Okay, let's walk through a basic example. Let's assume we have a stage consisting of 5 LED pillars. In the processor they are positioned like this:
On the stage, they look like this:
Nothing spectacular. right?
Now obviously, you're going to want to have a look where you have one image spanning the stage, and one look where content is duplicated on each of the 5 screens.
What your first move will be, is to take these slices as they are, duplicate them and re-arrange them so they take the center of the comp as input. Then let's say we make it possible to assign midi shortcuts to slices. So you'll assign a midi shortcuts for these 5 new slices, as well for the five original ones. Great, you can fade two looks in and out.
Now, let's say you want to mix and match layers like this. You'll need to start routing layers. This means that for each layer, you'll end up with 10 slices, 5 for the fullscreen look, 5 for the duplicated look. 2 shortcuts each. But you probably want granular control over each slice, so it's more likely somewhere between 5 to 10 shortcuts for each routed layer. Pretty soon, your Advanced Output is a mess of 100+ slices, and 50+ shortcuts to remember. Now you're probably smart enough to use the same shortcut on more than one slice, for toggling looks with one button. Still, switching from look to look for a few layers in one go is going to take more fingers than I have on one hand. Even if we add the ability to switch presets via Midi, the permutations will end up killing you. "Oh crap, I need one more layer. Oh well, let me just update my 27 presets."
Imagine having more than a basic setup of 5 screens. Do Midi shortcuts sound like the way to go for that?
What we suggest is the following: set up your Advanced Output once. One slice for each screen. Close it and leave it alone.
In the composition, apply a Slice Transform effect on each layer, using the five slices from your AO setup. If you want to have the layer fill the stage, put it on Mask. If you want to duplicate the content, put it on Fill.
There, you're done. It doesn't get any quicker than this.
All of these are midi assignable. If you want to show content only in a single slice, bypass or delete the others. You can even make presets for these looks, and copy them to other layers to mix and match. Do you want a single clip to use a different look? Apply the Slice Transform on the clip.
Bonus advantage, your preview monitor looks like your stage. Do you want to mirror the look? Instead of creating yet another 40 slices with 40 shortcuts, just use a mirror effect.
Funnily enough, this is essentially what Mapio does as well. Except it's Resolume native, and you don't have make your slices twice. I'm not saying that Midi shortcuts won't help in a pinch, but I am 100% certain that Slice Transforms (and the other ideas we have in store) are just as fast, if not faster, and are much more versatile in the long run.