Build a light show
Stack effect layers on the beat grid, set their opacity, and add momentary hits to build a looping show.
A show in Spectralite is a stack of layers that loops in time. Each layer runs one effect on one set of fixtures, plays at an opacity that you set, and turns on and off across a beat grid. You build the running look from a few stacked layers in the Timeline panel. Then you keep a set of momentary hits in the Bumps panel to fire by hand. This guide goes from an empty timeline to a small looping show.
Before you start, patch some fixtures and build at least one fixture layout. A layout is the arrangement in space that a layer renders onto. If you did not set a tempo yet, set one first in the Beat Matcher. The whole show runs against the beat, so read Sync effects to music alongside this guide.
Add your first layer
Open the Timeline panel and click Add new layer (or press N). An effect browser opens with a filter for Loop, Audio and Movement effects. These are the continuous looks that run against the beat grid. For a base wash, pick a Loop effect that fills your rig with a steady color or slow pulse.
The new layer appears as a row in the stack. It starts at opacity 0, so it renders nothing until you raise it in a later step.
Give the layer its fixtures
Select the layer, then open the Layer Settings panel. Set Layout to the layout that you want this effect to cover. The layout decides which fixtures the layer lights and where each one sits in space, so the same effect looks different on different layouts.
Bring the layer up
Back in the Timeline, each layer row has a numeric Opacity input from 0 to 1. Opacity scales brightness linearly. At 1 the layer plays at full, at 0.5 it contributes half its light, and at 0 it is off. There is no separate mute. To silence a layer, set its opacity to 0.
Set your base layer to 1. It lights the rig on every beat, because a new layer's beat grid starts fully filled.
Opacity is linear, so raising a layer from 0.4 to 0.8 doubles the light it adds to the stack. Effects and layers covers how layers combine, additively or as an override.
Stack a second layer
Click Add new layer again and pick a Movement effect this time, such as Movement Figure 8. On a rig without moving heads, pick a Loop chase for this layer instead.
Every moving head in the layer's layout follows the Movement effect, and you do not need to route anything. If your Stage layout holds no moving heads, the new layer takes the first layout that does. Under Layout, Layer Settings lists the heads that the layer moves. The Mirror pan option there reverses pan on the heads left of the layout's origin, so heads on either side move as mirror images.
Set this layer's Opacity to around 0.6. By default each layer adds onto the layers below it, so the base wash still colors the heads while they move. On a Movement layer, opacity scales how far the heads swing: at 0.6 they cover 60% of the effect's range. Layers combine bottom to top, and a layer only affects the ones beneath it.
Schedule layers on the beat grid
Each layer row has a beat grid that divides one bar into sixteen slots, four per beat. The effect plays wherever a slot is on.
Click a slot to toggle it, or drag across a run of slots to switch a range on or off. A drag that starts on an off slot turns the range on. A drag that starts on an on slot turns it off. The Fill and Clear buttons set every slot on or off at once.
Leave the base wash filled so it holds under everything. On the movement layer, clear some slots to leave gaps. For example, play it on the first and third beats and leave the second and fourth off. The pattern repeats every time the loop comes around. For the full grid model and its 16-slots-per-bar resolution, see Beat time.
Reorder the stack
To change the order, drag a layer row up or down by its grip handle. Higher rows composite over lower ones, so a bright accent belongs near the top and a base wash near the bottom.
Two per-row controls help while you build. Hold the Solo button to see one layer alone. Release it to return to the full stack. The Lock icon is a persistent toggle that protects a layer from edits.
Punch a layer to full
Each layer row has a Sun icon, which is a momentary override button. While you hold it, the layer jumps to full brightness and sits in front of everything below. When you release it, the layer drops back to its set opacity. Use it to push a layer forward on a hit without changing its opacity.
There is no persistent blend menu on a timeline layer. The Sun button is the only override control, and it is momentary.
Add a momentary hit
Open the Bumps panel and click Add bump. The browser opens with a filter for Bump effects. These are single-shot looks, such as flashes and strobes, that you fire by hand. When you choose one, Spectralite adds a bump button to the bank.
Press and hold the button to fire it. The bump plays at full while you hold it. When you release it, the bump fades out over the layer's hold time. Set that fade in Layer Settings under the bump's properties. Bumps always composite above every timeline layer, so a hit plays over the running show whatever the order of your timeline rows.
Save your show
Save the project from Project > Save project, or keep a separate copy with Project > Save copy. The project file stores the timeline and its layers, with their layouts, opacities, and beat grids.
Next steps
- Sync effects to music drives motion from the beat clock and covers automatic tempo detection.
- Effects and layers is the model behind opacity, blending, and the stack.
- Beat time explains the grid that schedules each layer.
- The Timeline and Bumps panel references cover every control in detail.