First shown of at EXPO-SCENE this year, Connection Tags are a new way to cut down on visual clutter in large drawings. Instead of drawing the full line between two distant pieces of gear, a tagged connection appears as two short stubs, one at each end, with a navigation label that tells you what the connection links to. And Connection Tags come packed with helpful features beyond just the tidier look too!
Check out our video on the new feature, or read on below!Connections come in three new modes. Auto Tag switches between a full line and tag stubs based on how far apart the connected gear is, so connections only tag themselves once the gear is far enough away to benefit from it, and this happens automatically for you as you move gear around the drawing!
Show As Tag always shows the connection as tag stubs no matter the distance, and Show Full Connection always shows the full line. You can set the preference by right-clicking a connection, from the Selection Toolbar when one or more connections are selected, or from the Edit menu under Connections.You can also control what text a tag displays. The Tag Label option gives you three choices. Gear Only is the default and shows just the name of the gear on the other end. Gear and Port shows both the gear name and the connected port label together, for example FOH · RJ45 1. Port Only shows just the connected port label, for example RJ45 1. This makes it easy to tell at a glance not only which device a connection runs to, but which specific port it lands on. Just like the tag mode, you can set the label by right-clicking a connection or from the Edit menu under Connections, with single and multi-select supported so you can update many connections at once.Connection Tags are also a quick way to get around a big drawing. Clicking a tag label jumps the view straight to the other end of the connection, and hovering a stub highlights the matching stub at the far end so you can always find where a connection goes.
As an added bonus, to improve performance, when a connection is tagged, the line no longer calculates its Smart Connection Routing, drastically speeding up path finding when moving gear around the drawing.
You can fine tune tag behaviour in Project Settings, including the Default Tag Mode and Default Tag Label for new connections, whether tag labels are always pinned or only appear on hover, the distance threshold that triggers Auto mode, and the length of the tag lines.
Connection Tags are a Pro feature, and when a new project is created, Pro users will have connections set to Auto Tag by default, while Starter users will have connections set to Show Full Connection by default.
If you aren't already a Pro member, you can try Connection Tags out with a free month of Pro, activated automatically when you sign up! Try Tags today at beta-app.gearconnect.ca.
Default Library Updates
Thank you to everyone who has requested and submitted library items!
Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Cloud Store
Blackmagic Cloud Pod
Blackmagic Cloud Store Ultra 48TB
Blackmagic Cloud Store Ultra 24TB
Blackmagic Cloud Store Max 48TB
Blackmagic Cloud Store Max 24TB
Blackmagic Cloud Store Mini 16TB
Blackmagic Cloud Store Mini 8TB
Blackmagic SDI Expander 8x12G
Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter
Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter
HyperDeck ISO Recorder 100G
Teranex Mini IP Video 12G
Teranex Mini Quad SDI to 12G-SDI
Teranex Mini 12G-SDI to Quad SDI
Teranex Mini SDI Distribution 12G
Teranex Mini HDMI to Optical 12G
Teranex Mini Optical to HDMI 12G
Teranex Mini Audio to SDI 12G
Teranex Mini SDI to Audio 12G
Teranex Mini Analog to SDI 12G
Teranex Mini SDI to Analog 12G
Teranex Mini HDMI to SDI 12G
Teranex Mini SDI to HDMI 12G
Crown
CT 8150
CT 875
CT 4150
CT 475
CTD-8125
CTD-4125
CTD-2125
DirectOut
ANDIAMO
Hive Media Control
Pluto 2TB
Pluto 1TB
Osmia 2TB
Osmia 1TB
Minima 1TB
Minima 500GB
iConnectivity
mioXL
mioXM
KLANG
KLANG:konductor
KLANG:vokal
Luminex
GigaCore 30i
QSC
LS218
LS118
LA112
LA108
Rupert Neve Designs
RMP-D8
Improvements
The Hover Card no longer twitches between the left and right side of the drawing when your cursor sits near the center. Once it settles on a side, the card now stays there until your cursor moves well past the middle of the drawing.
Zoom to Fit now accounts for the drawing toolbar when framing tall gear, so they are no longer tucked behind it.
