Overview

The user interface

The tabs sit in the header of the app: prepare, FTP2 or FTP3 (depending on the MA mode), Tools (Beta) and Settings. The ? button opens a menu to Get Help, Send Logfile to us, or open the License Agreement.

In the prepare tab, every function has its own view in the drawer on the left. On small windows, the drawer collapses to icons.

Drawer	Views
Start	Import and merge your data.
Match	Match your CAD symbols with the FixtureTypes. A blue ✓ shows that the match is saved.
Patch	Create Patch, Update Patch, Create Filters
Group	Sorted Groups, Sub-ID Groups, XYZ Groups, FX Groups
Layout	Single Layout, Multi Layout, SubID Layout, Straight Layout, FX Layout
Preset	Single Presets, Gradient Presets, Batch Gradient Presets, Multi Gradient Presets, Function ID FX
Tools	Appearance, Filter (with ✕ to clear it) and Data

In every window, ⌘/Ctrl + Enter runs the main button.

Import the data

The first step is to import fixture data on the Start view. You have these options:

Import from File: If you have exported a CSV file from your CAD application or have an mvr-file, choose your application, the unit and the rounding. You can also swap the position and function columns, or map the columns of any CSV file yourself. See Prepare your data for details.
Import from GMA: Load fixture data from an existing show file:
- Load Layout: import a layout directly from the desk.
- Load XML File: use an XML file with an exported patch.
- Load FixtureData: load the patch directly over the network.
Continue Last: Reopens the last .ppcad file.
Merge CSV: Merge a CSV file into the loaded data, see Merge files.

Match the Fixtures

Next, match the symbol names from your imported data with the FixtureTypes in your Showfile. The Match view opens automatically after an import. Once you complete this step, you can begin creating amazing things.

Match

Show Data

The Data button shows all fields of your imported data. You can filter the data, add, edit or delete lines, edit many lines at once with templates, add your own fields, set function IDs, add dummy fixtures, and export the data to CSV or MVR.

Show Data

Patch

Create and update a grandMA patch, and create a set of filters with the appropriate attributes for the fixture types in your show file.

Patch

Groups

Create groups based on Fixture Type, Position, Function, your own templates, 3D data, or modules from Multi-Instance fixtures. All groups can have an appearance determined by either the Fixture Types or the position column. FX Groups split your fixtures along a form.

In MA3 Mode, the created groups can have their 3D positions within the grid.

Groups

Layouts

Create layouts from various orientations for a filtered set of fixtures. All generated layouts will have appearances based on the fixture types or their positions. You can also create multiple layouts with a single click, or clean Straight and FX layouts with one row per group.

To achieve a comprehensive overview of your system, you can add an image with a plot view to the layout.

Layouts

Presets

This powerful generator machine is designed for creating graphical effects, delays, values, and gradients. You can choose from 14 different forms — including a Path you can draw yourself — and customize them by adjusting their origin, rotation, grouping and easing. The generation process is quick, making it ideal for experimentation.

Presets

Path and Easing

Save and Load

You can save and reload all the data you imported into prepare, including the FixtureTypes loaded from the desk, the appearances, the saved origins and all settings of the windows. The file type used for this is .ppcad. Use the File menu:

Menu entry	Shortcut	Description
Open File…	⌘/Ctrl + O	Open a `.ppcad` file.
Open Recent…	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + O	Choose one of the last five files.
Save	⌘/Ctrl + S	Save the current file.
Save As…	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + S	Save to a new file.
Merge File…		Merge another `.ppcad` file, see below.

The window title shows the name of the current file (“untitled” for a new one). When you close the app with unsaved changes, prepare asks whether you want to save them.

Merge files

You can merge a CSV file (Merge CSV on the Start view) or another .ppcad file (File > Merge File…) into the loaded data. Fixtures are matched by their ID.

Choose the Fields to import — all or only some of them, e.g. only the positions. Custom fields of the incoming file can be merged too; your own custom fields are kept.
The table shows every fixture with its state: new fixtures in green, updated values in amber. Use the State filter and the select buttons to choose which fixtures are merged.
When merging a .ppcad file, you can also choose what should happen to existing and new FixtureTypes, appearances and origins (Overwrite/Ignore or Add/Ignore).