Copyright: Helpfile by HelpWriter


SpectraScan Wizard2000

Wizard2000 (previously called BeamWizard) is a realtime laser play controller, operating with Pangolin's LD and LD2000 QuadMod cards, intended for the club environment or for free flowing performance at event and product promotions.  Laser performers will find it exceptionally useful for the quick programming and display of beams, graphic frame realtime effects, scrolling text, graphic animations, and ShowTime lasershows. Beams can be launched from scan heads or from table actuators.  They can be sequenced by a steady rhythm input by slider or mouse click interval or by external triggers such as bass beats of music.  Any DMX controlled effect or lighting device can be triggered from Wizard2000 using the QM2000 board.  For diverse and powerful realtime performance,  you can have 10 pre-programming text scrolling phrases, an unlimited amount of animations,  realtime effects like grow/shrink, ping-pong, write-out, worm, flash, pulse, fill-in, etc., and advanced instant playback of multiple ShowTime shows and scenes including linked lists of shows.  Very important for the realtime professional, different gain and offset settings are automatically implemented for graphics, beams, or scrolling text so you can shoot beams at full range while placing scrolling text high on a screen and having your graphics play centered on a screen.  You can even overlay animation and text with other frames.

While the program can be controlled by mouse and keyboard on your PC, it is strongly recommended to control it via a lowcost MIDI keyboard.  This way, the user can be more integrated to the music and performance with his eyes on the audience and not the computer.  There is an advanced version of Wizard2000 DMX that also can be triggered by external DMX signals.  Finally, for automated environments, advertising, and theme park environments, there is a version of Wizard2000 Server for computer and network control.

ToolBar     A fast access location for functions found in the menus, complete show configurations can be loaded and saved, scan settings entered, text created, beams positioned, and even a small viewing window can be opened.  RealTime clock can be started from here as well.

BEAMS	Primary Tab for creating beams, playing beams, and creating and playing sequences of beams.   Of course, these are LD frames so they can be slideshow images as well or client logos.  Three banks of 30 frames/beams can be assigned in any one show configuration.  Beam buttons are located in the Beam Hits/Slide Show Frame.  They have letters on them corresponding to the keys in the number row and the two letter rows below them.  Sequence activation buttons are in the Sequences Frame and use the keys in the numerical keypad area.  Three banks of 12 sequences/chases can be programmed.  There is no limit to the length of the sequences.  You can play beams by activating them in several ways.  The redline at the bottom of the key indicates that it has been assigned either an image frame, a beam position frame or a TTL command (QMod32) or DMX command (QMod2000).  You can press the corresponding key button and it will stay on as long as you hold it down.  You can left mouse click on the key and it will also stay on as long as you hold the click.  You can set the Beams in Latch Mode by selecting its button and then the selected beam will stay on until you select another beam key.  Finally, you can select a beam by choosing its name in the list box on the right side of the Beam Hits Frame if it was assigned with a name.  You will notice that list box selections act like latched beams and that they feature their corresponding keys by turning them yellow just like when you select the key directly.  Also, when you hit a key its corresponding list name will be featured (if it was created).

Beams are assigned by selecting the Assign Beam button and the Load Frames Form will appear (and the Assign button will go invisible.)   Right mouse clicking on the desired Beam key will also bring this form up through an intermediary window, BeamAssign Options.  You can assign beams directly from a running LDPro session by selecting the frame numbers you are using for a desired image or beam frame.  Of course, you can also load LD single frame files from disk.  Finally, you can select one of the TTL output bits if you want to access whatever hardware is attached to that bit such as beam actuator motors.  Each of these three options has its own Load or Assign button.  Be sure to name the beam first before clicking the button if you want a reference in the list box as well.  The program will give you a default name in most situations which you can edit or accept.  When you are completed with assigning beams you can unload this form and session with the Completed button in the lower right corner.

Sequences are a succession of Beams or frames.  They will change at the beat or time interval you select in the Beat Capture panel.  These buttons latch down until you select a new one or go to Black.  They also have an assign button called Assign Sequence.  You can create sequences here in Sequence Key Assign and give them names for the listbox.

FRAMES/LIVE ACTION         Primary Tab for playing graphic frames and showing them with a wide variety of realtime effects.  Timing factors can be introduced for these effects.  You can play 30 frames from keys with a large variety of effects including custom written scriptlets made within ShowTime.

Procedure for playing a frame is straightforward.  You assign a graphics frame to a key by clicking on the Assign Frame button and then clicking on the key in Frame Select that you want the frame assigned to.  You now can select frames from disk or QMod memory just as with the Beams Tab.  Playback is triggered by clicking or selecting on the keyboard a frame key (or listbox entry) and then selecting either a Standard Effect or a Custom Scriplet Effect.  The standard effects can be selected as general groups by using the function keys (F2-F12) or the listbox entries.  If there are suboptions, they can be selected from the popup menu that appears just to the right of the listbox.  Effect speed can be changed realtime with the slider.  Effects including scriptlets should be terminated with the Stop button.  This is important because just jumping to another effect actually leaves the previous one running with the ensuing potential problems.

