UI Controls & Interaction Design System
Unilighter features a specialized dark-theme control suite engineered specifically for high-speed live performance and tactile busking. Every control supports mouse dragging, multi-touch gestures, mouse wheel micro-tuning, precision modifier keys, and hardware controller mapping.
🎛️ Controls Directory
- 🎚️ Fader Control: High-resolution vertical and horizontal sliders with liquid fill animation, Strobe quick-jump buttons, and precision modifiers.
- 🎛️ Rotary Knob: Endless rotary encoders for continuous procedural parameter adjustments, LFO speeds, and audio thresholds.
- 🔘 Button & Trigger: Momentary hold, latching toggle, and mutually exclusive live cue triggers.
- 🕹️ 2D XY Pad: 2D spatial surface for Pan & Tilt moving head positioning with Pointer Lock and position presets.
- 🎨 Color Picker & RGB Wheel: Full-spectrum chromatic wheel with white-balance calibration, value slider, and saved color palettes.
- 🎡 Motorized Color Wheel: Indexed gel swatch selector for fixtures with physical rotating color filter wheels.
- 🎮 Assign Mode & Controller Mapping: Universal MIDI Learn and keyboard mapping architecture for all controls.
Searching dropdown options
Standard dropdowns, including fixture color and gobo selections, provide a Search options field. On desktop, opening the list with the mouse or keyboard automatically focuses the search field so you can start typing a name. On touch-first devices, tap the field when you want to search; the on-screen keyboard is not opened automatically.
Search narrows the visible options without changing the active selection. Use Up and Down to highlight matching options, skipping unavailable choices, and press Enter to select the highlighted result. You can also tap or click an option normally. Escape clears the search first, then closes the dropdown. If nothing matches, no selection is made.
Tab closes the list and moves to the next control in the form; Shift+Tab moves to the previous control. Neither shortcut changes the selection. When using an input method editor, composition keys stay with text entry: confirming composed text with Enter does not select a dropdown result. Finish composition before pressing Enter to choose an option.
Ctrl+Enter and Cmd+Enter keep their editor shortcut behavior without selecting a dropdown result. For example, in the Fixture Editor they add a channel without changing the current channel's type. The focused search field also identifies the highlighted option for assistive technology as you navigate the list.
Fixture ranges, direction and simultaneous touches
Faders and knobs display named fixture ranges; faders also show the active range name. Reversed analog parameters follow their configured direction, and releasing a control restores the next source or precise profile default. Separate controls support independent simultaneous touch gestures. Strobe speed, mode and Shutter are separate controls; see Strobe & Shutter.
Numeric entry
Numeric fields keep your typing separate from the applied value. Clear the old text and type the complete replacement, then press Enter, press Tab, or click elsewhere to apply it. A temporary blank, minus sign or trailing decimal separator does not change the parameter. Escape discards the unconfirmed text and stays inside the field instead of triggering a shortcut outside it.
Up, Down and the field's step buttons apply each step immediately. If you have typed a number without confirming it, the step starts from that draft: with a step of 0.1, typing 25.3 and pressing Up applies 25.4. Dragging controls, scrolling and hardware bindings also remain immediate.
You can enter decimals with a dot or comma. Pasted text beginning with a number uses that numeric prefix, so 25abc becomes 25 when confirmed. If a required field contains no usable number, leaving it restores its current value. Fields that support an unset or inherited setting can be cleared. Each field retains its own units, limits and validation.
External updates continue to control the same parameter while you type, without replacing your draft. Switching an inspector to another object discards its unconfirmed draft rather than applying it to the new selection. Confirming applies your draft; cancelling shows the latest applied value. See Fader and Rotary Knob for direct control entry.