System Files and Paths

The program stores data in three different places: the project folder contains everything you have built; the program documents folder contains libraries, workspaces, and the work log; and Windows itself stores the program settings and the license. You need to know this in three situations: when you move a project to another computer, when images and video can't be found in the project after moving or reinstalling, and when support asks you to send the work log.

The exact folder names depend on the program version and where you installed it, so below they are referred to by their purpose: project folder, program documents folder, installation folder. Before copying or deleting anything, open these folders on your own computer and check what is actually in them.

In short: what is stored where

What	Where	Moves with the project
Fixtures, patching, compositions, effects, 3D scene	Project file `*.ls` in the project folder	Yes, this is the project itself
Images, video, sequences, audio, model textures	Wherever you got them from; the project only stores references to them	Only if you collect the project into one folder
Exported animations `*.cue`	The folder selected in the Export window (by default, the `Export` subfolder next to the project)	No, export is done again
User fixtures, effects library, workspaces, log	Program documents folder	No, copied separately
Program settings, recent projects list, license	In Windows, in the current user's profile	No, set up again

Project folder

How it is created

Choose File → New Project (Ctrl+N) or Create in the welcome window.
In the Create Project window, set the Project Name — it will be used to name both the file and the folder.
In the Path field, specify where to create this folder: type it manually or use the Open button. By default, the Scenes subfolder in the program documents folder is suggested, but it is more convenient to keep the project where you store the working materials for the venue.
If needed, change Frames per second for the project — new compositions will be created at this frame rate.
Click Create.

The program will create a folder with the project name at the specified location, place the project file with the .ls extension in it, and also create an Export subfolder next to it — it will be automatically filled in the Path field of the Export window.

From then on, it is convenient to treat this folder as the venue folder: put all the images, video, sequences, audio, and models you use in the project into it. The program can search for missing files specifically inside the project folder, not across the entire disk.

What is inside the project file

The .ls file is a single file that contains everything you have built:

fixtures on the mapping, their sizes, addresses, and names;
devices (Player, converters, ports) and patching;
compositions, layouts, effects, and their keyframes;
the entire 3D scene, including the geometry of imported models: after import, the original model file *.obj or *.fbx is no longer needed, the project will open without it;
the fixtures used in the project — so the project will open normally even on a computer that doesn't have your user fixture library;
composition export settings.

What the project file does not contain is the media files themselves. Images, video, video sequences, audio tracks, model textures, and layout background images remain on disk, and only paths to them are recorded in the project. If such a file is renamed, deleted, or left on the old computer, the effect in the project will be marked as missing.

Project backup

Each time you save, the program first sets aside the previous state of the project as a copy: a file with the same name and .backup appended appears next to the project file.

If the project stops opening after a failed save:

Close the program.
Move the damaged .ls file somewhere aside — in case it is still useful.
Copy the file with .backup and remove .backup from the copy's name to get a regular .ls file.
Open it in the program.

You will get the project as it was at the previous save. There is only one copy, and it is overwritten with each save, so it cannot be relied on as an archive: save important stages of your work via File → Save As… under separate names.

How the program searches for missing files

If a file is not found at the path recorded in the project, the program does not give up immediately — it searches for it on its own:

a file with the same name — in the project folder and all its subfolders;
a video sequence folder — also in the Import\Video subfolder inside the project folder.

Hence a simple rule: keep media files inside the project folder. Then the project will survive both renaming the folder and moving to another drive — the program will find everything itself. But if an image was on the desktop or a flash drive, you will have to select it again manually after moving.

Moving a project to another computer

To collect the project together with all external files, use File → Collect Project:

Open the project and choose File → Collect Project.
Specify the folder to collect everything into. Preferably an empty one: the program will put both the project file and all the files it uses there.
Wait for it to finish — on large projects with video this takes time.

What happens: a copy of the project file is written to the selected folder, and all external files are copied to the CollectProjectFiles subfolder, where they are arranged into nested folders that mirror their original location on disk. Paths inside the collected project are rebuilt relative to the new folder, so you need to move the whole folder, not just the single .ls file.

