Schéma 0.2.5 is a pretty significant update, so let’s get right to it:

Update to .NET 8

Starting with 0.2.5, Schéma is built against the latest vvvv gamma 6.2 which results in the usages of .NET8 over .NET6 bringing performance improvements.

Sequences

Sequences is a new, always on plugin. It adds Blocks that allow you to work with Fixture sequences in a generic and powerful way.

The only supported Sequence at the moment is based on the Fixtures’ names and Group. Going forward, you should be able to create multiple more explicit and possibly rule-based sequences.

To use Sequences, use one of the following Blocks

Create.Reference.SequenceOffset

Allows getting a Fixture reference for next and previous Fixtures in the current sequence. The reference can be used for blocks such as Copycat or Distance.

Create.Value.SequenceIndex

Returns a 0-1 value, based on the position of the current Fixture in the current Sequence.

Schema Studio Audio

The version of Schema with Audio support is available as a separate download Schema_Studio_0_2_5_Audio_Windows. This version will always load the audio runtime. It’s likely that this will be included in the main version in future releases, though for now I like to keep that version lean.

It is fairly early regarding Block set and integrations but the fundamentals work, have a play around and make some noise!

Block updates

Create.Value.Distance

Create.Value.Distance is now able to use the animated position of a Fixture it’s used on, allowing for more dynamic spatial control.
You can toggle this behavior using a new toggle that allows switching between automatic position (animated state position if available, or fallback to fixture’s setup position in the scene) or always using setup position, mimicking the original behavior.

The Distance block now also shows the name of the other Fixture it’s using to calculate the distance.

Create.Copycat

The powerful and versatile Copycat block now supports Layer selection. This way, you can not only replicate behavior of other Fixtures, but also take individual parts, enabling you to create more intricate and fine-grained relationships between Fixtures.

The block now also indicates which Fixture is really referenced via text on the block itself.

Integration improvements

Schéma was recently deployed to drive the Moony light and sound installation by Petr Pufler. In this setup, Schéma integrated with Chataigne and WLED.

To better support these integrations OSC and ArtNet plugins received some love.

OSC Vector3 Color support

The Create.Color.OSC block now also understands colors received as a vector of three float values besides the explicit OSC color value.
This is important as Chataigne sends Color over OSC in a different RGBA order than is expected in vvvv gamma. With the added support, you are now able to send correct OSC Colors from Chataigne using the Point3D type.

ArtNet Multi Universe output

No more 512 channel constraint and having to pre-plan LED pixel universe outputs.
ArtNet outputs now support what I call Multi Universe, ie. stretching beyond a single universe.

By enabling the ArtNet[2,3,4].UniverseCount setting, you can tell an ArtNet output that it is free to continue into next universes when channels run out.
Basically, any fixtures that reach beyond channel 512 will smoothly continue to the next universe, possibly sharing the edges of two universes without issues.

This is great for WLED integrations as this is exactly the channel mapping approach the WLED system uses.

There are still improvements to do here, such as being able to see the extended universes values in the DMX UI overlay, however it’s already super powerful and practical.

More runtime control - Framerate

Framerate control has been improved, removing any Framerate limitation on ArtNet output by default and adding the Runtime.Framerate setting to control full application frame rate.

This is especially useful when running Schéma headless and wanting to control the rate of computation and signal sending.

Experimental Cursor

The keyboard only Cursor project is part of this release. It has not been completed yet but you can preview it by setting Features.Cursor to true.

Visual tweaks and usability updates

A number of interface improvements have also made it into this release

• Fix pixel rendering with gaps (no fixture color), using explicit half transparent pixels
• Show an informative message when UI is non-responsive due to being disabled in the JSON settings
• Move view tabs from bottom to top to reduce overlapping
• Disable screensaver by default (I love it but it’s a performance hog _)
• Update window titles and UI text to “Schema Studio”
• Controllers plugin available in Plugin selector
• Improved defaults

Bug fixes

And lastly, a number of smaller bug fixes also made it to this release.

• Fix inability to create drivers in certain situations
• Fix Copycat color resampling for Fixtures with only a single pixel
• Fix internal bug breaking block/plugin registration and remove ugly hotfixes

Schema Lite MIA

The Lite release is currently missing in this version due to some build issues for Linux after migration to gamma 6.2, likely needs a simple dependency fix and will be resolved soon.