ANIMATIONS	Primary Tab for creating animation list entries and playing them.  Animations are loaded from disk or from within LD Pro's frame structure.    You give them a name for reference and that name will be loaded into the listbox.  If you select an entry in the listbox and click the Run button, the animation will run based on the properties selected in the direction, cycle duration, and speed frame boxes.  The animation is halted by clicking on the Stop button if in continuous mode.

SCROLLING TEXT     Primary Tab for creating text which scrolls from right to left.  You can assign fonts, colors, and a scroll speed.  This functions just like the Pangolin AutoPlay except you can select from ten text entries.

SHOWS & SCENES       This tab allows the rapid performance of ShowTime shows or scenes.  Many enhancements were made to create a vastly superior interface to that of Pangolin AutoPlay.  There is SmartMemory which recognizes shows or frame groups that are already loaded allowing faster playback access.  There is the virtual memory storage of show frames and support for 16MB boards that allows show frames to remain in QMod memory for faster playback access.  Because this is a 32-bit program, there is behind the scenes monitoring of show playback so you can select for shows to loop for replay or end to black.  Based on memory available, 30 shows or scenes can be loaded and selected for playback from the keyboard or via mouse clicks.  Finally, there is TimeBend giving the professional user the ability to tweak time performance slower or faster in realtime response.  Changes can be multiple times or in increments of less than a percent.  This allows for synchronizing show playback to realtime movements of actors, athletes, performers, or spontaneous events.

MENUS

   File

   Options

   InputDevices

   TableControl

   PositionFrame

   Help

KeyBoard Navigation of the Primary Tabs    You can move between the five tabs by using the keys N, M, <, >, ? for Beams, Frame Effects, Animations, Scrolling Text, and Shows and Scenes respectively.  Shift is not required.


File
File Menu

      Load Configuration	This brings up the Microsoft file load dialogue.  The default directory is C:\LD\SpectraScan Shows\ and the project files have the .sss suffix.  After selecting a file, you will have a screen showing notes, names, and dates relating to this project file.  If this is the project you want loaded, select the OK button.  Caution:  all the current session information will be overwritten so save it first if you have made any changes that you want saved.

      Save Configuration	This calls up the Storage Preamble for defining names of the editor and, if the first time saved, the project creator.   Project notes are saved as well as all of the data in your current Beam Wizard session including the frame files.  Standard Microsoft file dialogues are used.   The storage technique is the advanced OLE Structured Storage as used by Microsoft with Word and Excel.

      Erase Configuration   This will clear all configuration data on all the tabs.  CAUTION:  This is a project wide erase!	 There is no undo so use with fatal intent.

      Exit    This will of course end your program.


Options
Options Menu

      Set Scanning Parameters   This menu click will open a form that allows you to set all the important scan positioning and running parameters such as size, offset, and speed.   It is very similar to the settings in LDPro.   It gives you the power to have different settings for the Beam Tab, Frame Effects and Animations, and Scroll Text.  These settings are automatically implemented whenever you change a tab.

  Create Random Sequence

  Display LD Viewport   A useful viewing window to see what is or would be shown on the laser.  If your shutter is closed, you can use this as a preview.

  Text Input and Real DateTime

      Beats Only Accepted in Musical Range   This toggled option effects the Beam Beat and creates a working range of beats per second that are heard in music, that is between 100 and 140.   The default selection is full range which can allow very very slow or super fast transitions.

      Frame Output is Blanked While Port Output is Active   This may seem esoteric but it can be important dependent on your physical equipment layout.  When selected, there will be no conflict between an output on the TTL and a displaying frame.  If the TTL is in use, then the frame will be a blank.

  Session Technical Data    This screen will give you a useful overview of all loaded frame groups and you can see where all of your frames are stored.

  Compact Animation Frames   This is useful if you have added and deleted animations to a show configuration.  It will recover any wasted frames and make efficient your use of LD frames.

      Reset QM32	If the QM32 board generates errors, this can create a reset condition.

      Toggle LDCommWindow	This will toggle on or off the debug window showing the command stream to the QM32 or QM2000 board.


Sequence Key Assign

   End Assigns	End Assigning Sequences

   Clear A Sequence	Clear the Selected Sequence

   ASSIGN	Assign Sequence Command

----------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------


Storage Preamble

This screen is the interface for saving to disk all the information that makes up a Beam Wizard project session.  It stores the frames you are using, the assignments to the keys, the names used in the list boxes, and much other information.  The interface is the standard Windows file dialogue.  Projects and frame files should be stored in a folder with the following path:  C:\LD\SpectraScan Shows\    The project files have a .sss suffix.  Project files store information with them of frame usage, the names and date/times of the project creater and last editor, and a large text file where you can enter helpful reminders and notes about the particular session.  This information is presented when you start loading in a project so you can determine if the project file is the one you are looking for.   The project name you choose in the banner box at the top of the form will be the default name of the file though you can decide to change the file name.  Technically, this storage uses OLE structured storage like Microsoft Word and Excel.  Therefore, you can browse the project files with viewers designed for this storage format.  LD frame usage is important to understand so that you don't overlap and lose frames.  Beam Wizard starts storing images at frame 900 through 1000 for its general use.  At 1000, animations begin to be loaded and will be saved through frame 3000.

