Collection resets the collection of items.​
    • Tap AutoCreate Groups /All or AutoCreate Groups /Single in order to create a group with all fixtures in it, or to create single fixture groups of every selected fixture.
    Hint:
    For more information about AutoCreate, see AutoCreate Keyword.
  • Create Presets: Creates universal dimmer or color presets:
    • The top bar allows to switch between the creation of Dimmer or Color presets.
    • The left area is dependent if Dimmer or Color has been chosen:
      • Dimmer: Dimmer Increment defines the increase in value from one preset to the next. Dimmer presets are created from 0 % to 100 %. The input range for Dimmer Increment is from 5 % to 50 %.
      • Color: When creating color presets, presets will be created by the combination of Hue and Saturation. Therefore the user can define how many Hue values (Amount Hue) and Saturation values (Amount Saturation) will be combined when creating the presets. Sort By defines if the presets will be ordered by Hue or Saturation values. When enabling Book, the user can select whole swatch books or selected gels to create presets from.
    • The right area allows to collect the preset spots where the presets shall be created.
    • Tapping Clear Collection resets the collection of items.
    • Tapping Generate Dimmer or Generate Color creates the corresponding presets. Only the button of the chosen type is not grayed out.
  • Create Presets from FT: Creates presets in the show using the presets that are stored in fixture types.
    Important:
    When collecting at least one preset in the pool before auto creating presets, the name resolution of presets will be ignored.
    • The FixtureTypes area on the left side displays the fixture types used in the show. Select the fixture type you want to create presets. When unfolding the fixture types, it is also possible to select only a dedicated mode of the fixture type in order to create the presets. Only modes that contain Fixture Type Presets are listed. When Fixtures is enabled, this area displays the patched fixtures instead of the fixture types. In this mode, also only fixtures are listed where the fixtures types and modes contain Fixture Type Presets.
    • The right side allows to define which presets (filtered by feature group or attributes) are to be created out of the fixture types. Tapping  expands the feature group filter area for you to display the attributes' filter. In this case the At Filter is also temporarily activated.
    • The Advanced mode changes the menu in this way when it is enabled:
      • The feature group/attribute filter area is replaced by a preset pool area. The user can then collect single places in the preset pool where they want the presets to be created.  If you collect presets before creating them, the resulting name will be ignored. The feature groups bar known from the Import/Export tabs appear on the top.
      • The FixtureTypes area occupies only the left side of the menu.
      • The center area displays the presets that are part of the selected fixture type.
    • Tapping Clear Collection resets the collection of items.
    • The Source can be toggled between FixtureType Presets and ChannelSets:
      • FixtureType Presets: Creates presets from the presets stored in the fixture type.
      • ChannelSets: Creates presets based on the channel sets (that have a name) that are defined in the fixture type. By default Source is set to ChannelSet.
    • When a fixture type is selected, and the desired presets, feature groups, or attributes are selected, tap AutoCreate Presets. A pop-up asks whether to Overwrite or Merge existing presets, or to Cancel the operation.​​
  • Store Presets to FT: Allows to store existing and named presets of the show file into the fixture types in use.
    • The selector next to the left sidebar allows to define which presets (filtered by feature group or attributes) will be stored into fixture types. Tapping   expands the display of the attributes filter. In this case, also the At Filter is temporarily activated.
    • The FixtureTypes area lists all fixture types used in the show. The user needs to select the desired fixture types they want to store presets to. Enabling Fixtures will display the patched fixtures instead of the fixture types.
    • The Advanced mode in the title bar changes the menu when it is enabled:
      •  The feature group/attribute filter area is replaced by a preset pool area. The user can collect single presets they want to store into the fixture types by clicking them. The feature groups bar known from the Import/Export tabs appear on the top.
      • The FixtureTypes area occupies only the center of the menu.
      • The right side displays the presets that are allready part of the fixture type.
    • When presets, feature groups or attributes and a fixture type are selected, tap AutoStore Presets in order to transfer the desired presets into the fixture type. A pop-up asks whether the user wants to Overwrite or Merge existing Fixture Type Presets or Cancel the operation. In the case of Overwrite, only the presets of the selected feature group are overwritten. Presets of other feature groups remain in the fixture type.
See also Show Creator.


To store all possible presets to fixture type 9, overwriting existing fixture type presets, type:
User name[Fixture]AutoStore Preset *.* At FixtureType 9 /Overwrite /NoConfirmation

To store possible color presets to the fixture type of fixture 1, merging existing fixture type presets, type:

User name[Fixture]AutoStore Preset 4.1 Thru At Fixture 1 /Merge /NoConfirmation

To create color presets out of fixture type 9, type:

User name[Fixture]AutoCreate FixtureType 9 At Preset 4.*

To create all presets out of fixture type 9 and match them by name, type:

User name[Fixture]AutoCreate FixtureType 9 At Preset *
To create universal dimmer presets with a value incrementation of 25%, and the first preset is the 11th dimmer preset, type:
User name[Fixture]> AutoCreate Universal 1 At Preset1.11 "DimmerIncrement" 25
To create universal color presets with four different hues, 5 different saturations, get them sorted by saturation, and start at color preset 42, type:
User name[Fixture]> AutoCreate Universal 1 At Preset 4.42 "AmountHue" 4 "AmountSaturation" 5 "SortColor" "Saturation"
To create universal color presets with the gels 2 and 10 of the MA Lighting swatch book, and get them created at color preset 4.2, type:
User name[Fixture]> AutoCreate Universal 1 At Preset 4.2 "GelList" Gel 1.2 + 10

To create a universal color preset with the Mauve gel of manufacturer Lee as color preset 4.126, type:

User name[Fixture]>AutoCreate Universal 1 At Preset 4.126 "GelList" Gel "Lee"."Mauve"
To create global beam presets out of the channel sets of fixture type 9, type:
User name[Fixture]> AutoCreate FixtureType 9 At Preset * If FeatureGroup "Beam" /ChannelSet

Tracking

 Improved in this release

  • Improved the asserting of cues: The new value X-Assert asserts values that were saved in previous cues together with the timing of the cue where X-Assert is set. Individual timings that track into the cue with the X-Assert are not respected, and the general cue timing is used.
  • Improved the Copy Cue pop-up: Due to the adjustments needed for Tracking Shield, the Copy Cue pop-up was enhanced:
    • The top part is about handling the data of the source cue, and the lower part gives access to options that define how the data is added to the destination cue.
    • Renamed "Source Cue" section "Copy Values from Source Cue".
    • Renamed "Tracking into Destination Cue" section "Existing Values tracking into Destination".
      • Renamed the value "Keep" Retain.
      • Renamed the value "Force Release" Replace with Release.
      • Renamed the value "Force Default" Replace with Default.
    • Refactored the "Cue Only" section into "Copy Values":
      • Tracking: Stores the values at the destination as normal tracking values.
      • Cue Only: Stores the values at the destination as values only into this cue. The following cue Only stores previous values. (= Cue Only principle).
    • Added the new section "Protect from Tracking":
      • Dimmer Cue Only: Stores only the dimmer values at the destination following the Cue Only principle when it is enabled. All other attributes will be stored as tracking values. For more information see Dimmer Cue Only.
    • Added a Tracking Shield section:
  • Improved the Store Cue pop-up:
    • The "Store Values" column allows to define if the values will be be stored using the Tracking principle or if they will be stored using Cue Only.
    • The "Protect from Tracking" column allows to define if dimmer values only will be stored using Cue Only. This is the case when Dimmer Cue Only is enabled. This options works only when Tracking is selected. If it is not selected, it will be selected automatically when enabling Dimmer Cue Only. For more information see Dimmer Cue Only.
    • The column "Shield tracked values" allows to use Tracking Shield. If you select any mode in the "Shield tracked values" section, while Cue Only is selected in the "Store Values" section, Tracking will also be automatically selected. For more information see Tracking Shield.
  • Improved the Delete Cue pop-up:
    • The user can now decide if they want to delete the values using the Tracking principle, Cue Only princple, or the Dimmer Cue Only principle.
    • Also, Tracking Shield modes were added.
      For more information see Tracking Shield and Dimmer Cue Only.
Known Limitation:
The Delete Cue pop-up uses the Store preferences. Therefore, changing the preferences on one side will change the preferences on the other side as well.



Tracking Shield

 New in this release

Tracking Shield is a tracking store mode that protects already tracked attributes from being changed unintentionally in cues where the dimmer value is above zero.

The Tracking Shield has two modes:

  •  (Dimmer rising from 0): Protects attributes in the next cue where the dimmer value increases starting from zero.
  •  (Dimmer above 0): Protects attributes in the next cue where the dimmer value is above zero no matter the value it had before.

For more information see Tracking Shield.


Examples

Requirement:




  • Example 1: Store Fixture 1 to cue 3 with an intensity of 75 % and in blue. The look of cue 5 will be preserved. In this case, both modes of Tracking Shield will give the same result:



  • Example 2: We start again with the state of the situation in the requirement. We now want to store fixture 1 with an intensity of 75 % and in blue again, but this time to cue 5. When using the mode "Dimmer rising from 0", the following cues, where the dimmer rises again from 0, will be protected. The mode also preserves look of the following cues:


  • Example 3: We start again with the state of the situation in the requirement. We now want to store fixture 1 with an intensity of 75 % and in blue again to cue 5. When using the mode "Dimmer above 0", the look of the non-dimmer attributes in the next cue (cue 6) is preserved. In some cases this will result in the same outcome as as if storing /CueOnly:


Hint:
Tracking Shield only protects non-dimmer attributes. If you want to preserve the look of the next cue for the dimmer too, combine Tracking Shield with the new option Dimmer Cue Only when storing.

The new /TrackingShield option keyword allows to define directly which tracking shield mode shall be used:

Syntax: /TrackingShield ["Value"]

These are the possible values:

  • Off: Tracking Shield will not be used.
  • DimmerRisingFromZero (DRZ): The principle of Tracking Shield in mode "Dimmer rising from 0" will be used.
  • DimmerAboveZero (DAZ): The principle of Tracking Shield in mode "Dimmer above 0" will be used.


Cue Zero

  New in this release

The Sequence settings offer Cue Zero Mode. This setting can be set to different values:

  • Off: Cue Zero is not used in the sequence. This is the default setting.
  • All Used Attributes: Cue Zero contains all default values of every fixture that is stored in the sequence.
  • Only Used Dimmers: Cue Zero only contains default dimmer values of every fixture that is stored in the sequence.

See also Sequence Settings.


Dimmer Cue Only

 Improved in this release

When storing or copying cues using the Tracking principle, the existing Cue Only option was extended.
Cue Only disabled is now called Tracking.
Cue Only enabled stays as is and is mutually exclusive.

The extension of Cue Only is the addition of the new mode Dimmer Cue Only. When selecting this value, only the dimmer attributes will be stored using the Cue Only principle. All other attributes will be stored as normal tracking values. When Tracking Shield is enabled the Tracking Shield principle is used to store values.
To use Dimmer Cue Only via command line, use the existing /CueOnly option keyword:

  • /CueOnly "DimmerOnly": Uses Dimmer Cue Only and releases the recently stored dimmer attributes in the next cue.
  • /CueOnly "DimmerOnlyDefaultNew": Uses Dimmer Cue Only and sets recently stored dimmer attributes to the default value in the next cue.

MIB

 Improved in this release

When MIB is in progress, the MIB indicator in the Fixture Sheet will indicate this:

  • Fast flashing: Fixtures fade out in order to perform an MIB.
  • Slow flashing: Fixtures perform an MIB fade.

The OffCue no longer displays MIB indicators.

 

 New in this release

Hold is a special value that can be set to prevent an MIB action.

It can only be applied to a dimmer attribute and is equivalent to a value of 0.
To prevent all fixtures (for example, scrollers) from performing an MIB action in the same cue, Hold can be used to distribute the movement across multiple cues.

To expressly perform a movement with an open dimmer between two cues, Hold can be used to enhance individual fixtures.

To learn more about Hold, please see the Hold keyword, and Move In Black.


 Improved in this release

MIB also works when the dimmer raises from 0 on the relative layer.


Editing of Sheet Columns

 New in this release

The columns of sheets are configurable in certain windows. These windows are the Sequence Sheet, Content Sheet, Fixture Sheet, the Layout Editor, the Agenda Viewer, RDM Devices Viewer, the Timecode Editor and Timecode Viewer.
The arrangement can be stored to the preferences of the window and recalled from there. Furthermore, the arrangement is also stored with the window inside a view.

To get the different options for column editing: Start a 2 Finger Scroll gesture in the header row of the desired sheet. The  symbol appears in the left corner. Tap .

Important:
When using the trackpad on an Apple Mac computer, the gesture is the same as described. However the white focus frame inside the grid scrolls as well.
  • Enter Column Editing: Enables the editing mode, where the user can show or hide columns or change the order of the columns.
  • Leave Column Editing: Allows to leave the editing mode.
  • Reset Column Filter: Resets the hidden columns to be displayed.
  • Reset Column Order: Resets the order of the columns to default.

To change the order or visibility of a column:

  1. Tap Enter Column Editing to start editing.
  2. Tap a column header to show or hide this column.
  3. Tap and hold a column, and drag it to the desired location.
  4. The target location is indicated by a vertical red line. The red line appears shortly after starting to move the finger to the left or right.
  5. Release the finger as soon as the desired location is reached.
  6. Tap Leave Column Editing to exit the edit mode.

To move a column without entering column editing:

  1. Long press and hold a column until the vertical red target line appears.
  2. Move the finger to the left or right.
  3. Release the finger as soon as the desired location is reached.

Attribute columns, for example, in the fixture sheet and track sheet mode of the sequence sheet, cannot be filtered out.
In some sheets, for example in the Sequence Sheet, there are two areas of columns that can be sorted. First the area with the Lock, No, Part, and Name columns, and second the area with all other columns. The column header in such grids will turn red when you try to move a column around. This indicates the area to which you cannot move the column you are currently touching.


The Column Editing replaces the following Mask settings in the Timecode Viewer window:  Show Appearance, Show Target, and Note.

 

 New in this release

Columns can be edited or saved as Column Sets in the Sequence Sheet, Agenda Viewer, or RDM Devices Viewer. Also, a selector for different column sets can be displayed in the title bar of the corresponding windows.

To edit the column sets of a window follow these steps: 

  1. Tap MA to enter the window settings. 
  2. Enter the Columns tab. 

To create a new Column Set:

  1. Tap, hold, and swipe Columns.
  2. Move your finger above New.
  3. Release your finger.
Hint:
When creating a new Column Set, the currently selected Column Set will be used as a template; Only columns that were visible in the sheet at a time already are offered in the Column Set editor.

To enable or disable the visibility of columns: Do a two-finger edit on Yes / No in the Visible column.
By tapping Set All Visible or Set All Invisible, all columns will be set to Visible Yes, or Visible No.

To change the order of the columns: Select the column, you want to move and change its position using  and .
As soon as the order of columns has changed, it is possible to reset the order by tapping Reset Order.
A white horizontal line divides the two different column areas where within each of them the columns can be reordered.

To recall the changed columns set, the window needs to be stored in a view or to a window preference.

To make the column set selector visible in the title bar of a window:

  1. Tap MA to enter the window settings. 
  2. Enter the Columns tab.
  3. Enable Edit Title Bar and then toggle Columns to Yes.

By tap and hold on Columns in the title bar of a window, a Columns Set editor will open. It offers the same tools as described above.
When entering Label into the command line and then tapping Columns in the title bar of a sheet, the label pop-up for the selected set opens.


In the Sequence Sheet, the Column Sets replace the different mask settings of Cue Settings, Cue Timing, Preset Timing, Note, Command, and MIB Settings.
When loading a show file from grandMA3 v1.9.7 or prior to grandMA3 v2.0 or later, the stored setting of masks is automatically migrated into Column Set 1.
The Sequence Sheet also provides three additional sets, Track, MIB, and Timing.
Each of these sets display the corresponding columns that the masks provided in previous versions.
The normal Sequence Sheet mode and the Track Sheet mode each remember which column set was previously selected.


Fixture Sheet

 New in this release

The fixture sheet offers new Sheet Modes:

  • Dimmer+: Looks similar to the Channel mode. However, it additionally displays the attributes of the selected feature group.
  • Sheet/Filter: The Dimmer+ sheet mode has a similar look as the Channel mode. It displays all attributes unless the user defines a filter in the Mask tab of the Fixture Sheet Settings.

Both modes have these features in common:

  • Vertical gray separators are displayed when there is a jump in IDs and when the IDType changes for fixtures that do not have a fixture ID.
  • Both modes are able to display the Fixture Graphics, but won't display the Feature Graphics. 

The Merge Cells setting now differs between merging values per Feature or per FeatureGroups. Therefore, the toggle button changed a swipe button, and offers the values None, Feature, and Feature Group. Feature equals to the former enabled state of Merge Cells.