Jumping to a gear item that is too large to fit within your current camera size now zooms the drawing out to fit the gear cleanly.
Local Mode now re-activates faster after a sync, dropping the delay from 5 seconds down to 1.5 seconds.
The drawing integrity check can now repair mismatched connections. When a connection's endpoints have drifted out of sync, choosing Repair reconnects it to the correct ports instead of removing it from the drawing.
Bug Fixes
Fixed not being able to use CTRL + Click to pan around the drawing.
Fixed clicking into the drawing not clearing active text boxes such as the grid size and search fields.
Fixed the Connection Hover Card showing a connection's own port as the connected port in some situations.
Fixed connections not being hoverable or selectable immediately after a bulk duplicate.
Fixed being able to middle mouse pan around in the Library Editor preview.
This release adds Automation as its own gear category, eight new port connectors and the Allen & Heath ME signal type, and a fresh batch of Default Library gear.
New Port Options
New Connectors
LEMO 3-Pin
Phoenix 6-Pin
powerCON 32 A
Weiland 6-Pin
VHDCI
F Type
N Type
PS/2
New Signal Types
Allen & Heath ME
Default Library Updates
Thank you to everyone who has submitted and requested library items; we have almost 100 new library items since our last update thanks to you!
Disguise
GX 3+
Martin Audio
CDD5B
CDD5BTX-MAR
CDD5BTX-WR
CDD5RAL
CDD5RALTX
CDD5W
CDD5WTX-MAR
CDD5WTX-WR
CDD6B
CDD6BTX-MAR
CDD6BTX-WR
CDD6RAL
CDD6RALTX
CDD6W
CDD6WTX-MAR
CDD6WTX-WR
CDD8B
CDD8B-WR
CDD8BTX
CDD8BTX-WR
CDD8RAL
CDD8W
CDD8W-WR
CDD8WTX
CDD8WTX-WR
CDD10B
CDD10B-WR
CDD10BTX
CDD10BTX-WR
CDD10RAL
CDD10W
CDD10W-WR
CDD10WTX
CDD10WTX-WR
CDD12B
CDD12B-WR
CDD12RAL
CDD12W
CDD12W-WR
CDD15B
CDD15B-WR
CDD15RAL
CDD15W
CDD15W-WR
CDD-LIVE 8
CDD-LIVE 12
CDD-LIVE 15
iK41
iK42
iK81
SXP118
SXP218
VIA2004
VIA2502
VIA5002
VIA5004
NewTek
NC1 IO IP
Other World Computing
OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt 5 Dock
OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt Dock
OWC 14-Port Thunderbolt Dock
OWC Gemini
OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dual 10GbE Network Dock
OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub
OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock
OWC Thunderbolt Hub
OWC Thunderbolt mini Dock
OWC Thunderbolt Pro Dock
Palmer
PB-20 Pressbox
Panasonic
PT-RQ13K
PT-RS11K
PT-RS20K
PT-RZ12K
PT-RZ21K
QSC
CB10
KC12
KW122
KW152
KW153
Sennheiser
EM 6000
EW-D SKM-S
EW-DX SKM
EW-DX SKM-S
SKM 100 G4
SKM 500 G4
SKM 825-XSW
SKM 835-XSW
SKM 865-XSW
SKM 2000
SKP 2000XP
SL Handheld 865 DW
SL Handheld DW
Spectera DAD
Vizrt
TriCaster 1 Pro
TriCaster Mini X
TriCaster TC1
TriCaster TC410 Plus
Improvements
Added a new Automation gear category for motion-control and rigging gear such as chain hoists, hoist controllers, winches, and variable-speed drives.
The connector selector now groups BNC, HD-BNC, Mini BNC, Micro BNC, F Type, and N Type together under a single Coax group, replacing the BNC group.
Bug Fixes
Fixed not being able to upgrade to a yearly plan while on a trial without a payment method on file; the billing portal now opens normally instead.
Swap gear in place, restyle your connections, and more!
All the features from recent Beta releases are now fully available! This release lets you change a placed gear item's library entry and expansion cards without redrawing connections, adds custom connection line styles, makes the Library Browser and My Gear noticeably more responsive, and brings enhanced server sync alongside a new project repair flow that recovers missing data from your projects.