   SessionCreator	This is the name of the person who first designed the Wizard session.  You cannot change this after the initial entry in the first project save.

   SessionEditor	This is the name of the person who last made changes to the Wizard project.

   Notes for a Wizard Session	This is a cummulative record of your Wizard project and you can add additional helpful information here.

   Make Storage Read Only	This option will protect your project file by not allowing it to be overwritten.

----------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------


Beams

      ToolBar

      Beam Hits/Slide Show Panel

      Sequences Panel

      Beat Capture Panel

  ScanSpeed Panel    Right click to set a PPS speed on the two buttons.  Then clicking these buttons selects a different scan speed as you display the frames selected.  This is useful for making regular image frames look very interesting as atmospheric projections.

      Black   This button is the toggle to all output off.  It will stop a beam or sequence.  You can launch it with the space bar as well.

      Latch	Latch Mode is used for beam hits and holds your choice of beam on until another beam is selected or Latch is turned off.

      Assign Beam

      Assign Sequences


Animations

      Animations Listing	This listbox contains all the animations that are accessable in this Beam Wizard session.  You select them by clicking on the name or when the control has focus moving with your arrow keys.

      Primary Command Buttons

      RUN Animation

      STOP Animation

      ADD

      DELETE

      Animation Execution Options

      Animation Direction

      Animation Duration

      Animation Speed

      Animation Load

      LD Load by Frame Number

      LD Load From Disk

      Animation Sequence Description

      Cancel Add Animation


Primary Animation Command Buttons

      RUN Animation	   If an animation is selected in the listbox, this button will start the animation display.  See the  Animation Option Panels for ways to control the animations.

      STOP Animation   This button will stop the display of the animation and go to black.

      ADD   Using this button will make the lower panel area visible and provide the animation load commands for adding another animation to the listbox display.

      DELETE   Delete Animation will send the current listbox selection and the animation it represents into the dusty bitbin of history.  Use with final intent as there is no undo.


Animation Execution Options

These three panels are on the right top of the Animation tab and control how the selected animation is displayed.

      Animation Direction     The Radio Buttons can select the animation running always from first frame to last or backward each time or ping-ponging in which it first goes forward and then returns backward.

      Animation Duration       You can select to play the animation for a single cycle or the default for the animation to run continuously until you halt it with the STOP button.

      Animation Speed            The slider will vary the amount of times a frame is repeated before advancing to the next frame.  Left most position is only 1 frame, the fastest selection.  The animation will be stretched out the more you move the speed slider toward the right.


Animation Load

You have the options of selecting your animation from frames currently loaded in an LD session in the lower panel on the left or using a direct from disk load in the right hand panel.   Be sure to choose a good descriptive title for the listbox display.

      LD Load by Frame Number    First use the Radio Option button to select the Starting or Ending Frame Number.   Then the sliders are available with 100's choosen with the vertical slider and single frame increments with the horizontal slider to decide the frame number you need. Select both the Start and End as displayed.  Then, if you have entered a name in the textbox for description, click Load.  The entry will now be in the listbox and available for viewing while the load panels disappear from view.

      LD Load From Disk   This button will first open the Microsoft file dialogue where you can select the animation you want.  It will read in the information from the file header so you can verify that it is the one you want.  If you have given the animation a name, then click the Load button.   The entry will now be in the listbox and available for viewing while the load panels disappear from view.

      Animation Sequence Description	This box must have an entry in order to create a listbox animation display.  Use a very descriptive phrase as you have a lot of room.

      Cancel Add Animation   If you are unhappy with your selection or this load for any reason, get out of here and vanish the load frames with a simple click on this button.


Holo-Spectra

This program SpectraScan Wizard2000 (originally Beam Wizard) is written by William Arkin of Holo-Spectra in 1996-2001.  It is built upon the laser control API written by Pangolin Laser Software.  The program is written in Visual Basic6 32-bit. Holo-Spectra acknowledges with special thanks the assistance and contributions of Patrick Murphy and Bill Benner.  This program is copywriten by Holo-Spectra Inc. 2001 and all rights worldwide are expressly reserved.   No part of this software may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of Holo-Spectra.  This program can only operate with a Pangolin QuadMod board installed and is for the use of registered owners only.  Software checks for the presence of the registered board number.

