Release 1.6.1

Bug Fixes

2021: Background color not working in Ripple effect

Fixed this as well as the "transparent foreground" option which was broken during simulation.

2019: Chasing rainbow effect does not react correctly to the Repeat Line property

Depending on the group height, increasing the Repeat Line value from zero causes the rainbow pattern to first "squeeze" and then "expand".

2030: Deleting effect makes the fixture/group disappear from map

This occurs when simulating a show.  This is not fixed so that when you delete all effects from the current show, the group and fixure will no longer disappear from the map view and the simulation controls (Play button and playback head position) will reset properly.

2010: CP3 hangs when doing live play

Fixed the hang and/or crash that occurs in the Mac version when Live Play is "on" for more than a few minutes.

Release 1.6

New Features

1896: Color Wash effect does not loop

Added "loop" property to the ColorWash effect.

1945: Add Save button to the color picker

Added a "+" button to bottom of color picker to make it more obvious to the user how a selected color can be added to the color list on the right.  Also, a user can now delete a non-default color via the Delete or Backspace key.

1318: Insert a color into the middle of a palette instead of only at the end.

Added "Insert Color" item to the contextual menu of a palette as well as the ability to change a swatch position within a palette by click and drag.

1515: Use the wheel of a mouse to zoom

You can now use the scroll wheel on your mouse, while pressing the Alt key, to zoom in and out of either the map view or the timeline view, depending on where the mouse cursor is hovering.

2001: Add fixtures:  ColorGraze (2 and 4 ft), iColor MR g2, C-Splash 2, iColor Accent (2 ft)

Fixed  the sizes of all fixture images to more accurately represent their relative sizes.  Also, made the fixture palette scrollable in the horizontal direction (instead of vertical) to ease the viewing/adding of fixtures from the palette.

1836: Scale background image

Added "Scale Image..." option to the right-click menu in the Background tab view.  User can enter a percentage value for scaling the image. (10 to 2000%)

1988: Add fixture for Megablast

Added fixture for the new ColorReach product.

1751: Add scroll bars to move around the map.

Added scroll bars and updated the zoom/pan/scroll behavior of the map to mimic other "drawing" applications.

1858: Reverse function for the burst and spiral effects

Added "Reverse" property to the Burst and Spiral effects.

1874: Add live color picker function (like QuickPlay app)

Added a "Live Color" option to the View menu.  This option displays a floating window that allows a user to choose light addresses and a single color to apply to those lights.  The color is sent "live" to the selected lights.  This provides a nice test tool and mimics some of the functionality in the QuickPlay utility.

1888: Upload shows from the iPlayer

.SHO files, when written to the iPlayer3, are now appended with a compressed form of the project in which it lives.  In the Configuration tab, when you right-click on a .SHO file in the "Files on Controller" list, there is a new "Extract Project..." option.  Selecting this will extract the .PROJ file which housed the Show at the time it was copied to the iPlayer.

1932: Show value units in the Properties panel

In the Properties panel, added "(secs)" or "(deg)" to the names of properties that pertain to time or angles.

1953: Send DMX data over local network to the Capture visualizer application

CP3 now broadcasts DMX data over the local network to any listening Capture visualizer applications.  This happens when a show is being simulated or "live played".  There is a new Network tab panel in Preferences that allows a user to turn this feature on or off.

Bug Fixes

1759: Trigger time not working properly

This bug affected all canned trigger types that used a time value (i.e. time, fade, hold).  All times needed to be converted to "frames" when sent to the iPlayer3.  Also, while fixing this bug, the UI layout was cleaned up a bit to make the Trigger editing more intuitive.

1893: Need admin privileges to write rendering data to "output" directory

To avoid the need to have admin permissions, we moved the rendering "output" folder to...

WinXP: /Documents and Settings/<user>/Application Data/ColorPlay3/output/
WinVista: /Users/<user>/AppData/Roaming/ColorPlay3/output/
Mac: /<user>/Library/Application Support/ColorPlay3/output/

1844: Specific date alarm always comes back with year reset to 2000

Removed the Year field from the date spinner because the iPlayer3 does not support a Year value for an alarm date.

1938: Node addressing wrong for iColor tile (6x6 and 3x3) fixtures

Effects would flow left-to-right in the simulator but on the actual fixture they flowed bottom-to-top.  This has been fixed.

1845: User doesn't know the priority of conflicting alarms and triggers

Added text to the Alarms screen stating that ....highest numbered alarm will overide the lowest numbered alarms."

1680: Store image in project file

Images are now stored inside the project file (for Image Fade effect and Background layer).  This allows for better portability.

1907: Trigger dialog isn't centered on parent window

The Trigger and Alarm dialogs, when first opened, are now centered on the main window.  This is most noticable when multiple monitors are used.