In the sheet mode Channel, Dimmer+, Sheet/Filter it is possible to open a calculator for the attribute instead of editing the patch of the fixture. To edit the attribute, long press on the attribute, to open the patch, long press the Fixture ID.

Switching off a fixture using the fixture sheet in Channel, Dimmer+, or Sheet/Filter mode switches off the whole fixture.


 New in this release

New Fixture Sheet setting Show Name Field allows to display or hide the name of the fixtures when the fixture sheet is set to Sheet Mode Channel.

The new Fixture Sheet mask setting Show ID Type defines the displayed ID Type between the modes ChannelDimmer+, or Sheet/Filter.
When using these modes, and Show ID Type is enabled, the Fixture ID and CID are displayed together as soon as they are different, for example, 1:101. When both IDs are identical, only one number is displayed.

 

 New in this release

It is possible to assign filters, worlds, and the selections to reduce the number of fixtures or attributes displayed. As soon as a filter or world is assigned to the fixture sheet, the title bar informs the user about the assigned object and offers a button to remove the object from the fixture sheet.
When the selection is assigned, the displayed fixtures change dynamically as the selection itself changes.

Switching the fixture sheet to display the selection can be done by assigning the selection to the fixture sheet (Assign + Fixture + Fixture and tapping the title bar of the desired fixture sheet window), or by enabling Filter Selection in the MAsk tab of the Fixture Sheet context menu.
To assign a filter or world to a fixture sheet, enter an Assign command into the command line and then tap into the title bar of the desired fixture sheet:

  1. Enter a assign command into the command line: Assign Filter ["Filter_Name" or Filter_Number] or Assign World ["World_Name" or World_Number]
  2. Tap the title bar of the desired fixture sheet.

Furthermore, the Filter setting in the Mask tab of the Fixture Sheet Settings pop-up can be used to select a world.

This also applies to the Sequence Sheet.


 New in this release

The Channel Set setting defines the readout of values that are part of channel sets:

  • Value: Only the value is displayed.
  • Value+Name: The value and the name of the channel set are displayed.
  • Name: Only the name of the channel set is displayed.

This also applies the Sequence Sheet and the Content Sheet.


See also Window Settings.


 Improved in this release

  • The fixture sheet displays now DMX values instead of the value inside a channel function, when a channel function was active. 
  • Opening the calculator of an attribute on the Output Layer or the DMX Layer opens it for the Absolute layer.
  • When going through a selection by using Next and Prev and Fixture Sort is enabled, the main selected fixtures will be displayed first, and then the sub-selected fixtures will be displayed.
  • When the Layer setting of the fixture sheet is set to Auto, the resulting output value will be displayed, although the selected layer of the user profile is the Absolute layer. The value of the Absolute layer will be displayed when selecting the Absolute value of the Layer setting in the Fixture Sheet.


Layouts

 Improved in this release

  • When assigning the selection to a layout, only the selected fixtures are taken. Sub selected fixtures are not assigned to the layout.
  • Assigning an object such as a sequence to a blank element in the layout view creates a new element in both setup and normal mode.
  • Added useful minimum and maximum for Position X, Position Y, Dimension W, and Dimension H.
  • When Dimension W and Dimension H are set to 0, and FitType is set to Canvas, ZoomToFit is not offered anymore. Also, AutoZoom is doing nothing under that condition.
  • The displayed appearance on a layout element can be rotated and mirrored using Rotatation and Mirror in the layout element editor.
  • The custom text of an object can be orientated vertically as well.
  • Scribbles assigned to objects can be displayed in layout elements.
  • The Auto tool () changes the function depending on the object area:
    • Tapping inside the area of a layout element, the move function is used.
    • Tapping outside of a layout element at the edges, allows to change the size of the element of the used axis.
    • Tapping outside of a layout element at the corners, uses the resize function to change the size. This tool does not respect the ratio.
    • Holding MA and tapping outside of a layout element at the corners, uses the resize tool with fixed ratio.
  • Improved the custom text properties:
    • Text Horizontal was renamed Align Horizontal.
    • Align Horizontal offers new values Outside Left and Outside Right, which would place the custom text outside of the layout element on the left or right side.
    • Text Vertical was renamed Align Vertical.
    • Align Vertical offers the new value Below, which places the text outside below the layout element.
    • The new setting Vertical displays the custom text in vertical direction, when it is enabled.
  • When the Layout Viewer is in Setup mode, the overall selection frame around all selected elements exceeds the outside corners.
  • When Show Selection in the Layout window is disabled, the border of layout elements that have an object assigned is hidden.
  • The Selection Mode setting of the Layout window defines if the lasso selection inside a Layout window shall result in a linear selection or in a 2D Grid selection arrangement in the selection grid.
    Depending on the selected mode, the frame color will be different:
    • 2D Grid: Green
    • Linearize: Yellow
  • In addition to the Selection Mode setting, tapping  in the Layout Viewer window arranges the selection in the selection grid correspondingly to the fixture positions of the currently displayed layout.
  • The Lasso Filter settings defines which layout elements will be selected when making a lasso selection:
    • All: All layout elements will be selected.
    • Fixtures: Only layout elements that have fixtures assigned get selected.
    • Others: Layout elements that have anything else than fixtures assigned will be selected.
  • Window Preferences can be stored and loaded in the Layout Viewer Window.

See also Layout View Settings and Edit Layout Elements.


Windows, Views, and View Bar

 Improved in this release

  • The View Bar can be positioned horizontally. To switch the position, open the Configure Display dialog and tap  above ShowViewBar.
  • The View Bar can show up to 3 columns of view buttons. To adjust the amount, use the + and - below ShowViewBar.
  • The View Bar can be scrolled. Each column offers up to 100 view buttons.
    When a view bar is scrolled above the initial count, tapping in the upper right (vertical arrangement) or tapping  upper left (horizontal arrangement) allows to quickly return to the top of the view bar.
    The View Bars can be either scrolled vertically or horizontally. This is determined by the position of the View Bar.
  • View buttons indicate the type of object assigned to them by a colored indicator bar and the corresponding icon of the object type.
  • While pressing MA, the icon unhides the pool ID of the assigned object on a view button.
  • Views that have 2 or more screens stored are displayed by an additional screen icon, for example: . The white squares in the icon indicate which screens are part of the view.
  • Tapping an empty view button clears the screen, and the command line history will display the information "(Click on empty ViewButton)" in addition to the execution of the Delete ScreenContent command.
  • When storing a view, a screenshot button () in the top left corner of the store dialog offers to do a screenshot when enabled. After tapping OK, a new appearance will be created and then assigned to the view.
    As soon as two or more screens are selected in the Store View pop-up, the screenshot functionality will be temporarily grayed out.
    To remove the assignment of an Appearance from a View, edit the view, or a command that is based on this syntax:
    Assign Appearance At View ["View_Name" or View_Number]
  • These objects can also be assigned to a view button:
    • Encoder Bars
    • Macros
    • MAtricks
    • Plugins
    • Quickeys
    • ScreenConfigurations
    • Timers
    • Users
  • When tapping view buttons that have filters, or worlds assigned, the object itself will be selected in the pool.
  • Improved View editor: Select the screen content mask in a similar way to a view button store.

See also View Bar and View Buttons.

 

 New in this release

Pool windows, for example, the Group Pool window, allow to set Pool Columns in their settings. The Pool Title Object displays an icon () if a pool column is set.

Using Pool Columns retains the initial look in a pool window even if the pool window was resized after arranging the pool objects.

To see how the pool columns works, try this example:

  1. Open a Group Pool window using the complete screen size.
  2. Store some groups and arrange them in a nice layout that fits the placement of the fixtures on stage.
  3. Make the Group Pool window smaller.
    1. As a result, the groups are shifted around in the window.
  4. Set Pool Columns to the value 18 (the amount of a pool window, when it is opened using the full screen, while the view bar is enabled).

As a result, the arrangement of the pool object inside the window stays consistent.

When Pool Columns is set to a value that is smaller than the current width of the window, the remaining space will be displayed in black.
To get back to a dynamic pool window, set Pool Columns to the value Not Defined.

See also Window Settings.


Selection and Selection Grid

 Improved in this release

  • The title bar buttons of the Selection Grid window can be configured by enabling Edit Title Bar in the Selection Grid Window Settings.
  • It is possible to align the selection to the left, the center, or the right of the whole selection, by tapping ,  in the tool bar.
  • The settings Auto Remove Gaps and Auto Remove Offset are combined in the new setting Preserve GridPositions. When Preserve GridPositions is enabled, the original grid position, for example, from the called group, will be applied. When it is disabled, all gaps and the offset to the origin of the grid will be suppressed. When tapping into the selection grid, Preserve GridPositions will be enabled in order to allow to add the next selection at the defined position.
    Also when storing a selection into an object, for example, a group, the state of Preserve GridPositions of the group will be recalled as long as Preserve GridPositions is disabled before calling the group.
  • Tapping  (Remove Gaps) takes out all gaps between the selected fixtures.
  •  (Remove Offset) removes the offset between the origin and the selection.
  • The multiply and divide tool (*2 and /2) multiplies or divides the space on the x-axis relatively between fixtures inside the selection grid.
  • Tapping  transforms the current selection to be symmetrical.
  • The MAtricks Transformation setting allows to retain the initial grid view when applying MAtricks. When it is disabled, the fixtures will not be displayed stacked in the selection grid, as soon as the user applies MAtricks. It is enabled by default.
  • Tapping  (Use MAtricks position and reset MAtricks) keeps the fixtures at their MAtricks transformed coordinates and removes the MAtricks.
  • The Move Grid Cursor setting in the title bar represents the Move Grid Cursor setting of the user profile. When selecting fixtures, Move Grid Cursor will work as specified in the user profile. If fixtures are selected through a group, the Move Grid Cursor setting from the called group gets applied. When switching the Move Grid Cursor value, the cursor changes immediately to a new grid position representing the new mode.
  • The Move Grid Cursor settings (Store Preferences, Groups, Preferences and Timing - Groups) have new values available: <Linked>Newline, and None:
    • <Linked>: The setting of the user profile is taken when calling a group.
    • Newline: The grid cursor will be set to the first empty line (in Y direction) after selecting new fixtures.
    • None: The cursor won't move when selecting fixtures or groups.
  • It is possible to open a temporary Selection Grid overlay when tapping Selection in the Encoder Bar.
  • The grid tools Align, Flip, Linearize, Rotate, and Transpose work now relative on the current grid position.
  • The Selection Grid window can display red center lines for the current selection. They can be enabled or disabled separately for X and Y in the context menu of the Selection Grid window by toggling Centerline X and Centerline Y. The color can be changed via the color definition SelectionGrid.Centerline in the color theme.
  • The font size of the fixture numbers in the selection grid boxes can be defined by the Font Size setting in the Selection Grid window settings. When it is set to Automatic, the font size depends on the size of the Selection Grid window and the zoom in the Selection Grid window.
  • The Selection Grid window has per default the Align Bar visible at its bottom. To hide the Align Bar, disable Align Bar in the settings menu of the Selection Grid window.
  • Off + tapping a fixture in the selection grid knocks out the fixture in the programmer. Whenever Setup mode is enabled, it is possible to knock out multiple fixtures at once using Off  and dragging a lasso around your selection.
  • The Selection Grid window displays a green outline around the overall selection.

With the new Setup mode, it is possible to move fixtures around in the selection grid.

Example:

  1. Select some fixtures, for example, Fixture 1 Thru 10.
  2. Open a Selection Grid window.
  3. Enable Setup in the title bar of the Selection Grid window.
  4. Tap a fixture to select it. In case you want to move several fixtures at once, tap more fixtures, or do a lasso selection to select several fixtures.
  5. Tap, hold and drag one of the selected fixtures to the new position.
  6. When done with adjusting the grid positions, disable Setup.

Use the Grid tools in the setup mode with partly selected fixtures. 

Setup mode can be left by executing ClearAll (3x Clear).
Selecting fixtures again while being in Setup mode will toggle the selection state of the fixtures.
When the Setup mode is enabled, Selection in the encoder bar will indicate this by a pulsating yellow indicator bar.

 

The Selection Grid allows to place fixtures on negative grid coordinates.

 

MAtricks X,Y and Z directions are now relative to the entire range of selected fixtures.
This means that when moving through a selection with Next or Prev, if the selection does not start at grid 0/0/0, it is not necessary to continue moving through the grid until the first fixture will be mainly selected. This applies for Next/PreviousNextY/PreviousY, and NextZ/PreviousZ).

 

When having multi-instance fixtures selected, pressing Down arranges the sub fixtures depending on the arrangement of the sub-fixtures inside the main fixture. It is also possible to go Up again to the former selection. This works for all levels of sub fixtures inside fixtures. Each level of selection can have its own MAtricks.


The grid positions of sub fixtures are automatically determined by the positions defined by the geometries inside the fixture type. Furthermore, the Geometries tab inside the fixture type editor offers new columns in order to modify the grid positions manually:

  • Grid Auto: Can change between Auto and Manual. In Auto mode (default value), the positions are determined automatically. When set to Manual, the user can define the grid positions by their own using the following properties.
  • Grid Swap XY: Interchanges the grid positions between the X and Y axis.
  • Grid Inv X: Inverts the grid positions on the X-axis.
  • Grid Inv Y: Inverts the grid positions on the Y-axis.
  • Grid Inv Z: Inverts the grid positions on the Z-axis.
  • Grid X: Defines the position of the geometry on the X-Axis.
  • Grid Y: Defines the position of the geometry on the Y-Axis.
  • Grid Z: Defines the position of the geometry on the Z-Axis.

The GridStore command transfers the grid positions in the selection grid of the selected subfixtures into the fixture. To do so:

  1. Arrange the subfixtures in the selection grid.
  2. Execute GridStore using the command line.

 

The new Align Range functionality (RxRy, and Rz in the MAtricks window) allows to define if the alignment of values is to be made across the whole selection (=Align Range is disabled), or if the values are to be aligned per row/column individually. This can be defined individually per axis.
When an Align Range is enabled, the green frame around the selection in the Selection Grid window changes. Around each row or column (depending on the direction and the status of the different Aling Range settings), a dark sea green colored frame will be displayed.


Improved the behavior when storing groups. Therefore, Group preferences are now located in the Preferences and Timings menu:

  • When Move Grid Cursor 1D Selection is enabled, Move Grid Cursor will be enabled in the group that was stored, given the Selection Grid has a selection only in one dimension.
  •  Move Grid Cursor 2D/3D Selection will enable Move Grid Cursor in the group that was stored, given the Selection Grid has a selection in at least two dimensions.

When assigning a group to an executor, define the desired group mode by changing Mode. Once you change it manually to anything else but None, this setting will not apply.


Encoder Bar

 Improved in this release

  • In a world, the Encoder Bank Bar (read below in the Encoder Bar Pool paragraph) in the Encoder Bar now only displays Encoder Banks with attributes within that world, or with the attributes of the fixtures within that world.

 New in this release 

The Encoder Bar window allows to switch the GUI style of the encoders to fader style. To do so, open the settings of the Encoder Bar window, and enable Fade Encoder. The encoder area in the Encoder Bar windows changes to fader style.
It is also possible to show or hide the different elements of the encoder bar by enabling or disabling the different settings in the Encoder Bar window settings:

  • Title Bar: Shows or hides the title bar. Press both  MA or Ctrl + Alt  to temporarily show the title bar. 
  • User Profile Settings: Shows or hides the buttons on the left side of the encoder bar that contain these user profile settings: SyncSingle StepAlign, and Readout.
  • Grand Master: Shows or hides the grand master fader.
  • Encoder Bank: Toggles the visibility of the Encoder Bank buttons.
  • Tool Pop-Ups: Shows or hides the tool buttons to the right of the encoder bank button: Selection, Phaser, and MAtricks.
  • Timing Buttons: Shows or hides the buttons Prog Time and Exec Time.
  • Encoder Page: Shows or hides the Encoder Page selector.
  • Layer Toolbar: Shows or hides the Layer Toolbar.
  • Step Buttons: Shows or hides step buttons. 
  • Encoder Label: Shows the active value and the name above the encoder. This function works only when Fade Encoder is enabled.
  • Function Selector: Shows or hides the channel function area.
  • Fader Encoders: Changes the classic encoder to a fade encoder 
  • The Encoder Bar is also available as an overlay. To open the Encoder Bar overlay, tap    in the Control Bar. The overlay always displays the encoder in fader style.
  • The Encoder Bar window allows to save and load Window Preferences.

The Encoder Bar overlay displays only the following elements: Buttons Left, the Encoder Bank buttons, the encoder page selector, the Value button, the Layer tool bar, the Step Selector, and the five dual encoders.


Encoder Bar Pool

 New in this release

The encoder bar pool defines the arrangement of attribute encoders. Each UserProfile has its own encoder bar pool. To create an encoder bar pool, open the Add Window dialog, and tap Encoder Bars in the Pool tab.