The scrolling text section is strongly based on the work of Pangolin Laser Software as seen in AutoPlay.  This is their notice:

This program is Copyright (c) 1996 Pangolin Laser Software.  Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and sell this software for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appears in all copies and that both the copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation.  Pangolin makes no represen-tations about the suitability of this software for any purpose.  It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Holo-Spectra Inc. is a laser systems and services company with 25 years of experience with holography, laser system design, ion laser tube refurbishment, laser entertainment system design and construction, laser show performance, and industrial and scientific laser scanning.  We resell lasers and related photonic equipment, rent lasers, rebuild ion laser tubes, perform laser events, install our SpectraScan laser entertainment systems, and provide industrial laser scanning software and systems.   Our clients and projects have ranged from Space Shuttle and StarWars jobs for NASA and government labs to security holograms for Visa, Washington Metro Transit, and Chicago Transit Authority to movie gigs with Arnold in Terminator 1 & 2, Eddie in Another 48 Hours, and Tom in  Days of Thunder to entertainment systems in theme parks and big discoteques around the world.    We are happy to have had the experience of working for most every major US university and government lab and all the major hightech corporations.  As an obsessive hacker-traveler, I am pleased that we have lasers and equipment on all the continents of the globe.

I hope you are very pleased with this program and that it creates great shows and performances for you.  By all means, bitch and moan about every little thing you don't like and send suggestions for changes and additions.

Because an OLE server technique has been implemented for the verification of QM serial numbers, we will now be able to offer upgrades and bug fixes at our website.  Please check for new versions.

Holo-Spectra Inc.

7742-B Gloria Ave.

Van Nuys, CA 91406 USA

818 994-9577     Fax 818 994-4709

email info@lasershs.com

www.lasershs.com

February 2001


Beam Hits/Slide Show Panel

This panel contains the key buttons from 1-0, q-p, and a-; -basicly the three rows of the keyboard below the function keys.  When a beam or frame is assigned to the key, you will see a red rectangle under the key.  You can activate the key with mouse clicks or the represented key on the keyboard.  While you hold the key or click, the beam stays on and the screen square showing the letter turns yellow.  If you go into Latch Mode, then the key stays down until either the Black button is clicked or another key is selected.   Alternatively, the listbox at the far right edge has beam names that you can click on to trigger.  You can see the relationship between key clicks and names in the list box when your mouse passes over the screen key-box helping you to know which key corresponds to which beam effect.

These 30 keys can be selected in 3 different banks by clicking on the bank number or using the PageUp and PageDown keys.

Right mouse clicks on the beam keys also allows you to assign a beam or frame to the key.  This is the equivalent of selecting the Assign Beam button.  Future options for DMX and MIDI are selected in this window as well.


Sequences Panel

This panel plays a succession of beams or frames that have been assigned to the key at a constant rhythm or beat.  There is no real limit to how many beams are in the sequence.  The keys represent the Numeric Keypad area with 0-9 being used as well as * and /.  Again as in the beams, you can use mouse clicks or key strokes.  Sequences stay latched until you choose another sequence or go to the Black button to stop the playing.  Sequences can also be played by clicking on their names in the listbox.  The speed of movement is determined by the Beat Capture slider or Beat Bar.  One little note of caution.  If you change sequences a lot, it is best to end the sequence by turning off to Black.  It you just toggle between keys, then after a while, hit the Black button multiple times.  This frees up the stack memory space.

Two other options are available in the playback of sequences.  If you se-lect the checkbox for Manual Step, then you can single-step through your sequence.  The trigger for each transition is the Backspace key.  The other option is available in the menu entry under "Options".  It is called "Use QM Input Port for Seq Timing".  Selecting this menu item will make the sequence step only on the occurrence of TTL high-to-low transitions on QM Bank 2 Port 1.  Upon request, we can make this user selectable.


Beat Capture Panel

This panel section allows you to set the pace of transition of one beam or frame to the next when you are running a sequence.  You can consider this the rhythm of the sequence.  This can be synched to music by using the BeatBar.  Click at the start of one beat and then again at the start of the next.  This will capture the time of your pause and also synch the change to the last click.  You can also set the pace with the slider which is calibrated to beats per minute.  The display to the right of the slider reads out the current beats per minute.  If you set the Options Menu entry called  Beats Only Accepted in Musical Range,  then you will have only a range of 100-140 beats per minute which is usual for music.  Otherwise, this range can be very slow or very fast, even faster than it is possible for frames to change at.


Scanning Display Parameters

You can create three different scan size settings for the Size and Offset values.  They will automatically be used when you change to a new tab.  Again this change is triggered when you change a tab so if you are on Scroll Tab while you set the sizings for the Beam Tab, you will have the wrong sizings for Scroll until you click off that tab and then back on.  This capability is selected by your choice of option button with Animation and Frame Effects both using the Graphics option button setttings.  After you set the sliders for Size and Offset, click the Set button.  As you change the sliders, the results are immediately viewable.  When you Save Configuration, all these settings are remembered for your next session.  This program function is very powerfull when you must quickly move between beams, graphics and text in a performance.

      Size   You use this panel to determine the percent of maximum size you want your scanning area to be.  Going to the negative side will reverse the image about its axis.   You can lock X and Y together by using the checkbox  Lock Aspect Ratio.  It will maintain the ratio of X to Y as you change one of the two axes.   Usually these will be done when the two are equal.

      Offset   This permits adjusting the scanning off of centerline with a percentage of either shift to the left/right or up/down.  This is not intended to permit large deviations so use carefully and don't allow the total percent change on any one axis to be greater than 100% combining offset and size.

