Column / Row limits for RGB Panels

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OddSocks
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 11:33 am
Real Name: Tim Cullingworth

Hi,

I am just looking at getting in to using QLC+ to control some lights for Christmas but have hit a bit of a snag.

I have made up some RGB panels 17X10 and they are working fine, but I also have some LED strips with 150 and 300 GRB LEDs. The problem is that if you use the "Add RGB panel" in the fixtures tab the most you can have in either the columns or rows is 170, so I can't add a single string of 300. If I tell it to create a 150X2 panel the it splits the rows equally over two universes.

I then tried creating 30 generic RGB fixtures with 170 on universe 1 and 130 on universe 2, then tried to add them to a "fixture group" only to find that the Column / Row limit is set to 99 there.

Does anyone have any suggestions :-)

I am running QLC+ 4.10.2 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and Windows Vista. Out-putting over E1.31 to an Advatek Pixlite16 running 36 universes. In-putting from TouchOSC and Akai APCmini.
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mcallegari
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The RGB panel behaviour is correct

150*3 = 450 DMX channels: OK
300*3 = 900 DMX channels: they don't fit into a single universe

The fixture group behaviour might not but I'm wondering why you need a single line with 300 lights. In a real DMX world that doesn't usually happen.
OddSocks
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 11:33 am
Real Name: Tim Cullingworth

Hi Mcallegari,

Thanks for the response.

I realise that when dealing with DMX 170 is normally the limit, but when who says that I am normal :P

What I am looking to do is run some pixel tape along my roof line. I am using 30 pixel / m tape and have 10m of it. Now each output on the Pixlite16 can accommodate 340 consecutive pixels with a gap of two addresses in the middle too keep the universe boundaries correct.

Now what is happening at the moment for me is that if I select a 150 X 2 matrix QLC+ automatically lines these up with the universes. so first row is universe 1, address 1 - 450 and the second row is universe 2, address 1 - 450. This means that there are 20 pixels that don’t work in the middle of the string.

What I am after is a consecutive addressing system. So that if it is a 150 X 2 matrix it is addressed so that the first row is universe 1, address 1 - 450 and the second is universe 1, address 451 - 510 then universe 2, address 1 - 390.

Now I realise that this might be just me that this would be helpful for and I'm not demanding that a change be made just for me, but I was just flagging up something that I had come across that meant I could not use QLC quite as effectively as I would like.

I can get round this by changing the settings on the Pixlite16 so that each output is only doing one universe but this halves the channel capability and increases the wiring.

Thanks for all the work that you do Mcallegari and please don't take this as an sort of demand or criticism, I am happy for you to tell me to go away and not bother you with such niche and none core, ideas :evil:
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mcallegari
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well, no harsh at all :)

I'm just trying to figure out even uncommon usages and see what can be done with what we have.
Please consider that in any case 150 or 170 heads are unlikely to be handled properly by the Fixture Group editor. It wasn't designed for so many pixels in a row.

For example, would it work better if you create a 170x2 "panel" and eventually delete (or not) the last 40 pixels/heads ?
I understand the usage of RGB scripts on a single row is quite different than on 2 rows, but I'm pretty sure you can manage to tweak the scripts to fit your needs :)
janosvitok
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OddSocks, will it help you if I show you where in the code you can increase the limits? Can you compile from sources?
OddSocks
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 11:33 am
Real Name: Tim Cullingworth

Hi Janosvitok,

I found the limits for the RGB matrix are set in the UI. This also meant that I found that there is a higher limit on the rows "999" than the columns "170".

Intriguingly I found out that the Fixture group pop-up limits both the columns and rows to 99.

What I would like a pointer to, is where the calculation for the RGB matrix construction happens. What I am thinking is to add two extra options to the Add Matrix control. One to fill the matrix with single head units rather that fill it with units with the same number of heads as there are columns. Second to fill the matrix vertically as well as horizontally.

Thanks,
janosvitok
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OddSocks wrote:What I would like a pointer to, is where the calculation for the RGB matrix construction happens. What I am thinking is to add two extra options to the Add Matrix control. One to fill the matrix with single head units rather that fill it with units with the same number of heads as there are columns. Second to fill the matrix vertically as well as horizontally.
here is processing of context menu "add to group" in fixture manager:
https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus/b ... .cpp#L1455

here is actual adding:
https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus/b ... p.cpp#L105 (assignFixture)
and
https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus/b ... p.cpp#L113 (assignHead)

FixtureGroupEditor:
https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus/b ... editor.cpp (slotRightClicked, slotDownClicked)

Jano
OddSocks
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 11:33 am
Real Name: Tim Cullingworth

Thanks, will start looking at that as soon as I can.
ethanm3
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Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:50 am
Real Name: Ethan Moses

I'm also finding that this splitting is a limitation of using QLC+ with pixels - treating rows like heads can be nice for keeping track of everything, but it would be really helpful to allow splitting heads between universes so that one panel could automatically address up to channel 510 and then proceed to the next universe.

I've done a couple project in which I had panels of something like 50x50, and I had to manually enter each row and do the math each time I went over a universe, naming them "Row 4.1" and "Row 4.2" and then adding them to the panel manually. This works fine and has been quite successful for me, but is painstaking and a more automatic workaround would be a great feature for people working with pixel mapping.
Ethan Moses
Founder / Manager
Savory Lighting Design
www.savorylights.com
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