Encoder bar pool object 1 is the default encoder arrangement as known. This pool object cannot be modified by the user. To always go back to a functional arrangement of attribute encoders based on the patched attributes and their feature groups select encoder bar pool object 1. When selecting an Encoder Bar, the first Encoder Bank of the new selected Encoder Bar will be selected.

Store a new encoder bar or copy the default one to start. The encoder bar area and the encoder bar window follows the selected pool object. When switching from one encoder bar to another, encoder bank 1 gets selected.

The structure of the encoder bar:
Inside an encoder bar pool object, the main elements are the encoder banks. Encoder banks represent the top button bar in the encoder bar. In the MA default encoder bar, these buttons are labeled with the names of the used feature groups.
An encoder bank has children called Encoder Pages. To switch an encoder page, use the button on the left side of the Link Value button in the encoder bar.
An encoder page has 5 dual encoder children, with settings for Inner Object and Outer Object. If only one attribute is assigned to a dual encoder inner or outer ring, the other ring is assigned to the same attribute and the dual encoder factor of the user profile is applied.

Edit the Inner Object or Outer Object cell of an Encoder to assign a function to it.
In the Assignment Editor, tap Attribute, and select the desired attribute from the list. It is also possible to search for an attribute. By using Filter in the title bar, you can also filter the list of attributes by all attributes that are used by fixture types in the show (Used in Show), by all attributes that are not used in the show (Not Used), or by all attributes that are used by the currently selected fixture (Selection). Switching this setting back to All displays all attributes that are part of the Attribute Definition in the Patch menu. As long as the Encoder Bar editor stays open, the set Filter and Search term are remembered when opening the Assignment Editor again.
To clear the assignment of an encoder, choose Empty in the Assignment Editor.

Instead of attributes, dual encoders can have other functions assigned to them, such as controlling the X and Y direction of the screen encoder. To achieve this, edit either the Inner Object or Outer Object of an Encoder and select the desired direction in the ScreenEncoderDirection tab in the Assignment Editor.

As long as all Encoders on an Encoder Page have no used attribute assigned, the Encoder Page name will be displayed in red in the editor. As long as all Encoder Pages inside an Encoder Bank are empty, the name of the Encoder Bank will also be displayed in red. Unused attributes are also displayed in red when assigned to an encoder. When an encoder has only unused attributes assigned, it will also be displayed in red.

Attributes are also marked in red when they are not available in the currently selected world.

When an encoder has for the inner object or outer object nothing assigned or an unused attribute assigned, while the other object is a used attribute, the whole dual encoder gives access to the used attribute. In this case, the empty object of the encoder displays the function of the other object in angular brackets, for example, <3 'Tilt'>.
When an encoder is empty on the inner and outer object or has both unused attributes assigned, the encoder won't be displayed in the encoder bar at all.

Encoders that have the same functionality on the inner and outer encoder, display this by the encoder icon where the inner and outer encoder are white.

As the EncoderPage keyword was removed, the encoder pages can be addressed by using the EncoderBank keyword (MA + X15 | Page + X15 | Page + X15 | Page). To switch between the encoder bars, use the EncoderBar keyword (MA + X15 | Page + X15 | Page).

To switch to the second encoder page of the fifth encoder bank, type:

User name[Fixture]Select EncoderBank 5.2

To switch to the second encoder page of the fifth encoder bank of the second encoder bar, type:

User name[Fixture]Select EncoderBar 2.5.2

To switch to the encoder page named 'Song 2' of the encoder bank called 'Show', type:

User name[Fixture]Select EncoderBank "Show"."Song 2"


Each EncoderBank allows to execute a command when the Encoder Bank is selected. To define a command, the Command cell in the Encoder Bar editor of the desired Encoder Bank needs to be edited.

The EncoderBank setting SpecialDialog Tab defines to which tab the Special Dialog window should switch, when this encoder bank gets selected. If the Special Dialog window should not switch the tab, set this setting to None.
In addition to this encoder bank setting, the Special Dialog setting Link Encoder Bank needs to be enabled.
For Encoder Bar pool object 1, all encoder banks, except Color and Shaper, are set to None. Color and Shaper encoder banks are set to Color tab and Shaper tab.


To switch the encoder bank by using a shortcut, press: Preset + 1/2/3/.../9.

Furthermore, the Encoder Bank buttons display their corresponding ID in the upper left corner.

Encoder Bar pool objects can be assigned to ViewButtons.


Knob UI Style and Encoder UI Style

 New in this release

The Knob UI Style setting in the user profile defines how knobs in the user interface can be operated by using the following windows:
Playback window, XKeys window, Custom Master Section window, and their respective overlays.

The Encoder UI Style setting in the user profile defines how encoders in the user interface can be operated by using the following windows:
Encoder Bar window, Encoder Bar are on screen 1, command wing Bar window, and their respective overlays.

To change these setting, go to Menu - Settings - User Configuration - Profiles. These are the possible values:

  • None: Only available for the Encoder Style.  You cannot use gestures to change the values of encoders.
  • Drag: The fader overlay can be used to change values on encoders and knobs.
  • Rotate: To change values, use the virtual encoder gesture on encoders and knobs.

To operate knobs or encoders when the Knob Style or Encoder Style is set to Drag:

  1. Tap and hold the knob/encoder, drag it outside the knob/encoder, and release the finger.
  2. A fader overlay opens. Depending on the drag direction, it opens horizontally or vertically.
  3. Tap into the fader area and hold it.
  4. To change the value, move the finger in the direction of the bar.
  5. When the value is set, release the finger.
  6. The overlay closes automatically when releasing the finger outside of the knob.
  7. Tapping the fader opens a calculator.
  8. If the position is held for more than one second, the fader value will be locked. 

The buttons - and + in the fader overlay allow changing the value by 10%.
Tapping Resolution in the knob overlay changes the value between Slow and Fast. Depending on the resolution that was set, the value of the fader will either change in a slower or faster manner when the fader is moved in the overlay.
Tapping Resolution in the encoder overlay changes the value between Coarse, Fine, Increment, and Native. Learn more about the encoder resolution in the Encoder Resolution topic.

Each knob/encoder overlay displays which fader function is assigned to the knob/encoder.
When Encoder Left Command or Encoder Right Command are assigned to a knob, the fader overlay can also be used to operate the knob accordingly. Instead of - and +, the buttons in the overlay will display the assigned function for Encoder Left Command and Encoder Right Command.


Generator

 New in this release

Generators are objects that allow a dynamic value generation for special purposes, like randomization of values on attributes.
Learn more about the different purposes in the following sub-chapters.

Executing the ListReference command for a generator object, for example, a Random object, informs the user where this generator is used.
When editing a generator object that is already used in a preset or cue, the values in the referenced object arealso updated.


Random

 New in this release

The generator type Random allows the randomization of values of attributes in different ways. Randoms are organized in the Generator pool. The Generator pool is part of the data pools. To address the generator pool objects, use the Generator keyword.

To create and edit a new Generator object, open a Generator pool window (Data Pools-tab in the Add Window dialog), and edit an empty object.
The Generator editor allows to set different values for the parameters of a Random Channel:
The top area of the Random editor allows to manage the different Random Channels. Each Random Channel can be set to an attribute by editing the Attribute cell.

Hint:
When no attribute is set, the Random Channel will be applied later to all attributes.

With the different Random Channels inside a Generator pool object it is possible to set up different randomizations for different attributes.

Random channel parameters can be modified either using the table at the top area or the faders in the bottom area of the editor.

The parameter are as following:

  • Speed: Defines the speed of how fast the values are randomized. This value is relative to the current playback speed.
  • Speed Variance: Defines through the selection how big the speed may differ.
  • Phase: Sets the Phase of the Random between 0° and 360°.
  • Phase Variance: Defines the size of variance of the Phase value. If the selected fixtures use the Random feature and this value is not 0%, their behavior will change. 
  • Low: Defines the lowest value the random can reach.
  • Low Variance: Defines the degree of variation of the Low value. This adds some variation through the selected fixtures for the Low value. This variance acts only on the positive side of the Low value.
  • High: Defines the highest value the random can reach.
  • High Variance: Defines the size of value variance of the High value. This adds some variation through the selected fixtures for the High value. This variance acts only on the negative side of the High value.
  • Attack: Defines the size of the linear transition towards the High value.
  • Decay: Defines the size of the linear transition towards the Low value.
  • Ratio: Defines the ratio of how long fixtures will use the Low or High value.
  • Ratio Variance: Defines the amount of variance in the Ratio value.
  • Random Start: If Random Start is disabled, the Random will always start with the same random look every time the Random gets started. This might be useful in environments that need a predictable start. If Random Start is enabled, the random will start differently every time it will be started.
  • Speed Once: When Speed Once is disabled, speed changes are applied immediately to the running random. When it is enabled, the user has to call the random again.
  • Phase Once: When Phase Once is disabled, changes to the phase parameters are applied immediately. By default this setting is enabled.
When the Generator editor is closed, the changes are applied to the Generator object. While editing a Generator object, tapping Revert discards all current changes back to the values that were valid when the Generator editor was opened.
Tapping At applies the Generator to the current selection.

When the Generator editor is open, the encoder displays the Generator Encoder Bar which provides access to the properties Speed, Speed Variance, Phase, Phase Variance, Low, Low Variance, High, and High Variance of the selected Random Channels. 

To apply a Generator to fixtures, select the desired fixtures, and tap the Generator pool object.

To call the second Generator for the selected fixtures, type:

User name[Fixture]At Generator 2

To apply the Generator called 'Flicker' to the Zoom attributes of the selected fixtures, type:

User name[Fixture]Attribute "Zoom" At Generator "Flicker"

Hint:
We provide six different random generators that can be imported into your Generator pool.


Bitmap

 New in this release

The generator type Bitmap allows to use media files (for examples, images, gobos, or videos) for mapping them to a selection of fixtures. Bitmaps are organized in the Bitmap pool. The Bitmap pool is part of the data pools. To address the Bitmap pool objects, use the Bitmap keyword.

To create and edit a new Bitmap object, open a Bitmap pool window (Data Pools-tab in the Add Window dialog), and edit an empty object. The Bitmap editor has different areas to setup the Bitmap generator:

The top area allows access to the Bitmap Configurations, and to the Bitmap Channels. To switch from one to the other, tap Config or Channel in the tab bar on the left side.

  • Bitmap Configurations: With the Bitmap Configurations, several media files can be set up inside one Bitmap Generator object. The Bitmap Configuration with the green background is the selected Bitmap Configuration that is output. To select a different Bitmap Configuration, tap the desired Bitmap Configuration then tap Select Bitmap Config.
    The media file of the selected Bitmap configuration is displayed in the Bitmap pool object. These are the Bitmap Configuration properties:
    • Content: The media file to be played back by the Bitmap Configuration.
    • Width / Height: The size of the canvas to which the source is mapped. The default size is 64 x 64 pixels.
    • Interpolate: Smoothens the transition from fixture to fixture when playing back a media file.
    • Alpha: When enabled, the alpha channel of the used media file is taken into account.
    • Content Mode: Can be set to None, Clip (media file uses the whole canvas size), or Wrap (media file is displayed several times across the canvas).
    • Control X / Y: Moves the canvas in X and Y direction.
    • Control Zoom: Zooms the canvas and keeps the aspect ratio.
    • Control Aspect: Changes the aspect ratio of the canvas in Y direction.
    • Control Rotate: Rotates the canvas.
    • Color R / G / B: Changes the color of the played back media files.

When inserting a new Bitmap Configuration, the values for Control, Width, and Height will be set to the values of the selected Bitmap Configuration.

  • Bitmap Channels:  A Bitmap Channel allows to setup to which attributes the media file should respond to:
    • Attribute: The attribute that the bitmap generator should use to create values for the selected fixtures.
    • Virtual Dimmer: The Bitmap Channel with this setting set to Yes, defines how virtual dimmers in fixtures are handled by the Bitmap.
    • Source: Defines which part of the used media file should be analyzed to create the final values for the attributes.
    • Value Low / High: Defines the value range of the attribute to which the source should be mapped.

The bottom area grants always access via faders to the Control attributes of the selected Bitmap Configuration.
Tap Reset All to set the settings that are available through the faders to their default. Furthermore, tapping Reset under a fader resets this particular fader. All settings that are available as faders can also be changed by using the Bitmap Generator Encoder Bar. This encoder bar appears when the Bitmap Generator Editor is open.
While editing a Bitmap Generator object, tapping Revert discards all current changes back to the values that were valid when the Bitmap Generator editor was opened.

Control Fixture defines which Bitmap Control fixture (see below) controls this Bitmap Generator right now.
Enabling Link Control Fixture selects the set Bitmap Control Fixture in the Selection 2, and applies the Bitmap Generator to it. When selecting a Control FixtureLink Control Fixture will be enabled automatically.

Tap SpeedMaster to assign a speed master to the Bitmap Generator. The Speed Master setting of a Bitmap Generator controls the speed of the played back videos in this Bitmap Generator.

Tapping At applies the Bitmap Generator to the current selection.

Tapping Dimensions From Selection changes the Width and Height of the selected Bitmap Configuration so that it matches the size of the current selection in the selection grid.
Auto Format: When this is enabled, Format Selection will be executed automatically as soon as the Bitmap Generator is applied to a new selection.
When tapping Format Selection, the selection will be scaled in the selection grid so that it fits as close as possible to the size of the canvas. The ratio of the selection in the selection grid is taken into account when scaling the selection.

To be able to output a Bitmap generator to fixtures, it is necessary to select fixtures and arrange them in the Selection Grid. Furthermore, the canvas of the selected Bitmap Configuration needs to be aligned in the selection grid with the selected fixtures. This can be done by using the Control attributes: X,Y, Zoom, Aspect, and Rotate.
The canvas is used to map the media file of the Bitmap Generator object to the fixtures.
The canvas is represented by a purple rectangle in the Selection Grid window. It is visible as long as one attribute of the selection uses a Bitmap Generator as a value.
The selected Bitmap Generator pool object defines the canvas that will be displayed in the Selection Grid window.

Bitmap Generator objects can be applied to a selection by applying them to the selected fixtures by using this syntax:

At Bitmap ["Bitmap_Name" or Bitmap_Number]

Using this way, Bitmaps can be stored as values into selective presets or cues.

Hint:
For testing purposes, we provide three simple video clips you can import into your Video pool.
Hint:
If NDI input is used in a setup with several consoles and processing units, the NDI stream must be available at all calculating stations.


 New in this release

With the new MA Lighting fixture type Bitmap Control, it is also possible to program the Bitmap Generators more versatile into cues or presets. To do so,

  1. Patch at minimum one fixture using the MA Lighting Bitmap Control fixture type. Give it at least a FID.
  2. Select the fixtures you want to apply the Bitmap Generator to. Make sure that they are arranged in the selection grid properly.
  3. Apply the desired Bitmap to them, by tapping the Bitmap generator object in the pool or by using the At Bitmap syntax.
  4. Select the Bitmap Control fixture.
  5. Apply the desired Bitmap to the Bitmap Control fixture by tapping the Bitmap generator object in the pool or by using the At Bitmap syntax. This will set the Bitmap Generator as value on the Object attribute in the Gobo feature group of the Bitmap Control fixture. To apply a different BitmapConfiguration, scroll through the Config attribute.

The attributes X, Y, R, G, B, and Zoom of the Bitmap Control fixture modifies the corresponding settings of the Bitmap generator.


Sounds

 New in this release

It is possible to import audio files into the sound pool. These audio files can be played back by using Go+ or to stop the playback by using Off in combination with the sound pool object, or by playing it back via an executor when the sound pool object is assigned to an executor.

To select the sound interface that should output the sound go to Menu - Settings - Local SettingsonPC Local Settings and change the Audio Out Device to the desired interface.


The Grand Sound Out master needs to be above 0 % to get an output. By using the master fader of a sound pool object the volume of each sound can be adjusted individually.

In order to adjust the level of a sound file, the setting dB can be set to a value between -6 and +6.

Sounds that are played back are also listed in the Off Menu and the Running Playbacks window, and can be switched off from there as well. The progress bar on sound pool objects display the playback progress.

Known Limitation:
The Sound Pool is limited to 100 MB.
Sounds are only output at stations, that are GlobalMaster, IdleMaster, or Standalone.

Audio files that exceed the file size limit will be highlighted in red in the import dialogs.
This applies also to images and video files when being imported.

It is also possible to use third-party USB sound cards connected to the grandMA3 consoles. MA Lighting cannot guarantee that all USB sounds cards will work with grandMA3 consoles, as the number of different USB sound cards out in the field may be very high.