      Speed   This is calibrated in points per second.  Your setting here greatly effects the look of the scan: how tightly the graphic conforms with the original and also the blinking of the image.   Typical will be in the 22-26K range.

       Blanking Offset   You set the delay relationship between blanking and XY scanning here.  This varies with physical setup and scan speed.  Typical for PCAOM blanking is +3 meaning that the blanking signal delays for 3 pointunits after the XY scan signals.  This is because the PCAOM blanking reaction is so much faster than the mechanical scanners.

       Color Palette   This program is intended to be used in conjunction with programming on the LDPro system.  The active color palette should be designed there and saved.  Please discuss with Holo-Spectra the naming of this palette as it is automatically loaded.

       Exiting with the OK button sets your changes into the session memory for the tab option button selected with the speed and blanking offset being global settings so they will be used when the session is loaded again.


Assign Sequences

This little panel which will stay ontop even if you click on other forms is used to setup a sequence key and optionally a sequence list entry.  First, choose a command button in the Sequence panel area by clicking on it.  Next, the order in which you click on buttons in the Beam panel  will set up the sequence that will be used when the sequence key is selected.  If you select a beam key that is empty you will get a blanked screen during that cycle.  There is no practical limit on the sequence you create.  Remember that the sequence will recycle to the beginning when it reaches the end of the beam selections you have made and it will keep doing this at the pace you assign to the Beat Capture.  The assignment is complete when you press the red ASSIGN button on the Sequence Key Assign form so make a name for the ListBox entry beforehand.  That way you can select the given list name which is easier to remember when you want a sequence to play.  Sequences can continue to be added up to clicking the End Assigns button which will hide the form.  You can also erase a created sequence from both the list entries and off of the sequence keys.  Select the sequence button you want to erase then press Clear A Sequence and it will be lost to space.


LD Frame Loading and Beam Assign

Selected Beam keys are associated with frames or TTL bit/DMX settings by bringing up this form when pressing the Assign Beam button in the lower right corner of the main Beam Wizard screen.  Also, you can right click on the Beam keys via the BeamAssign window.  You have many options for assignment.

First, you can load an LDFrame directly out of a LD session by dialing in the frame number on the two sliders.  You can also load a frame from disk using the middle panel Disk Load button.  If you want to have a special text description of the frame available in the Beam ListBox (highly recommended) be sure to name it in Beam Description before clicking on either Load button.  Otherwise it will use the default frame file name.  [QM90 only:] Third, you can assign any of 8 TTL lines in Port A to a Beam key by selecting the desired bit in the dropdown listbox.  This will allow beam arm actuators or special effects to be triggered from Beam or Sequence keys.  The HS TTL assign conventions are also supported.  This uses the 256 possible combinations of a full 8-bit byte for controlling tables and special effects like our digital cones, diffraction wheels, and rotating machidas.  [QM2000:]  You cannot assign TTL on this board but can generate all kinds of DMX control signals.  Again, name them first before clicking on the Assign button.  No records of prior use is kept on the TTL lines so they can be assigned to multiple keys by intent or mistake.

Finally, you can quick create using the menu bars.  A default beam of any of four colors is generated by clicking on the "Create A Beam" menu item.  You can do a batch create of up to 30 beams starting with the key you selected using "BlockCreate".  Name the beam first if you want to be able to access the beam in the list box.  This uses the clonebeam.ldb found in the SpectraScan directory.  We suggest a simple single point of around 50 points centered at (0,0) but it is up to you if you wish to change this beam frame.   Back in the Beam Tab, you can position this beam using the PositionFrame menu item.  Also in the menu selections are 8 premade beam structures under "Create LaserStructure":  Fan, Rainbow Fan, Sheet, Circle, Oval, Square, Triangle, and Wave.  Just click on it and it is created for your use.

You can continue to make beam key assignments until you wish to finish by exiting through the Beam Key Assignments Completed key.  You can also erase a Beam key assignment by selecting the key and then clicking on the Clear A Beam button.  There is no undo.


TTL Line Assignments

 Signal name	DB-25M	50-pin	Notes

Port B handshake	1	26	Reserved for future use

Port B line 1	2	28	Bit 0, least signif. bit

Port B line 2	3	30	Bit 1

Port B line 3	4	32	Bit 2

Port B line 4	5	34	Bit 3

Port B line 5	6	36	Bit 4

Port B line 6	7	38	Bit 5

Port B line 7	8	40	Bit 6

Port B line 8	9	42	Bit 7, most signif. bit

Port B handshake 2	10	44	Reserved for future use

Port A line 1	11	46	Bit 0, least signif. bit

Port A line 2	12	48	Bit 1

Port A line 3	13	50	Bit 2

Port A line 4	14	27	Bit 3

Port A line 5	15	29	Bit 4

Port A line 6	16	31	Bit 5

Port A line 7	17	33	Bit 6

Port A line 8	18	35	Bit 7, most signif. bit

Port A handshake 1	19	37	Reserved for future use

Port A handshake 2	20	39	Reserved for future use

Digital ground	21	41

Serial: CTS	22	43	Clear to send (to QM32). Pangolin use only.

