Effect Settings
Each effect in a composition is configured individually: it has its own colors, speed, pattern size, opacity. This article is about where these settings are located and how to use them. How to place an effect into a composition is described in the article Adding an Effect to a Composition, and how to make its parameters change over time — in the article Keyframes and Effect Parameters.
The settings belong to a specific copy of the effect. They are saved in the project, carried along with the effect's clone, and end up in the exported cue file, but they do not change either the effects library or other copies of the same effect in other layouts and compositions.
Where the Settings Are Located
- Open the composition — double-click its card in the Compositions window.
- Select the effect in the Timeline window: click its bar on the time scale or the row with its name on the left.
- The settings of the selected effect will appear in the Properties window. If this window is not visible, enable it via the checkbox Window → Properties or find its tab at the edge of the workspace (see Workspace).
The Properties window consists of two parts.
Header — the top row, it does not scroll. It contains the effect's name, to the right of it a drop-down list of the blend mode, a gear-shaped button (effect size), and below them the Opacity slider. These settings are present for any effect that draws an image.
Parameter list — everything below the header. Here are the parameters of this particular effect: a simple fill has two or three, a complex animation has a dozen and a half. The list scrolls with the mouse wheel, and when the window width changes, the parameters stretch proportionally, so it's convenient to make the Properties panel wider.
The same parameters are also available on the Timeline: the triangle to the left of the effect's name expands them into a list, split into groups, with a track for keyframes next to each. These are the same values shown in two different ways: change one in one window — it changes in the other too. It's more convenient to pick values in Properties and arrange them in time on the Timeline.
The result of an edit is visible immediately — in the Mapping field and in the 3D View window. The playback cursor must be within the effect's bar for this: outside its boundaries the effect is not drawn, and changes will not be visible.
How to Change Values
| Action | How to do it |
|---|---|
| Adjust a value by eye | Drag the slider with the mouse |
| Set an exact value | Enter a number in the field to the left of the slider. Fractional values are set to three decimal places; the minus sign is entered first, as the very first character |
| Change a value stepwise | The arrows on the right side of the number field increase and decrease the value by one step |
| Reset to the default value | Right-click the parameter |
| Undo an edit | Ctrl+Z, redo — Ctrl+Shift+Z |
A right-click resets not only sliders to their original value, but also checkboxes and drop-down lists, including the blend mode list — it returns to Normal. This is the fastest way to return a parameter "to how it was" if you got carried away experimenting.
The number field will not let you go beyond the parameter's limits: each slider has its own minimum and maximum, set by the effect itself.
What an Effect's Settings Are Made Of
Each effect has its own set of parameters, but they are assembled from the same elements.
| Parameter | What it looks like and what to do with it |
|---|---|
| Number | A slider with a number field to the left. This is how speed, size, number of elements, brightness, angles, and coordinates are set |
| Checkbox | Turns part of the effect on or off — for example, reaction to sound |
| List | A drop-down list with ready-made options: direction of movement, display mode, distribution method |
| Color | A set of R, G, B, W sliders and a color picker field |
| Gradient | A transition bar with marker points |
| Color list | A column of colors that the effect cycles through in turn |
| Text and font | A text input field and a Select button that opens the standard Windows font selection dialog |
| Coordinates | Two or three sliders labeled X, Y, Z — a point or a direction |
| File | A Select file button, an Update button, and the name of the selected file |
| Sound and beat | A group of settings by which the effect keeps the beat |
| Fixtures and channels | A list of fixtures and their channel values — used by the Set Channel Values effect |
| Spout source | Selection of the program sending the image — used by the Spout effect |
Parameter names come from the effect itself. For Light Stream's own effects they are translated into Russian, while for graphical effects from the library some names may remain in English — this is normal. The first parameter of graphical effects is almost always Speed.
Color
Color is set using four sliders with values from 0 to 255: R — red, G — green, B — blue, W — white. The white component reaches fixtures that have a separate white channel; on regular RGB fixtures it has no effect.
Below the sliders is a color picker field. Clicking it opens a palette: a set of standard colors, a list of recently used ones, and a field for choosing a custom shade. The color chosen in the palette is immediately broken down across the sliders.
Gradient
The gradient is shown as a bar with round markers — transition points.
- Add a point — double-click the bar at the desired location.
- Move a point — drag the marker along the bar.
- Delete a point — right-click the marker, then Delete.
- Change a point's color — click the marker: the selected marker is outlined in orange, and its color is edited using the set of sliders and the palette below the bar.
- Reverse the gradient — the R button to the right of the bar reverses the order of the colors.
Color List
Some effects, for example Color Change, work not with a single color but with a list. The Add button adds a new color to the list, Delete removes the selected one, and the order of colors is changed by dragging rows — the effect cycles through them in exactly this order.