In general, audio interfaces that are HD Audio-compliant and that are supported by the snd-hda-intel module should work.
MA Lighting tested successfully these HD Audio-compliant devices:

  • Focusrite Saffire USB
  • M-Audio Air Hub
  • Palmer PLI 04 USB
  • Radial USB-Pro

Timecode

 New in this release

Sound pool objects can be assigned to tracks in timecode shows. Or when recording a timecode show, and then playing back a sound, the sound will also be recorded as a track in the timecode show.
Sounds that are part of a timecode show will display the waveform of the sound file in the timecode track. A horizontal center line divides the left from the right audio track.

During the playback of a timecode show, the sounds will also be played back through the defined Audio Out Device. For more information read above the Sounds paragraph.

The color of the waveform can be changed via the color theme: Color definition Global.WaveForm is used by color Timecode.WaveFormColor.

In case the audio file in use is corrupted, the  icon will be displayed on the left side of the track in use. Tapping this icon opens a pop-up and informs the user that the waveform could not be fully generated.


 Improved in this release

Several Timecode Viewer windows are connected together when they are set up to display the selected timecode show. This can be useful for example, in order to have the view mode Timeline in one window and the text view in another. The selected tools, View Modes, etc. can be set individually for each window.
When several Timecode Viewer windows display the same timecode show, but it is not the selected timecode show, they are not linked together.

The title bar buttons of the Timecode Viewer window can be configured like other windows like other windows.

As soon as the displayed timecode show is set to a timecode slot that is not the internal, the Timecode Viewer window and the Timecode Editor will grant access to the Offset TC Slot  directly in the title bar. 


 New in this release

In MenuPreferences and TimingsGlobal, the setting Timecode Events Recording from defines which user actions will be recorded:

  • All Users records the playback actions from all others.
  • Single User records only the playback actions from the user who started the timecode recording. This is the default.

When Timecode Events Recording from is set to Single User, the timecode editor will display a dark yellow record button, when a different user records already into the same timecode show.

The new setting Playback and Record of Timecode shows defines which types of events will be played back and recorded:

  • Manual Events: Only actions triggered by the user are recorded and played back. All automatically recorded events, for example, Follow Cues are not recorded, nor played back. If this value is set, any prior automatically recorded events will be displayed as a small black dot. Later changes of cue commands are respected when playing back the timecode show. This is the default value of the Playback and Record setting.
  • All Events: All events will be recorded and played back. When this value is set, the Execute Command cells display a "---" to indicate, that the user cannot override the command execution of cue commands within the timecode show. Cue commands are recorded and later changes of the commands in cues are not part of the timecode show.
With the introduction of Playback and Record the Ignore Follow setting got obsolete and is removed.

The setting Record Remote Event defines whether playback action that are triggered by remote actions are recorded or not. When this setting is enabled, all remote events are recorded, regardless of the status of the Timecode Events Recording from setting.


 Improved in this release

  • Improved the export and import of timecode shows:
    • The property FaderToken exits only for FaderSubTracks.
    • Added the missing Play and Rec properties when exporting or importing timecode shows.
  • Track groups are expanded upon creation in the timecode editor.
  • Markers are created in the selected track group instead of the track group with the last selected track.
  • When a fader is moved and the sequence AutoStart or AutoStop is used to start or stop the sequence, a cue event will be also recorded. Timecode shows from v1.9.7.0 or prior will add such an event when migrating to v2.0 or later.
  • Automatically recorded events display an icon next to the event diamond (), indicating the type of the event:
    • : This event was recorded as it was a timed cue, for example, triggered by the Follow time of a cue.
    • :
      • Right side of the event diamond: This event triggers also a command.
      • Center of the event diamond: This event was created when a command was executed in a cue.
    • : This event was triggered by a cue command.
    • : This event was triggered by moving a fader and AutoStart or AutoStop of the assigned sequence started or stopped the sequence.
    • : When a playback was switched off via Off When Overriden.
    • : The event was created by executing a macro.
    • : The event was created via a DMX remote.
    • : The event was created via a MIDI remote.
    • : The event was created via a DC remote.
  • The CMD icon () of events with disabled commands (either by disabling them in the timecode show by setting Execute Command to No, or by switching off Command Enable in a sequence) will be displayed in red.
  • The Target cell of a track displays the assigned object with its name now with a line break.
  • The default value of Record Go setting changed to as Goto (Status).
  • Command Execution can also override the commands of recorded Off Cues.
  • The read-only column AbsTime reports the absolute time of events inside the timecode show. The column Time reports the time of events inside their Time Range. The Time encoder in the Timecode Encoder Bar displays as TC the absolute time, and with TR the time inside the Time Range. Both times are only displayed when the time and the absolute time are different.
  • The default value for Cursor Mode of Timecode Viewer windows changed to Center.
  • When recording new events, toggle events are recorded as Go+ and Off events, depending on whether the toggle started or stopped the sequence.
  • The new setting Fade Override per event allows to define a fade time for the event that overrides the cue fade time when the timecode show is played back.
  • Only faders that the user moves are recorded. Touching a fader without changing the fader level will no longer record the sequence.
  • Improved the behavior of the 2 finger scroll gesture in the timecode editor.
  • When two or more events are visually almost at the same place (+/- 1 pixel) an additional icon () is displayed to inform the user that not all events at this place can be displayed. The indicator disappears when zooming in, as there may be enough room to place the events side by side on the timeline.
  • The Settings menu of a timecode show privodes to lock or unlock the timecode show by tapping Lock.

Clone Window

 New in this release

Clone operations can be done easily within the Clone window.

Execute Clone in the command line. This will open the Clone window as a temporary overlay.
When specifying a source and destination in the clone command, these fixtures will be put into the Clone window as source and destination.
The settings of the Clone window that were active upon closing the window, will be recalled if you open it again.

The Clone window is separated in two areas by several filter options that are placed between those areas. The Clone Source is on the left side, and the Clone Destination on the right side. 

To set source or destination fixtures or groups follow these steps:

  1. Tap on source or destination side to set the focus to the desired side.
  2. Tap + and select fixtures or groups in the pop-up. Then tap Add.
  3. Or tap Add Selection at the bottom of the corresponding area in order to add the current selection as source or destination.

When doing a 2 finger right-click gesture on an existing entry in one of the list, the fixture selection pop-up will also open. This allows to easily replace existing fixtures easily.
If one side has fewer fixtures selected than the other one, the list of fixtures is repeated until they are equal.

It's possible to restrict the cloning process using the At FilterSequencesGroupsPresetsWorlds, or Layouts. Tapping All Items To All sets sequences, groups, presets, worlds, and layouts to all. All Items To None sets all these object types to none.
Tapping SequencesGroupsPresetsWorlds, or Layouts opens a pop-up where the user can select a subset of objects and then tap Choose, or they can tap Select None or Select All in order to deselect all objects or select all objects of the corresponding object type. When all object types are set to None, the clone operation takes place in the programmer.
Depending on the selection state, the label of the buttons can differ between All, None, and Chosen: For example, All Sequences, No Sequences, or Chosen Sequences. And also the indicator bar of these buttons and the Clone button change accordingly:
  • Green: All items will be cloned.
  • Yellow: Some items are selected.
  • Gray: No object will be cloned.

The selection and scrolling of entries is synchronized across both areas. The line which has the focus is highlighted with a white border at the top and bottom of the line. Also, the corresponding line in the other area shows the white border at the bottom and the top of the line.

These tools and functions are available:

  • : Copies the selected fixtures to the clipboard.
  • : Pastes the fixtures of the clipboard to the position of the focus.
  • : Cuts the fixtures to the clipboard.
  • : Adds fixtures to the list. In the pop-up the user can choose between fixtures or groups. When choosing group, the fixtures of the group will be added.
  • : Removes the selected fixtures from the list.
  • : Moves the selected fixtures up in the list. This applies only to manually added fixtures. Automatically added fixtures cannot be moved.
  • : Moves the selected fixtures down in the list. This applies only to manually added fixtures. Automatically added fixtures cannot be moved.
  • : Interchanges the fixtures of source list and destination list.
  • Add Selection: Adds the selected fixtures of the programmer to the list.
  • Clear List: Clears the list completely.
  • Include Dependencies: During the resulting clone operation, the fixtures in use will also be cloned in the referenced objects. For example, when cloning a sequence that uses presets, the fixtues will also be cloned in the presets that are used.
  • Clone: Starts the clone operation for the clone setup you created. Depending on the state of the selected objects, the button is labeled as Clone Show (All items set to All), Clone Selected Objects (Some items have a subset of objects selected), or Clone Programmer (All items set to None).
  • Tapping Reset in the title bar resets the whole Clone menu back to default.

When a clone operation is executed the command line history returns the resulting clone command.


Special Dialog Window

The Special Dialog window combines specialized windows for certain functionalities, for example, the color picker for operating the color engines of fixtures and the shapers dialog for operating the shapers engine of fixtures.

To open a special dialog window, open the Add Window pop-up, go to Common or Tools, then tap Special Dialog.
To switch between the different functions, tap Color or Shapers on the left side in the Special Dialog window.

The settings of the Color Picker and the Shapers Dialog can be accessed via the context menu of the Special Dialog window, and then tapping on Color or Shapers.
The Show Tabs setting on the Display tab lets the user decide whether or not to see the tab bar on the left. The setting Tab defines which functionality will be displayed in the Special Dialog window. This setting changes its value dynamically when tapping Color or Shapers on the left side in the Special Dialog window.

The Link Encoder Bank setting defines if the Special Dialog window follows the selected tab the encoder bank. To learn more about this setting, read the Encoder Bar Pool section above.

Color Picker

This is the Color Picker as it is known from previous versions.

Important:
All Color Picker windows in show files from v1.9.7.0 or prior or migrated to the Special Dialog window when loading the show file in v2.0 or later.

Shapers Dialog

 New in this release

The Shapers Dialog offers to change the shapers of fixtures in a graphical way. The vaues that are used to visualize the shapers are ones from the DMX layer.

The titlebar of the Shapers Dialog offers different settings, modes and views to control the blades of shaper fixtures.

  • Auto POV: Sets the POV (Point of View) rotation of the fixture in relation to the 3D positioning.
Hint:
Auto POV is not available at moment!
  • Show POV: When enabled, a fader to manually rotate the POV is displayed.
  • Mini Faders: Displays faders in the window depending on the set value:
    • None: No faders are displayed.
    • Full: Faders for rotation and blades are displayed. The function of the faders for the blades depend on the value of the Control setting.
    • Blades: Faders for the blades are displayed. The function of the faders depend on the value of the Control setting. 
    • Rotation: A fader for the rotation is displayed.
  • The Link setting defines if other blades will be moved as well when moving one blade:
    • None: Each shaper can be controlled on its own.
    • All: Moving one shaper moves the other 3 shapers accordingly.
    • Parallel: When moving one shaper, the shaper on the opposite of the beam will be moved accordingly.
    • Mirrored: Moving one shaper will also move the shaper on the opposite of the beam symmetrically. 
  • To change the control mode of the faders, tap Control:
    • Ins+Rot The user defines the depth of insertion (I) and the rotation (R) of the blades.
    • A+B: Operates the corners (A & B) of the blades.
Hint:
All modes can be used, no matter the type of shaper engine of the fixture that is physically built in. The grandMA3 software converts the different modes to the correct DMX values.
  • To change the display mode, tap View. Select between: 
    • Graphical: Shows shaper visualization.
    • Fader: Only shows faders. The displayed faders are dependend of the Control setting. A Rotation faders is always displayed in this View mode.

In the graphical view mode the main area of the Shapers Window is divided into two parts:

  • Center: Displays a graphical representation of the shapers unit. The blades are labeled from 1 to 4. The corners of the blades are labeled with A and B in addition to the number of blades. The white lines display how far the blades are inserted into the beam.
    Tap and hold one of the labels and drag it to change the shaper/corner accordingly. When tapping outside a label, the closest label will be taken,
  • Right: Depending on the Mini Faders setting, the faders are displayed.

When the Shapers Window has focus, the encoder bar will display the Shapers Encoder Bar. Depending on the mode you selected, the encoders display the corresponding functions.


To enable the Reset Bar, enter the window settings and enable Reset Bar. The reset bar is now displayed at the bottom of the window:

  • Reset Shaper: Resets blades and rotation.
  • Reset Blades: Resets the blades only.

The faders that are visible, have also reset buttons:

  • Reset POV: Resets the POV rotation.
  • Reset Rot: Resets rotation of the shaper unit.
  • Reset 1 / 2 / 3 / 4: Resets the single blades.

3D

 New in this release

The new Shadow Quality setting defines the quality/resolution of the rendered shadow that an object casts, when fixture's beam hits the object.
The Shadow Quality setting can be defined per fixture in the Patch menu. It is only available for fixtures that are not using environmental fixture types.
With the introduction of the per fixture Shadow Quality setting, the Shadow [Px] setting of Render Qualities has become obsolete and has been removed.


 Improved in this release

The 3D Viewer window setting Lum. Spread (Luminous Spread) controls how visible the difference in brightness between different fixture types is.
Recap: The fixture type with the highest luminous intensity defines that this intensity as 100% brightness in the 3D Viewer window. When there are also fixture types used that have a much lower Luminous Intensity, they will be rendered much darker at their 100% dimmer output.

To allow the user to adjust this intensity difference (and therefore deviate from reality) to better see the darker fixture, the Luminous Spread setting can be used with different values:

  • When this setting is set to 100%, the Luminous Intensities are rendered as before.
  • Setting Luminous Spread to 0% renders all beams of fixtures with the same maximum brightness.
  • The default of Luminous Spread in the 3D Viewer window settings is set to 80%.


 Improved in this release

  • Improved the performance of the Follow tool in the 3D Viewer window when using multi-pixel fixtures.
  • To toggle the display of the environment objects in the 3D Viewer, use the setting Render Environmental.
  • The arrangement tool of the 3D Viewer Encoder Bar respects the selection grid. The selected fixtures are arranged in the order of their position on the x-axis in the selection grid. This means that multiple fixtures with the same x-position in the selection grid are treated as one fixture by the arrangement tool.

MVR-xchange

 New in this release

The MVR-xchange feature allows to connect several devices, for example, grandMA3 console, Visualizers, and CAD software, in order to exchange the data via MVR directly by using a network connection. This makes the manual transport of MVR files via USB drives obsolete.

The MVR-xchange is specified in the DIN SPEC 15801:2023-12.

To configure the MVR-xchange in the grandMA3 software, go to Menu - In & Out - MVR.

The top area provides these elements:

  • Group: Enter a name in order to define your own exchange group. All devices that have the same group name, belong to the same exchange group.
  • Interface: Defines which network interface will be used for the exchange of MVR files. Interface is part of the local settings of a device.
  • Enable: In order to be able to exchange MVR files with other stations, make sure to activate Enable.

Hint:
Your station needs to be part of a grandMA3 session in order to be able to do the MVR-xchange.

The bottom area changes its content via the three different tabs:

  • Local: The Local tab lists all MVR files of the stations that are committed into the MVR-xchange group. For more information on how to commit MVR files see the Files tab further down in  this list of tabs.
  • Services: This tab lists all stations that are part of the same MVR-xchange group.
    Once a station joins an MVR-xchange group, a connection to this station will be automatically established. Existing connections are indicated by a green background of the station in the list.
    In order to interrupt this connection, select the station and tap
    Leave. The background of the station will turn red. To establish the connection again, select the station, and tap Join.
  • Files: In the Files tab it is possible to provide an MVR file for other stations, or to download MVR files from other stations. All MVR files that are shared within the same MVR-xchange group are listed here.
    • In order to provide an MVR file, tap Commit MVR. A file browser pop-up opens. From there select the MVR file, and tap Commit. The file is now provided for other stations.
    • If you want to download and use an MVR file of a different station, select it in the list, and tap Request.

Important:
The MVR-xchange needs to be enabled in order to be able to commit or request files, or to see the other stations of the same MVR-xchange group.
Hint:

If you change the name of the group or enable the MVR-xchange, the list of stations in the Services tab will be cleared and the stations will be discovered anew. This may take a while.

Oopsing changes is only possible in the Local tab.

The exchange of MVR files with other stations other than grandMA3 stations is only supported by the following products at the moment :

  • Production Assist
  • BlenderDMX


The SendMVR keyword was introduced for this feature. It can be used in order to commit or request MVR files, or to join or leave the connection to other devices.

Syntax:

SendMVR ["Type"] [Number]

SendMVR "Commit" ["Path/to/folder/name"] ["Name"]


To establish a connection to the third service device, type:

User name[Fixture]> Send MVR "Join" "3"

To end the connection to the first service device, type:

User name[Fixture]> SendMVR "Leave" "1"

To commit the MVR file "BestShow.mvr" (which is located at C:\ProgamData\MA Lighting Technology\gma3_library\mvr) to the MVR-xchange group, type:

User name[Fixture]> SendMVR "Commit" "C:\ProgramData\MA Lighting Technology\gma3_library\mvr\BestShow" "BestShow"

To request the second file, type:

User name[Fixture]> SendMVR "Request" "2"
For more information see SendMVR keyword.

