Skip to main content
Spectralite
Sign inDownload
Documentation

Receive video from another app

Bring NDI video from another application into Spectralite to drive lighting.

Spectralite can take live video from another application and use its pixels to drive your fixtures. The video arrives over NDI (Network Device Interface), a protocol that sends video over an ordinary network with no capture hardware. Any application that outputs NDI works: a media server, a VJ tool, a compositing environment, or a screen-capture app.

How it works

The sending application publishes a named NDI stream on the network. Spectralite discovers that stream and samples its pixels inside effects. A bright region of the video can then raise a fixture's brightness, and a colored area can tint a group of fixtures. Spectralite records nothing. It reads each frame as it arrives.

Enable NDI output in your application

Every NDI sender asks for the same three settings:

  1. Turn NDI output on.
  2. Give the stream a name that you will recognize later.
  3. Pick a resolution.

Lower resolutions cut network load, and 720p is usually enough to drive lighting. Each application keeps these settings in a different place.

Resolume

Enable NDI from Resolume's Output menu. Resolume starts the broadcast at once, at the composition's own dimensions. There is no stream to create first. See Resolume to Lights.

TouchDesigner

Add an NDI Out TOP to your network and wire your visual output into its input. Then turn on its Active parameter. Source Name sets the name of the stream. See TouchDesigner to Lights.

VDMX

VDMX publishes through the bundled NDI® Output plugin. Add it to a project from the Plugins section of the Workspace Inspector. When you pick a Video Source in the plugin, the plugin starts to send. See VDMX to Lights.

Other applications

OBS Studio, MadMapper, Notch, Millumin, Isadora, and vMix each have their own page under Connect Your Software.

Connect and use it in Spectralite

Put both machines on the same network

When the sending machine and Spectralite are on the same subnet, NDI discovers sources automatically. Prefer wired Ethernet. On wireless, use a 5GHz band for the bandwidth. For larger shows, keep the video and lighting traffic on a dedicated network.

Enable NDI input in Spectralite

Open Edit > Inputs > NDI. Turn on NDI input enabled and Auto-discover sources. The NDI input dialog has no source picker. The NDI Input node in the Node Editor and the built-in NDI Input layer effect read the sources. When you add either one, it uses the first available source.

Drive lighting from the video

For the quickest result, add a layer:

  1. Open the Timeline panel.
  2. Click + Add new layer.
  3. Choose the built-in NDI Input effect.

The incoming video drives your fixtures at once.

For custom behavior, open the Node Editor and create or edit an effect. Add an NDI Input node to sample the video. Then connect it to other nodes to shape how the pixels map to light.

Performance

Keep the source resolution modest. A 720p stream in place of 1080p lightens the load on both the network and Spectralite. In the sending application:

  • If real-time response is not critical, drop the frame rate.
  • Disable unused layers.
  • Where the source supports it, use the NDI HX codec.

Wired gigabit Ethernet and a shared subnet keep discovery reliable. Inside Spectralite, sample the video at a lower resolution in effect nodes, and keep the effect graphs that use NDI simple.

Troubleshooting

Stream not appearing

  1. Confirm both machines are on the same network.
  2. Check firewall settings. NDI uses UDP port 5353 for discovery.
  3. Restart NDI output in the sending application.
  4. In Edit > Inputs > NDI, make sure that Auto-discover sources is on.

Latency

  1. Switch to wired Ethernet.
  2. Reduce the source resolution.
  3. Lower the source frame rate.
  4. Simplify the effect node graph.

Dropped frames

  1. Reduce video resolution.
  2. Close unused applications.
  3. Check for network congestion.
  4. Watch CPU usage on both machines.

Color looks wrong

  1. Check that the color space settings (sRGB or Rec.709) match on both ends.
  2. Check gamma and brightness in the source application.

Receiving DMX Input

Let an external console or application drive Spectralite over Art-Net or sACN

Connect Your Software

Step by step guides for sending video from Resolume, TouchDesigner, VDMX, OBS, MadMapper, Notch, Millumin, Isadora, and vMix into Spectralite over NDI.

On this page

123
How it worksEnable NDI output in your applicationResolumeTouchDesignerVDMXOther applicationsConnect and use it in Spectralite1Put both machines on the same network2Enable NDI input in Spectralite3Drive lighting from the videoPerformanceTroubleshootingStream not appearingLatencyDropped framesColor looks wrongRelated