Hi. I noticed a couple of changes/bugs since I updated to 5.8.3?
Inserting a gobo or iris no longer auto-groups with the lantern. If I go into prefs and UN-tick ‘Group when inserting gobo/iris’, it works again as I expect?
When I add lanterns onto a bar, I now get a number inside the symbol from the # field. Firstly, what is this please, and why do I need it? Secondly, how do I stop it from happening?
In the Layer tab, ‘Off’ and ‘Dim’ are no longer displayed to select. I just get dotted lines? They still work but, typically, I keep clicking the wrong one!
Sorry if these are all ‘improvements’ that I’ve missed the point of...
Is it a bug or a feature...
It sounds like perhaps something happened to your preferences settings. This is unlikely to be related to installing a new version. It will happen with a clean install of an operating system or putting the software on a new computer.
The preference for grouping when using an insert command is found in the format tab. This option is really no longer necessary because the "Lights move accessories and owned devices" allows the convenience of moving a light and having its gobo/iris or other accessory move along, without the need for grouping. The group option is currently still available to allow a time of transition. However, it has been quite a while since the automatic association became available and so the group option will be removed in a future version.
LXSeries software associates a light with a position when they intersect on the drawing. Unit numbers are used, along with the position's name to identify lights individually. For example "1 Pipe #3" is the third instrument hanging on the position named "1 Pipe". Traditionally, numbers appear on the plot drawing so that a light can be identified and cross-referenced in reports. The preferences have several options related to automatic numbering. In the Automatic tab, you can simply shut off the display of number fields as they are assigned. In the Format tab, there is an option to add a pound sign when automatically assigning a unit number. If this option is enabled, the above example light would show "#3" instead of "3" in its number field.
It is helpful to include the full version of the software, including the build number (shown in parenthesis eg. "Version 5.9.0 (16829.1)") and system software version when asking about interface issues like the narrow layer visibility column. Version 5.8.3 does not exhibit this issue with any recent MacOS version. But, Apple is always changing small things about how the interface appears and it is possible that your specific system is different than the ones checked.
There was a grouping issue when inserting an accessory symbol in 5.8.3. The group was created, but did not appear active until the lights were deselected and selected again after inserting the symbol. This is now fixed in the latest build, Version 5.9.0 (16829.1). You can download the latest build from the first link in the "More Downloads" section on the LXSeries Pro download page.
The preference for grouping when using an insert command is found in the format tab. This option is really no longer necessary because the "Lights move accessories and owned devices" allows the convenience of moving a light and having its gobo/iris or other accessory move along, without the need for grouping. The group option is currently still available to allow a time of transition. However, it has been quite a while since the automatic association became available and so the group option will be removed in a future version.
LXSeries software associates a light with a position when they intersect on the drawing. Unit numbers are used, along with the position's name to identify lights individually. For example "1 Pipe #3" is the third instrument hanging on the position named "1 Pipe". Traditionally, numbers appear on the plot drawing so that a light can be identified and cross-referenced in reports. The preferences have several options related to automatic numbering. In the Automatic tab, you can simply shut off the display of number fields as they are assigned. In the Format tab, there is an option to add a pound sign when automatically assigning a unit number. If this option is enabled, the above example light would show "#3" instead of "3" in its number field.
It is helpful to include the full version of the software, including the build number (shown in parenthesis eg. "Version 5.9.0 (16829.1)") and system software version when asking about interface issues like the narrow layer visibility column. Version 5.8.3 does not exhibit this issue with any recent MacOS version. But, Apple is always changing small things about how the interface appears and it is possible that your specific system is different than the ones checked.
There was a grouping issue when inserting an accessory symbol in 5.8.3. The group was created, but did not appear active until the lights were deselected and selected again after inserting the symbol. This is now fixed in the latest build, Version 5.9.0 (16829.1). You can download the latest build from the first link in the "More Downloads" section on the LXSeries Pro download page.