Other Enhancements

 Improved the help: The version 2.0 rolls out a new help system that offers more features.

It is possible to:

  • Watch videos
    To view how a video is displayed in the new system see Videos in the Help.
  • Use breadcrumbs to navigate in articles
  • Magnify screenshots if necessary.
    To magnify a screenshot, tap it once.
  • Read pop-up texts for more information
    To view how a pop-up text is displayed see CurrentUser()

The help viewer has a new structure.
For more information see About the Help


 Improved demo content:
  • Updated the MVR demo file (Demostage_MVR): Updated fixtures and their models and updated environment models.
  • Updated the Simple_Show
  • Updated the Demoshow_grandMA3
  • Updated the MA_Startshow:
    • The user is now allowed to rename the groups without breaking the functionality of the used macros.
    • Also the Dimmer and Phaser sequences can be renamed.
    • New macros are added per group of fixtures, that change the Selection Mode of the recipes between Normal and Strict.
    • Improved the Speed macros.
  • Updated the predefined panic macro and added the DumpLog macro.

 Improved the Backup Menu:

  • The Backup Menu disables Load or New Show if none of the four checkbox buttons (Show DataLocal SettingsOutput Stations, and DMX Protocols) is selected.
  • The header of all sub-menus of the Backup Menu are identical.
  • When selecting several rows, the complete rows will be displayed as marked.
  • When the drive of an older software version is selected in the Backup menu, SaveSave as, and New Show are grayed out. If the user has selected the drive of an older software version using the command line and executes the SaveShow command, a pop-up will inform the user that the showfile could not be saved.
  • When loading a show file from a future version (for example, from v2.1), a pop-up informs the user that the show file cannot be loaded as it comes from a future version.
  • The button to open the onscreen keyboard for the Description field moved from the right side to the left side of the Description field.

 

 Improved the Update menu:

  • An additional set of columns is displayed when the show file has more than one data pool. This helps identify which data pool contains the objects that can be updated.
  • To gain more space for the list of objects that can be updated, the buttons with the different settings were moved an area that can be collapsed or expanded. This is valid for both: Presets and Sequences.
    Each area always displays the values of the settings in a compressed representation.
    To expand a setting area, tap  in one of the areas.
  • Replaced the Cue Only setting in the Sequence area with the "Cue " section where the user can decide between Tracking and Cue Only when updating.
  • The new "Protect from Tracking" section allows to use Dimmer Cue Only for Update, and the "Shield tracked values" section offers access to the different Racking Shield modes for Update.
    For more information see Tracking Shield and Dimmer Cue Only.


 Improved the update operation:

  • When updating, the software now uses the Use Selection value Active for all update operations, unless the user specifies a different value by using the command line. For example, /All, /AllForSelected, or /ActiveForSelected.
  • Select an entire cue instead the single Parts as an Update target. If values already exist in single parts and you update with the setting Sequence Update Mode set to Add New Content, the values will be updated in their respective parts.

 

 Improved the Store /Merge operation when using programmer parts or cue parts:

  • Attributes per fixture that already exist in cue parts will be stored into their respective cue parts when doing a Store /Merge operation. The programmer part where the values are in will be ignored in this case.
  • Attributes per fixture that are active in a programmer part, but do not yet exist in a part of the target cue, will be stored into a cue part that has the same part number as the programmer part.


 Improved the input of Notes in the label dialog:
The numeric keypad on the grandMA3 hardware can now be used to enter characters or apply changes. Oops can also be used as backspace when editing notes. 


 Improved pop-ups: Pop-ups now open at the position where the user tapped on the screen.

 

 Improved the Title Bar Buttons: Title bar buttons can also be configured for temporary menus, such as the Edit Sequence menu or the Edit tab of the Assign menu.

 

 Improved Timers:

  • The playback commands Flash and Temp can be used to control a timer.
  • Reworked the Timer Link Type setting: The user can choose between:
    • Not Linked: Triggering a sequence will not trigger the timer.
    • <Selected>: Triggering the selected sequence will trigger the timer.
    • Link Last: Triggering any sequence will trigger the timer.
    • Sequence x: Triggering this dedicated sequence will trigger the timer. All sequences of the same data pool are offered. When a sequence has a custom name, only the sequence number and the sequence name will be displayed in the list.
  • For each timer, three colors define the appearance of the time when it is displayed in the Clock Viewer window or on the timer pool object. The colors are: Stopwatch Color, Countdown Color, and Countdown Confirmed.
  • Timers have a read-only property "ElapsedTime". Countdown timers in addition, have a read-only property "RemainingTime".
  • When changing the Timer Mode of a running timer, the timer will not continue to run, and reset its time. 

 

 Improved MAtricks:

  • When entering speed values for MAtricks using the command line it is possible to define the desired speed readout with the speed value.
    To apply the speed value of 10Hz to the Speed From X property of the selection MAtricks, type:

User name[Fixture]>Set Selection MAtricks "SpeedFromX" "Hz 10"

When setting a speed value in the MAtricks without a unit, the value is set in the unit that is defined as the speed readout of the user profile.

Important:
Loading show files created in previous versions that contain macros with the MAtricks Speed To X and Speed From X properties set will have a different result. These macros must be adjusted accordingly.
  • MAtricks properties Groups for all axes allow to set a value of 1.

 

 Improved macro triggers:

  • Go+ Macro ["Macro_Name" or Macro_Number].["Macroline_Name" or Macroline_Number]: Executes the defined macro line and all further macro lines.
  • Call Macro ["Macro_Name" or Macro_Number].["Macroline_Name" or Macroline_Number]: Executes only defined macro line.

 

 Lua/Plugins:

  • Improved the Lua function file. For more information on how to create the Lua function file, read HelpLua.
  • The coroutine.yield function of Lua can wait until the show status is active or until a specified time has elapsed. To wait until the show file is in active state or after 1 second, use this code:
    coroutine.yield({activeShowstatus=1.0})
  • The path of user plugins was added to the package.path. This includes the relative paths: "./?.lua" as well as "./requirements/?.lua".
  • LightUserData can be converted to strings by using the tostring() function. In this case, the function ToAddr() is called. Also concatenating works in this case. For example,
    Cmd("At "..myPreset)
    has the same functionality as
    Cmd("At "..myPreset:ToAddr())​​​
  • The Lua CleanUp() function can execute all grandMA3 API functions.
  • It is possible to access the Collection via Lua by using the BaseObject property. To get the name of the pool, the currently collected objects are part of, use this code:
    Printf(CurrentProfile().Collection.BaseObject.Name)
  • Improved the ToAddr() Lua function. Instead of a number in the address of an object, the name will be used. Therefore, the boolean option "with_name" was added:ToAddr(light_userdata:handle, boolean:with_name): string:address
  • lmproved the Addr() Lua function: If the new argument boolean:force_commandline_index-based_address is set to true the returned address uses the indices of the command line.
    Addr(light_userdata:handle[, light_userdata:base_handle[, boolean:force_parent-based_address[, boolean:force_commandline_index-based_address]]]): string:numeric_root_address
  • To see the difference, try out this function:
return function()
-- Stores the handle in a variable.
local mySequence = DataPool().Sequences[1]
-- Converts the handle to a numerical address and store in variable.
local mySequenceAddress1 = ToAddr(mySequence, false)
-- Converts the handle to an address including name and store in
variable.
local mySequenceAddress2 = ToAddr(mySequence, true)
-- Send a go command with the numerical address appended.
Cmd("Go %s", mySequenceAddress1)
-- Send a go command with the address including name
Cmd("Go %s", mySequenceAddress2)
end

  • The elements of the MessageBox() function are able to get a defined order. If there is a mixture of ordered and unordered elements, first the unordered elements are sorted by name and then the ordered elements are added, sorted by their given order. To define the order, the parameter order needs to be added with an integer value, for example  order=1.
    Here is an example of the MessageBox() where all elements are defined in an order:
local function main()
-- create inputs:
local states = {
{order=4, name = "Color", state = true, group = 1},
{order=3, name = "Gobo", state = false, group = 1},
{order=2, name = "Position", state = true, group = 2},
{order=1, name = "Dimmer", state = false, group = 2}
}
local inputs = {
{order=3, name = "Numbers Only", value = "1234", whiteFilter = "0123456789"},
{order=1, name = "Text Only", value = "TextOnly", blackFilter = "0123456789"},
{order=2, name = "Maximum 10 characters", value = "abcdef", maxTextLength = 10}
}
local selectors = {
{ name="Swipe Selector", selectedValue=2, values={Xylophone=3, Piano=2, Drums=3, ["some stuff"]=4}, type=0},
{ name="Radio Selector", selectedValue=2, values={grandMA2=1, grandMA=2, grandMA3=3}, type=1}
}
local commands={
{value=1, name="Ok", order=4},
{value=0, name="Cancel", order=3},
{value=4, name="What?", order=2},
{value=3, name="Wait", order=1}
}

-- open messagebox:
local resultTable =
MessageBox(
{
title = "Messagebox example",
message = "This is a message",
message_align_h = Enums.AlignmentH.Left,
message_align_v = Enums.AlignmentV.Top,
states = states,
inputs = inputs,
selectors = selectors,
commands = commands,
backColor = "Global.Default",
-- timeout = 10000, --milliseconds
-- timeoutResultCancel = false,
icon = "logo_small",
titleTextColor = "Global.AlertText",
messageTextColor = "Global.Text"
}
)

-- print results:
Printf("Success = "..tostring(resultTable.success))
Printf("Result = "..resultTable.result)
for k,v in pairs(resultTable.inputs) do
Printf("Input '%s' = '%s'",k,v)
end
for k,v in pairs(resultTable.states) do
Printf("State '%s' = '%s'",k,tostring(v))
end
for k,v in pairs(resultTable.selectors) do
Printf("Selector '%s' = '%d'",k,v)
end
end

return main


  • It is possible to read the time of timecode slots using the ObjectList() function. Using Time returns the absolute value of the time, while TimeString returns the time in a format that a human can read. See this function on how to read the time of timecode slot 1:
local function main()
local t1 = ObjectList("TimecodeSlot 1")[1].Time
local t2 = ObjectList("TimecodeSlot 1")[1].TimeString
Echo(t1)
Echo(t2)
end
return main


  • The read only properties Full Path and File Exists of Lua Components tell the user the whole path of the used Lua file, and inform if the configured Lua file exists at the destination. In case it does not exist, the text color will turn to red for the whole row of the Lua Component.
  • The content of a Lua Component can be listed. However, it is limited to 1024 characters including overhead.


 Improved the Connector Configuration:

  • MIDI Mode is split up into MIDITC Mode and MIDIData Mode:
    • MIDITC Mode defines whether MIDI Timecode is input (In), output (Out), or input and also output again (Through).
    • MIDIData Mode defines whether MIDI Notes, MIDI Program Changes, or MIDI Control Changes are input, output, or input and output again.
  • The new column Devices in Session informs the user about connected and expected devices in the session. For more information on colors, read the following text below.


 Improved the System Info window:
  • The Network tab informs the user about the number of connected and expected stations in the session. When a number is green, the expected number of devices is connected. If it is red, the number of connected devices is also displayed. The number of the expected devices is displayed in parentheses. Furthermore, the background of the area will pulsate.
  • The title bar of the System Info window can be hidden by disabling Show Title Bar.

 

 Improved the Network Menu:

  • It remembers the sorting within the columns when it is opened again.
  • The inputs for HostName, Session, and Location now check for the maximum input length of 31 characters and also for characters that are allowed.
  • When the Network Menu is open, and devices of station types that are not listed still appear, they will be displayed directly.
  • Added the new tab Station Control. It allows to enable and disable the most common network related settings of the grandMA3 system. All settings of this tab are also located in other places, too. The settings are organized by station-related (for example, Web Remote, Remote HID, Send Art-Net If IdleMaster, and other) and session-related settings (RDM, DC Remotes, DMX Remotes, MIDI Remotes, PSN, MVRxchange, Art-Net Input, sACN Input, and other).

 

 Improvements in the Graphical User Interface:

  • The graphics of the encoders in the Playback Window, XKeys Window, and Custom Master Section Window improved.
  • Changed the Update icon that appears on objects that can be updated while the Update Menu is open.
  • Faster initial drawing of a view when calling a view.
  • Sequences display their playback priority in the sequence pool and on executors with icons:
    • Super:
    • Swap: 
    • HTP: 
    • Highest:
    • High: 
    • LTP: No icon
    • Low: 
    • Lowest: 
  • While pressing MA, IDs that are too long to be properly displayed in their designated area, are scrolling through. This can be useful, for example, when a sequence from a different data pool is assigned to an executor.
  • The buttons in the Shutdown menu are labeled in addition to the icons. On consoles, the Shutdown menu offers an additional Reboot button.
  • When touching a column or window in the area to resize them, a resize icon appears. In addition, when resizing columns a white vertical line appears to display the edge of the column. The color line can be adjusted in the color theme.
  • Improved some icons in the tool bars.
  • Improved the status of the battery indicator in the command line on grandMA3 full-size and light consoles.

 

 Improved the Off Menu and the Running Playbacks Window:

  • The different object types are now available via a horizontal tab bar at the top of the window. There are now buttons for disabling playbacks of different types of objects.
  • In addition, the All tab displays all running playbacks. The playbacks in the All tab are grouped together by their object types.
  • The displayed objects are filtered by the current user, but can also be changed by tapping Started by. When My Playbacks Only is activated Started by will be temporarily deactivated.
  • An additional DataPool filter can also be applied to filter the playbacks by Data Pools.
  • When Off Mode is enabled, the Running Playbacks window allows switching off playbacks by tapping them.
  • The Running Playbacks and the Off Menu display appearances.
  • The buttons in the title bar of the Running Playbacks window can be configured using the Edit Title Bar functionality in its context menu.
  • When opening the Off Menu, the focus is set to Everything Off.
  • The Sheet Style mode displays also the priority of a running sequence.
  • The Off Menu and the Running Playbacks Window also display running sound files.


 Improved the command line interaction (CLI) of Go+ [large], Go- [large], and Pause [large]:

When pressing Go+ [large], Go- [large], or Pause [large], they do not interact with the content of the command line any longer.

 

 Improved XYZ:

  • The fading of fixtures from XYZ to PanTilt or vice versa is improved.
  • When opening the calculator to set a value for the MArker attribute, the Channel Sets tab lists the patched MArker fixtures. As soon as MArkers are patched on two or more stages, the button labels also display the stage the MArker is patched into.
  • When blocking cues that have tracked PanTilt and XYZ data, the positioning system that was used last in the cues before will get blocked.

 

 Improved Recipes:

  • If a recipe contains data that cannot be cooked, the name of the recipe is displayed in red. For example, a selection that cannot call the selected preset.
    The recipe is displayed in red, when an ingredient is missing at all.
  • If several cues are selected, all recipes included will be displayed, allowing editing of multiple recipes at a time.
  • When editing selection, values, or MAtricks the pop-up allows filtering.
  • Improved cooking of Recipes: The current Cook /Merge behavior is now available as Cook /MergeLowPriority.
    Cook /Merge removes values that are flagged as cooked, then cooks the values from the recipes and also replaces values at the destination based on the recipe ingredients.
  • The Recipe setting Selection Mode defines how subfixtures are handled when only main fixtures are part of the selection of the recipe:
    • Normal: Values are passed down to the subfixtures.
    • Strict: Values are strictly applied to only the fixtures that are part of the selection.
Hint:
When migrating show files from v1.9.7.0. or earlier, the Selection Mode setting will be set to Strict in existing recipes.
  • The Value cells display the icons for selective, global, and universal data, MAtricks and phaser, when a preset is used. Therefore, the Stored Data column got obsolete and was removed.
  • Generators and Bitmaps are available as values for recipes.
  • The setting Filter allows to assign a Filter or World to a recipe.

 

 Improved Window Preferences: When creating a new window, the first stored preferences of a window are loaded by default. This applies to all windows, except pool windows.

 

 Improved the Sequence Sheet:

  • It is possible to test a command that is entered for a cue, without activating the cue. To do so, enable Show Command Test in the Mask tab of the Sequence Sheet context menu. When this is done, the command cells that contain commands a  will be displayed on the left side of the cell. Tapping the play icon executes the command of the cue.
  • To view a sequence in a sequence sheet, use the Assign command in combination with sequence (Assign Sequence ["Sequence_Name" or Sequence_Number]) and tap the title bar of the Sequence Sheet.
  • Empty phaser steps show tracked values of the previous step.
  • In new shows Cue Part Appearance is set to Num+Name.

 

 Improved the command input in macros and command cells:

The command input, for example, in macros, cues, or agenda events, displays a preview of the entered command. This helps to see if the entered commands will be interpreted by the software as intended before applying the input.