Sound and Beat
Effects that work "on the beat" are configured with a single group of parameters.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Audio in | An enabled checkbox makes the effect catch beats in the sound coming into the program's audio input. When disabled, the effect keeps its own beat, evenly |
| BPM | The tempo of its own beat, in beats per minute. Works when Audio in is disabled |
| Beat devider → Enable and a number | Beat thinning: the effect triggers not on every beat, but on every second, third, and so on — according to the given number |
| Beat devider → Random | Beats are skipped randomly; on average, one out of the given number triggers. The motion becomes less mechanical |
The sound is taken from the input selected in the program's settings: Settings → Properties, the Audio Input group. If no input is selected, an effect with Audio in enabled will remain motionless — see Properties.
Opacity and Blend Mode
Two settings in the header of the Properties window are present in every effect and are responsible for how the effect combines with the effects beneath it.
- Opacity — from 0 to 255. At 255 the effect is fully visible, at 0 it is not visible at all. On the Timeline this same parameter is called Opacity.
- Blend mode — the overlay rule: cover, add brightness, multiply colors, use the effect as a stencil.
Both settings can be animated with keyframes: this is exactly how smooth appearances and transitions between effects are made. For details on layer blending, see Blend Modes.
Effect Size
Each effect is rendered onto its own raster and only then stretched onto the fixtures of its layout. The size of this raster is set by the gear button in the header of the Properties window: it opens the Effect Settings window with Width and Height fields in pixels. Changes are applied immediately, and the window is closed with the Esc key.
By default, the effect's size matches the size of the layout it is in, and there is usually no need to change it. This setting is useful in two cases:
- You need a large, "pixelated" look. Reduce the width and height: the smaller the raster, the larger the effect's details appear on the same fixtures, and the coarser the transitions.
- The effect looks small or too fragmented. Choose a size close to the number of fixtures horizontally and vertically in this layout.
It's not worth setting values that are too large: each effect in a composition is rendered onto its own raster, and extra pixels needlessly load the graphics card.
Keep in mind: if you change the size of the layout itself, all effects placed in it are reassigned the layout's size again, and any manually set width and height will be lost. That's why layout sizes should be set before fine-tuning effects.
Settings That Change Over Time
Any numeric parameter, color, and opacity can be not just set once, but made to change while the effect plays. For this, there are two buttons next to the slider:
- stopwatch — enables keyframe mode for the parameter: values are arranged over time, and the program calculates the transitions between them;
- L — assigns a function to the parameter (sine, linear, pulses, noise) or links it to external control: OSC, MIDI, DMX, or a virtual controller.
While the stopwatch is enabled or a function is assigned, the regular slider behaves differently: it either edits the value at the cursor's position, or stops working altogether. All of this is covered in detail in the article Keyframes and Effect Parameters.
Image, Video, and Sound Settings
Imported files sit on the timeline as bars, just like effects, and are configured in the same Properties window.
| What is configured | Where and how |
|---|---|
| File selection | The Select file button, with the name of the selected file shown next to it. The Update button re-reads the file from disk — useful if the image was edited in an external editor |
| Image stretching method | A list of two options: Automatically — smooth stretching with anti-aliasing, Nearest neighbor (hard edges) — no anti-aliasing, with sharp square pixels |
| Video aspect ratio | The Save aspect ratio checkbox — keeps the original frame proportions instead of stretching it to fill the whole area |
| Duration | The Set timeline item duration button fits the length of the timeline bar to the duration of the file |
| Sound volume | The Volume slider |
The files themselves are not embedded into the project — only the paths to them are saved: before moving the project to another computer, collect it using the File → Collect Project command.
If Something Goes Wrong
The "Properties" window is empty. No effect is selected. Click the effect's bar or the row with its name in the Timeline window.
I'm changing parameters, but nothing happens on the fixtures. Check, in order: the playback cursor is within the effect's bar; the checkbox to the left of the effect's name is enabled; Opacity is not at zero; the effect is not covered by another effect lying above it (see Blend Modes); the fixtures fall within the layout's boundaries.
The slider moves, but the value doesn't change. Keyframe mode is enabled for the parameter, or a function is assigned — turn off the stopwatch or clear the function via L → Functions → Clear.
I accidentally messed everything up. Right-click the parameter — it will return to its default value. Recent actions can be undone with Ctrl+Z.
I configured an effect, but in another composition it's still the same as before. Copies of an effect are independent. To get the same effect with all its settings, right-click the effect's row and choose Clone — this is faster than setting it up again.
I added the effect from the library again, and the settings are gone. The library stores a template with default settings; your edits are not written back into it — see Effects Library.
The effect looks coarser after editing the layout. Changing the layout's size reassigns the size to all of its effects again. Check the width and height in the Effect Settings window via the gear button.