Serial: RTS	23	45	Ready to send (from QM32). Pangolin use only.

Serial: TXD	24	47	Transmit data (from QM32). Pangolin use only.

Serial: RXD	25	49	Receive data (to QM32). Pangolin use only.


PositionFrame

This menu item brings up a small stay-on-top form which allows you to position a frame in the Beam Tab.   Usually this will be a beam which you created in the Frame and Beam Assign and it will be first shown in the center of your projection area.  You can select the position step size with the buttons at bottom and then click on the four position arrows to go in the desired direction.  Right click held down will be continuous movement and a  left click will advance by one unit of the step size.  You will find you can position quickly and extremely accurately by starting with a high step size and using the right mouse and then going smaller and using single left clicks.  The positioner will stay open for as many positioned keys as you desire until you click its closed box.

You can also colorize a beam or frame by simply clicking on the color you desire.  The color that the beam will change to after closing the window is shown at the top of the pallete.  If you would like to use a joystick, you can check the box and then positioning and sizing of the frame can be done from a standard joystick.


Table Control Menu
TableControl

Default HS Projector   This is selected if you are using one of our LItePipe or Millennia2000 or SpectraBeam projectors.  It decodes to control all effects on these projectors.

Use Default HS TTL Definitions else LD 0-7   Similar to above but only for Pangolin ISA boards (pre LD2000).

Solo Actuator Mode   If not selected, you are required to specifically turn-off any actuator ports that you activate.  Otherwise, you will have multiple ports in the active state (which you may want if they are partial pickoff mirrors.)

Projector Actuator Setup   This menu item brings up a small form which has settings for use with a beam table or rail that can be communicated to using either the QM logic lines, DMX on the QM2000 board, or the HS EffectsWizard software.  It allows control of the table's shutter and actuator port for the scan head.  It also enables setting up a custom actuator for keyboard control.


FRAMES/LIVE ACTION

Frame Select Panel

Standard Effects

Custom ShowTime Scriptlet Effects

Effect Speed    Use the slider to make your effect faster by moving to the left.  You can also correlate a speed to time between clicks on the BeatBar.  This has no effect on scriplets.

Assign Frame   Almost like Beams Assign Frame except that you can't use TTL values.

Stop     Use this button to halt any effect running.  Be sure to terminate all effects with Stop or you will have code running in the background doing strange things even if the program is closed!

Play Scriplet Continuously     Loops your scriplet effect on the selected frame indefinitely.  Halt the repetition by unchecking this box and clicking on Stop.


SHOWS & SCENES

Show Select Panel

Show Play Control

Show TimeBend


Scriptlet Effects

Corresponding to the ten numerical keys and the " / " and " * ", you can create your own custom effects and then assign them to these keys to be played with any selected frame.  Assignments are made by right-clicking on the selected key.  This opens the Scriptlet Effect Assign form.

In creating your scriplet, you can make a show using all the effects you wish.  The design restriction is that only one frame can be referenced and this must be frame number 990.  Be sure that all your scriptlets have unique names and save it to the SpectraScan/Scriptlets folder.  All scriptlets are loaded from this folder.

Play a frame with a scriplet effect by first selecting the frame key you desire and then selecting the scriptlet effect key or listbox name.  As with other key/listbox combinations, the listbox displays the name of the key as your mouse passes over it .  Playback is almost instant.  Use the Stop (Space Bar) to end the effect or let it play out.  You can also select the checkbox Play Scriptlet Continuously to loop your effect.


Standard Effects

This panel can also be accessed from the keyboard with the function keys F2-F12.  F1 is not used because that triggers context-based help.  For each key there is a corresponding listbox entry with the category of effects.  Notice that as the mouse crosses over the keys, the corresponding effect name is featured, so it is always clear which key activates which effects.  On some keys, there is only one effect but in more cases, it represents a family of effects.  This group of effects which is displayed in a popup menu when you select the listbox or key for the effect category is triggered by clicking on the popup entry.  Be sure you have a frame selected first.  Speed of this effect can be varied in realtime by using the Effect Speed slider.  End of the effect and return to black is triggered with the Stop button (Space Bar).

Effects will continue to be added to this section and users are encouraged to suggest ones they would like to have.  As of 2/98, this is the selection with some explanations.

Display Image -  Simple viewing of the frame.

Translations

PingPong Vertical - Bounces up and down.  Distance moved is based on image size.

PingPong Horizontal - Bounces side to side.

Circle CW	- Next 3 not yet implemented

4 Corner Jumps

Wander

Shrink&Grow

Up From a Point - Single cycle growth to original size.

Down to a Point - Single cycle growth to a dot.

Shrink and Grow - Toggles back and forth from dot to original size.

Fades

Fade In - Color intensity ramps up to normal settings.

Fade Out - Disappears with lower and lower light intensity.

Writes & Erases

Write Out - From start point, draws the frame.

Erase - From end, erases the frame.

Write Mid Out - Draws the frame from middle to both the start and end at the same time.

Erase to Mid - Erases from the ends to the middle.