Furthermore, the command input pop-up has the setting Resolve Executor Assignments. When this setting is enabled, and executors are pressed while inputting a command, not the page and executor will be entered, but the handle of the object that is assigned to the pressed executor. When a handle is used, object type, number, and name will be displayed with yellow text color in the preview. For example: Sequence 1 'Go Look'. A handle is an ID and name-independent identifier of an object. This makes it possible to rename the object later or move it within the pool without the need to adjust the macro, too.

Handles can also be used in the command line directly:

To set the variable "MyHandle" to the Handle of Macro 1, type: 

User name[Fixture]SetUserVariable "MyHandle" #[Macro 1]

or

User name[Fixture]>SetUserVariable "MyHandle" At Macro 1

To go to the next cue in sequence 23 using the handle of the sequence, type:

User name[Fixture]> Go+ #[Sequence 23]
Hint:
Using handles instead of the object number or object name to call an object, eliminates the need to update macros and commands after moving the object to a different location or changing the name of the object.


The command input allows to go through the command line history, by pressing Arrow Up or Arrow Down.


 Improved the macro editor:

  •  Adding a new line in the macro editor, directly opens the command input.
  • The macro editor allows to undo all current changes ever since opening the editor at once by tapping Revert was possible.

 

 Improved the usage of values in commands: When specifying values for option keywords, especially number values, the input was simplified.

Before: /XResolution = "64"

After: /XResolution=64

 

 Improved Appearances:

  • The name of a new appearance will be determined by the media file (image or video) that is used in the appearance.
    If the name is the default name, appearances that use an image do not display the name on the appearance object in the Pool window.
  • Media objects that can be used in an appearance (images, videos, symbols, and gobos) can be assigned to an appearance. Also assigning images to an empty appearance creates a new appearance with the image.
  • Appearances used in pool windows are displayed in the background of the pool window. Empty pool elements do not display the pool appearance.
  • Assigning an appearance to another appearance creates a copy of the first appearance.
  • The Appearance editor allows to undo the current changes directly by tapping Revert.

 

 Improved images: It is possible to store screenshots of views or NDI streams directly as images. To do so, use the /Screen option keyword or /NDI option keyword in combination with Store and Image keywords.
The option keyword /ScreenOnly allows to define which parts of the screen will be used:

  • /ScreenOnly "Yes" (this is the default, also when the /ScreenOnly is not defined at all): The screenshot only includes the area that can be defined by the user.
  • /ScreenOnly "No": The whole screen including view bar, encoder bar, and other is used for taking the screenshot.


To store a screenshot of screen 1 as image 5 of the area that can be defined by user, type:

User name[Fixture]Store Image 3.5 /Screen "1"
To store a screenshot of the whole screen 1, with encoder bar, view bar, and other as image 6, type:
User name[Fixture]> Store Image 3.6 /Screen "1" /ScreenOnly "No"

See also /ScreenOnly option keyword.

To store a screenshot of the first NDI stream 1 as image 13, type:

User name[Fixture]Store Image 3.13 /NDI=0
See also /NDI option keyword.

When executing Store for an empty image, a store menu opens and offers the choice of a source and resolution. The  resolution can be defined via the command line as well by using the /XResolution option keyword and /YResolution option keyword.

 

 Improved the Clock Viewer: When selecting a timer to be displayed, also timers from a different data pool can be displayed.

 

 Improved ListReference:

  • The references and dependencies returned to provide additional information in the Info column, for example when a fixture is part of the selection of a different user, which has highlight enabled, the Info cell informs the current user about highlight in the selection.
  • The behavior when executing ListRefrence in combination with the Info window improved:
    • If no Info window is open, or if Auto List Reference is set to None in either of the open windows, the Info pop-up will be opened.
    • As soon as Auto List Reference is set to None in at least one or more Info windows, the information returned will be displayed in the Info windows.


 Improved the Info window when working with appearances: When the new Info window setting Use Target Appearance is enabled, the appearance of the displayed object will be shown.

        

 The If keyword can be used in commands combined with the FeatureGroup and the EncoderBank keywords. For example, in order to filter by Groups, Worlds, Presets, Filters, or Selection.

 

  MA on the internal keyboard works in the same way as MA on the surface of the consoles and command wings.

 

 Improved date and time configuration on onPC stations: The functionality Set Date and Time to OS Settings in the onPC Local Settings resets the date and time of the grandMA3 onPC application back to the date and time of the operating system.

 ​

 Improved the System Monitor Window:

  • The system monitor timestamp uses the UTC time.
  • The system monitor displays per row now 1. time 2. the name of the service and the message in a row.

 

 Added the possibility to transfer values of properties to other objects: In order to set properties of an object to the same value as another object, the Set command has been extended.

General Syntax:
Set [Object_Type] ["Target_Object_Name" or Target_Object_Number] Property ["Property_Name"] At [Object_Type] (["Source_Object_Name" or Source_Object_Number]) (Property ["Property_Name"])

To transfer the value of the Priority setting of sequence 1 to sequence 42, type:

User name[Fixture]Set Sequence 42 Property "Priority" At Sequence 1

To transfer the name of the selected sequence to the name of group 5, type:

User name[Fixture]> Label Group 5 At Sequence

For more information see Set keyword.



 The SetUserVariable and SetGlobalVariable commands also support the properties of objects. 

To set the user variable "myVar" to the CueFade value of Cue 1 of the selected sequence, type:

User name[Fixture]> SetUserVariable "myVar" At Cue 1 Property "CueFade"

To set the global variable "PositionX" to the 3D X coordinate of fixture 1, type:

User name[Fixture]> SetGlobalVariable "PositionX" At Fixture 1 Property "PosX"

To set the global variable "myShow" to the name of the loaded show file, type:

User name[Fixture]>SetGlobalVariable myShow At Root "MANetSocket" Property "Showfile"

You can get the name using the /Look option keyword for properties that have an index with a corresponding name.    

To set the user variable "mySeqPrioIdx" to the Priority index value of the selected sequence, type:

User name[Fixture]> SetUserVariable "mySeqPrioIdx" At Sequence Property "Priority"

To set the user variable "mySeqPrioName" to the Priority name of sequence 42, type:

User name[Fixture]> SetUserVariable "mySeqPrioName" At Sequence 42 Property "Priority" /Look


 Improved the Stomp command: If Stomp is used in a FeatureGroup without selection, stomp will be executed in all fixtures.

 

 IfOutput is now working with Full or Zero for fixture selection.

 

 Improved the special values: At Highlight and At Lowlight load the highlight/lowlight values of the selected fixtures into the programmer.

 

 The Output Configuration does not create a new entry if the station IP changes.

 

 Improved Preset Pool settings:

  • The setting Display Mode has a new value called Auto. When this value is set, only the appearance of the preset is displayed. This only applies to presets that have an appearance assigned. Presets without an appearance will still display their names.
  • The setting Action has a new value called SelFix/Extract. This value acts similarly to SelFix/At, but instead of calling the preset reference into the programmer, the values will be called extracted into the programmer.

 

 Improved Align: The Align Bar offers access to the new XY Rotation setting. The entered value will rotate the following alignment of values across the selection grid.
Use tap, hold and drag inside the circle graphics of the XY Rotation setting to graphically adjust the value. The arrow in the circle snaps at 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, and 315°.

Example:

Requirement: Load the Demoshow_grandMA3

  1. Select the group "LED Tiles Back".
  2. Set RotXY in the Align Bar to 45°.
  3. At 0 Thru 100

The dimmer values will be aligned at a 45° angle across the selection grid.

This can also be done with all other attributes.

 

 Improved the Total Reference Update: When the Total Reference Update is shorter than 500 ms, no progress bar will be displayed.

 

 Improved the MemoryInfo keyword: Added the new option keywords /Limit and /Sort:

  • /Limit: Defines how many entries will be displayed. It expects a number as value. Syntax: MemoryInfo /Limit [Limit_Number]
  • /Sort: Defines how to sort the results MemoryInfo displays. Possible values are: "Asc", "Desc", and "None". Syntax: MemoryInfo /Sort ["Sort_Name"]

To display the 5 objects that are occupying the most memory, type:

User name[Fixture]> MemoryInfo /Sort "Desc" /Limit 5

 

 Improved the scribble editor in the label dialog: It has now the same style and buttons as when editing a scribble in the scribble pool.

 

 Improved the Command Line History:

  • By performing a right-click gesture on a command a pop-up opens which allows you to:
    • Copy: Copies the command to the clipboard.
    • Execute Again: Executes the command again.
    • Copy and Overwrite to Command Line: Copies the command into the command line. Existing command line content will be discarded.
    • Add to Command Line: Copies the command at the end of existing command line content.

This pop-up can also be opened by pressing Please on the internal keyboard or by pressing the screen encoder.

  • When tapping Jump to Bottom in the Command Line History window, the focus jumps down to the newest command line history entry.
  • When pressing Clear, the Command Line History will show what type of clear was executed.
  • Increased the maximum number of lines that the Command Line History Window can display to 2 048.

 

 Improved the Main Menu overlay: The installed software version is displayed in the title bar. 

 

 Improved the handling of sessions:

The first 32 session slots (Category A) are reserved for 16 consoles and 16 processing units, additional consoles and processing units will join the session as Category B session members.
For example, this can be used in order to get up to 250,000 parameters in a session by only using processing unit M. Or when using only processing unit M and wanting to have more than 1 console in the session.
When adding several devices to the session at the same time, they will be added following their internal order in the software. This order is represented by the No column in the Network menu.


 Added commands to remote control devices more efficiently in a session:

  • Disconnect: Disconnects the specified station from the session. Compared with Dismiss, Disconnect only disables the network of the station and but does not reset the session name and location of the device. Disconnect can only be executed for stations that are part of the same session.
  • Reconnect: Takes the specified station back into session that is specified by its name and location at the station. Reconnect works only for stations that have the same Session Name and Location as the device that sends the Reconnect command. The sending device needs to be part of the session.
To learn more about the commands and their syntax, please read Disconnect and Reconnect.


 Improved the behavior of Session Data Merge: The Include Playback setting in the Station Control tab of the Network Menu defines per station if the changes of playbacks are to be consired in the Session Data Merge.  If it is enabled, the changes made on playbacks will be taken into account. Include Playbacks is enabled by default.

 

 The /Wait option keyword delays the execution of the store command. It also defines the countdown time of the pop-ups of ShutDown, Restart, Reboot, and so on. Enter the waitime milliseconds.
To delay the Store Cue 5 command by 3 seconds, type:

User name[Fixture]> Store Cue 5 /Wait 3000

To set the countdown of the ShutDown pop-up to 20 seconds, type:

User name[Fixture]>ShutDown /Wait 20000


 Improved the tool tips for elements in the user interface: Add Window dialog, At Overlay.

 

 Improved the preview feature NDI:

  • Updated NDI to version 5.6.0.
  • Third-Party software does not need to be enabled anymore to use NDI.
  • When the NDI source provides a resolution bigger than FullHD, a low bandwidth stream will be requested.


 The SFTP access can be enabled or disabled by tapping SFTP Access in the Station Control tab of the Network menu, or via command line. To disable the SFTP access, type:

User name[Fixture]> Set Root "MANetSocket" Property "EnableSFTP" "No"


 Improved the grandMA3 onPC for macOS installer: When the Security setting Allow applications downloaded from is set to "App Store and identified developers", the installer can be opened immediately by double-clicking the .pkg file.
In case of having this setting set to "App Store", right-click on the .pkg file, click Open, click Open in the pop-up.


 Improved color selection dialogs, for example, in the Scribble Editor: When tapping into the color area, the set brightness stays as is. In addition, the color interface of the Appearance editor got a brightness fader as well.


 Improved the Hue fader in the color picker: The indicator bar on top of the fader label displays the set hue color.


 Improved filters:

  • Select Filter ["Filter_Name" or Filter_Number] selects the filter permanently. The filter that was selected, will be indicated by a yellow frame.
  • Call Filter ["Filter_Namne" or Filter_Number] selects the filter temporarily for the next action (Store, Update, At, and Clone) only. The filter that was called is indicated by a flashing yellow frame.
  • The Filter pool windows allow to set the Action to Select or Call. The default is Call.
  • When a Filter is selected, it has the yellow selected border in the pool.
    When a filter is called, the called filter pool object will get a flashing yellow frame. As soon as the At filter is modified no filter is called anymore.
    In this case the selected border will disappear from the selected filter pool object. Instead the indicator bar at the top is highlighted in yellow.
  • The At Filter applies always, also when applying values in the programmer, or when blocking/unblocking cues. Encoders and the dimmer wheel are excluded from that rule.


 The Force Login setting forces the user to log in with a user when starting the grandMA3 Software. To enable Force Login, go to Menu - Settings - Local Settings / onPC Settings.        


 Improved the Assignment Editor: When no object is assigned, the Assignment Editor opens displaying the second tab, instead of the first tab (Empty tab).


 Improved the columns in the Patch menu: The columns Pan Offset, Tilt Offset, Pan DMX Invert, Tilt DMX Invert, Pan Enc Invert, and Tilt Enc Invert are grouped into the parent columns Offset, DMX Invert, and Enc Invert.


 Added the Local Settings menu for consoles. It can be accessed via Menu - Settings - Local Settings. It offers to change the Audio Out Device and the Force Login setting.


 Improved the Network Interfaces menu of grandMA3 xPort Nodes: The IP address of the first interface is now displayed in the first row. The second IP is displayed in the second row.

Important:
With the adjustment of the sorting of the network interfaces of xPort nodes, the DHCP setting in the first row applies now also to the IP address of the first row.


 Improved the My Interfaces menu of consoles and onPC stations: The Extended tab allows to change the Gateway, DHCP Timeout, and DNS server settings per interface.


 Improved the Agenda Viewer Window: The title bar buttons are configurable.


 Improved the command line operation in order to add more objects into a closed If statement: When an If statement is already closed with an EndIf, pressing + removes the EndIf, and an additional object can be added. After adding the object the EndIf is also added again.


 Improved the feedback when exporting fixture types: A progress abr appears now when exporting fixture types.


 Improved the importing of fixture types:

  • The caching of the fixture type library is faster. This caching happens when importing a fixture type the first time after the installation of a new software version.
  • When searching for a fixture type, the file name of the fixture type XML files are also taken into account.


 Improved the User Configuration/Web Remote:

  • The users Admin, Guest, and 3D cannot login on web remote devices.
  • When the logged in user at a web remote device gets deleted, the user will get a Login prompt displayed.
  • When the Remote user has set up a password, the user has to enter the password when logging in on a web remote device.
  • The passwords the user can set for the Admin user gets reset when loading the show. The password of the Guest cannot be changed anymore.
  • Specify name and password in the URL in order to connect to a station. This is how to do it: https://[IP]:8080/?user=[User name]&Password=[password],
    for example https://127.0.0.1:8080/?user=Michael&Password=qwerty


 Improved the attribute calculator:

  • When All Channel Sets is active, the Channel Sets area displays the channel sets of all channel functions at the same time. This setting is per attribute. The User Attribute Preferences editor (Menu - Settings - User Configuration - Profiles - Edit Encoder Bar) allows also to change this setting by editing the corresponding cell in the IgnoreChannelFunctions column.
  • When a different filter other than filter 1 is called or selected, the calculator displays a filter icon () in its title bar.


 Improved the handling of HSB attributes: The expected physical range of the HSB_Saturation and HSB_Brightness attributes is now percentage. Fixture types from older versions will be automatically migrated if their HSB_Saturation and/or HSB_Brightness channel functions have a physical range from 0 to 1. The same applies to show files that will be converted from grandMA2 to grandMA3 using the show file converter (in Mode 2) and the import of GDTF files.


 Improved the fixture type editor:

  • Improved the geometries: The beam types PC, Fresnel, and Glow were added to the Beam Types property of a beam geometry according to the GDTF DIN SPEC 15800:2022. PC and Fresnel are visualized the same as Wash in the 3D Viewer, while Glow is visualized as None.
  • Improved Channel Functions: The custom names of the Channel Functions are now forced to be unique for each Logical Channel.
  • An error message is displayed in the Show Conflicts pop-up of the fixture type editor if a channel function cannot be controlled because the maximum number of channel functions in the show file has been exceeded. 


  Added setting Dive Into per Fixture Type DMX Mode: When Dive Into is set to Yes, the encoder bar can control attributes of subfixtures, when the main fixture is selected and does not have the same attribute available.
When Dive Into is set to No, the encoder bar controls only the attributes of the selected fixtures and cannot change the values of lower subfixtures anymore.


 Improved the Playback window, XKeys window, Custom Master Section window, command wing Bar window, and System Info window: Their title bars can be hidden when disabling Show Title Bar in the settings.


