Channel and RGB Channel Buttons

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In the Light-O-Rama Sequence Editor, sequences are represented using a grid.  Rows in the grid represent channels and RGB channels, and columns in the grid represent the duration between timings.  Cells in the grid are used to display what lighting effects are set in the sequence for that point in time on those channels and RGB channels.

 

In each row, to the left of the grid, there is a button associated with the channel or RGB channel for that row.  The button is labeled with the name of the channel or RGB channel:

 

ChannelButtons

Some channel buttons (on the left)

 

Buttons for regular channels are shown in grey, as in the above picture.  Those for RGB channels are shown in black, as in the first row of the following:

 

RGBChannel

A sequence with an RGB channel followed by several normal channels

 

Left-clicking on such a button brings up the Channel Settings dialog if for a channel, and the RGB Channel Settings dialog if for an RGB channel, from which you can modify various settings such as a channel's name, color, unit ID, and circuit ID.

 

Right-clicking brings up the channel button's popup menu, giving access to various channel-related functionality.

 

Left-clicking on the small button to the left of an RGB channel's button (with the red, green, and blue stripes) expands the view so that the constituent channels of that RGB channel can be seen (and clicking it again collapses the view by hiding them):

 

RGBChannelExpanded

A sequence with an RGB channel followed by several normal channels, with the RGB channel's constituent channels displayed

 

Channels or RGB channels can be moved up or down in a sequence by clicking and dragging their buttons.

 

Between the channel/RGB channel buttons and the grid is a thick grey vertical bar.  Dragging the bar left or right changes the width of the channel/ RGB channel buttons; clicking on it (without dragging) hides them, and clicking it again unhides them.  This latter can also be done via "Channel Buttons" on the View menu.

 

During play, the color of a channel or RGB channel button will vary along with the lighting effects happening on that channel or RGB channel.  For example, during a fade, the button will gradually change in color, and during a twinkle, the button will blink between its usual light grey and the channel's color.  If you do not wish to see this, you can turn this behavior off permanently via "Vary the color of channel buttons during play by default" on the Play Preferences dialog, or temporarily via either "Vary Color of Channel Buttons" on the Play menu or the Vary Channel Button Colors button of the Standard toolbar.

 

The color of the text on the button can also vary during play, to try to give a readable contrast with the color of the button itself.  However, some users have found this distracting, and so you can control whether this happens or not permanently via the "Also vary their font colors" on the Play Preferences dialog, or temporarily via the "Vary Color of Channel Button Fonts" item on the Play menu.

 

When not playing, the color of a button can behave in three different ways, controlled from the Channel Button Colors submenu of the View menu: They can either all show the same grey (or black for RGB channels), or their individual full colors, or their colors at the time of the start of the current selection.