Settings

The Settings window collects the program's own settings: interface language, startup behavior, memory and performance, sound, network, MIDI and OSC, export parameters and scheduling.

These are workstation settings, not project settings. They are stored on the computer and apply to every project you open on it — they cannot be carried over to another machine together with the project file. The only exception is the Main Layout Size button: it changes the current project.

How to open

• Menu Settings → Properties or the hotkey Ctrl+P.
• The Settings link in the welcome window Welcome to Light Stream — when no project is open yet.
• The gear button to the right of the Art-Net button on the program's top panel — opens the Network tab directly.
• The gear button in the Export window, next to the Export Mode list — opens the Export tab directly.

There are no OK and Cancel buttons in the window: every change is applied and saved immediately, and can only be undone by manually restoring the previous value (Ctrl+Z does not work here). The window is closed with the close button or the Esc key. While it is open, you cannot work in the main program window.

Tabs

Tab	What it configures
General	Interface language, program and project autostart, main layout size, mouse behavior on the mapping
Memory & Performance	Video sequence cache in RAM and image refresh rate
Audio / SMPTE	Audio output and input devices, receiving SMPTE timecode
Network	Network adapter, Art-Net output, device discovery
MIDI	Virtual MIDI devices for controlling the program
OSC	Receiving OSC commands and feedback
Export	GIF preview and video render parameters
Schedule	Site geographic location and calendar event highlighting

General

Language

The interface is translated into three languages: English, Русский (Russian) and 中國人 (Chinese). As soon as you choose one, the program will warn that it needs to restart to change the language:

• Yes — the program restarts and opens in the new language. It is best to save any unsaved project before this;
• No — the language stays the same, and you will need to repeat the choice later.

The same list is duplicated in the menu Settings → Language.

Windows

Launch application on Windows startup — the program opens by itself when you log in to the system. Together with the next group, this is the main way to build an autonomous workstation: the computer turns on — the project opens — the schedule starts running.

Open project on program startup

1. Enable the Enabled checkbox.
2. Specify the project file in the field next to it — manually or with the Open button.
3. If needed, enable the two checkboxes below (available only when Enabled is checked):
   • Start schedule on load — the program immediately switches to working from the calendar, no need to wait for an operator;
   • Enable Art-Net on load — output to fixtures turns on by itself, without pressing the Art-Net button on the top panel.

If the project file has been renamed or moved, the program will open with an empty project — the path must be specified again.

Mapping

Main Layout Size — a button, next to it the current size in pixels is shown. It opens a window where you set the width and height of the Mapping work area for the current project. If the new size is smaller than the previous one and some layouts no longer fit into it, the program will ask: "Crop layouts to the reduced size?". Answering Yes fits them to the new boundaries, No leaves them as is — then part of the layout will end up outside the field.

Reducing the field size in a finished project is risky: fixtures that end up outside the boundary stop participating in the animation. It is more convenient to set the field size once, at the start of the work.

Fixture Address Size — the size of the address labels shown next to fixtures on the mapping. Increase it if addresses are hard to read on a large monitor, decrease it if labels overlap on a dense spline. The display of labels itself is turned on in the menu View → 2D Mapping with the items Show Fixture Universes and Show Fixture Multi-Addresses.

Projection

Point Size on Texture — how large a point each fixture is rendered as on the projection texture. Default value is 3. The larger the points, the denser and brighter the glow from the fixtures looks, and the fewer "holes" appear between them.

Other

Zoom to Cursor Center — when rotating the mouse wheel in the Mapping window, the view zooms toward the point under the cursor. If the checkbox is cleared, the zoom changes relative to the center of the window. Enabled by default.

Update Keyframe Data During Playback (affects performance) — while a composition is playing, the effect parameter values in the Properties window will change following the keyframes. This is helpful when setting up animation, but on compositions with a lot of keys the program starts to lag, so the checkbox is cleared by default. Turn it on while working with keyframes and turn it off for the show.

Memory & Performance

Video Sequences

Enable Video Sequence Caching — decoded sequence frames are kept in RAM, so the program does not read them from disk on every loop. Playback becomes smoother, especially on slow disks and long sequences, but more memory is used. Disabled by default.

Number of Cached Frames — how many frames to keep in memory, from 10 to 100,000, default 100. Increase it gradually and watch memory usage: too large a cache on heavy sequences can consume all available RAM.

Rendering

Mapping Preview FPS — the rate at which the program redraws the picture: the Mapping field, 3D View, composition previews. Default is 60, it cannot be set below 10.

This is the drawing frequency inside the program itself. It does not affect the frame rate of compositions or exported files — that is set separately, in the composition properties. It only makes sense to lower this value on a weak computer, and carefully: the lower it is, the choppier both the preview and working with effects will look.