Worm - Takes a segment of about a fhird of the points and crawls through the image.

Rotations

Circle Clockwise - Rotation about the Z-axis

Circle CounterClockwise

Spin Right - Rotation about the Y-axis.

Spin Left

Spin Up - Rotation about the X-axis.

Spin Down

Tumble All Axes - Motion about all the axes at once.

Color Cycle - Not implemented yet.

Flash - Image cycles on and off.

Pulse - Image toggles between bigger and standard size image.

Twinkle - Random display of one point in the image far brighter than the rest.

Fill-In - Starting from Black, random points are filled in until the whole image is shown.


Frame Select Panel

Graphic frames are assigned to the keys by first clicking on Assign Frame and then selecting your key.  This brings up the LD Frame Loading form where you can load frames from QMod memory or disk.  Notice that after you have completed frame loadings, a red underline appears under the key showing that a frame is present.  Also, its name appears in the listbox on the right.

When you wish to play a frame, just click on the key or select the key on the keyboard.  Notice that as the mouse moves across the keys in the Frame Select display, the name of the key is featured in the listbox for an easy reminder.  Now you can select your effect either from the Standard Effects or the ShowTime Scriptlets.


SCROLLING TEXT

Scroll Once   Runs your text selection for one full cycle.  You can Pause or Stop the display with the appropriate button.

Scroll Continuous   Runs your text selection for a full cycle and then repeats it again and again.  You can Pause the display and you need to use the Stop button to end the display.

Pause   This button will halt the movement of your text display.  A color label indicates it is in pause mode.  Click on Pause again to continue the text motion.

Stop   This button will end the visual text display.

Text Entry Boxes    You can enter long text strings here or load them in with the rest of your SpectraScan show if you saved it earlier.  A click in the selection circle will make that the text selection which will be displayed.

Typeface  This listbox gives you all your options for different font types.

Color    This listbox gives you all your options for different color displays including rainbow colors.

Scroll Speed   This slider determines how rapidly the text moves across the screen.  Because it relates to the point density of the letters, different typefaces will move at different speeds for the same scroll speed setting.


Show Select Panel

To assign a show or scene to a key, right mouse click on the key.  This will bring up the following ShowTime Assign screen.

Then browse to the file for either the showfile or framefile.  If the other file has the same name, it will automatically be loaded.  Next, you have to enter the start and end times of the show or scene you wish to play.  Input format is Pangolin 60Fr per second.  A listbox name is automatically created but of course you can edit this to your own choice.  For example, if you are playing a single scene within a show, you would use a scene name.  If you want a base playback speed different than the timing within the ShowTime script, change the percent in Play Speed.  Wave music and CD support can be synchronized with your show.  You can define unique size and playback parameters for each show by selecting the "Size/Position and Speed" button.  Click on OK and the show will be assigned and loaded.

You can also generate a LINKED show.  This is a list of shows or show segments that will play sequentially and automatically.  To quickly create one, first you must have already assigned all the shows that you will incorporate onto keys.  Then start off assigning a show to a new key just as you would do with any show.  Immediately select the "Link" button.  This will bring up the following screen.

Assign a new name for the LinkedShow in the box at the bottom of the window.  All shows that you have defined on the show tab keys are available on the list along with their key letter locations and start and ending times.  To generate a LinkedShow, just drag and drop selections in the order you want them to play onto the LinkOrder list.  Then select "OK".  You can play LinkedShows just the same as you would a regular show.

SmartMemory in this program recognizes if another key is already accessing the same show or frames saving frame space and loading speed.  Virtual memory becomes active when you assign a show.  Unless the frames require more memory than is available, the frames are loading into the QMod.  However, they are dynamically placed within memory to increase access speed.  Until Pangolin implements a dynamic ShowTime playback system, we believe we have created the fastest possible load times.  To maximize the memory that can be used, the program offers the user advanced memory utilization for QMods with larger storage than the original QM32's.

To play a show, select the key that has your desired show.  Notice that as you move the mouse over the show keys, the listbox displays the different show names.   As soon as a key is selected, your show will be quickly prepared for playback.  The Loaded label will start blinking within the Show Play Control Panel when playback is ready to roll.


Show Play Control

Once the Loaded label is blinking, you just click on the forward button to begin show playback.  If you want your show to loop, be sure to select the Play Show Continuously checkbox before starting the show.  Otherwise, you show will be continuously monitored and immediately fade to black at completion of the show.  If you want to change the show playback speed, you can make selections in the ShowTimeBend Panel either before or during playback.  You also have buttons for pause or stop just like on a tape recorder to control show performance.


Show TimeBend

Either before or during show performance, you can change the speed of playback and do so with a substantial change by selecting the radio buttons marked either Decrease or Increase or, by using the Finesse slider, change in very fine increments.  Your choices instantly take effect so it is possible to track your show to realtime events such as athletes entering an arena or a singer on a stage by making ongoing necessary changes to your show speed playback.  A Reset TimeBend button will set all the speed changes to the default 100% of your base speed.


