7 Layers and Filters

7.1 Using Layers

Both layers and filters are managed in the Design tab of the Project window. Layers are useful to select and group many objects of a similar nature. Filters are essentially just groups of layers and universes. For example having a layer for “All Moving Lights”, “All Generics” and “All LED” could be useful. Then they could belong to the filter - “All Fixtures”. Layers and filters are very useful for managing project files with large amounts of objects & fixtures in.

Objects in a layer with the Locked property set cannot be modified. When the Include in reports property is unchecked, objects in that layer will not appear on reports. Live information and Fixture simulation can also be turned on and off on a per-layer basis in the same fashion. Filters are used to define sets of layers to be visible in design views and plots. They serve as layer filters and it is useful to note that you may work with different filters in different views if you wish.

When a design view is patched to a universe it is possible to choose the design view’s filter via DMX. However, this requires setting up the DMX control slot property of each layer that you wish to be able to choose. There are 64 slots available and they are identified with the numbers 1 through 64. A value of 0 means that it is not possible to select via DMX.

Adding fixtures or objects to a layer can be done in one of two ways, you may either drag the layer from the project window to the selected objects or you may select the objects and double click the “Layer” property in the properties and select the layer there. Adding fixtures to an existing layer is done in the same manner.

7.2 Using Filters

As already discussed, filters are essentially just groups of layers and universes. As per our previous example, having a layer for “All Moving Lights”, “All Generics” and “All LED” could be useful. They could then belong to the filter - “All Fixtures”.

Adding filters is done in the same way as layers. Click on the Add button in the Filters category of the Design tab and name the filter. Once the filter has been created, in the right hand section of the window, a list will appear showing all the layers and universes. You can use the check boxes to control which layers and universes belong to the filter you created.