The Click & Go Technology

15.03.2013

Starting from version 4.3.0, QLC+ can benefit of the brand new Click & Go technology.
This set of functionalities will allow users to quick access macros and colors in a completely visual way and with just a couple of clicks. This will lead to more efficient live shows and more freedom to choose the desired result very easily.
So far, three types of widgets are available.
Following, a few examples of how Click & Go improves QLC+. The fixture used in this overview is Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300.

Define it


The Click & Go functionality for Intensity and Gobo channels starts from the Fixture Definition Editor.
As shown in the pictures below, when creating a fixture channel like Colour Wheel or Gobo Wheel, it is possible to assign the color or gobo that will be displayed by Click & Go during live shows. This allows a very quick visual feedback to the user, and will avoid them to remember the meaning of each range of values.

Chanels that can support Click & Go will display an additional section for each value range, allowing the user to select a picture for a gobo or colors for a color changer. In the second case it is also possible to display two colors, for those fixtures with color wheels with intermediate positions.

Enable it !


Click & Go is enabled by default on Simple Desk and Scene's sliders. In Virtual Console Sliders, instead, it can be enabled manually, depending on if the user wants it or not.
You may notice that when switching a Slider into Level Mode, the following choices will be present at the bottom:


The user can select one of the three choices, depending on which channels have been selected.
When activated, Click & Go will display a button at the bottom of the Virtual Console Slider that will reflect the current status of the color or macro depending on the slider value

How does it look like ?


Click & Go widgets are displayed as a popup menu, filled with the most appropriate contents of the channel where they apply
Following some examples of Click & Go expanded widgets captured in the Virtual Console panel

Single color

The most simple widget is Intensity which allows the user to choose in a visual way the intensity of a color that will be set to the selected channels. The gradient goes from black to the component color and it gives space at the beginning and at the end to reach values 0 and 255

RGB color picker

When a slider is assigned to R+G+B channels, the Click & Go RGB Color Picker can be a very useful instrument to create a light scene with just 2 clicks.
The widget will appear as shown, with 16 preset colors on the left and all the gradients from black to white, which is even better than common color pickers you can find around.
Now the question comes naturally. How can a single slider control three different colors ?
The answer is simple. Once a color is selected, the slider value will be placed at half way. (value 128) Moving it will fade to black going downward and to white going upward.
Please note that not all the colors can reach the white color, due to color transformation complexity

Gobo/Effect/Macro picker

The most interesting and effective functionality of the Click & Go technology is indeed the Preset Picker. It allows users to have an immediate visual feedback of the macro or color selected on the fixtures controlled by a Virtual Console Slider.
When creating a fixture with the QLC+ Fixture Editor, users can now assign a picture or colors to a range of levels defined by the fixture manufacturer. A particular attention has been dedicated to gobo wheels. Right now almost 700 gobos pictures are bundled in QLC+.
It is interesting to note that there are some cases where a moving head has a color wheel with middle positions. This is covered by the Fixture Editor and consequentially the Preset Picker by setting up two colors on the same preset.
If no picture or colors are assigned to a macro (e.g. Rotation speed macro), then a sequential number will be displayed, as shown in the examples on the left.
The Preset Picker displays pre-defined macros in a two column grid view and a little blue bar when moving the mouse will indicate the value in the macro range that will be set. This is particulary useful when a range of levels can change the macro behaviour. (e.g. Color intensity or Rotation speed)
It is clear that the better a fixture is created, the best the users can achieve from this functionality
Everybody is encouraged to contribute in updating the existing fixtures and in submitting new ones.