Scriptlet Effect Assign

Browse button will take you to the SpectraScan/Scriptlets folder where you can select the scriptlet you wish to assign to the current key.  It will use the file name to create a listbox name but you can change it to your own preference.  Finally, enter the endtime that you want your scriptlet to run to.  Usually this will be the time at the end of the scriptlet when it was created in ShowTime.  Remember you can loop the scriptlet by selecting the checkbox so it is not necessary to make the endtime long if you want an ongoing effect.  Hit the OK button and you are done.


KeyBoard Control

Throughout the program, you use the primary keys, numerical keys, and function keys to select frames, beams, effects, shows, and animations.  You also can use the keyboard for many functions.

You can move between the five tabs by using the keys N, M, <, >, ? for Beams, Frame Effects, Animations, Scrolling Text, and Shows and Scenes respectively.  Shift is not required.

On all the tabs, you will find the tab and arrow keys will help you navigate.  When you are using the listboxes, PageUp and PageDown are also useful.  Sliders can be fine moved with the arrows or more coarsely with the PageUp and PageDown.

On all the tabs, Stop or goto Black is triggered by the Space Bar.  For Beams, if you are in SingleStep Sequence mode, then the backspace key will trigger the steps.  On the Animation Tab, you can start and stop animations with the PageUp and PageDown keys.

On the Scrolling Text Tab, you can select premade text to scroll by typing the corresponding number 1-0 and the alt key.  Alt with S will stop scrolling and alt with P activates pause.  For an already selected text, you can play it once with alt and O and continuously with alt and C.  Be careful that you press alt first if your text boxes have the focus otherwise you will overwrite the text!  When entering text if you hit Enter this will immediately start continuous scrolling of the entry.

On the Show Tab, you can start a show with the Enter key, Stop it with the Space Bar, and pause it (maybe) with the Backspace.


BeamAssign Options

Strike the "Assign X Key" to select a projector effect, frame, beam, or beam structure for this key.  The LoadFrame window will open.  You can also choose the option of "Use No Time in Sequence".  This is often useful when you want to change DMX or TTL conditions or projector settings instantly.  An example might be a color flag in place before the next chase step of an actuator opening.


ToolBar

The tools are mostly alternatives to menu selections.  In order from left to right, they are Open Configuration, Save Configuration, Clear Configuration, Scan Settings, Viewport Display, Text Creation/Calendar Preferences, RealTime Clock ON/OFF, and PositionFrame.

Notice there is a text indicator telling you if MIDI or DMX input is active.


Text Creation & Calendar/Clock Preferences

There are two key areas on this window.  To the right, are all the preferences for setting the display of the realtime clock/calendar.  This display is triggered by the clock button on the toolbar.  Your choices are fairly clear and you can decide whether you want to show year, month, day, hour, and second and in what format.  You also can select punctuation style and order of presentation.  To setup all your preferences, you also need to draw a box on the viewport at left which will contain the date/time data.  You can select alignment, size of text, font style, etc.  Every time you click "DateTime Save", there will be a new update of how your data will look and this will be saved as your preference.

Generating text is similar.  First, you draw the box in the viewport.  Then you enter or paste the text into the "Text Entry Window".  If you want to use alignment centering, be sure you enter a return after each line of text.  To change the size of the text, just click the small or large type buttons.  You can save the text to a Wizard frame by either going to the "Assign Button" tab or clicking "Save Text".  On the Assign tab, you can select sending the text to any bank of either the main "Beams Tab" or "Effects Tab".  Be sure and name your text frame first.


InputDevices Menu
InputDevices

  MIDI

  MIDI Key Assign

  Disable MIDI Mod Wheel and Reset   The MIDI Mod Wheel can be used to zoom size up and down.  This will bypass that effect and reset the size parameters to default.

  DMX     This is only available on the optional version that accepts DMX input to control display.   It also requires custom input hardware.

  DMX Assign   Determines the mapping of DMX channels to key actuation.

  Use QM Input Port for Seq Timing    The selection of this option will override the BeatBar and slider steady clock and allow the user to determine the step forward of any sequence.  They are toggled by a TTL high to low transition of PortB Line1 as an input.  Allow each state to be maintained for at least 25 msec.  Be sure to use optical isolators to protect the QM board, such as on our Tomcat board.  A typical use of this would be to decode bass beats or allow a musician's MIDI to trigger your chase steps.  This is not supported in the QM2000 board since there are no input options.


Create Random Sequence

Sometimes a sequence that changes at random moments or after a long pause is very interesting or required for the event.  Use this window to generate such a sequence.  You can select both a minimum possible delay and a maximum delay.  Be sure to select a name and click the animation key you want to assign to.  When you add beam key frames to your sequence, you can emphasis certain frames to a higher probability of occurence by clicking them more than once.  A random frame indicates it is loaded with a green bar under the sequence.


Glossary

R

RealTime Clock ON/OFF


RealTime Clock ON/OFF

This latching toolbar button will continuously display in laser the current realtime time/date information.  It uses the location, font, text size, and calendar/time conventions that you selected on the Text Input screen.  You can even do second count-down and count-up based on your preferences - perfect for New Year's celebrations.