Softdesk Designer DMXC3

	Article describe DMXControl 3.3.0 Stand: 04.03.2025	Softdesk Designer DMXC3
Table of contents A Autoprepare B Bedienoberfläche (GUI) Blackout Bühnenansicht (Stage View) C Chat D Dateien im Projekt (Project Files) DDFs im Projekt aktualisieren (Update Project DDFs) DMX-Schnittstellen (DMX-Interfaces) Device Manager (Add Device Dialog) DDF Library DMX-In DMX-Out-Zuordnung (DMX-In DMX-Out-Mapping) E Effekte und Filter (Effects and Filters) Effektvisualisierung (Effect Visualizer) Einfrieren (Freeze) Eingangszuweisung (Input Assignment) Executor Executor Seite (Executor Page) F Fanning Farbliste (Color List) G Gerät (Device) Gerätegruppe (Device Group) Gerätesteuerung (Device Control) Gobo-Ähnlichkeiten (Gobo Affinity) Goboliste (Gobo List) Group Handling H Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) Hauptschalter (Main Switch) Hervorheben (Highlight) HTP-, LTP- und LoTP-Mischung (HTP-, LTP- and LoTP-Mixing) K Kanalübersicht (Channel Overview) Kernel (Server) L Lastmanagement (Electricity) Launcher M Macroboard Master Matrix MIDI-Verwaltung (MIDI Manager) N Netzwerkfunktionalitäten O Ordnungsliste (Item List) P Panel-Konzept Patching Plugin-Verwaltung (Plugin Manager) Positionsliste (Position List) Preset Programm- und Projekteinstellungen (Application und Project Settings) Programmer Programmer Filter Projektverwaltung (Project Administration) Projektexplorer (Project Explorer) Projektaufgaben (Project ToDos) Protokolldateien (Log Files) R Radix Relative und absolute Werte (Absolute and Relative Values) S Softdesk Softdesk Designer Steuerungsfenster (Control Panel) Szenenliste (Cuelist) Szenenlistegruppe (Cuelist Group) Szenenzeitkonfiguration (Cue Timing Editor) T Timecode Player Tracking U Umbra

The Softdesk Designer provides all the necessary functions to create and test a custom Softdesk.

Overview

The user interface built according to individual needs for live operation consists of various controls (Softdesk controls) that are later linked to the desired actions in the Input Assignment. The Softdesk Designer is the part in DMXControl 3 that makes the creation of such a custom interface possible. This includes not only placing the controls, but also finalizing the setup of sliders, buttons, labels, etc., such as size and position, design, color, and determining their behavior in interaction with the Input Assignment.

Important Features

The size of the Softdesk is arbitrary. Its origin, i.e., the position with 0 pixels on the horizontal axis (X-axis) and 0 pixels on the vertical axis (Y-axis), is in the upper left corner of the window. The size and position of all controls are given in pixels.

It is not recommended to run a live show directly from the Softdesk Designer. The test mode should only be used during the setup of the Softdesk and its associated connection sets (Connectionsets) in the Input Assignment.

Controls

Workspace

The Softdesk Designer is divided into three main areas:

• The workspace, where the actual Softdesk is created.
• The menu bar for adding, positioning, and aligning the controls.
• The property grid on the right side, where all settings for the respective controls are made.

Menu Bar

Icon		Name	Description
		English GUI
		Desk	Opens the Softdesk options.
Aligning Controls
		Horizontal	Aligns the selected controls horizontally in a line.
		Vertical	Aligns the selected controls vertically in a line.
Resizing
		Average	Adjusts the height of the selected controls to the average height of the selected controls.
		Longest	Adjusts the height of all selected controls to the height of the tallest control in the selection.
		Shortest	Adjusts the height of all selected controls to the height of the shortest control in the selection.
		Average	Adjusts the width of the selected controls to the average width of the selected controls.
		Widest	Adjusts the width of all selected controls to the width of the widest control in the selection.
		Narrowest	Adjusts the width of all selected controls to the width of the narrowest control in the selection.
Spacing Between Controls
		Horizontal space	Inserts the spacing entered in the "Space" field between all selected controls horizontally.
		Vertical space	Inserts the spacing entered in the "Space" field between all selected controls vertically.
		Space	Value for the space between two selected controls horizontally and vertically.
Adding Controls
		Add control	Activates the insertion mode for adding the control selected from the dropdown menu.
		Control select	Selects the control that will be added to the Softdesk during the next activation of the insertion mode.
Test Mode
		Test mode	Activates and deactivates the test mode for the current Softdesk.