1897: The Streak Effect does not allow to for custom forward and reverse tail width, or reverse direction.

Added "reverse" property to the Streak effect.

1755: ColorPlay3 hangs when adding more show tabs than there is space available on the screen

Replaced the "Show" tabs with a popup menu button.  This frees up some window real estate for the timeline and map views.

1851: Add Background to Layer menu.

Added "Background" to the Layer menu to be consistent with the tabs in the map view.

1869: Alert the user of overlapping effects (invalid show)

In rare cases, shows become corrupt with overlapping effects.  We added an alert that informs the user where the overlap occurs so he/she can fix the problem.  The alert will display when an attempt is made to drag a new effect onto the timeline of a corrupted show.

1811: Property name doesn't match effect

The Fixed Color and Cross Fade effects now show the correct name in the Properties panel.

1810: Aborting transfer of show to iP3 leaves the show on the controller

Fixed the case where a user aborts the transfer of a show to the iPlayer3 and but the incomplete show file then resides on the device.

659: Major performance hit during copy/paste of effects

Copy and paste should be much faster now.

1533: Delete key doesn't always work

The Backspace and Clear keys can now be used to delete Fixtures, Groups or Effects.  (Some keyboards do not have a forward delete key i.e. MacBooks)

1569: On Mac, version should appear in GetInfo dialog for CP3 app

You should now see the version and copyright text when you view "Get Info" dialog (Cmd I) for the application. (Mac only)

1870: Speed up the pasting of effects

Pasting effects should be much faster and, also, the pasted effect will now be automatically scrolled into view on the timeline.

1696: Manually Entering Property Values - Broken

Fixed

1161: config tab scroll problems

The Configuration Tab was cleaned up, visually, which minimizes some of the scrolling/selection problems experienced in the past.

2003: Crash when saving controller image

The crash was caused by use of the Sparkle Effect in a situation where it wasn't simulated before being saved as a controller image.  This has been fixed.

Release 1.4.2

1809: Change block size for iP3 writes and reads

Increase speed of transferring show to the iPlayer3 by a factor of 3 (at least).

Release 1.4.1

1744: Clean up the About dialog

Update the layout so the scroll bar is not necessary.

1745: Negative astronomical offsets not represented correctly in engine_alarm struct

Fixed alarms that use astronomical times with "Before Sunrise" or "Before Sunset".

1740: Update version in splash screen

Fixed.

1741: Windows installer - wrong version in Start menu

Also, added release number to the name of the Windows installer.

Release 1.4

New Features

1739: Updated control graphics on the main window

Cleaned up the look and feel of the graphical user interface. Minimized wasted space below the Timeline view.

1273: Specify background bitmap image

User can set a background image for show simulations.

1272: Implement resizing of fixtures

User can set the visual width and height of a fixture to better simulate a show.

1203: Better display & editing of fixture addresses.

Don't show all 144 node addresses in properties panel.  Only allow user to change starting address of the two tile inputs.

1560: Multicolor palettes don't work in Sweep effect

Choosing multiple colors now works.

1525: Difficult to get a window to dock back where you want it

Added a "Redock Views" option to the View menu.  Also, reduced the default docking height of the timeline view.

587: Ignore mouse movement repaint events on the MapWidget while simulating

The timeline update was a bit jumpy on Windows only when the mouse cursor moved around inside the mapping view. This has been fixed.

531: Align and Distribute commands

Implemented alignment of Fixtures.

1043: Removing colors from palette is not obvious

Added context menu to properties panel and palettes panel.

1292: Better display of iPlayer3 error codes

Implemented.

1149: Make sure fixture is visible after adding it to map

Fixed.

1228: Add "Rename" to Group context menu

Implemented.

1296: Add softness to Image Fade effect

Implemented.

1197: Group names on map too big, poorly positioned

Added a minimum size constraint so that names don't disappear when zoomed out.
Moved the group name so its baseline is located at the bottom edge of the group's bounding box.

1301: Add step forward/backward commands to show simulation

Right & left arrows simulate the next & previous frames, respectively.

Bug Fixes

905: Crash when undoing a show deletion then moving mouse

Fixed the crash.

631: Change an effect's row past the last row in the timeline in the Properties pane

An effect disappears for good if you set it's row past the last row in the timeline or in the Properties panel.

1226: Abort doesn't work while writing DMX data

In the Configuration tab, if you right-click a show file and select Save... with the "Also write DMX Data" option checked, you cannot abort after you click OK.  This is now fixed.

1231: Filter out duplicate show filenames in config tab

Restricted IP3 show names to 8 characters to match the requirements of the iPlayer.

