Find a fixture's desk mode

A fixture’s name for its mode and a desk’s name for the same mode are often different: the fixture says Standard (16-bit), the desk’s patch says Standard. When the desk is patched in another mode from the one the fixture is in, colors and movement come out wrong and nothing reports an error. The bench reads the desk’s own fixture files, GDTF files, to say which mode name to look for in the patch (see GDTF files and the PID library).

The desk’s name for the mode

Where the bench has a GDTF file for the fixture, the report’s DMX configuration says On a desk this is and the mode name. Choose Desk Modes… beside it, or Fixture → Desk Modes… (⇧⌘G) (macOS), for the whole table: every personality of this firmware, the desk’s name for each, its channel count, and what the fixture calls it. An arrow marks the personality the fixture is in. The sheet sends nothing to the fixture.

Reading the match

Not every file can say it the same way, and the sentence under the name says which case you have:

• A mode name: the file maps personalities to modes for this fixture’s firmware. This is the strongest answer.
• Probably: the file has no mapping, so the bench picked the one mode as wide as the fixture’s footprint. A good guess, said as one.
• One of several: more than one mode has that width, and the file does not say which. The bench lists them and does not guess.
• A firmware warning: the file lists firmware, but not the version this fixture runs, so the nearest earlier version was used. The name is usually still right. Updating the fixture or fetching a newer revision of the file settles it.
• A width warning: the file’s mode is a different width from what the fixture reports. The file is more likely to be out of date than the fixture, so the name is still shown, with the warning.
• No file for this model: rated OK. Most fixtures on most benches have none. Add one to get the desk’s names.

The GDTF folder

Choose Fixture → GDTF Library… (⌥⌘G) (macOS) to see what is in the folder, as the bench reads it: each file, the fixture it describes, its RDM IDs, the firmware it lists, and how many modes it has. Add files with Add Files… or by dropping them on the sheet; they are copied into the folder and the originals are left where they are. Or point the bench at a folder that already holds them with Choose Folder…. The bench reads the files and never changes or deletes them; Reveal in Finder is how to remove one.

A file that says no RDM block does not say which RDM fixture it describes, so it is never matched to one. Under the table the sheet lists the files the bench does not use, so you need not go looking:

• Could not be read, with the reason.
• Not named .gdtf: often a browser that saved a download as .gdtf.zip. Rename it.
• The simulator’s own sample files, left out on a real line because they describe invented fixtures.

Fetching from the GDTF Share

The GDTF Share is the public library of GDTF files. Choose Fixture → GDTF Share… (⌃⌘G) (macOS) and sign in with the shop’s own Share account; a free one is made at gdtf-share.com. The bench has no account of its own.

With a fixture selected, the Share’s catalog is ranked against it by brand, name and channel count. The catalog has no RDM IDs, so the list is a best guess until a file is downloaded. Fetch downloads one and reads the file’s own RDM block: if it names this fixture, the file is kept in the GDTF folder; if not, it is discarded and the row says so. Keep a file the check does not confirm keeps it anyway, for a file you know is right.

From the command line

rdmbench-cli gdtf matches a fixture against the GDTF folder and prints the desk’s mode name and the table. --list shows the folder, --from matches a saved report instead of a fixture, and --dir reads another folder. --sign-in signs in to the Share, and --shortlist, --fetch and --search use it.