 Improved Masters:

  • Masters that are assigned to executors: When the Master is set to Toggle, and the Master is switched on, the executor label will change its background to green. The color can be defined in the color theme: Exec.GrandMasterActive.
  • When the Grand MAster is pulled down, the Grand Master label in the encoder bar will flash red. In addition, when the Grand Master is assigned to an executor or special executor, these ones will flash red as well.
  • Masters that are set to Toggle can be executed with the button function Temp when they are off. They will then be temp'ed to the their current master fader level.


 Improved Encoders: When assigning a function to EncoderLeftCommand or EncoderRightCommand, the Encoder setting will be ignored.


 Improved the handling of USB drives: More USB drives will be detected with their correct names instead of a long number as name.


 Extended the maximum depth of levels in presets (embedded presets and recipe presets) from 5 to 10.


 Added functionality to + and - when keeping them pressed: During press and hold of + and - it is possible to select or deselect fixtures in the fixture sheet.


 Added COMMAND parameter for Windows onPC: The value of COMMAND will be executed when starting grandMA3 onPC. The COMMAND needs to be added to the Target of the grandMA3 shortcut. This is the format: COMMAND="""command to be executed""". For example, COMMAND="""Go+ Macro 1""".


 Improved the power loss pop-up: If the grandMA3 full-size and light consoles are running on the internal battery, an additional pop-up appears as soon as 50% of the battery's capacity are reached. This pop-up informs the user that the show file will be automatically saved once 60 seconds have elapsed. If there are no changes in the show file, the pop-up will not appear.


 Improved the Store Settings overlay (long-press Store):

  • Added more space between the different sections.
  • Refactored the "Cue Only" section into "Copy Values":
  • Tracking: Stores the values at the destination as normal tracking values.
  • Cue Only: Stores the values at the destination as values only into this cue. The following Cue Only stores previous values. (= Cue Only principle).
  • Added the new section "Protect from Tracking":
  • Dimmer Cue Only: Stores only the dimmer values at the destination following the Cue Only principle when it is enabled. All other attributes will be stored as tracking values. For more information see Dimmer Cue Only.
  • Added a Tracking Shield section:


  •  Improved OSC: The OSC buffer size was extended to 2 048 bytes, for sending and receiving OSC.


     Improved MVR Import: When the MVR Merge pop-up has Columns set to Full, the column My Stage allows to define on which stage the fixture shall be imported. If the fixture to be imported exists already in the show file, the My Stage cell of the fixture has the corresponding stage entered. If the fixture does not exist, yet, Stage 1 is set up.


    Changes

    • New color theme colors:
      • ColorDefinitions:
        • Global.WaveForm
        • PoolDefault.Bitmaps
        • PoolDefault.EncoderBar
        • PoolDefault.Generators
      • Colors:
        • Assignment.EncoderBar
        • Assignment.Filter
        • Assignment.UpdatePreset
        • Assignment.UpdateSequence
        • CloneUI.All
        • CloneUI.Chosen
        • CloneUI.None
        • ColumnSetGrid.Separator
        • DBObjectGrid.WarningBackground
        • DBObjectGrid.WarningText
        • EndlessFader.Background
        • EndlessFader.FaderLocked
        • EndlessFader.Knob
        • EndlessFader.StripActive
        • EndlessFader.StripInactive
        • EndlessFader.TextActive
        • EndlessFader.TextInactive
        • Exec.GrandMasterActive
        • FixtureSheetCell.ExtendedSheetModeFrame
        • Global.Charging
        • Global.Running
        • Help.Breadcrumb
        • Help.TableHead
        • Help.TableRowEven
        • Help.TableRowOdd
        • LayoutView.EditFrame
        • PoolButton.UpdateFront
        • PoolButton.UpdateBack
        • PoolButton.UpdateBackground
        • PoolButton.UpdatePreset
        • PoolButton.UpdateSequence
        • PoolWindow.Bitmaps
        • PoolWindow.EncoderBars
        • PoolWindow.Filler
        • PoolWindow.Generators
        • RotationButton.Arrow
        • RotationButton.Circle
        • RotationButton.Marking
        • SelectionGrid.BitmapOutline1
        • SelectionGrid.BitmapOutline2
        • SelectionGrid.Centerline
        • SelectionGrid.SelectionOutline1
        • SelectionGrid.SelectionOutline2
        • SelectionGrid.SetupActiveIndicator
        • SelectionGrid.SetupLasso
        • ShowCreator.DirectionIcon
        • ShowCreator.Section
        • Timecode.CommandExistsButDisabled
        • Timecode.CommandExistsButDisabledSelected
        • Timecode:IncompleteWaveFormWarning
        • Timecode.LinkOverlayColor
        • Timecode.RecordSingleUserActive
        • Timecode.SkippedNonUserEvents
        • Timecode.TriggerIcon
        • Timecode.TriggerIconSelected
        • Timecode.WaveFormColor
        • UIGrid.ResizeLine
        • UIGrid.UserFilterHiddenFactor
        • UpdateMenu.CellAltBackground
        • UpdateMenu.CellBackground
        • UpdateMenu.ExtendedOptionsBackground
        • UpdateMenu.OptionsLabelText
        • UpdateMenu.OptionsSummaryLabelText
        • UpdateMenu.OptionsSummaryValueText
    • Removed color theme colors:
      • ColorDefinitions:
        • PoolDefault.Functionals
      • Colors:
        • PoolWindow.Functionals
    • New grandMA3 Lua Functions:
      • CmdlineChildren()
      • CurrentCue()
      • CurrentScreenConfig()
      • FirstDmxModeFixture()
      • GetScreenContent()
      • GetSelectedAttribute()
      • GridMoveSelection()
      • GridsGetColumnById()
      • GridsGetExpandedHeaderCellState()
      • GridsGetRowById()
      • IsLocked()
      • NeedShowSave()
      • NextDmxModeFixture()
      • ReleaseProfiling()
      • SelectedFeature()
      • SelectedLayout()
      • SelectedTimecode()
      • SelectedTimer()
      • SetChildrenRecursive()
      • TestPlaybackOutput()
      • TestPlaybackOutputSteps() 
    • Renamed the MIDIMode property in the Output Configuration MIDITC Mode.
    • The Lua PopupInput() function returns the actual Lua index of the items table, which starts counting at 1.
    • The At command uses the natural readout when no attribute is specified. As soon as an attribute is specified when using At, the readout of the encoder bar/user profile is taken into account. This can be overruled with specifying the readout together with the value.
    • In new shows, the existing and selected sequence is also assigned to executor 201.
    • Changed the button text from Reset Selected to Reset MAtricks in the EditSettings menu of presets.
    • If new objects are assigned in a layout, the insert position will be centered at the touch location.
    • It is no longer possible for two geometries to have the same name. The same applies to Emitters, Filters, DMX Modes and Wheels. The name must be unique.
    • XYZ was removed in the fixture type editor. To toggle XYZ for each DMX mode, directly edit the XYZ cell.
    • The FixtureType editor now separates the different modes of a fixture type. To change a channel of a mode, select the mode first and then edit it.
    • If a show file created in prior versions is loaded in the current version, trailing empty steps which do not contain absolute or relative values in cues, will be removed.
    • Moved these symbol files from lib_symbols to lib_symbols/symbols:
      • 0_degree_black.png
      • 0_degree_white.png
      • 180_degree_black.png
      • 180_degree_white.png
      • 270_degree_black.png
      • 270_degree_white.png
      • 360_degree_black.png
      • 360_degree_white.png
      • 90_degree_black.png
      • 90_degree_white.png
      • in_order_black.png
      • in_order_white.png
      • mirrored_black.png
      • mirrored_white.png
      • non_mirrored_black.png
      • non_mirrored_white.png
      • shuffle_black.png
      • shuffle_white.png
    • Value sorting of columns changed from long-press of the header cell to tap, hold and swipe down. Right-click on a header cell for sorting did not change.
    • The passwords the user can set for the Admin user gets reset when loading the show. The password of the Guest user cannot be changed anymore.
    • The screen configuration and rights of the default users (Guest, Admin, 3D, and Remote) cannot be changed anymore.
    • The IsMArker property of fixture types changed to Special Purpose. It can have the values MArker and BitmapController.
    • Renamed RGB/HSB Space setting in the color picker Color Space.
    • onPC Settings renamed to onPC Local Settings.
    • Removed the word "Show" from all buttons in the settings pop-up of the Custom Master Section window.
    • The buttons to open the Custom Master Section overlay () and the Playbacks overlay () interchanged their positions in the Control Bar.

    Bug Fixes

    3D

    Description
    The 3D Viewer did not display the red lock symbol when the displayed camera was locked. This bug is fixed.
    If 3D priority was disabled, the software did not react directly to it. This bug is fixed.
    Making changes in the Arrangement tool in the 3D Viewer Encoder Bar did not create entries in the Oops History. This bug is fixed. Changes on the arrangement can be oopsed.
    The dimensions of the stage bounding box in the 3D Viewer window were not instantly enlarged when a fixture was moved out of it using the 3D Viewer Encoder Bar to move it. This bug is fixed.
    No shadow was displayed in the beam if Render Quality setting Beam was set to Standard, the settings Shadow and Gobo were enabled. This bug is fixed.

    In some cases, beams from fixture types with rectangular beams were cut off mid-air or did not create spots on the ground when shadows were enabled. This bug is fixed.

    The size of rectangular beams did not match the size of the spot when shadows were enabled or Gobo was set to Animated in the used Render Quality. This bug is fixed.

    Fading between Gobo slots was not displayed correctly for Render Qualities with the Gobo property set to "Animated". This bug is fixed.

    Beams could cause visual artifacts when using a 2D camera in the 3D Viewer. This bug is fixed.

    When using a render quality with Beam set to "High" and Multi Led Beam Mode set to "Single Beam Dynamic Gobo" in the 3D Viewer, the color of the beams and spots were incorrect. This bug is fixed.
    Textures in the 3D Viewer window were not displayed when running grandMA3 onPC on Windows PCs that use an Intel Iris graphics card. This bug is fixed.
    The previous selection was not reset when selecting new fixtures after changing values in the 3D Viewer or Layout Viewer Encoder Bar. This bug is fixed.
    The selection of fixtures could be reset when selecting new fixtures in the 3D Viewer window after deselecting fixtures of the selection. This bug is fixed.
    The grandMA3 software could crash when loading a show file that contained a lot of materials. This bug is fixed.
    Fixture types with multiple beam geometries that have different luminous intensities could appear too dark in the 3D Viewer window. This bug is fixed.
    glTF meshes could have incorrect position offsets when using the internal mesh offsets of glTF files. This bug is fixed.

    Command Line and Macro

    Description
    The calculator of the Speed Master layer did not allow to select speed masters that had a space in their names. This bug is fixed.
    When assigning a sequence to another sequence while being in a session, the action could not be oopsed the first time. This bug is fixed. Mirroring a sequence can be oopsed.
    When executing Edit List the current cue was edited. This bug is fixed. Executing Edit List returns "Not Allowed" in the command line and does nothing else.
    Custom names of speed masters were displayed with capital letters in the calculator of the Speed Master layer. This bug is fixed.
    When using the Arrangement tool in the Layout Viewer, the proposed arrangement was not in the same order as the user selected the fixtures. This bug is fixed.
    The different Export functions of Lua returned nil in case of successful export. This bug is fixed. Lua returns boolean values when executing any export function.
    Progress bars initiated by plugins displayed the progress starting at 1. This bug is fixed. The progress of progress bars takes the defined start and end values of the SetProgressRange() function into account.
    A hook on RunningSequences in a plugin only returned information if the Off menu was open at the same time. This bug is fixed.
    At commands were not taken into account by the CreateUndo() Lua function. This bug is fixed.
    When using the filter function in dropdowns opened with the Lua function PopupInput(), the returned value did not match the total index of the selected item. This bug is fixed.
    When trying to switch off the selected element of a pool by specifying only the pool, for example Off Timecode, the selected sequence was switched off. This bug is fixed. Off combined with an object keyword switches either all elements of the given object type off (for example, Off Preset) or switches off the selected object in a pool (for example, Off Timer).
    When selecting elements in a layout, two Oops events were created. This bug is fixed.
    Custom Gels could not be exported or imported. This bug is fixed. Custom Gels are exported to gma3_library/userprofiles/gels. From there they can also be imported.
    It was not possible to use DeleteCopy, and Insert in combination with events in the Agenda Viewer when it was in Setup mode and View Mode was set to Month, Week, or Day. This bug is fixed.
    It was impossible to use a variable as value for an option keyword, for example, Store View 1 /Screen $"Var". This bug is fixed.
    Extract /Single could not be oopsed. This bug is fixed.
    When moving the cursor in between an existing command and then pressing hardkeys, put the keywords or numbers at the end of the command. This bug is fixed. Pressing hardkeys enters the keywords or numbers at the position of the cursor to the existing command.
    Oops was not possible after cancelling a label pop. This bug is fixed.
    MA + Please on the internal keyword did not work. 
    It was not possible to create a line break in the Notes tab of the Info window. This bug is fixed.
    When patching a fixture using the Patch command, the feature graphics could disappear in the fixture sheet. This bug is fixed.
    When storing individual times into a cue and choosing the release store option, the individual times were not stored. This bug is fixed.
    When an image was mirrored or rotated inside an appearance, the image disappeared when zooming a layout where this appearance was used. This bug is fixed.
    The software could crash if many PSN trackers were created and deleted right after. This bug is fixed.
    Pressing Off + Time + Please on a newly created show did crash the software. This bug is fixed.
    Park Thru and Unpark Thru did not work as expected. When executing Park Thru or Unpark Thru, the command is completed to Park Fixture Thru or Unpark Fixture Thru
    Adding a new user profile deactivated the programmer content of users. This bug is fixed. 
    The software could crash if you used, for example, a Pan only filter for a sequence that has Pan, Tilt, and XYZ attributes stored. This bug is fixed.
    It was not possible to set values using the command line in the physical readout in 0.01 steps. This bug is fixed. 
    Using MA + 2 or MA + 8 while the focus was set to the command line in order to scroll through the last commands, the commands disappeared whenever you released 2 or 8. This bug is fixed.
    When adding a new line or a space to a note in the notes area of the Sequence Sheet or in the Info Window, the new line or space was trimmed if you did not enter text shortly after. This bug is fixed. Notes will not be trimmed as long as the notes area has focus.
    When activating a channel set within an attribute calculator, the corresponding attributes of the activation group stayed inactive. This bug is fixed.
    The software could crash if you did collapse a track group inside a timecode show after the user moved tracks from one to the other track group. This bug is fixed.
    When doing mathematical calculations inside the MAtricks calculators, the results could be wrong. This bug is fixed.
    When a user was labeling an object, while another user tried to drop the ownership from this object, and the first user decided to keep the ownership, the label pop-up was also closed. This bug is fixed.
    When creating and editing a scribble by right-clicking it in the Scribble pool, and then closing the editor without doing any changes, the scribble pool object looked like it had content. This bug is fixed. Editing a newly created scribble and then closing the editor without applying these changes made the Scribble be empty.
    Move Grid Cursor did not work as expected when the order of the selected fixtures was not straight in the patch. This bug is fixed. The patch order of fixtures in the patch is not relevant anymore for Move Grid Cursor.
    A Timer linked to a sequence lost the reference if the sequence was moved afterward. This bug is fixed.
    No spaces before + and - were added when pressing + or - while having focus on a command input pop-up. This bug is fixed.
    It was possible to change the content of locked plugins. This bug is fixed.
    When trying to set a value for an attribute that exists in the show file but the selected fixtures do not have, the value was applied to the selected attribute. This bug is fixed. If the selected fixtures do not have the specified but existing attribute, the desired value will not be set at all.
    If multiple fixtures were selected, and the first fixture in the selection did not have the specified attribute, the command did not work. This bug is fixed. The values are set to the attribute for the fixture in the selection that has the specified attribute.
    The software could crash when listing the cues to update in the Temp destination. This bug is fixed.
    The software could crash when the user changed the geometry setting of the automatically created XYZ channels inside a fixture type. This bug is fixed. The geometry setting of XYZ channels are locked now.
    When pressing Help and then a different key with an action keyword, for example, Copy, the Help keyword in the command line was overwritten with Copy. This bug is fixed.
    If the new selection had no attributes on the current encoder page, the user had to cycle through all encoder pages until useable attributes were reached. This bug is fixed. When changing the selection, the selected encoder page will switch to the first encoder page with attributes the current selection uses.
    When having only fixtures patched that do not use all feature groups, the wrong encoder bank buttons could be highlighted when selecting a different feature group. This bug is fixed.
    The indicator bar of encoder bank buttons of custom-created feature groups were not colored correctly. This bug is fixed.
    Timecode events whose time matched the timecode duration time weren't triggered. This bug is fixed.
    The software could crash when adding or manipulating a lot of configurations for Art-Net or sACN at the same time. This bug is fixed.
    The software crashed when the user tried to copy ScreenContent 1 at ScreenContent 2. This bug is fixed.
    If a command was prepared in the command line, it was not possible to complete it with the keyboard. This bug is fixed.
    When loading a show file along with its Output Configuration, duplicate entries could be created in the Connector Configuration. This bug is fixed.
    The attribute calculators did not apply ranges correctly when they contained at least one negative value. This bug is fixed.
    When pressing Alt, AltGr, or option the input of the command line could get selected. This bug is fixed.
    Sometimes not all properties of an appearance were applied to layout elements. This bug is fixed.
    Storing offset values in a multi-user session, stored the offset values for all active fixtures in all programmers. This bug is fixed. Only the programmer of the user who executes Store Offset will be taken into account.
    Cue commands that contained parentheses were not executed anymore. This bug is fixed. In addition, when working in a multi-user session, the pop-up will appear on the GlobalMaster station only when the same user is logged in as the user who triggered the cue.
    When auto creating a group, the command line could return a nothing to be done message, although the group was created correctly. This bug is fixed.
    Tapping an empty but existing group several times toggled the current selection. This bug is fixed. Tapping empty groups does not affect the current selection anymore.
    When executing macros while the focus was set to screen 6 or 7, not all popups triggered by the macro appeared. This bug is fixed.
    Cloning fixtures to a layout, where the destination fixtures were already part of the layout did not move their layout elements to the position of the source fixtures. This bug is fixed.
    The software crashed when executing a command, that required the specification of an index value by using the Index keyword, but the index value was not specified by the user. This bug is fixed.
    When loading a different show or when deleting the plugin, while a plugin is running, kept the plugin running. This bug is fixed.
    When storing a cue into a seqeunce before a cue that had a Break applied, the wrong value could be added to the cue that had the break applied. This bug is fixed.
    It was not possible to delete empty groups from layouts. This bug is fixed.
    When cloning without using dependencies within a sequence and the source and destination fixtures have different values in the used color preset of the cues, the correct preset reference was created but the destination fixture values in the cues were incorrect. This bug is fixed.
    When entering value ranges into the calculators of the color picker encoders, the values were not always applied correctly. This bug is fixed.
    Multiple cue part 0 could be created by oopsing the deletion of cues with several cue parts. This bug is fixed.
    When switching from the inner to the outer dual encoder or vice versa and both encoders had the same attribute assigned, Align was reset. This bug is fixed.
    Window preferences were not transmitted into the session, when storing them. This bug is fixed.
    Copied recipes were not automatically cooked. This bug is fixed.
    Values in cues after a cue break could change when changing the values in cues before the break. This bug is fixed.
    The tracking of relative values did not stop at cues that had a break defined. This bug is fixed.
    CleanStart of grandMA3 onPC did not work on macOS Sonoma. This bug is fixed.
    The pop-up warning the user that due to changes in the patch the data was incompatible for Session Data Merge was gone. This bug is fixed.
    Relative math operations in the calculators of the MAtricks properties did not deliver the expected result. This bug is fixed.
    Copied recipes could lose their reference to the preset or group in use. This bug is fixed. In case a recipe has selective data and a reference to an object, the selective data is discarded. 
    Fixtures that were not part of the stage the 3D was showing, could not be assigned to a layout. This bug is fixed.
    Absolute programmer vaues were discarded when calling a relative MAgic preset. This bug is fixed.
    Copying a cue to another one did not overwrite the recipes correctly if the user had chosen to overwrite the destination cue. This bug is fixed.
    The software could crash when the login pop-up appeared on the web remote after refreshing the page in the browser. This bug is fixed.
    Changing the value of the Brightness fader or Quality fader in the Color Picker in some cases could result in incorrect colors. This bug is fixed.
    If a new keyboard shortcut was created using an already existing combination, the old one was not properly removed. This bug is fixed.
    When assigning a different user profile to the admin user, this assignment was reset when loading the show again. This bug is fixed.
    When importing a data pool using the Include Dependencies option, the MAtricks value of imported recipes was cleared. This bug is fixed.
    When using the color picker with subfixtures, the color of the main instance was included as well to the resulting color. This bug is fixed.
    Offset values were not removed when executing Store Offset /Remove. This bug is fixed.