Images and video from effects, video sequences, audio tracks, layout background images, and imported model textures are collected.

Useful to know:

if you don't have write access to the selected folder, the program will warn you about it and won't collect anything — choose a different location;
after collecting, you continue working in the original project — the collected copy just sits on disk separately;
program settings, workspaces, and the license are not moved together with the project — they are set up again on the new computer.

Exported files

Exporting compositions puts files into the folder specified in the Path field of the Export window. For projects created in the current version, the Export subfolder next to the project is set there by default; it can be changed with the Open button.

File	What it is called
Animation for Light Stream Player	Composition name with the `.cue` extension
Video for presentation (video render mode)	Composition name with the `.mp4` extension
Fixture mask	`*.png` file with the name you set when saving

File names are taken from composition names, so the characters \ / : * ? " < > | are not allowed in names — the program won't let you enter them.

If the project has several Light Stream Player devices, the program creates a separate subfolder for each device in the export folder and distributes the *.cue files among them — so it's immediately clear which animations to load onto which player.

Program documents folder

On first launch, the program creates its own folder inside the system Documents folder and keeps in it everything related to the workstation rather than to an individual project. The exact name of this folder depends on the program version — find it in Documents by the program name and check its contents against the table below.

What it is	Where to look
Demo projects shown in the welcome window; new projects are also suggested to be saved here by default	`Scenes` subfolder
Fixture library: the factory `fixtures.lslib`, your user `UserFixtures.lslib`, and fixture and manufacturer images in the `Images` subfolder	`Fixtures` subfolder
Effects library — the contents of the Effects window together with your saved effects (the `LightStream.effects` file)	`Effects` subfolder
Workspaces — saved window layouts (the `ls.workspace` file)	Root of the program documents folder
Program work log	`logs` subfolder

What from this makes sense to copy when moving to a new computer:

UserFixtures.lslib and the Images subfolder — if you made your own fixtures and want to use them in new projects;
LightStream.effects — if you customized the effects library for yourself. When saving the library, the program leaves a copy of the previous version with .backup appended next to it;
ls.workspace — if your window layout matters to you.

You should copy files from this folder while the program is closed, otherwise some changes will be overwritten on exit.

Program installation folder

The installation path is set in the installation wizard; by default it is a folder inside Program Files. This is where the program itself is located — the executable file that, for example, you select in the NVIDIA control panel when configuring performance (see Light Stream - Quick start).

There is no need to put your own files there: a regular user has no write permission in Program Files, and the folder's contents are overwritten when the program is updated. Keep projects, media, and exports in the project folder.

Settings, recent projects, and license

The settings from the Options window, the File → Recent Files list, and license data are not stored in the project or in a separate file that can be copied: they are recorded in Windows and tied to the user account on this computer. It follows that:

settings cannot be moved to another computer by copying folders — the language, network adapter, audio devices, and so on are set up again;
each Windows user on the same computer has their own settings and their own recent projects list;
the license is tied to the computer. Before moving the program to another machine, it must be deactivated in the Activation window (Help → Activation) — otherwise the key will remain in use;
after installing a new version of the program, the window layout may revert to the default. This is normal — your workspaces are saved again.

Program work log

The program keeps a log: the logs subfolder in the program documents folder, file ls.log. When the file grows to about a megabyte, it moves to the archives subfolder, and logging continues into a new one; no more than ten archives are kept, older ones are deleted automatically.

The log is needed when contacting technical support: if the program closed by itself, froze, or gave an unclear error, attach the contents of the logs folder to your request and describe what you were doing beforehand. There is no need to turn on logging separately — it is always running.

What is worth backing up

Minimal set for a backup:

The entire project folder — the .ls file together with the media files. If the media is scattered around, first do File → Collect Project and back up the collected folder.
Exported *.cue files — if you don't want to repeat the export on site.
From the program documents folder: UserFixtures.lslib with the Images subfolder, LightStream.effects, ls.workspace.

Program settings and the license cannot be copied — they are restored manually, and the license is transferred via deactivation.