Patching Fixtures

Patching is linking the project's fixtures to device ports. Until a fixture is patched, it only exists on the Mapping field: it is visible and takes part in effects, but its data goes nowhere — not to the real hardware, and not into exported *.cue files. Patching answers the question "through which physical connector of which device does this fixture shine".

All of this is done in the Fixtures window — by dragging fixtures from the bottom list into device ports. Below is how this window is arranged, how to patch fixtures one at a time or in batches, what Auto-patching does, and how to make sure the addressing is set up correctly.

For more on addresses, universes and channels themselves, see Виды и типы приборов. For the parameters of the devices you patch into, see Light Stream Converter Parameters.

The "Fixtures" Window

The window is divided into two areas, and the border between them can be dragged with the mouse.

Upper area — devices

A four-level tree: Light Stream Player → converters → converter ports → fixtures patched into the port. The arrow to the left of a row expands and collapses the level.

Lower area — unpatched fixtures

Fixtures and splines not linked to any port. Every new fixture drawn on the Mapping field outside a port ends up here.

The goal of patching is to empty the bottom list: anything left in it does not shine on the venue.

Fixture rows read the same way in both areas:

Column	What it shows
Checkbox	Fixture visibility. Unchecking it turns the fixture off without touching its addresses. If several fixtures are selected in the list, the checkbox toggles for all of them at once
Icon	How the fixture is drawn on the mapping: a dot — a single fixture, a polyline — a spline
Name	The fixture's name. Changed by double-clicking the name or with F2
Address	The first and last occupied address, e.g. 1-300
Universe	The universes the fixture occupies: U1 or U1-U2 if it doesn't fit into one. This column only appears for patched fixtures

A port row shows its name and the numbers of the universes assigned to it — for example U1 or U1 U2. A port is renamed by double-clicking its name, with F2, or via right-click → Rename; clear names like "Facade, left side" save a lot of time on a large project.

At the bottom of the window there are four buttons:

• Add Device (plus) — adds a device to the project. The menu has two sections: Light Stream — Player, Player V2 and the ready-made converters Converter 2, Converter 6, Converter 8 LITE; Art-Net Converter — a converter with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 or 16 ports. A converter is added inside the selected Player, so select the one it's connected to first.
• Search — searches the network for devices and lets you add an already configured one to the project.
• Collapse — collapses all converters and ports with a single click; clicking again expands the whole tree back. Indispensable when there are many converters and ports.
• Auto-patching — automatic addressing mode, see the section below.

How to Patch Fixtures

1. Make sure the project has a device with enough ports. If not, add one with the Add Device button.
2. In the bottom list, select the fixtures that will go into one port. Select several in a row with Shift, or non-contiguous ones with Ctrl.
3. Drag the selection onto the row of the port you need. The fixtures will be placed at the end of the port's list.
4. The port will expand on its own, and you'll immediately see the fixtures with their assigned addresses and universes.

Repeat for the remaining ports. A few notes that save time:

• You can drag by any of the selected fixtures — the whole selected group will move together.
• If you need to place fixtures not at the end but at a specific spot in the port, drop them not on the port row, but between fixtures that are already patched.
• A spline is moved as a whole, as a single row, no matter how many fixtures are on it. You cannot split one spline's fixtures across different ports — to do that, first convert the spline into single fixtures, see Splines and Single Fixtures.
• Fixtures can also be dragged from port to port, including to another converter, and back into the bottom list.
• Any move can be undone with Ctrl+Z and redone with Ctrl+Shift+Z.

Selection in the Fixtures window and on the Mapping field is shared: selecting a fixture in the list shows you where it sits on the venue, and vice versa. This is the easiest way to understand exactly what you're patching at any given moment.

Fixture Order Within a Port

The order of rows within a port is the addressing order itself. The first fixture in the list gets the port's first address, the next one gets the address right after it, and so on. That's why fixtures in a port should be arranged in the same order they're wired on the venue: the one closest to the device comes first.

The order is changed by dragging fixtures within the port. With Auto-patching enabled, addresses are recalculated immediately.

Auto-patching

Auto-patching is a mode in which the program assigns addresses automatically. The button appears in two places: at the bottom of the Fixtures window and on the toolbar of the Mapping window. The setting is global for the program and applies to all ports at once.

What happens	Auto-patching on	Auto-patching off
Fixtures added to a port	Addresses for the whole port are recalculated in sequence, starting from address 1 of its first universe	Fixtures keep their addresses; the program only assigns them a universe number
Fixture order within the port changed	Addresses are recalculated for the new order	Addresses stay the same
A new fixture drawn on the mapping	Gets the next free address	Gets address 1 — you set the address yourself after that
A fixture copied	The copy gets the next free address in the same port	The copy keeps the original's address

Rule of thumb: turn Auto-patching on when fixtures are wired in sequence and addresses should run continuously — this covers the vast majority of pixel-mapping projects. Turn it off when addresses are dictated by hardware that's already installed and must stay exactly as they are.

Auto-patching being off doesn't mean "no help": you can always assign addresses as a one-off action. Right-click the port and choose Recalculate Fixture Addresses — the port's fixtures will get sequential addresses following the current row order, while the mode itself stays off.

Exactly how addresses fall at a universe boundary depends on the converter's Controller Type: in DMX mode channels run as a continuous stream, in SPI mode a fixture moves into the next universe as a whole. For more, see Light Stream Converter Parameters.

How to Patch Fixtures While Placing Them

You don't have to draw fixtures first and patch them afterward. Select a port in the Fixtures window — and every fixture you then draw on the Mapping field will land directly in it, with addresses already assigned (if Auto-patching is on). The port's list will scroll to the last added fixture automatically, and a collapsed Player and converter will expand.

