Fixture View Deselect Button and Additional Selection Options#195

In the fixture view, the Deselect Fixture button is too close to the fixtures themselves. There’s always a risk of clicking it while selecting fixtures. I’d like to propose a change to the current grid. For example, it might be a good idea to reduce the fixture columns to 8 instead of the current 10. Use the free space created on the right of the view to place the following function keys in a column: Deselect Fixture, Fanning Option, Selection Option, and Keypad. This way, everything is on-screen, separate and clearly visible. This provides two major advantages: avoiding the risk of clicking the Deselect button, which is essential, and also having quick on-screen functions that would otherwise only be accessible with Tools.

I assume this toolbar should also be available in the “Add Fixtures to MagicSheet” dialog?
What about the other Pools?

While I think having a quick access to these options is helpful and I understand that “mis-clicking” could be an issue, the problem not only exists in the fixture pool but all other Pools as well.

The same is true for having quick access to fixture selection options.

What I could offer for 1.1.0 is to add a visual “safety areay” around the deselect fixtures button in all Views; for Quick Selection I would rather add a MagicWand Submenu, which contains all selection options and options to Select all fixtures for each type in the show file.
This can then also be displayed quite easily in all other Pools.

Anything beyond that would be out of scope for the dev-time we have left for 1.1.0 and we could reconsider it for 1.2.0.

Please see attached mockup for reference.

I still feel it would be better to add it to the magic wand menu and provide this in all views.

I like the toolbar mockup, yes the best option would be have both option, toolbar and magic wand

I’m not a big fan of the toolbar, to be honest - it takes away a lot of space. To access the fixture that was below the “Deselect” button, you would now have to scroll.

In other fixture selection dialogs like the Magic Sheet Add Fixtures dialog we cannot add the toolbar without major reworks, and as such there would still be 10 fixtures per row, which again would sort of “mess up” the sorting of the fixtures.

My Proposal is to (for now) only add the selection options to the MagicWand Menu and in all main screens, but not add the Toolbar.

In turn, we could add deselect as a first option in the Magic Wand menu and remove it from all pool views - including the external screen?

I would in any case leave this thread open for future upvotes, even if we add the menu.

On the contrary, I think a toolbar with those options available for quick access represents an improvement compared to the loss of usable space for objects. For example, in fixture view, 32 objects would be visible without scrolling; then just scroll. The same toolbar would make a lot of sense in pool groups and presets, while it would be better not to have it in magic sheets, where the space dedicated to objects takes priority. I don’t see it as essential to ensure layout consistency across all views, especially because magic sheets has its own unique usage characteristics, and as a user, it wouldn’t be a problem to find a views with an “inconsistent” layout. In any case, without a toolbar, it’s not worth removing the deselect fixture button and placing it under the magic wand. While waiting for more upvotes, what could be done is to change the button timing to avoid incorrect clicks. Therefore, increasing the reaction time could help if you accidentally click on the button while trying to select adjacent fixtures instead.

You do have a point there.

I can see the usability improvement for sure, I’m just not sure if a vertical toolbar is the right tool for this.

I can also see how the MagicWand Menu would be helpful, but not improving usability as much as the toolbar.

How would you feel about a horizontal toolbar, above the Pool ?

As far as the deselect button goes - something that would be “relatively simple” to do would be to allow double clicks, or turn it into a long press like the Highlight / Blind Buttons in 1.1;

However I’d probably do that in every pool but not magic sheets, or there as well?

Yes, exactly, a toolbar would be a huge improvement in terms of usability. I also agree with a horizontal version; it would be more consistent with the overall layout. Can you share a mockup? Perhaps double-clicking instead of holding down would be better for deselecting. As for the Magic Sheet, I think we’re wasting too much space; we could do this in all the other pools and wait for more user feedback to see if we can add it to MagicSheet as well.

I think in this case I’d make the button double and long click - its tricky to visualize that the user needs to double click, whereas both options should provide sufficient user feedback.

Will do a quick mock up of a horizontal toolbar.

Ok, that’s perfect

Here you go. If we put it below the feature group toolbar, then we have less visual jumps when changing to magic sheet view.

We could add the same toolbar to the external screen bottom toolbar, too.

We’ll add this in 1.1.0, however without the extra click or timed click needed for the Deselect button. I feel the button there is sort of in a better position and will probably be used a lot and I feel it may disrupt the workflow quite a bit.
If this is turning out to be an issue, I am confident we’ll get the feedback and can revisit the behaviour depending on the upvotes, etc.

When you press shift some of the buttons will show additional functions.

As far as the fanning / grouping options go, I think they should be shown whenever fan is active, but we feel adding a shortcut to toggle is not going to be very helpful. I’ll check if they fit, and if they do we’ll also add this in 1.1.0.