Vixen Display Visualizer

[erm213]

OK, I am working on a new Vixen output plugin. It's called the Vixen Display Visualizer. The idea was born out of this thread:

http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?15771-Vixen-Adjustable-Preview

I have some code up and running, trying to get the layout of the user interface.

Here is where the code is hosted:

http://code.google.com/p/vixendisplayvisualizer/

2.1 Version: http://code.google.com/p/vixendisplayvisualizer/downloads/detail?name=VixenDisplayVisualizer-2.1-1.11.8.1.zip&can=2&q=

2.5 Version: http://code.google.com/p/vixendisplayvisualizer/downloads/detail?name=VixenDisplayVisualizer-2.5-1.11.8.1.zip&can=2&q=


Thanks,

Erik

[IdunBenhad]

Hi:
So far, it looks good to me.

Although I don't know your plans, I might suggest making the editing commands available for selection by a right click of the mouse. Might help reduce cursor/mouse motion.

Thanks Erik, things are lookin' up.

[dpitts]

Looks good.

How should the elements be defined. The first edition of software should incorporate elements that are built-in as well as the ability to create custom elements with a grid style editor. The built in elements should have tool handles to drag and shape the elements on main preview canvas. Some of non-rgb elements I can think of and the layout features for each.

Arch
Position
Height
Width
Number of Sections (Channels)

Snow Flake
Position
Height
Width

Megatree
Position
Height
Width
Number of Channels
Lights Per String ?

etc....

I would like to hammer out the underlying details of the plugin. So much of the user interface is dependant on the details.

I presume we will be able to draw pixels on the main preview editor just like you can now. Having simple drawing tools like a circle, line, star and other shapes may come in handy.

[kychristmas]

I'm very excited about this. Its starting to sound a little more like the Visual tools that were/are part of Prancer. Quite frankly, they may be what KC has in the works


Looks good.

How should the elements be defined. The first edition of software should incorporate elements that are built-in as well as the ability to create custom elements with a grid style editor. The built in elements should have tool handles to drag and shape the elements on main preview canvas. Some of non-rgb elements I can think of and the layout features for each.

Arch
Position
Height
Width
Number of Sections (Channels)

Snow Flake
Position
Height
Width

Megatree
Position
Height
Width
Number of Channels
Lights Per String ?

etc....

I would like to hammer out the underlying details of the plugin. So much of the user interface is dependant on the details.

I presume we will be able to draw pixels on the main preview editor just like you can now. Having simple drawing tools like a circle, line, star and other shapes may come in handy.

[erm213]

Quite frankly, they may be what KC has in the works

Is there a way to find that out? I would not want to duplicate the functionality. I would be more than happy to lend KC a hand, if that is something he would want. I would rather spend my time, and KC's for that matter, not solving the same problem!

Erik

[erm213]

OK, here is what I have tonight! It is the mock up of the display element editor.

It allows the user to set the number of rows and columns of the grid. In the mock up, I made to 10 rows by 20 columns. It also allows the width and height of the element. This is the size it will be on the setup view canvas. The mapped channels are a list of available channels, that can be placed on the grid. One channel per cell. This is where shapes can easily be defined.

10380

This is not yet functional, the mock up was hard coded to show my ideas, and gather feedback. I need to work out a few more details (like templates), but I think it gets across the main idea. Once again, comments, suggestions, questions, etc are most welcomed.

Erik

[dpitts]

The channels at the element level should just be numbers (possible description too) which are local to the element itself. The user should be able to add as many channels as is needed to define the element. When the user adds an element to main preview, the element must have it's internal channels mapped to output channels of the sequence or profile. Maybe this is what you are thinking. Decoupling the elements channels from sequence channels allow for grouping of pixels without needing to regroup every time the element is added to a preview. So I would recommend some controls to add, remove or edit element channels on the element editor.

For RGB editing, it would be great to automatically generate the channel to pixel mapping with a number of different algorithms (traversing by rows, traversing by columns). Having the ability to select pixels with a rectangle, circle and simple shapes could also be beneficial. Holding control key down to add to the current selection would be a great addition. Once the selection of pixels are complete invoking the auto channel to pixel generator would expedite the creation of complex shapes of RGB nodes. Non rgb channels could be mapped to a selection by just clicking the channel on the left pane.

