1.4 | Creating a custom control panel

The Pixotope Director allows you to create custom remote-control panels, which run:

in the Director
or in a web browser on your Data hub network

You can control:

all properties that can be exposed from within the Pixotope Editor
all functions on Blueprint actors

The control panel only sends values, and does not know about the actual state of the targeted actor in the level.

Widget types

Type	Behavior	Target	Target property types	Purpose
Trigger	Sends predefined variables and/or event triggers when clicked	Accepts multiple targets Can target exposed actor/Blueprint parameters, as well as Blueprint events	Actor parameters Blueprint variables Every basic type Not complex structs Not matrixes/vectors Blueprint events Can pass input	Most basic form of widget Allows simple presets Actor positions Actor parameters Trigger Blueprint events Virtual camera moves Actions/States
2-state button	Sends predefined variables and/or event triggers when clicked Button changes to show last clicked state	Accepts multiple targets Can target exposed actor/Blueprint parameters, as well as Blueprint events	Actor parameters Blueprint variables Every basic type Blueprint events	2-state trigger Useful for on/off actions Light switches A to B transitions Visibility toggles
Slider	Sends a number (float or integer) between a min and a max value	Accepts one target Can target exposed actor/Blueprint parameters, as well as Blueprint events	Actor parameters Blueprint variables Only numbers Blueprint events Requires number input	Control virtual lights Control physical lights via DMX Any states you want to fade between
Number	Sends a number (float or integer) when field is changed, either by manual entry, or by clicking the arrows	Accepts one target Can target exposed actor/Blueprint parameters, as well as Blueprint events	Actor parameters Blueprint variables Only numbers Blueprint events Requires number input	Allows real-time operator numeric value updates Scoreboards Statistics Data Trigger Blueprint events that take a numeric parameter
Text	Allows input of text in the dialogue box Sends text input once the "Confirm" button, or CRTL+Enter, is pressed Input can be typed manually, or pasted in Input is limited by Character Length, which is set per text widget. Default value is 60	Accepts one target	Actor parameters Blueprint variables Number types Text types Blueprint events Requires valid input	Allows real-time operator text and number field updates News tickers Infographics Name fields Title bars Scoreboards Trigger Blueprint events that take a text OR numeric parameter
Drop-down	Switches between the enum values (when the target is an enum) Switches between user-defined values (any other target)	Accepts one target	Boolean Number Text Color Vector Transform other	Allows for switching between predefined values (numbers, text) Infographics Name fields Title bars
Label	No action	None	None	Control panel organization

Property type formats

Property type	Format
Boolean	false \| true
Number	float, integer
Text	string
Color	(r=0,g=0,b=0)
Vector	(x=0,y=0,z=0)
Transform	[100,100,100,0,0,0,1,1,1] posX,posY,posZ,rotX,rotY,rotZ,sclX,sclY,sclZ
Blueprint	-
other	-

Video tutorial - Control Panel.

Create or open

Create a new control panel

Click PRODUCTION → Control
Click "Create Control Panel"
Name the new control panel

The control panel is saved with a .panel extension in

YourProjectsPath\Content

Open existing control panel

On the "Launch" page, hover over an existing panel
Click "Open panel"

Edit panel

When editing a control panel, you can rearrange and resize the widgets.

Click the control panel menu
Choose "Edit"

From the control panel menu, you can also

Duplicate
Close
Rename
Delete
or Create a new control panel

Add widget

Click "Toolbox" on the far right of the panel to open the toolbox drawer
Click the widget you would like to add

Edit action

Right-click on the widget
Choose "Edit action"

"Edit label" - Label of the trigger
"Text" - Description on the trigger itself
"Edit tooltip" - Additional information that will be visible when the cursor hovers over the trigger
"Button Color" - Color of the trigger
"Add target" - Add one or multiple actions to the trigger
- Depending on the widget:
  - Select a single target by clicking "Select"
  - Add a target to the target list by clicking "Add target"

The red border around a widget indicates that it does not have a target set yet.

Select object and property or function

Make sure you have a level running
Select the object by clicking the checkbox
Select the property or function you want to control
Click "Apply"

If the property you want to control is not visible, expose it from within the Editor.

Edit value

Click the edit icon under "Value" in the target or item list
Edit the value while keeping the same format (property type formats).

Blueprint functions do not yet support the sending of additional values.
Click "Apply"

Arrange widgets

While in Edit mode you can:

move the widgets
resize the widgets

Save control panel

Click the "Save" button to save the changes in the control panel file.

Open control panel in the browser

Every control panel can be used via the Director or opened in a web browser. Control panels can be opened in a browser on any device that is connected to the same network as the Data hub.

The control panel is optimised for the Chrome browser.

Click the control panel menu and select:

Open in browser
Copy local URL

Create an animation trigger using Blueprint functions - Pixotope Editor

To control an event in Pixotope using the Control Panel in Director, you need to create a trigger in the Editor.

With the power of the Unreal Blueprint visual scripting system, there are almost no limits to what type of interactions, integrations and control you can make, but in this example, we will trigger a small animation.

Open the Pixotope Editor
In the Content browser, right-click and create a Blueprint class actor
Let’s call it "AnimTrigger"
Choose "Save All" from the "File" menu to save the Actor
Drag and drop it into the Viewport. It is now available in the World Outliner.
In the Content browser, right-click and create a Level sequence from the "Animation" menu
Let's call this "MyAnim"
Drag it into the Viewport as well
In the Content browser, double-click the "MyAnim" Level sequence. This opens the Sequencer. The Sequencer is one of the many ways you can animate content in Unreal. Here you can, for example, add keyframes to the transforms and make an animation
Drag a movable static mesh actor from the World Outliner into the Sequencer
Add keyframes by pressing "S" on the keyboard when the object is at the desired position in the viewport
To trigger this animation from a Control panel in the Director, find our "AnimTrigger" in the World Outliner and click "Edit AnimTrigger". This brings up the Blueprint editor
Click the "+Function" button to create a function that we can trigger
Add a function called "beginPlay"
By dragging from the white "event" arrow we can add more nodes to complete our little function
Add a "Create Level Sequence Player" node
Select "MyAnim" on the "Create Level Sequence Player" node
Add a "Play" node
Connect the Return Value of the "Create Level Sequence Player" node to the Target on the "Play" node
Click "Save and Compile!"
Go to Director
Create a new control panel with a Trigger widget that points to this function. See how to Create a Control Panel
Add a trigger from the Toolbox
Click "Edit action" of the newly created trigger
Click "Add target"
Select the "AnimTrigger" function
The unique name (ID Name) might have a suffix added, for example: "AnimTrigger_2"
Select the "beginPlay" function
Click "Select"
Click "Apply"
Click "Save" to save your Control panel
In the Editor, go to Play mode

This particular function requires you to be in Live or Play mode to trigger. It will not trigger in WYSIWYG Editor mode.
Try out your animation