Import a layout

You can import an exported layout into another concert, and then adjust it to work with the mappings in the concert.

When you import a layout into a concert, MainStage analyzes the layout and attempts to convert the assignments and mappings in the layout to work with the concert. It uses the following rules to convert imported assignments and mappings:

  • Screen controls are assigned and mapped to screen controls of the same type if they exist in the imported layout.

  • Keyboard screen controls are assigned only to keyboard screen controls.

  • If the arrangement of screen controls in the concert is similar to their arrangement in the imported layout, screen controls are assigned and mapped to screen controls in the same positions in the workspace.

  • If the arrangement of screen controls in the concert is different, MainStage tries to assign and map screen controls starting from the top-left corner of the workspace to the bottom-right corner.

Import a layout into a concert

  1. In Layout mode, choose Export Layout from the Action pop-up menu in the upper-left corner of the workspace (or press Control-Command-O).

  2. In the Open dialog, select the layout you want to import.

  3. Click Open.

    The layout for the concert changes to the imported layout.

Because of the wide variety of possible layouts, not all assignments and mappings may be converted as you intended, depending on the differences between the layouts. After you import a layout into a concert, be sure to try the screen controls in the concert to see if they work as expected. After importing the layout, you may need to manually reassign some controls and then manually remap screen controls in your patches for the concert to work with the new layout. If the imported layout has fewer screen controls than the old layout, or has different types of screen controls, you will likely have to add new screen controls after importing and then assign physical controls to the screen controls to maintain the same level of functionality.