Window Menu
Add panels and workspaces, toggle overlays, and open the shortcuts dialog.
The Window menu in the top menubar controls the workspace layout and the overlays drawn over it.
Add panel
Opens a submenu of every dockable panel. Click a name to add that panel to the focused tab set in the current workspace. To move the new panel, drag its header. Drop it on the edge of another panel to dock it, or on the center to add it to an existing tab set.
Panels available from this menu:
- Preview
- Color
- Layer Settings
- Beat Matcher
- Timeline
- Bumps
- Positions
- 3D Aim
- Parameters
- Fixtures
- Address Space
- Spectralite Controllers
- RDM Devices
- Art-Net Nodes
- Node Editor
- Layouts
- Layout Editor
- History
- Audio Spectrum
- Notepad
Each panel has its own page in the Panels section.
Add workspace
Opens a submenu of workspace templates. Pick one, and Spectralite opens a new workspace tab with that template's default layout.
- Live View: build your show with Timeline, Preview, and layer controls.
- Fixtures: add and configure lighting fixtures.
- Layouts: arrange fixtures in 2D or 3D space.
- Effects: Node Editor and Preview for building effects.
- Positions: 3D Aim above the Positions grid, for aiming and recalling moving head positions.
- Empty: start from nothing.
The + button next to the workspace tabs is a shortcut to this menu.
Reset workspaces
Restores every workspace tab to its template's default layout and closes any popout windows. Use it to start the layout over after you rearrange panels. It does not change the project.
Performance Monitor
Toggles a performance overlay that graphs GPU render time, network write time, and data rate sent to outputs. When the preview or output lags, turn it on to see whether the GPU or the network is the bottleneck. If the data rate is near the link limit, see the Buffer Space Errors section of Hardware Troubleshooting.
Connection Status
Toggles the output status indicator in the top-right corner. The indicator reads Connected when output goes out with no failed sends. It reads Network Error while sends to an output fail or an output cannot start. For example, an output cannot start when it is bound to a network interface that the computer no longer has. Click the indicator to see which output and address.
A crossed-out circle means that every output is disabled. Before the first frame goes out, the indicator shows nothing. Turn it off for a cleaner screen during a show, and turn it on while you debug. The setting changes only the display.
Only Used Color Channels
Narrows the Channels grid in every color picker to red, green, blue, and white, plus the emitters that your patched fixtures have. With a rig of RGB pars, the grid shows red, green, blue, and white and hides the other sixteen roles. A role that the color already holds a level on stays visible. To see all twenty roles when you write a recipe ahead of the patch, untick it. Spectralite remembers the choice between sessions. A project with no fixtures shows every role.
Fixtures
Picks how the Layout Editor, 3D Aim, the Preview and the Fixture Editor draw each fixture. Silhouettes shows the fixture at its real size: base, yoke and head on a moving head, cells on its face. Plot Symbols draws a flat outline like a lighting plot, which stays readable when a rig of hundreds of fixtures is in view. The choice is remembered between sessions.
Reload
Reloads the renderer (Cmd+R), the same as closing and reopening the window. The project state stays as it is.
Shortcuts
Opens the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog (Cmd+/). Click any shortcut to record a new key combination. See Keyboard Shortcuts for the current list.
About Spectralite
Shows the About dialog with the build version.
Related
Understanding DMX
An introduction to DMX512 for lighting control, covering channels, universes, fixture addressing, and how cabling and protocols connect them.
Renderer Settings
The Renderer Settings dialog sets the render frame rate and the gradient color space. A lower frame rate trades smoothness for lower GPU and network load.