Changelogs

More video gear and port options added

1.22.0 (2025-02-18)

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Improvements

  • Added the following library port options:
    • Alternate Video category
    • 6G-SDI speed
    • CVBS Composite signal
    • YC/S-Video signal
    • Mini-DIN 4-Pin connector (when selected in the Library Editor, the signal will default to YC/S-Video)
  • Moved the following library port options from connectors to signal types:
    • RS-232
    • RS-422
  • Removed the following library port options:
    • DP25
Please note for all existing library items and gear in projects that were previously using RS-232 or RS-422, those items have been updated to be a D-Sub 9-Pin connector with a signal type of either RS-232 or RS-422.

Default Library Updates

The following product lines and items have been added to the default library:
  • Blackmagic
    • Mini converters
    • Micro converters
    • Videohubs
  • Roland
    • Converters
    • Rubix interfaces
    • Select video switchers
  • Decimator
    • Converters
    • MultiViews
  • Theatrixx xVision converters
  • Whirlwind Isopod
  • Focusrite Scarlett series
  • Dante AVIO adapters
  • Generics
    • Laptop
    • Mic
    • 10 port device

Group ports by expansion cards

1.21.0 (2025-02-08)

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Building on the port updates from v1.20, we are pleased to announce several features and improvements in this release, with the highlight feature being grouped expansion ports!

Grouped expansion ports

A new option has been added to General Settings: Group Expansion Ports for your gear. When enabled on new gear items, all ports belonging to the same expansion card will automatically be grouped together, represented by a new rounded rectangle for each expansion card.

As with all our features, GearConnect aims to automate the process as much as possible. These groups will update dynamically without requiring manual adjustments. When you hide ports, the groups will adjust their height accordingly. They will also expand in width as port labels become longer and resize with your gear item within the drawing, eliminating the need for manual re-drawing and maintenance.

This works with the previous release’s Fixed Port Spacing feature as well! Either expansion card groups can stretch the height of the gear or be confined to the fixed port spacing. When used with the Fixed Port Spacing feature, they will receive additional spacing around the groups to help distinguish them easily.

To utilize this feature with existing projects, you will need to re-add the gear item to your drawing for it to update with the new expansion card data. Further details can be found in our documentation here.

Improved port expansion card support

Previously, ports on gear items recognized only that they were part of an expansion card but not the specific card. In this release however, all new gear added to the drawing now identifies both the originating expansion card and its index.

For instance, if you have four HDMI out expansion cards on a media server, the app will now recognize which port belongs to card 1, card 2, etc. This information is displayed in various areas, including:
  • Gear Config: Tables now include an additional orange title displaying the name and index of the expansion card (when Grouped Expansion Ports is enabled)
    • When Grouped Expansion Ports is disabled, these ports are sorted with regular, non-expansion ports
  • Hover Cards: When hovering over a port in the drawing, the top right corner card will display the expansion card and index
  • Port Reports: Will now display the manufacturer, brand, and model of the expansion card as new fields, including the index within the model field

Consistent sorting between drawing and Gear Config tables

The new port sorting algorithm used in the drawing is now applied to the order of port tables in Gear Config. This ensures consistency, making it easier to locate the desired port across the drawing and tables.

This new sorting method will be applied to your gear upon opening your project for the first time in v1.21 or later so you may notice some ports shift around to accommodate the new sorting.

Gear resizing improvements

We have implemented several updates to gear resizing to create a smoother experience. Using the currently visible ports, gear resizing minimum sizes are now more accurate. Additionally, port labels update their truncation in real-time during resizing, rather than after mouse release. And finally, resizing a gear item now brings it to the front for improved visibility.

Improvements

  • Drawing exports are now 4x higher in image quality, allowing greater zoom without losing clarity
  • Truncation of long port labels in the drawing is now more accurate and consistent
  • Port group titles in Gear Config tables will no longer repeat if the connector is identical to the signal type (e.g., "HDMI HDMI In" will now be "HDMI In")
  • Upgraded colour calculations for smoother gradients and better text readability against certain colours
  • Various performance enhancements, particularly for gear updates and preventing redundant updates
  • Improved memory usage for label length calculations

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a race condition when opening an old project; now the project fully opens before upgrades are applied
  • Fixed an issue preventing projects from opening if port data was missing from the file
  • Fixed occasional sorting and placement issues when updating port options

Port sorting, alignment, and spacing improvements

1.20.0 (2025-01-10)

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The most requested feedback has been improvements across several areas of ports and how they operate. We are thrilled to share we have made a number of improvements in this release, with more improvements coming in future releases to continue to address additional feedback.