The channels to pixel mapping should be one to many. Allowing for multiple pixels to have same channel.

Just a few thoughts.

[erm213]

Thanks for the ideas, dpitts, the points make a lot of sense. I will do what I can to incorporate them.

Erik

[plasmata]

Not to hijack this thread but whatever happened to Prancer? It doesn't look like its actively being developed.

[smartalec]

This is ezactly what i was thinking of,
could you also add the RGB options for us RGB led users
Keep up the great work

[erm213]

This is ezactly what i was thinking of,
could you also add the RGB options for us RGB led users
Keep up the great work

RGB and RGB+W support is part of this. I should update the original post, as it does not reflect this. You will be able to make a RGB (or RGB+W) "Channel", that will contain the individual color channels. During the display of the colors, it should output the correct color the RGB value makes.

Thanks,

Erik

[intwoit2002]

This looks like a great addition to the Vixen plugins. I am just starting with RGB pixels and layout is daunting, this will be a great addition. Thanks for all your work, do you have any idea as to when there might be some release?

Again thanks and looking forward.
Al

[erm213]

Hello,

Thanks for the interest. The initial version is atleast a few weeks out, and could extend further out than that. I will be posting updates as they happen.

Thanks,

Erik

[erm213]

Hello,

I am getting ready to release an alpha version to some people who are willing to do some testing on this. The plugin has a base set of features that I plan on extending, but I do want to get it out there and get feedback. Right now is has support for multiple display elements, single, RGB, RGB+W, and empty pixels. The display elements can be dragged around, and placed on the display canvas where ever they are needed. The output part display the color based on the channels each pixel is mapped to.

There is not a ton of validation, and I'm sure there are a handful of bugs yet to be found.

Major features that are not implemented yet are setting an image for the background and import/export or display elements. I'm sure there are more that can be done.

If you are interested in helping me test the alpha version, please let me know. I will get you the plug-in. Any feedback is welcomed, from UI usability, to missing features, colors, etc.

Thanks,

Erik

[Mactayl]

Hello,

I am getting ready to release an alpha version to some people who are willing to do some testing on this. The plugin has a base set of features that I plan on extending, but I do want to get it out there and get feedback. Right now is has support for multiple display elements, single, RGB, RGB+W, and empty pixels. The display elements can be dragged around, and placed on the display canvas where ever they are needed. The output part display the color based on the channels each pixel is mapped to.

There is not a ton of validation, and I'm sure there are a handful of bugs yet to be found.

Major features that are not implemented yet are setting an image for the background and import/export or display elements. I'm sure there are more that can be done.

If you are interested in helping me test the alpha version, please let me know. I will get you the plug-in. Any feedback is welcomed, from UI usability, to missing features, colors, etc.

Thanks,

Erik


I would like to help out.:)

[RandyA]

Sure let me know where it is..

Thanks,
Randy

[boyelroy11]

Just a quick note that this is for Vixen 2.5 and will not work on 2.1 :)

I tried, I really did, lol.

Bruce

[Mactayl]

So far I like the way you can see what you are adjusting on RGB and RGB+W channels which gives a much better idea of how well you color blending will look in you final show.

[erm213]

Thanks Mac, I am already working on some improvements based on feedback from chelmuth. I am also working on setting the background image for the plugin. RGB support was big thing I wanted, as I am planning on a lot of RGB pixels in my show. Hopefully in a day or two, I can release an update.

Erik

[jpb]

Erik, I have tried it out and agree with Mactayl's comments regarding being able to check the colour blends. I am finding it very useful. I also love how I can drag it outside of my vixen window.

regards,
Jon

[erm213]

Thanks for the feedback Jon.

I am getting close to releasing an updated version that will allow you to set a background image like the adjustable preview. I have tweak how the pixels show up. There is some transparency, which should allow you to "visualize" the lights on the set background image. Maybe tonight of tomorrow if there are no surprises.

Erik

[erm213]

OK, here is the beta release of the Vixen Display visualizer.

