Control Panel

What is the Control Panel?

The Control Panel is where detailed value adjustments are made to fixtures. This is the primary place to adjust values for capabilities like intensity, color, fan speed, pan, tilt, and strobe speed, just to name a few. The Control Panel adjusts values for all selected fixtures and consists of three tabs: Color Picker (which has three views: CIE xy, Wheel, and Swatches), More, and Fixture.

To open the Control Panel, either use the Control Panel button on the Action Bar, or the Control Panel icon in the upper right corner of the Scratchpad or LookBook. The Control Panel has two sizes that can be toggled between using the arrow button in the upper left corner of the Control Panel.

Controlling Multiple Fixtures

The Control Panel can be used to change values for multiple fixtures at the same time. There are a few important concepts to keep in mind when controlling multiple fixtures at once:

Focused Fixture

When selecting fixtures, the fixture selected most recently becomes the Focused Fixture and receives a slightly brighter yellow highlight. The values displayed on the Control Panel are always the values of the Focused Fixture. Fixtures selected at the same time can initially have different sets of values, so it’s important to be aware of which fixture is focused. To focus a fixture that has already been selected, tap the desired fixture twice to deselect and then reselect the fixture. This fixture is now the most recent selection and has been promoted to the Focused Fixture.

Matching Values

When changing a value using the Control Panel, all selected fixtures match the newly selected value. However, values that were not adjusted will remain different for individual fixtures. For example, if two fixtures are selected with different colors and intensities, when the intensity is adjusted using the Control Panel the selected fixtures will now match intensity but their colors will remain different.

Common Controls

When multiple fixtures are selected, only the controls that the selected fixtures have in common can be adjusted. The rest of the controls will show up as disabled. For example, if the Focused Fixture has pan, tilt, intensity, and full color control and is selected at the same time as a fixture that only has color temperature and intensity control, that means pan, tilt, and the Color Picker will be disabled. Color Temperature and Intensity can still be adjusted because they are common to both fixtures.

Intensity Controls

Minds change quickly on set, especially when it comes to intensity, which is why the intensity slider is visible on the bottom of every tab of the Control Panel, making it quick to access.

Tapping the toggle next to Intensity turns the selected fixtures on and off. When turning it back on, the toggle will return the selected fixtures to their previous values. This is a great way to do a quick on/off comparison.

When toggling a fixture on without previously having set a value, the fixture will be set to the default intensity value defined in the App Settings. A description of that setting can be found in the Project Settings and App Settings article.

Color Picker

There are three different views for Slyyd’s Color Picker: CIE xy, Wheel, and Swatches. The three views live within the first tab of the Control Panel as a dropdown. Any values changed within one are also reflected in the other two in real-time. The three views can be used interchangeably and can be switched back and forth at any time. They represent different ways of talking about color, but the Slyyd app translates between them so that it’s always talking about the same color.

Both the CIE xy diagram and Color Wheel can be used regardless of the profile that is patched (as long as the profile has some form of color control). The Slyyd App takes care of converting color choices into the DMX information the fixture needs.

CIE xy

The CIE xy diagram is a more scientific way of talking about color. All colors visible to the human eye are represented on the CIE xy diagram (using the standard CIE xy 1931 color space).

Color can be changed a few different ways using the CIE xy diagram. The simplest way is to tap or drag on the diagram itself. This will move the Color Pointer around the map until the desired color is found. When selecting a color this way, Slyyd will translate the chosen x and y coordinates into a Hue, Saturation, and underlying color temperature in real-time.

Color values can also be set using the Color Temperature, Hue, and Saturation sliders found next to or beneath the CIE xy diagram. The slider handles can be dragged, or if sliders do not offer enough precision, all text fields can be directly edited using the keyboard by tapping on the input field.

Changing values on the individual sliders moves the Color Pointer around on the CIE xy diagram, and vice versa. These values influence each other, and the Color Picker shows those relationships in real-time.

