DJ Mode Lighting Layers
Understanding how DMXDesktop decides what your lights do - from automatic show generation all the way to the final DMX output.
The Big Picture
When a track plays in DJ Mode, your lighting goes through four phases before reaching your fixtures.
1Source Selection
The system checks if you've hand-crafted a timeline show for this track. If yes, it uses that. If not, it auto-generates one.
2Show Compilation
Your global settings and any track-specific overrides are combined. A background process compiles every DMX frame for the track.
3Live Playback
During playback, real-time controls (dimmers, color overrides, fade effects, dark-on-silence) modify the compiled frames before output.
4Engine Mix
The DMX engine merges the show output with any active effects (strobes, blackout, blinders) and manual controls. Highest priority wins.
Show Source: Auto vs Timeline
The first decision: does a hand-crafted timeline show exist for this track?
▶ Timeline Show (Manual)
- ✓You built this show in the Timeline Editor
- ✓Completely replaces the auto-generated show
- ✓Not affected by global DJ setting changes
- ✓Live controls still work on top of it
- ✓Must be rebuilt manually when you edit it
▶ Auto-Generated Show
- ✓Built automatically based on audio analysis
- ✓Uses your global DJ settings
- ✓Can be customized with per-track overrides
- ✓Automatically rebuilds when settings change
- ✓Live controls work on top of it
Live Wire: a third source
Live Wire is a third show source, and a different kind of one. Instead of compiling a show ahead of time, it drives the rig from the live audio as the music plays, so there is no show file and nothing to rebuild: none of the build-time settings on this page apply to it. It runs as the active DJ Mode application, in place of the music player or your DJ software.
Everything downstream of the show still applies exactly as it does to a compiled show: live controls, colour overrides, the engine layers and the priority order all work on Live Wire the same way. Live Wire is available on Standard and Pro, and it supersedes Auto Pilot, which is retired.
Build-Time Settings
These settings are "baked in" when the show is compiled. Changing them triggers a rebuild of the show file.
Color Theme
The color palette used throughout the show. Colors are baked directly into every DMX frame - changing this rebuilds the entire show.
Energy Level
Adjusts the overall intensity curve of effects. Higher energy means more dramatic lighting with brighter peaks.
Group Variety
Controls whether fixture groups run matching effects (synchronized), diverse effects (different per group), or random selections.
Strobe Frequency
Sets the speed of strobe effects: off, low, medium, or high. The strobe pattern is pre-generated into the show frames.
Gobo / Prism / Rotation Times
Minimum hold duration before gobos, prisms, or rotation effects change. Prevents effects from switching too rapidly.
Per-Group Build Settings
Each fixture group can also have its own build-time settings. These control what types of effects are generated for that group:
Group Enabled/Disabled
A disabled group is excluded entirely - no DMX data is generated for its fixtures.
Effects, Strobe, Wash, Kick
Toggle which effect types are generated for each group. For example, disable strobe for front-of-house wash fixtures.
Gobos, Prisms, Rotation
Enable or disable mechanical effects per group. Useful when certain fixtures don't have these features.
Move on Dark
When enabled, pan/tilt movements happen during dark moments so the audience doesn't see fixtures repositioning.
Per-Genre & Per-Group Settings
Two more build-time layers: what the genre asks for, and what each group is physically capable of.
Per-genre settings
Energy, strobe, variety and timings can each be set per genre, so a drum and bass set and a soul set do not have to be lit the same way. Where a genre sets a value, that is the value baked into the show for tracks of that genre.
Per-group movement speed
Some moving heads cannot keep up with fast pan and tilt, and stutter instead of moving smoothly. Each group can now be given its own movement speed, and effect cues respect it too, so a group of slower heads behaves the same whether the DJ show or a cue is driving it.
Overridden groups are flagged
Groups whose behaviour is being changed by another setting are now clearly marked, so it is obvious why a group is not doing what you expect instead of it being something you have to work out from the priority table.
