Dashboard

Monitoring multiple cameras at a glance

The Dashboard is the primary window in CaptureGRID. It provides a live overview of every connected camera, with each camera shown as its own tile in a grid layout. For multi-camera rigs — the common case in CaptureGRID — this is the natural starting point, because the status of the whole rig can be seen on screen at the same time.

Note

Screenshot pending — Dashboard window with several connected cameras showing the tile layout.

When the app starts, the Dashboard is given default focus. This ensures that the multi-camera overview is the first thing you see, and that keyboard shortcuts such as T (take photo) or F (auto focus) act on the cameras that are visible in the Dashboard. For the full list of keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard Shortcuts.

Camera Tiles

Each tile in the Dashboard represents one connected camera, and shows the information you most often need at a glance:

  • The camera’s name

  • The current connection and busy status

  • A thumbnail of the most recently taken photo

  • Camera-level status indicators

The tiles are arranged in a grid that automatically reflows to fit the available window size. As cameras are added or removed, the layout adjusts accordingly.

Note

Screenshot pending — Close-up of a single camera tile showing its status indicators and most recent photo.

Toolbar

A toolbar at the top of the Dashboard provides quick access to view controls and to a status indicator that surfaces problems across the rig at a glance.

Note

Screenshot pending — Dashboard toolbar with the warning button visible.

Tip

The toolbar’s warning button is one of the most useful elements in the Dashboard for live operation. It lights up whenever something needs attention anywhere in the rig — for example, a camera that has disconnected, a batch number mismatch between cameras, or any other condition that could affect the shoot. Clicking the button surfaces the details so you can act on the problem immediately.

During a session, glancing at the warning button gives an at-a-glance health check of the entire rig without needing to inspect every camera tile individually.

Filtering

When working with a large rig, the Dashboard’s filter controls allow you to narrow the visible set of tiles.

Group

Limits the view to cameras in a specific group. For more on creating and using camera groups, see Active Camera.

Node

Limits the view to cameras connected to a particular Node on the network. This is useful when running across multiple computers; for more on multi-node operation, see Networking.

Note

Screenshot pending — Dashboard with the group and node filter controls visible.

Relationship to Other Windows

The Dashboard is the always-on overview. For deeper inspection of any individual camera or photo, the app provides dedicated windows:

  • For per-camera live view, focus and zoom, see the Live View window described in Viewing Cameras.

  • For the tabular view of every camera and its settings, see the Cameras window described in Viewing Cameras.

  • For full-size photo preview, zoom and per-photo actions, see Viewing Photos.

The Dashboard is typically used alongside one or more of these — for example, with the Dashboard docked on one half of the screen and a Preview window on the other, so the rig overview and the most recent photo are both visible at the same time.