It can be downloaded from:

http://vixendisplayvisualizer.googlecode.com/files/VixenDisplayVisualizer-1.11.7.22.zip

Here is a change log that has the features that are in the release.

http://code.google.com/p/vixendisplayvisualizer/wiki/ChangeLog

Have fun, and please let me know of any issues, or feedback in general.

Thanks,

Erik

[budude]

Any chance of a quickie video showing it off? And yes - I'm lazy...

[erm213]

Any chance of a quickie video showing it off? And yes - I'm lazy...

I'll see what I can do. Do you know a good program to "record" actions on a desktop?

I am working on some documentation of how it works in the mean time.

Thanks,

Erik

[JamesL85]

I'll see what I can do. Do you know a good program to "record" actions on a desktop?


Try Fraps (http://www.fraps.com/). You can get a "free" version that records your desktop. I think it puts "unregistered version" or something on the screen of your recordings, but I don't know what all else.

James

[erm213]

Try Fraps (http://www.fraps.com/). You can get a "free" version that records your desktop. I think it puts "unregistered version" or something on the screen of your recordings, but I don't know what all else.

James

Thanks, I'll give it a shot.

Erik

[chelmuth]

Here's a quick 5min Video.. Yeah I know I suck at explaining things.. and I did manage to break it in the process but you can see how it works :)

http://vimeo.com/26783136

[chesterspot]

This is awesome! Great Job!

[barbotte]

wowo it look pretty cool stuff ... i think it will make my life easier when i get those superstip one day lol..... now all you need to do is figure out how to implement this to 2.1 instead of 2.4
cheer

[erm213]

Making it work 2.1 may not be possible, as 2.1 uses the .Net 2.0 framework. This plugin requires the .Net 3.5 framework. Since the plug in is loaded reflectively, it may work as long as the 3.5 framework is installed. I will have to do a test to see. I have looked at the 2.1 API for a plugin, it is pretty close to the 2.5 API, so it would not be a lot a rework.

Erik

[intwoit2002]

I maybe have a senior moment, but I thought I saw a post to a link the would allow this to work on 2.1.x. If I am wrong sorry for the waste of space.

Al

[erm213]

I maybe have a senior moment, but I thought I saw a post to a link the would allow this to work on 2.1.x. If I am wrong sorry for the waste of space.

Al

Right now, it does not work with 2.1. It may not be able to work with 2.1, not sure, still need to do some testing.

Thanks,

Erik

[intwoit2002]

Is it the same case for Vixen 2.1.4 running 4.x dotnet. I also have Vixen 2.1.4 running on 3.5 dotnet. Sure love the features was just trying to avoid doing the conversion to 2.5 and then back to 2.1.4.

"wowo it look pretty cool stuff ... i think it will make my life easier when i get those superstip one day lol..... now all you need to do is figure out how to implement this to 2.1 instead of 2.4"

If the statement above is correct about 2.4, then I must be doing something wrong. Was there a link to how to install the Dll and where it is available.

Thanks,
Al

[CaptKirk]

Have you thought about adding a drag and drop capability? I was thinking instead of emptying a cell then manually re-creating it in another cell (like you did when you changed the new arch grid) it would be cool to be able to cut/paste or copy paste or (gasp) drag and drop? Just an idea...

[erm213]

Have you thought about adding a drag and drop capability? I was thinking instead of emptying a cell then manually re-creating it in another cell (like you did when you changed the new arch grid) it would be cool to be able to cut/paste or copy paste or (gasp) drag and drop? Just an idea...

Yes drag and drop is in the future plans for an enhancement.

Thank you for the feedback!

Erik

[THurrle]

While we are on the subject of display visualizer, I have one channel that does not work on my visualizer when I play back a sequence. I have checked and it is enabled. Have tried to re draw it but it still does not show when playing a sequence. Any ideas out there.
Thanks

[erm213]

While we are on the subject of display visualizer, I have one channel that does not work on my visualizer when I play back a sequence. I have checked and it is enabled. Have tried to re draw it but it still does not show when playing a sequence. Any ideas out there.
Thanks

There is one possible problem, it is still an unresolved bug. The plugin uses the channel's Id property to map it to the pixels in the plugin. I made the assumption that the ID would be unique for each channel. It turns out that duplicate channels Id can, and do happen. When this happens, it can cause the problems you are talking about. I am considering changing to use the channel name as a unique identifier. The problem with that is how to handle channel renames. I did talk with KC about this, and it sounds like this will not be a problem in 3.0 (then again, this plugin may not be needed in 3.0).

