Moveable Vixen Adjustable Preview

[macebobo]

You can reposition your channels now in Adjustable Preview (AP) with this plugin. This works with Vixen 2.1.x AND 2.5.x

For Vixen 2.1, download AdjustablePreview.zip
For Vixen 2.5, download AdustablePreview V2.5.zip

then,

To install:

Open you vixen plugin output (Go to the Vixen folder, then plugins and finally output).
Rename AdjustablePreview.dll to AdjustablePreview.backup
Save the attached file for your version and unzip it to the vixen plugin output folder.


To use:

BACKUP ALL OF YOUR PROFILES - this plug in has been tested and did not damage any profiles, but better safe than sorry.
You will notice a new button in the AP "Setup for Sequence Preview" screen (where you draw you preview) called Grab Channel. It will be disabled until you select a channel to modify.
Select a channel to modify
To move that channel, click "Grab Channel"
Use the arrow keys (up, down, left, right) to move the image associated with the channel up, down, left or right.
When you've repositioned the channel image to where you want it, click Release Channel or select another channel to work with.
Everything else works the same way as it did before, if not report it back to me, please.


I hope this makes perfecting your AP much easier and enjoyable. -- John

[boyelroy11]

This one is for 2.1, correct?

Have to try it out tonight :)

Bruce

[Hunter310]

Love it!!!!
Nice job. Works very well.

Thanks for the update.

Steve E.

[barbotte]

do i need to change mine too or is the one you send me in private the same ?\
thansk for your work

All the testing is done, 2 bugs reported by testers fixed, so it it ready for its release.

You can reposition your channels now in Adjustable Preview (AP) with this new version.

To install:

Open you vixen plugin output (Go to the Vixen folder, then plugins and finally output).
Rename AdjustablePreview.dll to AdjustablePreview.backup
Save the attached file, AdjustablePreview.zip, and unzip it to the vixen plugin output folder.


To use:

BACKUP ALL OF YOUR PROFILES - this plug in has been tested and did not damage any profiles, but better safe than sorry.
You will notice a new button in the AP "Setup for Sequence Preview" screen (where you draw you preview) called Grab Channel. It will be disabled until you select a channel to modify.
Select a channel to modify
To move that channel, click "Grab Channel"
Use the arrow keys (up, down, left, right) to move the image associated with the channel up, down, left or right.
When you've repositioned the channel image to where you want it, click Release Channel or select another channel to work with.
Everything else works the same way as it did before, if not report it back to me, please.


I hope this makes perfecting your AP much easier and enjoyable. -- John

[macebobo]

do i need to change mine too or is the one you send me in private the same ?\
thansk for your work

Anyone who participated in the testing, please update to this one. It corrects two "bugs" - not really bugs, but weird behavior.

[macebobo]

This one is for 2.1, correct?

Have to try it out tonight :)

Bruce

Yes. Vixen 2.1 - I will edit the original post too.

[cbell]

A quick test and it seems to work well. Great job. Should make it a lot easier to perfect a preview.

[macebobo]

WOW 33 people (as of 10:42PST on 7/23) have downloaded this. Cool.

Thanks to those who left feedback here, that means a lot to a developer. -- John

[Mactayl]

The original problem of the floating channels I experienced with the first version looks like it has been fixed and so far everything works fine. Thanks for the new movable adjustable preview John.

[dowis]

Thanks John. Great addition and it works rather well. No problems found.

[macebobo]

Okay. I have caught up on sequencing and I was thinking of extending the AP. What I was considering was what I am calling stamps. Think rubber stamps. Little files that contain data to stamp an image on your AP. e.g. A candy cane, or icicle lights, etc. These files could be created by the community and shared, just like .vix or .pro files. So if someone drew a really good Santa, they could capture it and share it with all of us.

Does this sound like something you would use? Or would my time be better spend doing something else with AP?

-- John

[ppohlman]

That sounds like a great idea. Even if it doesn't get shared with others, often times you'll have multiple arches, mini-trees, or other elements in your display. Once you spend the time to get one done (really well), it would be nice to be able to "copy/paste" that element in several places on the display. Thanks for you hard work on this.

[JP90]

That would be great. I was hoping that this feature would be part of Vixen 3.0 but would keep me in 2.1 for a wile longer until it was part of 3.0. I don't run any DMX and for what I do with my lights at this time and until a little more info comes out on 3.0 this is what I need now to make my life a lot easier. As stated above thanks John for this and KC for the work on Vixen.

Gary

[Gebbinn]

Okay. I have caught up on sequencing and I was thinking of extending the AP. What I was considering was what I am calling stamps. Think rubber stamps. Little files that contain data to stamp an image on your AP. e.g. A candy cane, or icicle lights, etc. These files could be created by the community and shared, just like .vix or .pro files. So if someone drew a really good Santa, they could capture it and share it with all of us.

Does this sound like something you would use? Or would my time be better spend doing something else with AP?

-- John

in one word...

YES!!!

[mkess]

Ok I renamed the first file and then saved the extracted version to the outputs folder. I then open vixen go to my profile to and I get an error message 10808 The plugin doesnt show up in vixen, I have no AP to choose from. Running 2.5.

