Designer 2 Tutorials
Welcome to our “Getting Started” video tutorial series. These videos are designed to be a comprehensive guide to help you start and build a project in Designer 2 – everything from connecting your controller through to programming timelines.
Each video covers the basics you need to know to get started, as well as some handy hints and troubleshooting tips.
We’ve endeavoured to make our videos as accessible as possible, and each one is fully subtitled.
At this time, the video series is only available in English. We are open to adding translations, but we need a native speaker to review the text. If you are interested, please contact us at support@pharoscontrols.com .
Getting Started: Overview
Designer Overview
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
- Getting Started: Overview
- Downloading Designer 2 from the Pharos website
- Installing Designer 2
- Reviewing basic parts of the user interface
- Project Features tab
- RightClick and Shortcuts
- Opening a separate window
- Saving files & Software revisioning
- Support of multiple instances
- Pharos Designer 2 and Pharos hardware dependencies
Getting Started 1-3: Starting a project, Timelines, Mapping
Getting Started 1: Starting a project
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
Getting Started 2: Timelines
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
Getting Started 3: Mapping
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
- Getting Started 3: Mapping
- Duplicate Fixtures window
- Creating a matrix
- Manipulating a matrix
- Filtering presets and applying a matrix preset to a timeline
- Simulating a matrix preset and real-time matrix adjustment
- Preset to timeline row compatibility
- Importing media and media preset parameters
- Fast-forward simulation
- Duplicating a matrix, fixture overlapping
- Simulate the same preset to different matrices
Getting Started 4-6: Layout and Fixtures, Patch, Trigger
Getting Started 4: Layout and Fixtures
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
- Getting Started 4: Layout and Fixtures
- Adding a background
- Grid options and overlay colours
- Fixture Properties
- Transform Tools
- Zooming and minimap
- Creating and managing layouts
- Copying vs cloning fixtures
- Remove from layout vs delete fixtures
- Fixture library and cloud library
- Creating a fixture template
- Adding different fixtures to a layout
- Creating a scene for automated lighting
- Selecting a section from multi-element fixtures
- Adding scenes to a timeline
Getting Started 5: Patch
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
Getting Started 6: Trigger
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
- Getting Started 6: Trigger
- Collapsing triggers
- Conditional logic flow
- Creating basic triggers: Startup, Digital Input, Real Time
- Simulate triggers
- Condition example
- Ethernet input trigger / system integration
- Project features to display more triggers, conditions and actions
- Introduction to IO Modules
- Copying actions
- Variables
- Enabling variables
- Scripting
Getting Started 7-9: Hardware, Upload, Web Interface
Getting Started 7: Hardware
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
Getting Started 8: Upload
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
- Getting Started 8: Upload
- Network tab and discovered controllers
- Configuring interfaces (Ethernet, Serial, Inputs)
- Assigning a second IP address / configure data network port for 19″ controllers
- Interface and Protocol data – link to controller
- Associating a controller
- Uploading a project
- Highlight on layout / patch (Tool available after upload)
- RDM discovery and addressing (Tool available after upload)
- Output Live (Tool available after upload)
- Setting controller location and other project information
- Setting controller time and timezone
- Customising a project wizard
- Adding an EXT to a TPC
Getting Started 9: Web Interface
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
Getting Started 10-13: Touch Input, Scaling a system, VLC & VLC+, DALI
Getting Started 10: Touch Input
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
- Getting Started 10: Touch Input
- Project example walkthrough
- Creating an interface using New Interface wizard
- Button properties
- Button key
- Touch Button event trigger
- Changing Touch Contol state
- Adding a new page
- Page Switcher
- Adding control elements manually, change size, position and parameters
- Adding images to a button
- Slider Key and Slider / Colour button triggers
- Linking an interface to a touch device
- Interface properties
- Theme Editor
- Master screen settings
Getting Started 11: Scaling a system
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
- Getting Started 11: Scaling a system
- Scaling possibilities
- Adding remote devices to a project
- Adjusting remote device properties
- Connecting remote device hardware
- Network row colours explained
- Rio Firmware upload and IP configuration
- RIO rotary wheel and association
- Adding a controller to the project
- Adjusting controller interface properties
- Linking remote devices and controllers
- Beacon function
- Setting triggers in a multi controller / remote device project
- Enabling Trigger Controller Edit
- Using Pharos to link different systems
- Patching in multi controller systems
- Patching on multiple controllers does not affect groups, zoning or synchronisation
Getting Started 12: VLC & VLC+
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
- Getting Started 12: VLC & VLC+
- General introduction
- Adding a VLC and VLC+ to an existing project
- Associating a VLC
- VLC/VLC+ and Layouts
- Layout resolution
- Duplication feature, including patching
- VLC mapping: Composition
- VLC: Creating an additional instance of a composition
- VLC: Patching
- VLC: Timelines
- Simulate a VLC timeline on two compositions
- VLC: Trigger Set Content Target Blur
- Uploading to a VLC
- VLC Live Video web interface
- VLC+: Layout
- VLC+: Compositions and content targets
- VLC+: Masks
- VLC+: Timelines
- VLC+: Simulate
- VLC+: Trigger Rotation and Movement
Getting Started 13: DALI
This video covers the following topics. You can click to jump straight to the relevant section.
- Getting Started 13: DALI
- Two different ways to use DALI
- DALI Interfaces vs DALI ports, creating an interface
- DALI bus power
- DALI triggers
- DALI actions
- Adding DALI devices to a layout
- DALI fixture properties
- DALI tab explained, including addressing and patching
- Creating DALI groups
- Creating DALI scenes
- Including DALI in Pharos Designer scenes, output live
- DALI and timelines
- Adjusting timeline background colour
- Website resources
- Training sessions
- Support contact