Lesson Description
Even More Control Components
8m 25s
Explore some of the
latest Control Components added in Designer version 7.1 that provide easy
alternatives to processes that might otherwise require scripting.
Video Transcript
Even More Control Components
8m 25s
0:08
Let’s look at a few more Control Components that are included in Q-SYS Designer Software v.7.1 or
0:14
higher! Each of these components are designed to perform a task that you might previously have had to
0:19
rely on a Lua script for, but are now made much easier as a simple Control Component.
0:26
If you want to place the current Date and Time on your UCI, this is the tool to use. Simply open up its
0:32
control panel and drag the “Output” field onto your UCI. From here you probably want to personalize
0:38
your font choice, as well as the font style, and of course its color, and I would guess a lot of people will
0:46
also want to change the Background option to the transparent “No Background” choice, so that you can
0:51
really place this anywhere on your screen. Next, you can change the Format field to alter the visual style
0:58
in which the date and time is displayed from any of a dozen preselected formats. If none of these are
1:05
quite right for you, well you could customize it even further … you’ll notice that the Format String reveals the
1:10
specifier code that defines this formatting. You can find a full list of specifiers in the Help file for this
1:18
object. For instance, if I like this option but I really want the full word of the month rather than its
1:25
abbreviation, I can look for the appropriate specifier. I can see that percentage capital-A is showing the
1:31
full day of the week, this comma shows a literal comma, percentage lower-case d shows a two-digit day,
1:39
and then percentage lower-case b shows the abbreviated month. I’ll change this to % capital-B, which is
1:47
the Full month name. That looks better. You can continue to customize this field with other specifiers or
1:54
even your own text to display the date and time exactly how you like.
2:01
Not everyone loves using faders on UCIs, instead preferring the option of a button to step the volume up
2:09
and down rather than slide your finger. We previously showed you a way to change a fader into a string
2:15
button that performs the action of stepping that control, but this still requires someone to tap the
2:21
button over and over again.
2:23
The Value Stepper allows you to either tap a button once to step the control, or to hold the button
2:30
down which will continually increase or decrease its value. You can change its properties to either a gain
2:37
range with customizable maximum and minimum decibel levels, or to simply choose a Percent, which will
2:44
effectively scroll any control’s .Position parameter from 0 to 1, regardless of what its .Value range is.
2:53
You could also choose an Integer output, and then select the number of steps, or integers, that you
3:00
would like for its range. I’ll keep this one as a Gain stepper. When you tap a button it will apply a single
3:07
step, but if you hold the button then it will continue to increase or decrease the value after the amount
3:14
of time you specify as the “Hold Off”.
3:18
The size of each step will be determined by the “Time” field, which dictates how long it takes to move
3:24
from the lowest possible value to the highest. You could also change the properties of the control to
3:31
“Discrete” mode, which will allow you to specify the exact number of steps within this range, and this also
3:38
gives you a new visual meter style that illuminates for each of these steps. This meter is also available in
3:45
Integer Mode.
3:47
To put it to work, simply wire the Stepper’s Value pin to your target control, and then add these buttons
3:54
to your UCI instead. Now I can tap it once to apply a single step, or hold it down to add more and more.
4:03
If you still want a fader control as well, you can drag the Value control out and change it into a fader.
4:11
Lastly, if you’re controlling Gain, you should know that there’s a Value Stepper already embedded into
4:17
the normal audio Gain block. Simply change the Gain properties to “Enable Ramp Controls” and you’ll
4:25
see the same Value Stepper buttons have been added natively, so you don’t need to use a separate
4:31
Value Stepper component at all. Once again you can choose between continuous mode, or define an
4:36
exact number of discrete steps in its properties.
4:43
The Selector component makes it really easy to send a variety of specific values to a single control pin.
4:49
Its only property is to specify how many different options you want to choose from. Inside, you’ll see
4:55
that you need to assign both a label and a value for each selection. The label can be anything you like,
5:02
it’s just a name to describe your selection. The Value is the .Value parameter you want to send to the
5:09
target control. For instance, rather than using that Value Stepper, maybe we want a number of buttons
5:15
for different preset options. We’ll make a Soft setting, a Normal setting, a Loud setting, and a Really
5:25
Loud setting, with appropriate decibel values associated with each selection. Once again we’ll wire the
5:34
Selector to the target control, and then we can add these four radio-style buttons to our UCI, letting us
5:41
decide which Value is sent forward to the fader. This may seem similar to creating four Snapshots of the
5:48
control – which is true, although the Selector is a little faster to setup and easier to update after it's
5:54
created. But beyond that, it also provides you with this “Selection” drop-down field, which you can then
6:01
add to your UCI. This allows a user to make their selection from a list, which could save you a lot of
6:07
screen space. This is actually one of the only places in the software that you can define the options of a
6:13
custom Combo-Box text field without using scripting, so this component really does open up a whole
6:19
new type of interface for your UCI.
6:24
You’ve seen that it’s possible to add visual Layers to your UCI, and we mentioned that you can actually
6:30
transition those Layers on and off-screen with the use of scripting. With the UCI Layer Controller, you
6:37
can do this with just the touch of a button. Start off, of course, by building a UCI that has multiple layers
6:43
on it. Then select the UCI Layer Controller component, and adjust its properties to target the correct
6:50
UCI, and the page that contains the layers you want to move. Those Layers will automatically populate
6:57
within the Layer Controller’s control panel. In fact, if you add or remove layers in your UCI, this
7:04
component’s control panel updates itself automatically. All you have to do is select one of six transition
7:11
styles from the drop down menu, and then engage the “Show” button to toggle that layer on- or off-
7:17
screen. You can slide a layer on and off from the top, the bottom, the left or right, you could fade a layer
7:26
in place, or use none to have the layer just appear or disappear. Using layers can really transform your
7:34
user’s experience. It lets you put a lot of functionality on a single page by hiding different control panels
7:41
off to the side and only bringing them in when you need them, which keeps your users from having to
7:46
navigate a bunch of different pages and potentially getting lost. You could also design pop-up windows
7:52
you could use for confirmation screens when performing important actions, or you could get rid of
7:58
certain controls that aren’t applicable at the moment. You could even create help pages to teach your
8:03
users how to use the interface. The creativity of what you use Layers for is up to you, but the Layer
8:10
Controller makes it a lot easier to accomplish it.
8:13
That’s it! There’s no exercise to go with these components, but I’d highly recommend that you experiment
8:18
with each of them in your design, and then move on whenever you’re ready.
Downloads and Links
Even More Control Components
8m 25s