Display Mapping and 3D Scene While Scheduler Is Running — while the schedule is running, the program keeps drawing the mapping and the 3D scene on screen. Cleared by default: on a site that runs on its own, rendering is unnecessary and only takes resources away from output to the fixtures. Enable it when someone is actually watching the screen.

Audio / SMPTE

Audio Output — the device through which sound added to the composition's timeline is played. If the project has an audio track but no sound is heard, this is where to start checking.

Audio Input — the sound source for effects that react to music (equalizer, beat). The Enabled checkbox starts capture; a device can only be chosen in the list while capture is off, so to change the microphone or line input, clear the checkbox first.

SMPTE Timecode — receiving an external timecode, by which the program synchronizes playback with other equipment:

• Enabled — start reception;
• Input Device — the audio input receiving the timecode signal;
• Frames Per Second — the timecode format: 24, 25, 29.97, or 30. The value must match the source's setting, otherwise synchronization will drift.

As with the audio input, the device and format are selected while the Enabled checkbox is cleared.

Network

This tab is responsible for outputting data to fixtures via Art-Net.

Parameter	Purpose
Network Adapter	The computer's network adapter from which Art-Net is sent for the whole project. Chosen once; if the computer has several network adapters, specify the one the converters are on
Enable Art-Net	Turns output on. The same switch is duplicated by the Art-Net button on the program's top panel
ArtSync	Sends synchronization packets — all universes are updated on the converters at the same time. Helps when, on a large site, sections are noticeably updating out of sync
Search	Searches the network for Art-Net devices and opens a window where found converters and players are added to the project with the Add Selected button
Maximum Universes per Port	The upper limit on the number of universes that can be assigned to one converter port. Default is 4
Do Not Enable/Disable Art-Net Automatically	The program stops turning output on and off by itself. Only you control the state of the Art-Net button

If the fixtures are not lighting up, check in this order: whether the correct network adapter is selected, whether Art-Net is enabled, whether the converters' IP addresses match this adapter's subnet, and whether the fixtures are patched to ports.

MIDI

This tab is for those who control the program from a MIDI console or controller.

1. Click Add — a virtual device appears in the list.
2. Give it a Name directly in the table — this is how the device will later be identified in commands.
3. Select the row in the list: the MIDI Virtual Device group with its settings opens below.
4. Enable the Enabled checkbox and select the physical device in the MIDI IN list. If the controller was connected after the program was already running, click Refresh — the list will be re-read.

For each device, the table shows Status, Name, MIDI Input Device and MIDI Output Device. An unneeded device is removed with the Delete button.

OSC

The OSC Settings group is responsible for receiving commands over the OSC protocol from a tablet, console, or another program.

• Enabled — starts reception. The ports and address can only be changed while the checkbox is cleared;
• Input Port — the port on which the program listens for commands, default 8011;
• Feedback Port and Feedback IP Address — where the program sends replies so that pressed buttons light up on the console; default port 9000;
• Auto — the feedback address is taken from the address the command was sent from. Convenient when there are several consoles, or when the tablet's address is assigned by a router.

Export

This is where the parameters the program uses to output files are gathered. The settings are shared across all projects and apply to the next export — files already exported are not changed.

• GIF Settings — the number of colors, quality, and duration of the preview that is written into each cue file and shown in Light Stream Player. The parameters are covered in the article GIF Preview Settings.
• Video Export Settings and Audio Export Settings — frame size, the composition name overlay, codecs, and bitrate for Video Render mode. Covered in the article Exporting Compositions.

Schedule

Location

The Location group sets the site's geographic position. It is needed for one thing: so the program can calculate sunrise and sunset times itself and trigger calendar events based on them. Until the coordinates are set, such events are calculated for the wrong place and trigger at the wrong time.

Field	What to Enter
Name	The site's name — just a label for you
Address	The site's address, also for reference
Latitude	Latitude in degrees, from −90 to 90, as a decimal (e.g. 55.7558)
Longitude	Longitude in degrees, from −180 to 180 (e.g. 37.6173)

The easiest way to get coordinates is from any map. The decimal separator is a period; the field will not accept a value outside the allowed range and will highlight it in red.

After editing, click Apply: the program will recalculate sunrises and sunsets and update the calendar. Without clicking it, the calendar will keep the previous times.

Display Settings

Week Calendar Event Highlighting — how the weekly calendar highlights the event you hover the mouse over:

• Highlight all identical events — every repetition of this event on every day of the week is highlighted. Useful for checking that the schedule repeats consistently;
• Highlight event carrying over to the next day — only the event itself and its continuation past midnight are highlighted. This is the default option, more informative for night-time scenarios.

See Also

• GIF Preview Settings
• Exporting Compositions
• Composition Settings
• Patching Fixtures
• Mouse, Selection and Movement
• Workspace
• Terminology