Swap Library Items and Expansion Cards
You can now swap a placed device for a different library item without removing it from the drawing. Right-click any gear and choose Change Library Item, and GearConnect remaps the existing connections to the matching ports on the new device. Gear preferences like Detail Mode and DMX modes are preserved during the swap, and expansion-card or base ports are preferred so cabling lines up the way you would expect.
For gear that supports expansion cards, Change Expansion Cards lets you edit slot configurations in place. The picker only shows card choices that fit the slots on the new device, so a swap can never leave a slot misconfigured.
You can now switch any placed gear between Detail Mode and Standard Mode without removing it. Right-click the gear and toggle the mode, or use the new Gear submenu in the main menu bar, making it much smoother when needing to swap between the two modes as GearConnect will re-map connections to the appropriate ports on the new mode automatically for you.
Connections can now be drawn in seven styles: Solid, Short Dash, Medium Dash, Long Dash, Short Dotted, Medium Dotted, and Long Dotted. The default Auto setting keeps the previous behaviour, drawing solid lines unless an adapter or signal warning triggers automatic dashing. A manual selection always overrides the automatic style.
You can change the style by right-clicking a connection or by using the Selection Toolbar when several connections are selected.
With thousands of items now in the Default Library, the search experience in the Library Browser and My Gear has been significantly improved. Typing in the search bar is responsive again, with typing responding instantly, and searching only filters after you are done typing.
A new auto-sort toggle on the Port Config pane gives you control over automatic port sorting while you build out a library item. The auto-sort toggle and the regenerate preview setting are now both remembered between sessions, alongside your other Library Editor preferences.
In the rare case that your project file gets out of sync with the server, GearConnect can now repair it for you. When validation finds an affected item it tells you which item is impacted and lets you choose to attempt a repair, remove the item from the drawing, or close the project. Attempting a repair re-adds the item from the library and restores its connections where possible; if the original cannot be found, a generic item with a matching port count is used so the drawing stays intact.
In addition, project validation is no longer optional to ensure project integrity and runs automatically when an issue is detected, with a countdown bar to show when it is about to start.
Importing a project no longer aborts when errors are detected. The import continues and any issues are handled by the new repair flow. The previous strict behaviour is still available through an "Abort import on errors" checkbox in the file picker. Imports also pass through a new preprocessing step that catches common conflicts before the process begins.
A series of fixes makes Local Mode syncing more resilient when projects are imported, restored, or edited offline:
Reusing a VLAN ID in the same sync now keeps your chosen number instead of being reassigned.
Reusing a Cable Inventory SKU in the same sync no longer renames it to a variant like "1 (1)".
Restoring a previous version of a project no longer triggers a duplicate connection error during the next sync. Connections are now cleaned up and revalidated during file imports and version restores.
VLAN ID conflicts with stale server-side entries are detected and remapped automatically, and you are notified when it happens.
Cable SKU conflicts on the server are handled the same way, with automatic renaming and a notification.
Importing a project offline and then syncing it no longer crashes on VLAN references on switch ports.
The Hover Cards that appear over ports and connections now reposition themselves based on your cursor location. When your cursor is on the right side of the drawing, cards open to the left, and vice versa, so they no longer cover what you are looking at.
A new Gear submenu has been added to the Main Menu Bar so common gear actions are easier to find.
Promo codes that are restricted to first-time customers, or that conflict with an existing subscription, now show a clear, specific error message instead of a generic one.
Local Mode now handles errors more consistently across sync, import, and validation flows.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where archived expansion cards could still appear in selection dropdowns.
Fixed the empty spacing between expansion card ports being connectable, which could leave orphaned connections.
Fixed a crash when adding a lighting fixture without a DMX profile or an amplifier without power options. These fields now display NA in the General Settings pane and are no longer editable when they do not apply.
Fixed Library Editor settings being reset when navigating between pages.
Fixed generic ports not showing accurate informational details, including adapter data and VLAN warnings.
Fixed two same-direction generic ports failing to connect.
Fixed the project upgrade notification appearing multiple times when opening older projects.
Fixed undo history not being available immediately after importing a project.