Property Grid

The content of the Property Grid in the Softdesk Designer depends on the selection, just like the Device Control.

Setting	Possible Parameters	Default value	Description
English GUI
Size and Position
X	Numeric value	Not available	Position of the control in the horizontal direction in pixels.
Y	Numeric value	Not available	Position of the control in the vertical direction in pixels.
Height	Numeric value	Not available	Height of the control in pixels.
Width	Numeric value	Not available	Width of the control in pixels.
Internal References
Is enabled	"True" / "False"	"True"	Activates or deactivates a control. If the control is deactivated, it can no longer be selected by clicking in the designer. The selection of the control must be made using the selection rectangle.
Display name	Any text	Not available	Internal designation of the control, among other things for input assignment.
Control Behavior
Value activated	Various entries	1	Value for the activated state of the control.
Control Aesthetic
Style	Various entries	"Default"	Selects a display style for the control.
Font family	Various entries	"Arial"	Font for the displayed text.
Font size	Numeric value	13	Font size of the displayed text in points (pt).
Base color	Colors according to the selection list RGB values	Black	Fill color of the control.
Fore color	Colors according to the selection list RGB values	White	Text color.

Keyboard Shortcuts

In the Softdesk Designer, the commands listed in the following table can also be used via corresponding keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard Shortcut	Program Function	Note
Controlling View
Ctrl + Mouse Wheel	Zoom in and out of Softdesk	To resize, hold the Ctrl key and scroll the mouse wheel.
Adjusting Controls
Up	Move control up	Moving with the arrow keys also works with multiple selected controls. Each key press moves the controls by one pixel in the specified direction.
Left	Move control left
Right	Move control right
Down	Move control down
Reusing Controls
Ctrl + Left Mouse Click	Select multiple controls
Shift + Left Mouse Click	Duplicate selected controls	After selecting the control, press the Shift key and drag the control to the desired position with the mouse.
Ctrl + C	Copy selected controls to clipboard	The copy function allows multiple controls to be copied to another Softdesk in the project.
Ctrl + V	Paste controls from clipboard
Delete	Delete selected controls
Track Changes
Ctrl + Z	Undo deletion of a control.

Usage

Create a New Softdesk

New Softdesks are created via the context menu in the Project Explorer or by clicking the [Create Softdesk] button in the menu bar.

If a Softdesk needs to be edited later, the context menu for the desired Softdesk contains the entry « Edit Softdesk ». A double-click always opens the Softdesk in live mode.

Test the Softdesk

By using the [Play] button in the Softdesk Designer, the test mode (Preview) can be activated. During the design and setup of the Softdesk, this mode allows you to check the functionality of all controls as long as they are linked to corresponding actions on the other side, such as starting or stopping a Cuelist in the Input Assignment.

However, keep in mind that the test environment is only meant for testing when building a Softdesk. For live operation, use the "simple" view of the Softdesk, which can be accessed via the entry « Open Softdesk » in the context menu of the selected Softdesk in the Project Explorer. Alternatively, you can directly open the desired Softdesk in live mode via the menu bar under the entry « Softdesk ». The key advantages of live mode over the designer are:

• The entire menu bar of the designer is completely hidden, giving you more space on the screen.
• There is no risk of accidentally making unwanted changes to the Softdesk or even rendering parts of it unusable due to an unintended click.

Controls

For the design of your own Softdesk, the following controls are available:

Control	DMXC Version	Short Description
Basic Controls
Button	3.2.0	Creates a button.
Slider	3.2.0	Creates a slider.
Position	3.2.0	Creates a position control.
Color Bar	3.2.0	Creates a color bar.
Color Grid	3.2.0	Creates a color grid.
Multifunctional Controls
Device Selector	3.2.1	Creates a control for selecting devices.
Cuelist Monitor	3.2.1	Creates a cuelist monitor.
Cuelist Selector	3.2.1	Creates a control for selecting cuelists.
Status Feedback and General Layout Elements
Signal Lamp	3.2.0	Creates a signal lamp.
Box	3.2.1	Creates a box.
Header	3.2.0	Creates a header element.
Label	3.2.0	Creates a label text box.

External Control

Each Softdesk is represented in the input and output tree (Input and Output) in the Input Assignment by its own subfolder, where all elements contained in a Softdesk are listed as individual input or output items. However, there is automatic filtering. This filtering ensures that elements like labels, which cannot trigger actions, are not found in the input section. Only active elements that can trigger actions, such as buttons or sliders, are present in the input section.