Is it possible to show beams for fixtures with barn door accessories?
I have some fresnels in my lighting plot, and I added barn doors to them by selecting the fixture icons, selecting barn door symbols from the default key library and then clicking Add in the dialog ("Replace symbol or add accessory?")
If I then select the grouped fixture, and raise the intensity in the beams inspector, it snaps back to 0 and no beam is shown
If I ungroup the fixture and accessory and then select the fixture I can raise the intensity as usual
Somewhat related, I can't work out how to use menu item Format > Insert > Group with Accessory Symbol (but it may not be relevant to what I'm doing)
Accessory Symbols
The Format->Add accessory Symbol command simply serves as a way of letting you know how to easily add an accessory to a light. Normally, LXBeams allows you to change the type of a light symbol by selecting it and clicking on a new type in the Inspector's Symbols tab. So, its not necessarily intuitive that this same process would be used to add an accessory like barn doors. But, when you have a light selected and choose an accessory kind of symbol from the Symbols palette, LXBeams will ask if you want to turn the light into an accessory (uncommon) or add the accessory to the light.
There are two preferences that govern behavior of accessory symbols in relation to light symbols found in the Automatic tab. The first is Group when inserting Gobo/Iris. This governs how any accessory is added either specifically gobos or irises which have their own menu commands or other accessory symbols using the shortcut outlined above. When this preference is enabled, a group is created containing the light and the accessory symbols. When this option is not checked, the accessory is simply added like an independent symbol. There are advantages and disadvantages to grouping accessory symbols. The advantage is that when you move the group, all the accessories stay together. However, this can also be mostly accomplished using the next preference in the Automatic tab, "Lights move accessories and owned devices". This option causes light symbols to "capture" and move any nearby accessories when they are moved. This keeps the advantage of the group's ability to move together but does not require the group to be created. Note that in a group, clicking and dragging any member moves the entire group. But, with this preference the light symbol will move the accessories but not the other way around. Otherwise, you'd be frustrated trying to re-position an accessory.
The disadvantage of a group is that the Inspector displays and edits properties of all the members of a group when it is selected. The way around this is to select an individual member out of a group by holding down the option key and clicking on it. This allows you to edit that one graphic without ungrouping and re-grouping.
There are two preferences that govern behavior of accessory symbols in relation to light symbols found in the Automatic tab. The first is Group when inserting Gobo/Iris. This governs how any accessory is added either specifically gobos or irises which have their own menu commands or other accessory symbols using the shortcut outlined above. When this preference is enabled, a group is created containing the light and the accessory symbols. When this option is not checked, the accessory is simply added like an independent symbol. There are advantages and disadvantages to grouping accessory symbols. The advantage is that when you move the group, all the accessories stay together. However, this can also be mostly accomplished using the next preference in the Automatic tab, "Lights move accessories and owned devices". This option causes light symbols to "capture" and move any nearby accessories when they are moved. This keeps the advantage of the group's ability to move together but does not require the group to be created. Note that in a group, clicking and dragging any member moves the entire group. But, with this preference the light symbol will move the accessories but not the other way around. Otherwise, you'd be frustrated trying to re-position an accessory.
The disadvantage of a group is that the Inspector displays and edits properties of all the members of a group when it is selected. The way around this is to select an individual member out of a group by holding down the option key and clicking on it. This allows you to edit that one graphic without ungrouping and re-grouping.