Light Stream - System requirements

Light Stream Software is a program for mapping and creating animations, where the entire picture (the Mapping window, 3D View, effect previews) is drawn by the graphics card. That's why the main requirement for the computer isn't the CPU or the amount of memory, but a graphics card that supports OpenGL 4.6 with up-to-date drivers. Everything else depends on how heavy the projects you build are.

In short

What's needed	Requirement
Operating system	64-bit Windows. The program is released only in a 64-bit version, it won't launch on a 32-bit system
Runtime	Microsoft .NET. The Light Stream installer itself offers to install the required version — at the end of installation
Graphics card	Support for OpenGL 4.6 and an up-to-date driver from the graphics card manufacturer. This is a mandatory requirement, the program checks it on launch
CPU and RAM	The more complex the project, the more is required. The program doesn't check any specific minimum
Disk space	For the program itself, projects, loaded video and sequences, as well as exported cue files
Network	A wired network adapter — for sending Art-Net and for communicating with Converter and Player
Internet	Needed when activating a license and when transferring it to another computer

Graphics card and OpenGL

Light Stream requires a graphics card that supports OpenGL version 4.6. This isn't a recommendation: on an older graphics card, some effects and the 3D scene may render incorrectly or not render at all.

On every launch the program checks the graphics card itself. If it reports support for a version lower than 4.6, a red Warning! window appears on top of the program window with text like "Your card supports OpenGL version 4.3. Required OpenGL version is 4.6. There may be problems with the software!". The program will keep running, but you shouldn't count on stability.

How to find out your OpenGL version

Launch Light Stream.
Open the Help → Activation menu.
At the top of the window two lines are shown: Version — the version of the program itself, and OpenGL Version — the version reported by your graphics card.

If the value shown there is lower than 4.6, first update your graphics card driver — it's best to download it from the graphics card manufacturer's website rather than rely on the driver installed by Windows itself. The OpenGL version often goes up specifically after a driver update: the standard Windows driver only supports older versions.

Laptops with two graphics cards

Laptops usually have an integrated graphics core and a separate (discrete) graphics card. Windows may launch Light Stream on the integrated graphics core — it's weaker, and its OpenGL version is often lower. Make sure the program launches on the discrete graphics card and in maximum performance mode: how to set this up for NVIDIA graphics cards and how to set the Windows power plan is described in the article Light Stream - Quick start, in the "PC Performance Setup" section.

What loads the graphics card the most

A large number of fixtures and universes in the project.
Effects playing simultaneously across several layouts.
The 3D View window: imported models, fixture glow, spotlight and wallwasher beams, the pixel glow effect (bloom).
Effects with video, image sequences and high-resolution textures.

If the program noticeably lags, it usually helps to close or minimize the 3D View window while working on mapping and to reduce the number of heavy effects playing simultaneously.

Windows and runtime

Light Stream is a 64-bit program for Windows. In addition to it, the Microsoft .NET runtime must be installed on the computer: without it the program won't start.

There's no need to install .NET in advance. At the end of the Light Stream installation, the installer itself will offer to install the required version — if you're not sure whether it's already installed, agree: installing it again won't break anything, the .NET installer will simply report that the library is already present and offer to close the window. The step-by-step installation process is covered in the article Light Stream - Quick start.

To install into the Program Files folder, Windows will request administrator rights. For day-to-day work the program doesn't need administrator rights.

The program's interface supports Windows scaling, including different scaling on different monitors: if one screen is set to 100% and another to 150%, when you drag the window the program will rebuild the interface for the new scale.

There's no hard requirement for screen resolution, but the interface consists of several panels (Mapping, Timeline, Compositions, Properties and others), so the bigger the screen, the more comfortable it is to work. On small screens, rearranging windows and switching workspaces helps — see Workspace.

CPU, memory and disk

The program doesn't check any specific minimum values and doesn't display warnings if they're insufficient — it simply starts working more slowly. Base your expectations on the composition of the project:

The CPU is loaded by effect calculation, video playback and composition export. Export is the longest operation: the more compositions there are, the longer they are, and the higher their FPS, the longer it takes.
RAM is used by loaded video, image sequences, 3D models and textures. The program keeps video sequence frames in memory: this speeds up working with them but requires a reserve of RAM. The cache is controlled by the Enable video sequence caching and Number of cached frames settings — see Properties.
Disk space is needed for the project itself and everything loaded into it, for the project's backup copy (it's saved next to the project file), and for exported cue files. The size of a cue file depends on the number of universes, the duration and FPS of the composition, and the embedded GIF preview — the program shows the expected size in the Export window even before calculation begins.

It's convenient to keep projects and their related files on a fast disk: with sequences of thousands of images, disk speed is immediately noticeable.

Network

The network isn't needed to launch the program, but for working with lighting equipment.

Wired connection. Art-Net is a real-time data stream, so connect converters and Light Stream Player with a cable. Wi-Fi introduces delays and packet loss, which makes the animation run jerkily.
One network segment. The computer's IP address must be in the same subnet as the addresses of the converters and players. Which network adapter to use is set in the program's settings — the Network adapter and Default network device parameters, see Settings.
Firewall. Art-Net is transmitted over UDP on port 6454. If the Windows firewall or antivirus blocks Light Stream, devices aren't found during search and the signal doesn't reach them — on first launch, allow the program network access.
Multiple network adapters. If the computer has several (for example, Wi-Fi and Ethernet), specify the one you need explicitly, otherwise Art-Net may go out on the wrong network.

Internet and license

Internet is needed for license operations: activating a key and deactivating it when transferring it to another computer. If there's no connection, the program will report an error and suggest checking the internet connection.

For day-to-day work — creating projects, arranging fixtures, building compositions, exporting — a permanent internet connection isn't required.

The program also launches without an activated license, and you can work in it, but with limitations: Art-Net isn't sent directly from the program, exported animations come out empty, and the work area goes dark every few seconds. More details — in the article Light Stream - Quick start.

Additional equipment

Everything listed below is only needed for the corresponding features, it's not required for regular work.

Equipment	What it's for
A second screen or projector	Outputting the projection in fullscreen mode to the selected screen — see Создание проекции
Audio device	Audio track on the timeline and effects that react to sound. The sound source is selected with the Input device parameter in the program's settings
Light Stream Converter and Light Stream Player	Controlling real fixtures and standalone animation playback

The Spout effect takes the picture from another program (After Effects, Touch Designer, Resolume and others) running on the same computer — it makes sense to use it when the computer can handle both programs at the same time.

If effects don't react to sound, check not only the selected Input device but also the microphone access permission in Windows privacy settings: without it the program won't receive sound from the input.

What to check if the program behaves strangely

A red Warning window about OpenGL appears on launch — your graphics card's OpenGL version is lower than 4.6. Update the graphics card driver, and on a laptop also check that the program launches on the discrete graphics card.
The program doesn't launch at all — most likely the Microsoft .NET runtime isn't installed. Run the Light Stream installer again and agree to install it.
Everything runs jerkily, 3D lags — check that maximum performance mode is selected for the graphics card and that the Windows power plan is set to "High performance" (Light Stream - Quick start), and close other programs that load the graphics card.
Devices aren't found, Art-Net doesn't arrive — check that the correct network adapter is selected, that the addresses are in the same subnet, and that the firewall isn't blocking the program.
A heavy project won't open, or errors appear when saving — not enough RAM. Close other programs, reduce the Number of cached frames, and unload the project from unused video and sequences.