Working with Modules

This example uses a school site with a Main Office, Principal's Office, and Classroom. The Site View shows devices Toolkit in the left column, spaces in the center, and the Modifier Panel showing the properties in the right column.

School Site View

Create a Signal Flow

In Site View, click the room you want to open.
Drag a module from the left column into the work area. Signal flow moves from left to right, so place the first module on the left. When the module is selected, use the Properties tab to change the module color, channel count, and gain range. For stereo operation, set the module to two channels.
Click the Controls tab to show the selected module's controls.
Add another module, such as Gain, to the right of the first module. If you place it in the same horizontal row, Cognio automatically creates the wiring connection. Move the module up or down to remove the connection.

Insert and Replace Modules

Add another module between two existing modules to replace the wire with that module.
Add another module to the right to continue the signal flow.
To replace a module, drag the new module on top of an existing module. The existing module is briefly outlined in red before the new module drops into place.
To insert a module in line between existing modules, drag it between the modules. The insertion position is briefly outlined in blue before the module drops into place. Other modules shift to the right.

While you drag a module from the Toolkit, a semi-transparent preview of the module itself follows the cursor, showing its name, color, and inputs and outputs, so you can see what you are placing and what is underneath it.

Grid Feedback

In Design mode, the grid shows where your cursor is as you work:

Hovering over a module highlights its name, so it stays readable over any module color.
Hovering over an empty cell outlines the cell to show where a module would be placed. The outline is not shown while you are dragging.

Counting Selected Cells

Drag across empty cells to select them. While you drag, a number on the selection shows how many cells are selected, which helps when you need a specific number of inputs or outputs, for example before inserting a Matrix sized to the selection. The count applies to empty cells only, so it disappears if the selection includes a module.

Insert and Delete Rows and Columns

The row headers along the left of the grid and the column headers along the top let you add or remove rows and columns in Design mode.

Each header is split in half. Hover over a half to see where a new row or column would go: an arrow in that half points to the side it would be added on, and a line across the grid marks the exact position. Click the half to insert the row or column there. Modules on the far side of the line move over to make room.

Row headers — The top half inserts a row above; the bottom half inserts a row below.
Column headers — The left half inserts a column to the left; the right half inserts a column to the right.

Hold Ctrl to add five rows or columns at once, or Shift to delete instead of adding. See Key Commands.

Selecting and Zooming

Selecting several modules — Hold Ctrl or Shift and click modules to add them to the selection. While either key is held, each module's hover controls are hidden so the click selects the module instead of triggering a control. See Select Module(s).
Zooming out — When you zoom out far enough in Design mode, each module's editing controls are hidden to prevent accidental edits. Zoom back in to use them. See Zooming.

Module Types

There are four main types of modules:

Input modules that are patched to audio coming in from various sources, such as analog, USB, and Dante.
Processing modules that have an equal number of inputs and outputs, for example 1 input to 1 output.
Matrix and Mixer modules that differ in the number of inputs and outputs, for example 1 input to 5 outputs, or 5 inputs to 1 output.
Output modules that are patched to audio output devices.

The next sections show details of these module types.