Interface

The Lightforge interface is designed to be very customizable and allow you the ability to set up the interface in whatever manner makes the most sense to you, or however makes the most sense for your particular application. The interface is made up of panels that can be scaled, split into multiple panels, changed to different panels, or removed entirely.

Menu

File

• New Show - Creates a brand new show file, without any cuelists
• New Cuelist - Creates a new cuelist inside the existing show file
• Open - Opens a previously saved show file - NOTE: that opening may pause UI for several minutes, and even after you regain control it takes a minute or so for the entire cue to rebuild - accessing some cues prematurely may result in unexpected behavior.
• Lead Default Show - Create a brand new show file based on the default show as stored.
• Save - saves over the existing show file
  • NOTE: - LightForge will autosave on every change to a temporary file in AppData - that will be automatically restored when LightForge is reopened, but should not be relied upon for an actual save. Opening another show will delete this temporary file and may result in a loss of changes made after an intentional user-initiated save action.
• Save As - saves the current show as a new show file
• Asset Manager - Allows you to update fixture profiles or effects from the developer and/or share your own back to the developer
• Bundle Show - Packages an entire show including all audio files into a single file that can be imported elsewhere.
• Import: ABility to import a fixture profile, effect, or cuelist from an XML file
• Export: Ability to export a fixture profile or cuelist to an XML file.

Edit

• Undo -- do not click but rather hover over this menu item and select the item you want to undo - this may take several seconds to implement and is not show safe
• Redo -- does not work reliably
• Settings Menu
• Sync Mobile Device -- displays a QR code for a mobile device to have basic access to the rig
• Value Mode -- allows you to select how you want values displayed on the screen.

Addon

• Addon Settings

Window

• New Window - disabled and not used
• Console - used primarily for debugging

Panel Types

You have the flexibility to configure your layout however you choose. The following is a list of panels you can use:

General Panels

• Groups Panel is the primary means for managing and selecting your lighting rig.
• Submasters Panel allows you to record intensity information from multiple groups and fixtures at different intensities onto a single fader.

Attribute Panels

• Color Picker Panel lets you select a color to be applied to groups or fixtures.
• Intensity Panel lets you set or fade to intensity values on groups or fixtures.
• Positioner Panel gives you the ability to control the pan and tilt values on groups or fixtures.
• Attributes Panel lets you adjust all the various attributes that a lighting fixture may utilize.
• Effects Panel lets you select, create, and modify effects.
• Effect Settings Panel allows you to adjust settings on effects, and keyframe effect changes over time.
• DMX Panel gives you the ability to view the DMX control data that is being output by Lightforge. It also allows you to do simple channel checks.

Cue Related Panels

• Audio Player Panel lets you play back audio tracks without syncing them to your timeline.
• Timeline Panel is used to manipulate lighting cues and audio files, and position them in time.
• Show List Panel allows you to move between multiple cue lists in a single show.
• Cue Editor Panel is used to modify a cue's settings, remove groups or attributes, and keyframe changes over time.
• Show Controls Panel gives you basic transport control (play, pause, next, previous) as well as the ability to add new cues, and audio files, and enable or disable crossfades on certain attribute changes.
• Palettes Panel lets you record presets that can be recalled live or recorded into cues.

Working With Panels

Every panel contains two handles. One to divide or remove a panel in the top right corner, and one to change the panel type in the top left corner.

Dividing a Panel

To divide a panel into two new panels, click and drag the top right handle either left, to divide the panel horizontally, or down to divide it vertically. An overlay will indicate which direction the panel will divide. If you wish to cancel this operation, just move your mouse back to the original handle position.

Removing a Panel

To remove a panel, click on the top right handle, and drag it outside the bounds of the panel. The panel will highlight in red indicating that it is going to be removed from the interface. To cancel this operation, move your mouse back to the original handle position.

Changing the Panel Type

To change the panel type, click on the top left handle, and select the type of panel you would like to use from the drop down menu.

Resizing Panels

To resize a panel, click and drag anywhere on the panel's border and drag the direction you'd like to scale it in.

Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts

   Main Article: Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts
Lightforge has man shortcuts for both keyboard and mouse gestures that are available. Many of these depend on what item you have selected or what panel your mouse is hovering over.

Video Tutorial

• YouTube: Lightforge Panels Tutorial