The CIE xy diagram can be zoomed in on to make more precise adjustments. This can be done either by tapping the 2x/1x Magnification Toggle, or by pinching with two fingers to zoom in or out.

For the smaller Control Panel size, and on the iPhone, the slider drawer can be pulled up either by pressing the slider button at the top right of the CIE xy diagram, or by dragging the slider drawer handle upwards.

Fixture Gamut

By default, the Fixture Gamut is shown as a white dotted line on the CIE xy diagram. If multiple fixtures are selected, the gamuts for all selected fixtures are shown. Within this line are all the colors a fixture can achieve with its specific set of LED emitters. If a color is selected outside of the gamut line, the saturation input field will turn red to indicate that the selected color will not match what the fixture is able to output. Adjusting the Saturation slider will bring the color back in gamut.

The Fixture Gamut can optionally be turned off within the Gamuts dropdown. In addition to Fixture Gamuts, two common camera gamuts are also provided within the Gamut dropdown, BT.709 and BT.2020, which illustrate the range of colors cameras using those gamuts can record. When recording using one of these camera gamuts, it is recommended to keep chosen colors within these bounds to help the camera match what the eye sees.

Color Wheel

Similar to the CIE xy diagram, the Color Wheel is a way to visually interact with the process of color picking by tapping and dragging on any point within the wheel.

The Color Wheel is another way of thinking about color. A color’s hue is commonly referred to as the degrees of a circle, where red is the start and the end of that circle. The outer edge of the Color Wheel matches the hue angle, and the distance from the center of the Color Wheel determines how saturated the color is, with the outer edge of the circle being 100% saturation. The center of the wheel is 0% saturation and reflects the white point that has been set with the Color Temperature slider. It may not look like the color is changing when adjusting the underlying Color Temperature using the Color Wheel, but the output color is indeed shifting. The change is visible when switching back to the CIE xy diagram.

Interacting with the Color Wheel is similar to interacting with the CIE xy diagram. Tapping and dragging inside the Wheel sets the color to the desired point. To keep the saturation the same, the handle on the outside ring of the Color Wheel can be used to change the hue.

When changing values using the Color Wheel, the inner ring shows two colors. The bottom half of the ring shows the original color, and the top half of the ring shows the new color.

Same as with the CIE xy diagram, changing any slider value will move the Color Pointer on the Color Wheel in real time, and vice versa.

Swatches

Swatches are saved color values (an x value, y value, and Color Temperature value, to be precise) that can be applied to other fixtures. Slyyd comes with a library of Gels from Rosco and Source Matches to help match the color of common fixtures. Custom Swatches can be saved at any time from the Color Picker, below the Saturation slider. Both custom Swatches and Gels can be marked as favorites with the star button for quick use.

When a Swatch is applied, the Swatch symbol appears next to the color controls, and the hue is replaced with the Swatch symbol and Swatch name on the fixture tile. Swatches can also be updated to a different color by selecting a new color with a Color Picker and tapping ‘Update to Swatch’, found next to the 'Create Swatch' button. After choosing the Swatch to update, the color for every fixture with that Swatch applied will be updated. This is a really fast way to control color if certain fixtures always want to match, but the exact color might shift a bit over time. To use a Swatch as a starting point without the risk of the color being changed in the future, make sure to choose ‘Detach’ from the three dots menu after applying a Swatch. Swatches can also be detached from the Color Picker by tapping ‘Detach’, or by adjusting the color with the color controls.

Gels and Source Matches cannot be updated or edited. To customize a Gel or a Source Match, they must first be copied as a Swatch from the three dots menu.

More Tab

Fixture capabilities included in profiles that are not related to color but have an impact on light output show up on the More tab. This includes everything from pan and tilt to strobe and effect mode controls. Some controls may be nested within dropdowns, signifying that these controls are part of the same DMX slot and only one can be active at a time.

Fixture Tab

The Fixture tab is where all non-lighting related settings can be found for profiles that have them. Anything from fan controls to control channel settings can be adjusted here.

For more information on how Control Channel works with Slyyd, visit the Control Channel article.