Virtual Clinic

The Virtual Clinic analyzes your drill files both upon opening of a drill file as well as during writing. Watching for collisions, excessive strides, large jumps in animation and difficult direction changes, the Virtual Clinic runs in the background and does not require the Analyzer windows to be open while designing.

Virtual Clinic Analyzers are windows with graphs displaying the number of performers at risk (Y axis) over time (X axis). The higher the output on the Y axis, the larger number of performers are at risk, determined by the respective Analyzer.

When the option Show Warning Sign on Performers At Risk is selected in a Virtual Clinic Analyzer window, performers deemed “at risk” will have a warning symbol during their “at risk” counts on your design grid.

To view the problematic transition, select a range of counts by clicking (or click and drag for multiple transitions) in the clinic window. Select the Play button that appears in the clinic window when a transition/range of transitions is selected. This will play a looped animation for the range of counts you have selected.
Note: Transitions can only begin and end on sets (page tabs) when playing the animation from a clinic window.

To open a Virtual Clinic window, go to the Clinic menu and select which Analyzer you would like to be displayed. To close a clinic window, uncheck the option under the Clinic menu, or select the close button on the clinic window.

Stride Analyzer

The Stride Analyzer watches for excess stride and graphs output in the Stride Analysis window. The higher the output on the graph, the more performers are taking too large a step.

Selecting the option to Show Warning Sign on Performers at Risk in the Stride Analyzer window will display a visual warning symbol on the performer(s) at risk on counts where the stride might be too large. This will be displayed on your design grid.

Excessive strides are set default with the program. To change settings for what is deemed to be an excessive stride, select the “Settings” button in the Stride Analyzer window (note: You can also access Stride Analyzer settings in the Clinic menu, under Clinic Settings). When height is not entered for performers in the Cast List, the defaults will be used.

The Stride Settings opens a new window with a graph displaying maximum stride (Y axis) and average performer height (X axis).

Slider 1 (left side of graph) on the Y axis sets the maximum stride for your shortest performer.
Slider 2 (right side of graph) on the Y axis sets the maximum stride for your tallest performer.
The X axis slider adjusts the average height for your band. This is used as default when height is not specified for performers in the Cast List. The default stride is indicated on the graph by a red circle on the line displaying the maximum strides for the tallest and shortest performers.

Collision Analyzer

The Collision Analyzer watches for collisions and graphs output in the Collision Analysis window. The higher the output on the graph, the more performers are colliding during those counts.

Selecting the option to Show Warning Sign on Performers at Risk in the Collision Analyzer window will display a visual warning symbol on the performer(s) at risk on counts where collisions might be occurring. This will be displayed on your design grid.

Collisions are based on performer size. This is determined either by Figurines or setting the Default Performer Size in the Collision Analyzer Settings.

The Performer Size is the perimeter around a performer. When setting the performer size, you should consider instrumentation or equipment. Performer Size is pre-calculated for figurines. To have a more specific threshold for collisions, select the option to use Figurine Size. To have the same Performer Size for everyone on the ensemble, use the Default Performer Size option and set the value to what works best for your ensemble.

Continuity Analyzer

The Continuity Analyzer watches for large jumps in animation. These typically occur when rewriting a transition and the animation is not consistent with your written change.

Selecting the option to Show Warning Sign on Performers At Risk in the Continuity Analyzer window will display a visual warning symbol on the performer(s) at risk on counts where the jump is occurring. This will be displayed on your design grid.

Direction Change Analyzer

The Direction Change Analyzer watches for difficult direction changes for performers in a drill.

Selecting the option to Show Warning Sign on Performers At Risk in the Direction Change Analyzer window will display a visual warning symbol on the performer(s) at risk of a difficult direction change. This will be displayed on your design grid.

You can adjust the sensitivity at which the Virtual Clinic thinks is a difficult direction change in the Direction Change Analysis Settings.

The ignore facing option will ignore the facing of performers. Leave this option selected if you would like the Virtual Clinic to pay attention to performer facing during the drill.

The disregard stride option will ignore strides that are shorter in length than the value you set.

The Sensitivity scrub bar is where you can adjust the threshold for the Direction Change Analyzer to set "at risk" performers. Move the scrub bar left to make the Direction Change Analyzer less sensitive, and right for more sensitive.