Automatic port placement based on signal flow

First, there is now more consistent port alignments on gear with automatic placement based on signal flow. We are excited to share the following updates in this release:
  • Ports now apply to gear in a fixed order; specifically bidirectional ports first on both left and right sides, inputs on the left, and outputs on the right
    • When using Left or Right Detail Modes, inputs will be above outputs on whichever side you choose
  • When in Default Detail Mode, bidirectional ports will evenly split between left and right sides if there are more than 4 within the same port group
  • Ports of the same colour (AKA their Port Type) will now be grouped together for an easier and more pleasing port placement
    • In addition they will always apply in the same order across all gear items too (all BNC first, then DisplayPort, etc.)
    • Note that the signal flow placement as described above will take priority over this grouping
  • As part of this, there is a brand new port sorting algorithm which enables the maintaining of connections as described below

Connections are now maintained when re-ordering ports

Thanks to the new port sorting algorithm, connections are no longer removed when you re-order and re-number ports in the drawing. The warning informing you that connections will be deleted has been removed, and connections now maintain their same connection after the sorting is complete.

Fixed port spacing

Prior to v1.20.0, the default spacing would evenly spread-out ports along each side of the gear. While this is nice for gear in Standard Mode with only a handful of ports, for gear in Detail Mode, this caused some complications. In addition to being visually unpleasing on some gear items, it more importantly created alignment issues when trying to maintain straight connections between two gear items, as the ports across gear items might be a few pixels off from each other.

The new default is to have a fixed spacing between all ports when in Detail Mode instead of spreading all ports out along each side which fixes these issues and gives a more consistent appearance across several gear items.

You can still revert to the evenly spaced option by changing the Fixed Port Spacing setting for your selected gear in either General Settings or in Reports. Please note this new setting only applies to Detail Mode gear items.

Ports generated from expansion cards no longer get stuck to one side

An issue on gear that primarily/only uses Expansion Cards, was all its ports would end up one side. Any port that was added from an Expansion Card now follows all the same logic as described above for more consistent items.

Note on existing files

We try to keep existing projects the same as much as possible when new versions are released, to avoid unexpected changes when coming back to your projects. As such, we only apply updates such as the ones described above to new items in the drawing. Because of this, you may notice some size and alignment inconsistences with existing gear if you edit them after the project has been upgraded to the latest version.

If you experience any oddities, toggle one of the gear's port's Visibility status in the Port Table. Once toggled off and on once, the new size will be re-calculated and your ports re-sorted to the new algorithm.

Please feel free to reach out to support if you need any assistance.

Improvements

  • Added Detail Mode (hidden by default) as a non-editable field to gear reports

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed Use Port Colours and Use Layer Colours not disabling in Reports when the report was locked
  • Fixed Locked being editable in Reports for gear that isn't in the drawing, leading to issues when trying to insert it again

1.19.3 (2025-01-01)

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Improvements

  • There is now user feedback when deleting a project, so it doesn't appear like the app isn't responding
  • Better messaging across the app when a payment has failed and instructions on how to fix it
  • When on a Mac, the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog will now display the Option symbol instead of the Alt symbol
  • Updated the tooltip's messaging for Dynamic Mode, to better reflect its use case

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed overlap issues with long titles in Gear Config
  • Fixed Export -> Drawing (PNG) not showing the Pro feature tooltip when on the Starter plan

1.19.2 (2024-12-28)

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App and Doc site added to the Status page

You can now check the status of both the main app and the documentation site at status.gearconnect.ca. This is a great site to check for upcoming maintenance, downtime, and any other updates about the status of the app.

Local Library updates

In this release, we have migrated the way the Library is stored locally on your device. For the most part this upgrade should be transparent when you update to 1.19.2, but if you run into any issues, please go to Tools -> Reload Library to force the library to redownload.

In addition, there is now a "restoring" step you may see displayed in the Library Browser, when first starting the app before you are able to interact with library items. This process should only take about a second in most cases.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an aggressive memory leak that could lead to app crashes when navigating around the app or switching between complex library items in the Library Editor when using a machine with limited RAM
  • Fixed manufacturers that don't have any brands or gear items appearing in the Library Browser (for example: Nvidia as that manufacturer currently only has expansion cards, so there is no reason to display it in the Browser at this time)