[ErnieHorning]

The plugin doesnt show up in vixen, I have no AP to choose from. Running 2.5.
Read the second line of the first post slower.

[mkess]

So it doesnt work with 2.5, I read like this is a bug fix to work with 2.1

[macebobo]

So it doesnt work with 2.5, I read like this is a bug fix to work with 2.1

Sorry, not at this time. I will look at making it 2.5 compatible. I didn't think many people used 2.5 in "production" so I didn't spend any time even looking at making it 2.5 compatible. -- John

[erm213]

Sorry, not at this time. I will look at making it 2.5 compatible. I didn't think many people used 2.5 in "production" so I didn't spend any time even looking at making it 2.5 compatible. -- John

Its pretty simple to make it 2.5 compatible (I went the other way with the plugin I was working on). A couple of #DEFINE macros is mainly what you need. Let me know if you want more details.

Erik

[macebobo]

Its pretty simple to make it 2.5 compatible (I went the other way with the plugin I was working on). A couple of #DEFINE macros is mainly what you need. Let me know if you want more details.

Erik

Yes, please. PM, E-mail or here is fine :D

[erm213]

Yes, please. PM, E-mail or here is fine :D

The main difference from 2.1 to 2.5 is the Startup method being implemented from the IEventDrivenOutputPlugIn interface. What I did was make another project in the solution. In your case, your current one is for Vixen 2.1, so make on for Vixen 2.5. Include all of the same code files (you can add an existing item), but reference the 2.5 version of Vixen instead. In the properties of the 2.1 project, on the Build tab page, I added a Conditional Compilation Symbol of VIXEN_2_1. You can do the same for the 2.5 project as VIXEN_2_5. Then you can use a #if macro. Here is a code snippet.



#if VIXEN_2_1
public List<Form> Startup()
#else
public void Startup()
#endif
{
... <Body of method> ...

#if VIXEN_2_1
return new List<Form>() {<your form 1>, <your form 2> , etc }; // This is probably your output form.
#endif
}


I named the projects so that they end with -2.1 and -2.5 respectively. In the end you will have a dll for each then. You can use the #if macro anywhere else you need something for just one version or the other, but this was my only place so far.

I hope this helps, and let me know if it doesn't work for you.

Erik

[macebobo]

The main difference from 2.1 to 2.5 is the Startup method being implemented from the IEventDrivenOutputPlugIn interface. What I did was make another project in the solution. In your case, your current one is for Vixen 2.1, so make on for Vixen 2.5. Include all of the same code files (you can add an existing item), but reference the 2.5 version of Vixen instead. In the properties of the 2.1 project, on the Build tab page, I added a Conditional Compilation Symbol of VIXEN_2_1. You can do the same for the 2.5 project as VIXEN_2_5. Then you can use a #if macro. Here is a code snippet.



#if VIXEN_2_1
public List<Form> Startup()
#else
public void Startup()
#endif
{
... <Body of method> ...

#if VIXEN_2_1
return new List<Form>() {<your form 1>, <your form 2> , etc }; // This is probably your output form.
#endif
}


I named the projects so that they end with -2.1 and -2.5 respectively. In the end you will have a dll for each then. You can use the #if macro anywhere else you need something for just one version or the other, but this was my only place so far.

I hope this helps, and let me know if it doesn't work for you.

Erik

Thanks Erik. I don't know why I didn't see this until today! I should have some time on Friday (9 SEPT 2011) to work on this and will get a 2.5 compatible version out then. -- John

EDIT: Had some time after dinner, now available for 2.5 and 2.1 users. -- John

[macebobo]

Ok I renamed the first file and then saved the extracted version to the outputs folder. I then open vixen go to my profile to and I get an error message 10808 The plugin doesnt show up in vixen, I have no AP to choose from. Running 2.5.

Now works with Vixen 2.5 :) Enjoy! -- John

[holtm]

It just saved me hours! Thanks.

[macebobo]

Glad it worked for you and saved some time for you. It makes it all worth it :D


It just saved me hours! Thanks.

[Aurbo99]

Macebobo

Great plugin..

What are the chances of making a "clone channel" button to, well, clone an existing channel?

With 24 mini trees and 36 candy canes, making a single representation of one and cloning it would make it sooooo much easier..

[macebobo]

Thanks! Hmm, never thought of that. Let me take a look as that is a great idea.

-- John


Macebobo

Great plugin..

What are the chances of making a "clone channel" button to, well, clone an existing channel?

With 24 mini trees and 36 candy canes, making a single representation of one and cloning it would make it sooooo much easier..

[kychristmas]

It would be a great addition. For now, I just go into the Profile and copy the Channel Data in the raw file. I did that with 14 mini 4 midis and 12 Candy Canes. And for each of the different colors in the Mega tree.

For the Mini Trees, initially I ended up with 14 trees x 3 Colors sitting on top of eachother. I then used the moveable adjustable preview capability to shift each one to the correct location. Tedius Yes, but easier than drawing all of them individually.


Thanks! Hmm, never thought of that. Let me take a look as that is a great idea.

-- John

[juicedss]

New guy here. Just tried your preview. Works great! Thanks!