If you would like, you can send me your sequence file. I will see if I can reproduce it on my machine.

Erik

[erm213]

I have some good news, and some bad news. The good news it that I can get the plugin to work with Vixen 2.1. The bad news is related to my prior post. The channel ID can not be used in the the 2.1 version of the plugin, as the property exists, but it is internal, and not usable by an external object. I can make the change to use the channel name. As long as each channel in your sequence has a unique name, there will be no mapping issues. It does open up another problem. If you rename a channel that is mapped, it will lose it's mapping in the plug-in. Right now, I do not see a solution for that. I do not know of a way to capture the channel rename event, and apply the new name. So if you rename a mapped channel, you would have to re-map it in the plug-in. I will keep digging to see if there is something I can do about that.

I need to do a little more work to make sure the 2.1 is working ok, and then I will make a new build for 2.5 and 2.1.

Thanks,

Erik

[erm213]

OK, another release out there. Warning, it is a breaking release. I found out that the Channel ID was not guaranteed to be unique. I changed the association of the pixel mapping to the channel name. This has one drawback, if you rename a channel, you will need to remap it in the plugin. Stll trying to figure out how to prevent that.

There is also a version for Vixen 2.1. You will need the .Net 3.5 framework installed, but there is a pretty good chance you have it installed already.

2.1 Version: http://code.google.com/p/vixendisplayvisualizer/downloads/detail?name=VixenDisplayVisualizer-2.1-1.11.8.1.zip&can=2&q=

2.5 Version: http://code.google.com/p/vixendisplayvisualizer/downloads/detail?name=VixenDisplayVisualizer-2.5-1.11.8.1.zip&can=2&q=

Thanks,

Erik

[Wombat]

Hi Erik,

Are you still doing any more devel on this plugin?

It looks good but for someone with Thousands of channels it is a bit of a hassle to do this.

It needs a few things from what I can see.

When you select each element it should go to the next element which is available. (should remember that the last channel I selected was channel 2568 and automatically select channel 2569 for the next object.

Maybe options to create multi strings in one go. then be able to move the elements around in the grid so that you can place them how you want and all the channels are selected in one go without having to do each one individually.

lilke if I want to make an arch and I have a 42 channel RGB string I want to create a grid like 42 X 20 say and then add the string to it.

it would ask what type of string RGB RBG BGR etc... ask how many pixels 42 ask start channel say channel 1 reverse order? (options box) hit enter and voila a string apears in the grid in a straight line. (or you can make an option for arch etc) all the channels are populated automatically. you can then in the window move elements around as you want and then save it.

My main issue at the moment with it is because I have 4000 odd channels it takes about 30 seconds per element to set the channels because I have to wait each time for it to load the channel list (this takes some time) then scrowl down to the channel number (gets tedious if it is channel 3543) then do it again for the next channel (it doesnt remember that I just used channel 3543)

Keep up the good work looking great tool

Regards
Wombat

[erm213]

Hi Erik,

Are you still doing any more devel on this plugin?

It looks good but for someone with Thousands of channels it is a bit of a hassle to do this.

It needs a few things from what I can see.

When you select each element it should go to the next element which is available. (should remember that the last channel I selected was channel 2568 and automatically select channel 2569 for the next object.

Maybe options to create multi strings in one go. then be able to move the elements around in the grid so that you can place them how you want and all the channels are selected in one go without having to do each one individually.

lilke if I want to make an arch and I have a 42 channel RGB string I want to create a grid like 42 X 20 say and then add the string to it.

it would ask what type of string RGB RBG BGR etc... ask how many pixels 42 ask start channel say channel 1 reverse order? (options box) hit enter and voila a string apears in the grid in a straight line. (or you can make an option for arch etc) all the channels are populated automatically. you can then in the window move elements around as you want and then save it.