    Connections

    Description
    Remotely triggered sequences were using the executor time of the admin user. This bug is fixed. The executor time of the logged-in user on the station where the remote event is executed is used when triggering a sequence remotely.
    The timecode generator of a timecode slot did not continuously output timecode when Generator Looped was enabled. This bug is fixed.
    When a network connection was set to value Yes of the Slow property, it stayed at this value until the next full-install. This bug is fixed. The user can change the Slow setting manually again.
    When using an onPC command wing and a onPC fader wing at the same station connecting an additional usb device changed the Connector Configuration. This bug is fixed.
    The DMX Remotes had to be toggled off and on again to continue the functionality after changes were made in the session. This bug is fixed.
    OSC command messages were sent even if the network was disabled. This bug is fixed.

    Patch

    Description
    Geometries' type got lost and pasted back as geometry type "Geometry" whenever geometries were copied. They also lost the value of their properties during copying. This bug is fixed.
    The software would crash if fixtures were cut from one stage and pasted directly on the new stage row instead of the fixture row. This bug is fixed.
    The fixture type library displayed a blank manufacturer name and blank fixture name if the fixture type description contained the special characters "<" or ">". This bug is fixed.
    The default name of a custom fixture type was exported as empty. This bug is fixed. The default name is now exported. Example: Manufacturer@Fixture_type 1.xml
    The default name of a custom attribute was exported as empty. This bug is fixed. When a user creates an attribute, the user is prompted to name the attribute.
    The resulting rotation of geometries could be wrong if they were rotated along 2 or 3 axes. This bug is fixed.
    When editing the geometries of a fixture type, a crash could occur when cutting and pasting geometry references from one parent to another. This bug is fixed.
    When editing the geometries of a fixture type, a crash occurred if an infinite loop was created with geometry references that referenced each other. This bug is fixed. A message is displayed in the Fixture Type Errors in case of creating such an infinite loop.

    Phaser

    Description

    The Measure encoder always displayed 1 as value when no value was active. This bug is fixed. As long as no value is active on the Measure layer, the encoder won't show any value.

    The automatic cooking of recipes using phaser presets did not always apply the new values immediately. This bug is fixed. 
    When mirroring position phasers using MAtricks pool objects, it could happen that they were not mirrored correctly. This bug is fixed.

    Playback

    Description
    A running sequence or preset was not fixed when enabling AutoFix for it. This bug is fixed.
    During the recording of timecode shows, cues with already existing timecode events were not recorded. However, their cue commands were recorded again. This bug is fixed. Cue commands will not be recorded, if the cue is already recorded in the timecode show.
    If a CMD Delay for the off cue was longer than the fade time of the cue, the CMD got triggered at the wrong time. This bug is fixed.
    Flash and Temp buttons would not release properly if the command line was not empty. This bug is fixed.
    Moving recipes from one to another cue part inside a sequence did not work as expected. This bug is fixed.
    When pressing and releasing the Temp buttons of executors very fast, it could happen that the sequence did not turn off again. This bug is fixed.
    Sequences could not be played back when the first cue was empty, MIB should happen for the second cue, and OffWhenOverriden was enabled. This bug is fixed.
    When executing a secondary executor button function (MA + Executor Button) and releasing MA first, kept the playback function, for example, Flash, active when releasing the Executor Button afterwards.
    When playing back a preset with a recipe and changing the ingredients at the same time, the cooked result was wrong. This bug is fixed.
    When a remote (DC, DMX, or MIDI) triggered a playback, the playback was started by the Remote user, but not by the user profile of the Remote user. This bug is fixed.
    Fixtures did not fade to their new values in other attributes when MIB was enabled and the dimmer was also fading to 0 in the same cue. This bug is fixed.
    When using <<< or >>> to go to a cue, and then updating it, while the original cue fade would have still be running, the playback engine faded into the cue. This bug is fixed.
    The resulting phaser could be wrong when using a phaser preset in a recipe of a different preset.This bug is fixed.

    Windows

    Description
    The help window went back to the start page when the user changes the color theme. This bug is fixed.
    When adding a scribble to an object by having the label dialog opened on a small screen, tapping Apply did nothing. This bug is fixed.
    The input range in the Speed Master calculator was wrong. This bug is fixed. The input range in the calculator of the Speed Master layer is now set from 0 to 16.
    The Feature Group Indicator Bar was displayed in some cases, also when the attributes were available within the selected world. This bug is fixed.
    The Feature Group Indicator Bar displayed indicators for Shapers and Video feature groups even when no attributes of those feature groups were used in the show. This bug is fixed.
    The input to the Store View pop-up was not displayed on all displays. This bug is fixed. The Store View pop-up is synchronized across all displays.
    It was possible to select several entries in the Load and Save As sections of the Backup menu. This bug is fixed. In the Backup menu, it is only possible to select one entry at a time.
    When opening an Assignment Editor, the focus was not always set to the input field. This bug is fixed. Opening an Assignment editor sets the focus on the input field. Pressing Please applies the first entry of the list.
    The scroll position of the Align Bar, Selection Bar, and Step Bar was not stored in views. This bug is fixed.
    Assign Menu offered Master as a fader function for timers. This bug is fixed. Timers do not have any fader function they can use.
    When switching from Mode2 to grandMA3 software on a grandMA3 console, it could happen, that the End User License Agreement was displayed again, also when it was already accepted by the user in the past.
    Opening the Import/Export menu twice on two screens made it impossible to select an object type and the command line was stuck in the data pool destination. This bug is fixed. The Import/Export menu can only be opened once at the same time.
    When opening the Link Values dropdown on screen 8 of a grandMA3 light or full-size console, it could briefly display buttons for Active Only and MultiStep Only. This bug is fixed.
    When scrolling with a mouse inside the Agenda Viewer, two days displayed the yellow selection frame. This bug is fixed.
    When opening the macro editor, the width of the columns was reset to default. This bug is fixed. The macro editor remembers the individual width of the columns.
    When doing a lasso selection in the timeline area of the timecode editor for the first time, it could happen that no or not all events were selected. This bug is fixed.
    The Power Loss pop-up on grandMA3 full-size and light consoles did not appear when another pop-up was open. This bug is fixed. The Power Loss pop-up appears always when the power to a grandMA3 full-size or light console gets lost.
    The icon of the appearance and the name of a filter or world moved to the right in the sequence sheet, the bigger the height of the line was. This bug is fixed.
    If User1 command was active and you called a view containing more than one screen, the Playback bar in screen 2 was replaced by the Xkeys bar.
    The EULA and Release Notes were not displayed at the small screens of CRV consoles. The EULA could not be accepted on the small screens of Light and Full-Size Consoles. This bug is fixed.
    The Color Picker did not show load or save options for the window setting. This bug is fixed.
    The color output of fixtures with CIE attributes did not correspond to the shown color in the fixture sheet and selection grid. This bug is fixed.
    The pan/tilt calculator did show wrong values when using it with the natural readout set to physical on the relative layer. This bug is fixed.
    A long press on the input field of the label dialog opened a second text input pop-up. This bug is fixed
    Calling a view using a sequence sheet where Auto Scroll was activated, always scrolled down starting in cue 1 and ending in the current cue. This bug is fixed. 
    Environmental objects with fixture ID could not be selected in the fixture sheet set to channel mode. This bug is fixed.
    Editing a fixture with Edit and tapping a fixture in the fixture sheet that is in channel mode did not open the patch. This bug is fixed.
    Using the different Bar windows (for example, Align Bar, Step Bar, and Selection Bar), the sizes of the buttons through the different windows would look different. This bug is fixed. When the Bar windows are the same size, the size of the buttons is now better aligned.
    The colors Fixture Graphic icon could be different across different fixtures. This bug is fixed.
    When recalling the displayed layout in the Layout Viewer, the stored position and zoom of the layout were not recalled correctly. This bug is fixed.
    When tapping a cell in the Sheet mode of the Phaser Editor, the corresponding step was not always selected. This bug is fixed.
    When loading a show file or creating a new show with Output Stations enabled, the name of the used Output Configuration was not cleared. This bug is fixed.
    When latching MA in the Command Section overlay, and closing it, the latched MA status was released. This bug is fixed. A latched MA button now remains latched until the user releases it.
    When a user with 'View' user rights had a Clock Viewer window open, it always displayed the clock. This bug is fixed. The Clock Viewer window displays always the clock source that was selected, no matter of the user rights.
    In the timecode show and timecode slot settings, User Bits could not be entered using the hexadecimal format. This bug is fixed.
    The Save and Load Preferences feature was not working when using the Content Sheet. This bug is fixed.
    When adding a padding to a Layout Element, it was added outside the element border. This bug is fixed. Paddings for Layout Elements are added inside the border of the Layout Element.
    Doing a right-click into the text input area when editing the command cell of a macro line, opened a second text input. This bug is fixed.
    When editing a value cell in the Content Sheet or in the Sequence Sheet in Track Sheet Mode, the value was not recalled correctly into the calculator. This bug is fixed.
    The Info window did not display the notes correctly when calling a view with an Info window. This bug is fixed.
    The Transpose setting in the Sequence sheet window did not work. This bug is fixed.
    The software could freeze when opening an attribute calculator in the Content Sheet after doing a losso selection from bottom to top. This bug is fixed.
    When a value in the speed layer was applied and a calculator was opened again, the value was not displayed properly. This bug is fixed.
    The software could crash if an old showfile was loaded and the delete tool of the phaser editor was used. This bug is fixed.
    The Notes tab in the Info window did not display the appearance of the window. This bug is fixed.
    When opening the command line history, the screen encoder could flicker. This bug is fixed.
    The on screen keyboard of the password input in the login pop-up did not mask the entered password. This bug is fixed.
    When rotating a selection of fixtures in the Layout Viewer, for example, by 90°, the resulting values were not correct. This bug is fixed.
    When having several color pickers open, and changing color in one of them, could cause the faders in the other ones to jitter. This bug is fixed.
    Small Selection Grid windows did not display the grid position cursor when using Auto Scroll. This bug is fixed.
    The Menu did not open when pressing Menu, while the Add Window pop-up was open. This bug is fixed.
    Message boxes created by plugins did not had scroll bars when the content was bigger than the pop-up size could display. This bug is fixed.
    The 3 or More Finger Scroll gesture did not work if you showed or hid the title bar of a window. This bug is fixed.
    The Sequence Sheet Encoder Bar did not display encoders for fade and delay of custom feature groups. This bug is fixed.
    The Update menu did not refresh its content when Sequence Mode was set to Selected or LastGo and the selected sequence or the last sequence executed did change in between opening the Update menu, closing it, and opening it again. This bug is fixed.
    The list of presets in the Import and Export tabs of the Show Creator did not update when switching between the different feature groups. This bug is fixed.
    When changing the width or height of a display, it was not possible to set a value that was twice the previous value. This bug is fixed.
    When opening calculators, for example in the 3D Encoder Bar, they could open on the screen where the corresponding window was open. This bug is fixed. The calculators of encoder bars now open on the screen that belongs to the encoder bar, no matter where the window is located that opened the encoder bar.
    Relative values were displayed in the Content Sheet in gray. This bug is fixed. The Content Sheet displays relative values with its normal pink.
    The font color of the MAtricks button in the encoder did not turn yellow, when the MAtricks were active. This bug is fixed.
    When Lock Position was enabled in a Layout Window, Show Title Bar could not be toggled. This bug is fixed.
    The Xkeys windows and Command control overlay did not display the correct keyboard shortcuts for the Xkeys. This bug is fixed.
    Entering ListReference into the command line and then tapping an executor in a letter box screen could open the Info pop-up on the letter box screen. This bug is fixed. The Info pop-up opens in such cases on the corresponding big screen.
    When enabling the Layer toolbar or the Recipe area in the Sequence editor, they were not displayed. This bug is fixed.

    Appendix

    • It is recommended to use a dedicated and a separate physical network for each grandMA3 session.
    • When using DMX protocols it is recommended to use a dedicated physical network for each protocol.
    • The recommended workflow for executor configurations that are different compared with the default executor configuration is to create a new executor configuration, do the changes in the new configuration and save the changes.
    • XML files with exported executor configurations from grandMA3 v1.2 and prior cannot be properly imported to grandMA3 v1.3 or later due to structural changes.
    • XML files with exported analog remote setups from grandMA3 v1.3 and prior cannot be properly imported to grandMA3 v1.4 or later due to structural changes.
    • XML files with exported timecode shows from grandMA3 v1.3 and prior cannot be properly imported to grandMA3 v1.4 or later due to structural changes.

    Known Limitations

    Software update via network to onPC stations requires confirmation during the install process at the destination system.
    When multiple GlobalMasters exist on the network, each having the same session and location name, the station with the higher priority takes over automatically.
    If all stations have the same priority, the station with the longest Online Time becomes the GlobalMaster for all stations. 
    Recast will only recast presets to cues if there is a preset link in the absolute layer. 
    Loading show files that were saved in previous versions deletes the programmer content.