Tips for Creating & Organizing Channel Layouts

This is a running list of ideas and techniques for creating clearer  and more useful Channel Layouts. Everyone should feel welcome to make their own additions and changes to this list.

• Text labels can be created and moved around in layouts by creating a line, assigning Text to it, and then reducing it to the shortest length possible (which effectively makes it a dot). Scale them up to the appropriate size and you've got Text labels you can move around as seen here. Example
• Create enough simple geography of the event area such that when you look at your layout, you can readily determine what those channels control and where they are in relation to any significant objects they're lighting. Example
• Establish a color code and use it consistently. This does not have to be anything complicated and can be as simple as:
  • Automated fixtures of a given model are a certain color. Automated devices of another model are a different color.
  • Grey fixtures with a colored outline are wash fixtures and the color of the outline is roughly what the color of any filters being used in the fixture are.
  • A colored background color is the color of the filter being used on a fixture, and a grey outline indicates that fixture has a gobo in it or is a special.
• With multiple channels selected:
  • The right-most encoder controls rotation around the mid-point of the channel selection.
    • Holding down [C/ALT] while rotating symbols rotates each channel around its own base point instead of being rotating around the midpoint of all of the selected channels.
  • The second encoder from the right controls the size of symbols.
  • The second encoder from the left controls the horizontal stretch.
  • The left-most encoder controls the vertical stretch.