Video Transcript
Customizing Controls
6m 30s
0:08
The Q-SYS Designer software offers you a wide variety of customization
0:12
not only in the visual styles of your controls, but also the manner
0:16
in which you can use controls to control each other. Keep in mind that most end users
0:22
will only interact with the system by the controls you provide them via a User Control Interface
0:27
on a desktop, touchscreen, iPhone or iPad. So understanding the different types of controls
0:32
and the way they interact will help you give the end user the best experience possible.
0:37
As you know, you can double-click any component to access its control panel,
0:41
which contains all of the controls needed to manage that component.
0:46
Let’s look at some of the most common styles of controls you’ll see.
0:49
Buttons may seem fairly obvious: it’s a control that you push to change its state between on and off.
0:56
But there are different types of buttons: Toggle Buttons, Momentary Buttons, and Trigger Buttons.
1:02
Toggle buttons like this Mute control change states each time you press it:
1:06
in this case it toggles between Muted and Unmuted.
1:10
Momentary buttons like the Fast Forward control change to an on state while you press
1:15
and hold the button, and return to an off state when you release the button.
1:19
Trigger buttons like the Play, Stop, and Pause controls send one single
1:25
"on" impulse the instant they are activated, like the trigger of a … crossbow.
1:32
Rather than "off" and "on", you could think of a button as toggling between the values of 0% and 100%.
1:41
Faders and Knobs are controls that let you select any number within that range.
1:46
These are most commonly used to control the level of the audio, such as this Gain Knob.
1:52
There are also Text controls which either display important information or allow you to input information,
2:01
and Combo Box controls which you let you select from several different text options.
2:06
Finally there are Meters and LEDs, which simply display information but provide no interaction.
2:13
Meters show a range such as signal’s levels, while LEDs generally light up using on or off states.
2:20
You can drag any control from any control panel into your Schematic to create a copy of that control.
2:26
This copy maintains its association with its parent component,
2:30
and will move in unison with the original control in the control panel.
2:35
You can make as many copies as you like and they will all be linked.
2:39
Once a control is in your Schematic, you can customize it however you like – for instance,
2:44
you could grab any of these blue handles to resize the control.
2:49
The control will actually have its own properties panel now in the right-side pane
2:53
where you can adjust its characteristics, such as its Fill color.
2:57
For a button like this, you’ll notice that the Off-state color defaults to a darker shade of the On-state color,
3:04
but you can unlink this association and then choose any color you like for its Off state.
3:09
You could change the Corner Radius to round off its edges,
3:13
you could add a Margin which shrinks the visual size of the button
3:18
but keeps the same sized field of interaction, and you could adjust the Padding
3:23
which will establish some space between the edge of the button and the text or icon inside of it.
3:29
Speaking of icons, there is a library with hundreds of icons you could apply to your button,
3:34
and you can adjust its color – I’m just going to pick a red right there - or alignment.
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You could also select the Custom icon to load an image from your computer onto the button.
3:50
I’m just going to pick this totally random icon – oh, it looks so good.
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You can also choose to have no icon or give it any text label you like
4:00
in which case you can adjust the size and alignment of that text, or choose to make the text bold.
4:08
And don’t overlook this option at the top that allows you to reverse the button’s action,
4:12
swapping its on and off values. For some controls, you can even change its style.
4:17
We could change this knob to a fader, or a meter for monitoring purposes,
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or even to a button that would toggle the gain between 0 and 100%.
4:31
There is actually a fourth kind of button called a String button which will input a data string
4:37
when the button is pressed. By using the data string of “++1" or “—1" for instance
4:44
you could create a button that increments or decrements the gain by 1 decibel.
4:49
We won’t go into every property of every style of control in this video,
4:53
but you should definitely take a little time to play with different control styles
4:58
and explore the ways you can change both their appearance and behavior.
5:02
I do want to point out that you can quickly transfer all of the properties between two controls.
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If you drag one control over a second one,
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a pop-up will suggest that you hold the Control key to assign the settings
5:15
of the first control to the second. I’ll hold Control and release the mouse,
5:20
and can then choose if I want to transfer the first control’s Style or ID.
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Choosing Style will make the second control look exactly like the first one
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without affecting what the control actually does,
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while transferring ID will not change the second control’s appearance but instead link it to the first control.
5:42
You can also use this method to create custom-shaped buttons using the Polygon tool.
5:48
Select the Polygon tool in the Graphic Tools, create a shape, and then transfer a button’s ID to that shape.
5:58
But this is all icing, and I haven’t shown you what the actual cake is yet.
6:03
Like I said, controls can be activated by the click of a mouse button, or a finger on a touchscreen,
6:09
or...by another control. We’ll take a look at that in our next video, which covers control pins.
6:14
So take a break, and we’ll see you next time.
Lesson Description
Customizing Controls
6m 30s
Learn how to customize and configure the look and feel of your controls and even create your own custom-shape controls.
Tips and Definitions
Customizing Controls
6m 30s
Functioning Controls: Some controls allow you to adjust the element that they are associated with, such as Faders, Knobs, and Buttons. A Button can also be applied to a custom Polygon, which will retain its functionality.
Display Controls: Other controls offer monitoring and status indication of the element that they are associated with, such as Meters, LEDs, and Text Fields.
Display Controls: Other controls offer monitoring and status indication of the element that they are associated with, such as Meters, LEDs, and Text Fields.
- To apply a control style to another component, drag the original component over your target component while holding CTRL. Release your mouse button, and choose TRANSFER CONTROL STYLE.
- To apply a control ID to another component, drag the original component over your target component while holding CTRL. Release your mouse button, and choose TRANSFER CONTROL ID.
Downloads and Links
Customizing Controls
6m 30s