My main issue at the moment with it is because I have 4000 odd channels it takes about 30 seconds per element to set the channels because I have to wait each time for it to load the channel list (this takes some time) then scrowl down to the channel number (gets tedious if it is channel 3543) then do it again for the next channel (it doesnt remember that I just used channel 3543)

Keep up the good work looking great tool

Regards
Wombat

Thanks Wombat, that is some good feedback. There has not been any active development on the 2.x version of this. Now, that being said, this was the base for the preview module for Vixen 3.0. The channels (or nodes in 3.0 parlance) are much easier to work with, and there is "shape" support in the 3.0 version.

If you haven't seen, 3.0 is out in beta. You can find the details here:

http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?18027-3-0-Beta-0

This probably won't help much for this season, but is will be great for 2012. If there is still demand for features like the ones you mentioned in the 2.x line after 3.0 is out there, I could work on implementing them. But, I would imagine that people will end up using 3.0. If you get a chance, check out the beta, and provide some feedback!!

Thanks,

Erik

[ppohlman]

I just noticed this thread that is specific for the Display Previewer. First off, Erik you've done an excellent job with this so far. I'm excited to see how this ends up. I don't know if you're looking for feedback from the 3.0 here or not. I listed most of these in the Vixen 3.0 Beta thread before I found this thread here.

Here is a list of things that I noticed while playing around with Vixen 3.0 and your visualizer:

The editor window size keeps changing size when opened. It appears that ALL channels are visible. If there are high channel counts, the window goes off of the screen.
Is there a way of choosing colors, or passing in info from the node/channel setup in vixen?
When changing the "shape", it doesn't update in the editor until after I have run/played the sequence in vixen.
Nodes seem to stay on the last known level after an effect has finished instead of turning "off".
Is there an option to save different setups?
The setup doesn't save when you shutdown Vixen.
In the editor, it is possible to draw/create multiple shapes for one node, but during playback only the first shape is shown.
After an element has been drawn/created, it would be nice to be able to re-size the element in the main window to fit the background image. Currently, you can click and drag the size of the element box, but the shapes do not re-size with it. It seems to be more like a "crop" feature.
Is it possible to copy/paste elements and remap them to new channels? It would be nice to create one mini-tree and then copy that many times instead of re-creating it every time for each element.


Keep up the great work!

[erm213]

I just noticed this thread that is specific for the Display Previewer. First off, Erik you've done an excellent job with this so far. I'm excited to see how this ends up. I don't know if you're looking for feedback from the 3.0 here or not. I listed most of these in the Vixen 3.0 Beta thread before I found this thread here.

Here is a list of things that I noticed while playing around with Vixen 3.0 and your visualizer:

The editor window size keeps changing size when opened. It appears that ALL channels are visible. If there are high channel counts, the window goes off of the screen.
Is there a way of choosing colors, or passing in info from the node/channel setup in vixen?
When changing the "shape", it doesn't update in the editor until after I have run/played the sequence in vixen.
Nodes seem to stay on the last known level after an effect has finished instead of turning "off".
Is there an option to save different setups?
The setup doesn't save when you shutdown Vixen.
In the editor, it is possible to draw/create multiple shapes for one node, but during playback only the first shape is shown.
After an element has been drawn/created, it would be nice to be able to re-size the element in the main window to fit the background image. Currently, you can click and drag the size of the element box, but the shapes do not re-size with it. It seems to be more like a "crop" feature.
Is it possible to copy/paste elements and remap them to new channels? It would be nice to create one mini-tree and then copy that many times instead of re-creating it every time for each element.


Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the reply! I did see your post about this in the 3.0 thread. That would be the thread to post it, as this was the pre-cursor to the preview in 3.0. This was designed for 2.x. I have made notes of these issue, and am working on fixing them.

Thanks for the feedback.

Erik

[ppohlman]

That would be the thread to post it, as this was the pre-cursor to the preview in 3.0. This was designed for 2.x.

If I come across anything else, I will post it in the other thread then. Are you only looking for bugs/issues, or also feature "requests"?

[erm213]

If I come across anything else, I will post it in the other thread then. Are you only looking for bugs/issues, or also feature "requests"?

Feature requests are great! Any feedback is good, our goal is to make great piece of software. Once Ben can get the bug/ feature request system up, that will make things easier.

Erik