Copies behave the same way: fixtures copied by holding Ctrl on the mapping, duplicated, or pasted from the clipboard stay in the same port as the original, and with Auto-patching on they get the next free addresses. This is how matrices and identical rows are assembled quickly: patch one row, then just copy it.

To make new fixtures go back into the bottom list, deselect the port — click an empty spot in the Fixtures window.

How to Remove a Fixture From a Port

Select the fixtures in the port, right-click and choose Unpatch — the fixtures will return to the bottom list of the Fixtures window and stay in their places on the mapping.

To free up the whole port, right-click the port and choose Unpatch All. The same item is available by right-clicking a converter — it unpatches all its ports at once.

The Delete key does not unpatch fixtures — it deletes them from the project — along with their place on the mapping and their link to 3D. If you only need to take a fixture out of a port, use Unpatch.

Fixtures also return to the bottom list on their own if you reduce a converter's Number of Ports: fixtures from removed ports don't disappear, they become unpatched.

How to Check That Everything Is Set Up Correctly

Red Highlighting

The program marks addressing errors on its own: a fixture's row, along with the port and converter name, turns red. There are three reasons for this:

• fixture addresses overlap — two fixtures claim the same channels;
• a fixture goes beyond the port's universes — its last address is greater than what's allotted to the port;
• the port's universes are taken by another port — two ports of the same Player were given the same universe numbers; in this case the universe numbers themselves in the port row are highlighted red.

In the first case, fix the addresses or turn on Auto-patching; in the second, increase Universes per Port on the converter or move some fixtures to a neighboring port; in the third, separate the converters across universes by changing Start Universe on one of them.

Port Fill Indicator

To the left of the port's name there's a small image — a map of its universes, with occupied channels shaded orange. It immediately shows how full the port is and whether there are any gaps. Clicking this image opens the same map in a separate window, larger and with universe labels; this window closes with the Esc key.

Addresses on the Mapping Field

Addresses are labeled right next to the fixtures on the mapping. What to show — universe numbers, pixel numbers, or continuous multi-addresses — is configured in the View → 2D Mapping menu. This is the fastest way to check that addresses run across the venue in the direction you expect.

Highlighting Fixtures on the Real Venue

When you need to figure out exactly which fixture on the venue corresponds to a row in the list, use the Highlight Fixtures and DMX Data button on the right side of the Timeline panel. The selected fixtures start glowing on top of the animation — both in the program and on the real hardware.

A small arrow button to its right opens a list of highlighting modes:

• Solid White — steady glow;
• Blinking White — blinking, most noticeable on the venue;
• RGBW Colors — cycling through colors, which also helps check the order of the color channels.

The same place has an Interval item that sets the switching speed — from 0.5 to 5 seconds. If the button isn't on the timeline, enable it by right-clicking the playback panel → Show Fixture Highlight Button.

To check that the program is addressing exactly the right box, click the converter icon in the Fixtures window: the real device will blink its indicators.

Workflow for a Large Project

1. Set the converters' Start Universe, Number of Ports and Universes per Port before patching, not after: changing these parameters shifts the addressing of ports that are already set up.
2. Check the Controller Type — DMX or SPI. It determines how addresses fall at a universe boundary, so choose it before patching: for single fixtures that are already placed, addresses won't recalculate on their own when the type changes, and the port will need to be recalculated manually.
3. Give ports meaningful names based on venue areas.
4. Turn on Auto-patching and patch fixtures one wiring line at a time, making sure the row order in the port matches the wiring order.
5. After each port, check the fill indicator: if it's packed to the brim, the next fixtures won't fit.
6. Once the bottom list is empty, go through all the ports and make sure there's no red highlighting anywhere.
7. If an orange icon with an exclamation mark appears next to a Player's name, it means the device settings have changed and haven't been sent to the Player yet. Clicking the icon offers to open the Player's properties and send them.

Frequently Asked Questions

• There are fixtures on the mapping, effects are playing, but there's no light. The fixtures are most likely still in the bottom list of the Fixtures window — they're not patched. Also check the visibility checkboxes of the fixture, port, and converter.
• A fixture's row has turned red. Addresses overlap with neighboring ones or go beyond the port's universes. Turn on Auto-patching or right-click the port and choose Recalculate Fixture Addresses.
• How do I take a fixture out of a port without deleting it? Right-click → Unpatch. The Delete key removes the fixture from the project entirely.
• The first fixture in a port always gets address 1, but I need a different one. That's how Auto-patching works: it always starts a port from the first address of its first universe. Turn it off and set the fixture's address manually in the Properties panel.
• I set an address for one fixture, but it changed for several. The value from the Address field is applied to all fixtures selected at that moment. Clear the extra selection and try again.
• I need to split one spline across two ports. A spline can only be patched as a whole. Convert it into single fixtures (see Splines and Single Fixtures) and distribute them across ports.
• Fixtures no longer fit in the port. Increase Universes per Port on the converter or move some fixtures to a neighboring port. Remember that the number of universes in a project is limited by the license.
• Addresses shifted after changing a fixture's type. The new type has a different number of channels. Recalculate the port's addresses or turn on Auto-patching.
• Fixtures disappeared from the ports. Check whether you reduced the Number of Ports on the converter — fixtures from removed ports return to the bottom list.
• The port won't expand. It has no fixtures in it: there's nothing to expand in an empty port.

See Also

• Виды и типы приборов
• Splines and Single Fixtures
• Adding Splines and Fixtures
• Light Stream Converter Parameters
• Настройка Light Stream Converter
• Light Stream Player Settings
• Terminology