Original LXSeries Forum

I think I may have already answered my own question, but thought I'd post it here to confirm and to clarify for others.

I was having problems getting my fixtures to grab onto the position line they went on. It took me a while of head scratching and help searching before it dawned on me: they are in different layers. I tested my hypothesis by moving one of my position lines to the fixture layer and low and behold it worked like a charm.

This leads me to ask why fixtures cannot latch to positions in different layers. Perhaps I am trying to use layers in a fashion they were not intended for. I would like to use separate layers for things like lighting positions, rep plot, show plot (specials and the like), speakers, stage, walls, etc. I find that at different times it is handy to turn off some of these layers in various combinations depending on what I want to see at the moment. This also allows me to very easily grab all the added fixtures for a specific show to change their fill color (for example) to make a hang/strike plot.

It seems to me that fixtures being able to latch to positions in separate layers would fix a number of issues for me. Let me know if I am missing something or maybe explain how you intended layers to be used so I can alter my approach.

I apologize if this thread would be better suited in the feedback section. And as always, it is so great to be able to ask the program author these questions directly. This forum is invaluable!

Thanks!
Banderson

Positions will interact with lights when they are mutually selectable, even if on different layers. They always interact when on the same layer.

There are two checkbox controls for each layer in the Layers table. One determines if a layer is visible. The other determines if a layer is selectable. You can use the combination of these to determine what you can see and what you can select at a given time. And, along with what you can select goes what lights interact with which positions that are not on the same layer.

Given that there are reasons to set the select-ability and visibility of layers at different times for different reasons, there's a way to save the current layer settings as a view. When you recall this view, each layer's visibility and select-ability (along with a number of other options) are restored. You could, for example, make two view. One could have each layer selectable so that you could select any object regardless of the current layer. The other view could have each layer independent and only the current layer be selectable.

Because each of these situations could be advantageous (and the software can't read your mind... yet) you are in control. You might, for example, put added fixtures on a separate layer so you can select them and change the fill color. But, at another time want them to interact with positions the same as lights that are part of the house hang. Saved views give you a way to do this quickly--if it is common that you'll be switching. Otherwise you can just manually set the select-ability of the layers.