1579: Can't add more effects to the attached show

The problem was caused because a user was allowed to enter invalid property values for an effect.  Specifically, "start time", "duration" and "row".  Once an effect has invalid location (i.e. it overlaps another effect) CP3 wouldn't allow the dragging of another effect into the timeline.  I fixed this adding a check after a user enters "start time", "duration" or "row" in the Properties panel.

1530: Shows with very long timelines cause simulated colors to go black after 10 min mark

Fixed.

1261: Optimize Effect Rendering

Simulating a show should now be faster.

1266: Spiral Effect parameters have invalid limits in Properties panel

Properties panel now does not allow user to enter invalid parameters.

1230: Apostrophes in show names = bad

ColorPlay3 now strips apostrophes from show names (not file names).

1258: Crash when removing fixture from group then simulating

Fixed.

1077: Crash when deleting a group, adding a group, adding an effect

Fixed.

1465: Overwrites file when extension left off filename

Fixed the default file name to be "untitled.proj" instead of ".proj".  Added a "Replace existing file?" message to catch cases where the native Save dialog doesn't handle the pre-existing file scenario.

1552: Timeline Zoom causes timeline to disappear when set to min level

Fixed.  Also made the zoom operation smoother (opened up the range of the slider values)

1182: Can't dismiss About box on Mac

Added an OK button.  Also, fixed the bogus copyright glyph on Mac.

1548: Preferences Dialog needs finishing

Removed the Performance panel for now.  Fixed the Ok/Cancel button ordering for Mac.

1571: Console log fills with messages when "marching ants" are shown

Fixed (Mac only); also changed the marching ants background color from black to dark gray to minimize distraction.

1528: You can enter a negative value for hours, but not for minutes

Modified the UI so that instead of displaying a "popup box" that behaves like a contextual menu, a modal dialog box is displayed.  Enhanced the dialog to make setting alarms more intuitive.

1523: Can't rename a color palette

Wired up the "rename" feature.  Also, made the contextual menu smarter about enabling/disabling items based on current palette selection.

1529: Cannot enter a fade value of more than 27 minutes

The 27 minute limit is imposed by the iPlayer3 firmware.  Fixed the UI so that a time (min:sec) spinner is used to enter only valid times.  Changed the popup widget into a real modal dialog.

1682: Fixture follows mouse after right-click menu selection.

After you right click a fixture and select any menu option, the fixture moves with the cursor.  This is now fixed.

1514: Keyboard shortcut ctrl-alt-space does not work

Fixed this for the Win version.  For the Mac version we changed the zoom hot keys to Cmd-Plus (zoom in) and Cmd-Minus (zoom out) because, by default, OS X uses Cmd-Space for it's Spotlight search engine.  Also, most Mac app's use Cmd-Plus/Minus for zooming.

1290: GIF and JPG images aren't displayed in Image Effect

For Windows only: Added a plugin to the installer to handle GIF and JPG images.

1083: effect copy and move bug

This was fixed in 1579, as a result you can no longer enter an invalid row number in the properties panel.

1581: Restore window settings

Added code to ensure all windows are within the primary screen when CP3 launches.  Also, added a "Redock Views" option to the View menu.

1137: Can't enter decimal numbers

This bug affected all effect properties that are expressed in units of seconds (i.e. Start, Duration, Fade In, Fade Out, Fade Time, etc).  These were all broken but are now fixed.

1695: Timeline painting wraparound?

This bug occurs with all effects that use a linear gradient to draw the timeline...ColorWash, Burst, Chasing and Spiral.  Should all be fixed now.

1697: Renaming Shows - Always snaps back to show 1

When renaming a show in a project file with multiple shows, the program snaps back to the first show tab.  This is now fixed.

1271: Effect Preview sometimes stops

Fixed.

1280: Stop simulating when clicking Layer tabs

Fixed.

1287: Make text effect smoother

Fixed.

1112: Sparkle doesn't do the right thing with transparency

Fixed.

843: Use seconds.frames for fade in/out units

Units are now in seconds.

Release 1.2

1531: Update to iP3USBLib v1.0.22 or greater

The major change to iP3USBLib was a timing issue. Combined with the latest iP3 firmware it should yield a big speedup in downloads.

The rest of the changes were bug fixes for stability, mostly on the Mac side.

Things to bang on are downloads – different file sizes, multiple files, deleteing files, etc. Plus checking for general stability when using the iP3 – live play, configuration.

1508: CP3 crashes if you click title bar while playing live show via iP3

Fixed.

1209: Crash when live playing & downloading on Power PC Mac

Fixed in the iP3USBLib v1.0.23

1094: Drag 'n drop multiple files hoses SD card

Fixed in the iP3USBLib v1.0.23

Produced by FogBugz