Previous topicNext topic

Preview module

Suggestions for new features for Magic.
Post Reply
mcornholio
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:57 pm

Preview module

Post by mcornholio »

Hi

I think it would be nice to have a separate "preview" module, which would work as output, like "magic" module.

My usecase:
I don't use playlist and control everything through one scene. Looks kinda like this: https://yadi.sk/i/Ss3va7Ep3T29nN.

So I've got five channels which are mapped to my controller and plenty of space to play with all my scenes and videos.
I'm always experimenting while playing live, so I would like to have a local "preview" module which I could attach to wherever I want and see, what's going out there.
Right now I have to create several temporal scenes and "preview and edit" them. Having module like this would save me a lot of time.

Actually, if I could have two screens at one, I would've just split preview screen in five and I would look at all five channels simultaneously. Or something like that.
Magic
Site Admin
Posts: 3440
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:28 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by Magic »

If you're controlling everything through one scene, and switching with an InputSelector or something like that, why don't you just have the inputs to the InputSelector be separate scenes? Then you can use the Preview Window to see each of those scenes.

Or even better, you can make a separate scene which shows thumbnails of all the other scenes. Then you can just leave that in the Preview Window.
mcornholio
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:57 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by mcornholio »

I tried several methods like this and none worked, because a scene can only have one output.

If I have something in separate scene that I want to preview, I've got to send outputs there.
So I would need a main scene with five outputs (that's not possible, right?) and two extra scenes: one with previews (which I would point preview window to) and one with inputselector (which I would point magic window to). Both of these scene would have my main scene as an input.
Magic
Site Admin
Posts: 3440
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:28 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by Magic »

I'm not sure you're thinking about things the right way. There is only one output per scene. You don't "send" things to different outputs.

You have two windows, the Magic window and the Preview window, and each of them can look at a separate scene.
https://magicmusicvisuals.com/downloads ... agicWindow
https://magicmusicvisuals.com/downloads ... viewWindow

In your case, your main scene will look something like this:
Main.PNG
Main.PNG (25.7 KiB) Viewed 7679 times
So you would always have the Magic window displaying that scene.

Then, your Preview window can display any of the individual scenes one at a time (Scene 0, Scene 1, etc.).

Make sense?
mcornholio
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:57 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by mcornholio »

Well, in that case, I must always switch between these scenes, and not just clicking on them, but using "Edit this scene only". It's kinda how I do it right now.

But, if I had "Preview" module that I could attach to any output, I could've done everything in once scene, without leaving it.
Magic
Site Admin
Posts: 3440
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:28 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by Magic »

I suggest you do a full read of the User's Guide because I think there are things in there you're overlooking, like Preview Mode: https://magicmusicvisuals.com/downloads ... reviewMode. With Preview Mode, you can just click on the scene; you don't have to go into the menu and select "Edit this scene only".

Also, as I mentioned above, if you don't want to keep changing the scenes, you can have a dedicated Preview scene that looks like this:
Preview.PNG
Preview.PNG (70.38 KiB) Viewed 7677 times
(I assumed 4 scenes at a 1:1 aspect ratio, but you get the idea).

The disadvantage is that when you display several scenes at the same time, the frame rate will be much lower.
mcornholio
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:57 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by mcornholio »

Also, as I mentioned above, if you don't want to keep changing the scenes, you can have a dedicated Preview scene that looks like this:
But how do I edit those scenes, on the left? Oh yes, by changing the scenes :(

I'd like to have one workspace to work on all scenes at once
Magic
Site Admin
Posts: 3440
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:28 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by Magic »

I'd like to have one workspace to work on all scenes at once
Ok, you are certainly free to use Magic however you want :). All I can do is show you the way it's intended to be used, and all the helpful features that come with it.
mcornholio
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:57 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by mcornholio »

But this is a feature request forum :)

so I'm trying to explain why this particular feature would be very useful to me
Magic
Site Admin
Posts: 3440
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:28 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by Magic »

You're right. And I should have explained to you at the beginning that a preview module will not work, because there is only one Preview window, therefore having more than one instance of a preview module wouldn't make sense. That's why I explained all the other stuff to you. ;)
mcornholio
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:57 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by mcornholio »

I assume, scenes with multiple output is even harder thing to implement? =)
Magic
Site Admin
Posts: 3440
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:28 pm

Re: Preview module

Post by Magic »

It's something we'd like to do eventually, but it would be for supporting different fullscreen monitor configurations, not for previewing. I wouldn't necessarily say it's harder or easier to implement.
Post Reply