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Signal Flow View Operation Mode

Overview

Operation Mode turns the Signal Flow view from a design surface into a live control and monitoring surface. In Design Mode you build a Space's processing — adding modules, wiring them together, and setting up their controls. In Operation Mode the structure is locked so you cannot accidentally break it, and instead you operate the running system: adjust module control values live, watch signal meters, and inject a test tone with the Signal Generator.

What's more, Operation mode can be used offline! If no hardware is Synced with a Space, the Signal Flow will be emulated showing meter activitiy as if it were run on real hardware. This is true offline emulation, so the Signal Generator, meters and module controls can be used to dial in initial values and even do a full line check offline, days, weeks, months or even years before hardware is available and commisioning begins.

To switch modes, use the Operating Mode Selector at the right of the Navigation Bar and click Operation.

Switching to Operation Mode changes two areas of the view:

  • The Toolkit on the left is replaced by the Status summary and the Site Log, the same monitoring panel used in Site View Operation Mode. Use it to track system health while you operate.
  • The work area becomes read-only for structure but live for control. Editing affordances are hidden, and live controls appear on the modules.

Adjusting Controls Live

In Design Mode, a selected module's controls in the Modifier Panel do not affect any synced devices. In Operation Mode they will affect live audio on any synced devices, and every change is sent straight to the running system.

  • Select a module to show its controls in the Modifier Panel, then adjust them to operate the system.
  • You can still marquee-select modules by dragging across the canvas to inspect them, even though you cannot move them.

Meters and level indicators in the Modifier Panel are live in both Design and Operation Mode.

Module Controls in the Work Area

Two controls appear directly on the modules in Operation Mode:

  • Mute — modules that support a module level mute (e.g. Gain Modules), will show an red M Mute button. Click it to mute the module's output.
  • Active — modules that support being switched off or bypassed (e.g. EQ and Dynamic modules), show a green A Active button. Turn a module off to bypass it; a bypassed module is dimmed in the work area so you can see at a glance which modules are inactive.

Live Meters

Signal Flow Node Meters — the meters on the connection nodes between modules — are live only in Operation Mode. Switch to Operation Mode to watch levels flow through the signal path node by node, alongside the Signal Generator described below.

Module meters, such as the Audio Meter module and the meters and level indicators in the Modifier Panel, remain live in both Design and Operation Mode.

Node Meters will show the number of Channels of the corresponding Signal. For mono and stereo signals, this will be shown as one or two horizontal meters. For 3-64 channel signals, this will be shown as a meter behind a number indicating the number of channels. Hover the mouse over this number to see meters for each individual channel.

What You Cannot Edit

Operation Mode prevents changes that would alter the design. The following are disabled or hidden:

  • Adding, moving, deleting, cutting, copying, pasting, and duplicating modules — including the keyboard shortcuts (Del, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+D).
  • Adding and removing module inputs and outputs, patching, and adjusting row spacing.
  • Dragging signal nodes to rewire, and reordering rows within a module.

The row and column headers also change function. In Design Mode, clicking a header adds a row or column; in Operation Mode, clicking a header selects that entire row or column of modules instead.

To make structural changes, switch back to Design Mode.

Signal Generator

The Signal Generator is an Operation Mode tool that injects a test tone into your signal flow, so you can verify routing and check levels without a live audio source. It is available only in Operation Mode on a Signal Flow tab.

Generate a signal

  1. Click the waveform button at the bottom-right corner of the work area to open the Generate Signal panel.
  2. Choose a waveform from the tone list, such as Sine, Sawtooth, Square, or Triangle. Choose Off to stop the generator.
  3. Set the Volume and Frequency sliders for the test tone.
  4. On the module rows, click the waveform icon on the input or output nodes you want to feed the tone into. Flagged nodes show the generator's level on their meters instead of live audio, so you can follow the tone through the signal flow.

Two special waveforms are availble for selection: - Speech: A prerecorded male speaker that can be used for testing signal flows speech signals. The audio file is taken from this source. - Music: A prerecorded music loop that can be for testing signal flows with music signals. The audio file is taken from this source.

The Signal Generator's settings are saved with each Signal Flow. When you return to Operation Mode, Cognio restores your last configuration and reapplies the tone automatically. Switching back to Design Mode turns the generator off.