Matrix question

[THERCLAN]

Hey All!  Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.

I created a large matrix on my garage using Gilbert Engineering Coro matrix panels.  Each panel is 2' x 4' and I'm running 3 high and 4 wide for an overall matrix of 6' x 16'.  In xlights, I simply created the 12 panels and aligned them perfectly in order.  Made a group that contained all 12 panels.  It worked perfectly last year!  Beautiful matrix that worked well all around.

However, there was about a 12 inch high gap left at the bottom of the garage door.  This year, I thought I would fill in the gap.  I split the GE panels perfectly in half lengthwise and they are a perfect fit to finishing covering the garage door in a massive matrix.  So... the original 12 panels are 512 pixels each... logically enough then, the half panels are 256 pixels. 

I aligned the half panels just as I had done with the full panels and added them to my overall matrix group at the bottom. If I run an effect on the matrix, like say a video clip... it works perfectly!  All 16 panels coming together to make one big matrix screen. 

However if I have an effect where the render setting isn't "default" I run into issues.  For example... if there is a whole house effect that includes the matrix, and the render setting is "per model default". Then I have the first 12 full panels doing one thing all together in sync still... but the recently added half panels are doing their own thing.  Let's say like an exploding square effect... I either have one big square rendered on the 12 full panels... and four individual squares on the half panels, or vice versa.

I don't know if there is a way to get the half panels in sync with the full panels when rendering like per model default?  Or is the problem always going to persist because of half panels versus full?  Again... rendering default, the matrix operates perfectly!

I'm realizing that is probably an important distinction. If the effect in question is assigned directly to the matrix, adjusting the render style affects all panels the same way. However, if the effect is say a whole house effect not assigned to the matrix alone, then I have the problem with the render style. So it's like any effect not assigned directly to the matrix group doesn't see all 16 panels as one Big matrix. It sees 12 panels as one big matrix and then the other four are like a small separate matrix.

If anyone can help, I would be most appreciative!

Regards,

Vance-

[Poporacer]

If it were me (and I have done this several times), I would create a custom model with all of your matrices as one model.
Groups in groups can be problematic especially when trying to use different render styles.
When creating groups, the Default Layout Mode can make a big difference on how individual groups will display. What is your Default Layout Mode for the Matrix group and your Whole House group?
I created the same matrix as you described and could not replicate the issue, it worked as expected.
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I don't know if there is a way to get the half panels in sync with the full panels when rendering like per model default?

It should work, but without more details, we really can't identify the problem. Can you post your xlights_rgbeffects.xml file so that we can see what is going on?
Or a few screenshots?
Did you assign all of the matrices to a controller, did you Render All?

[THERCLAN]

Greetings and Happy Tuesday Poporacer,

THANK YOU for taking the time to respond!

I had written a really long reply... But erased it now.  LOL!  It took some work, but I managed to create a custom model for my matrix per your advice and problem solved!  I even checked to see how it will physically tie into my control boxes when the time comes and it works beautifully!  Really took some trial and error to make the custom model... But now that it is done, I can tell you my matrix effects have never looked better!

Thank you again!

Cheers!

Vance-

[Poporacer]

THANK YOU for taking the time to respond!

No worries.

It took some work, but I managed to create a custom model for my matrix per your advice and problem solved! 

I work on some Drive Through shows that do something similar. We have "panels" that we will use in different configurations. This year we have one that is 15,000 pixels with the panels in different orientations. For the first "panel" create your matrix for that panel. Then copy the data and paste it in the next panel location. Highlight just the second "panel" pixels and then right click and select shift selected. Enter the last pixel of the previous matrix for the offset. Keep doing this until all of the panels are done. For the partial panels, you can just use the Auto-Increment feature.
There are a few other tricks, but you are done now!

Thank you again!

You are welcome.