Per-Track Overrides
Override global settings for individual tracks. Perfect for that one song that needs a completely different look.
Each track can have its own overrides for these settings. When a per-track override is enabled, it replaces the global setting. When disabled, the global setting is used as a fallback.
How overrides are resolved:
Available per-track overrides:
Color Theme
Use a different palette for this track, overriding the global color theme.
Energy Level
Boost or reduce the energy level for this specific track.
Group Variety
Change whether effects are matching, diverse, or random for this track only.
Strobe Frequency
Override strobe speed for this track. Set to "off" for mellow songs.
Drop Triggers
Configure different drop trigger effects for this track's specific drops.
Group Settings
Override per-group build settings for this track (effects, strobe, wash flags, etc.).
Live Controls
These take effect instantly during playback - no rebuilding needed. They modify the show output frame by frame.
Dark on Silence Runtime
When audio drops below the silence threshold for a configured duration, lights dim to a set level and movement freezes. Takes over the entire output path - the most dominant runtime control.
Channel Overrides Runtime
Static per-channel values embedded in the show. These override everything in the normal path - the value is used exactly as-is with no dimming or fading applied.
Group Disable Runtime
Disabled groups output zero on all channels. A quick way to kill a group's lighting entirely.
Group Dimmer Runtime
A per-group brightness slider (0-100%). Scales colour and dimmer channels for that group. Adjusting this does NOT trigger a rebuild - it takes effect on the next frame.
Live Color Override Runtime
Replaces the show's colours with your chosen colour. Uses the show's brightness patterns as an intensity guide - so the lighting dynamics are preserved, just in a different colour. Has its own 3-tier priority system (see below).
Master Dimmer Runtime
Global brightness control (0-100%). Applied to colour and dimmer channels across all groups.
Fade In / Fade Out Runtime
Smooth brightness ramp at the start and end of a track. Configurable duration (0-10 seconds each). Applied to colour, dimmer, strobe, and energy channels.
Energy Curve Runtime
Adjusts how energy channels respond to audio levels. Different curve types (linear, smart, logarithmic, etc.) change the sensitivity. "Smart" mode provides a natural-feeling response with a minimum baseline.
Audio Volume Channel Runtime
Special channels that respond directly to the live audio level, ignoring the pre-compiled show value entirely. Useful for fixtures with volume-reactive features.
Color Override Tiers
The color override system has three priority tiers. The highest active tier always wins.
Fallback Behaviour
When a higher-priority tier is cleared (e.g. a cue point's colour override expires), the system automatically falls back to the next active tier:
Cue point colour expires - what happens next?
Cue Points & Drop Triggers
Time-based events that fire during playback, triggering effects on top of the running show.
▶ Cue Points
- •Placed manually on the timeline editor
- •Fire at exact timestamps during playback
- •Each has a type and a duration
- •Auto-stop when duration expires
- •Seek-aware: reset when you jump in the track
▶ Drop Triggers
- •Detected automatically from audio waveform
- •Types: loud drops, quiet drops, or both
- •Configurable minimum interval between triggers
- •Can be set globally or per-track
- •Seek-aware: reset when you jump in the track
Available Triggered Actions
Strobe
Activates strobe on all fixtures. Overrides the show output at the engine level.
Blinder
All fixtures to full brightness. Overrides strobe and show output.
Blackout
All fixtures to zero. The highest-priority triggered effect.
Fog / Haze
Triggers the fog or haze machine for the specified duration.
Special Effect
Triggers a named special effect (e.g. a rainbow sweep, chase pattern).
Color Override
Temporarily changes the colour palette. Uses the "cue point" tier (highest priority). Cue points only.
Freeze
Freezes all fixture values at their current state. Cue points only.
Effect
Triggers a generic effect overlay. Duration-limited with auto-stop.
When The Decks Stop
What the rig does in the gaps, and why a fallback cue and Dark On Silence do not mix.
The Fallback Cue section decides what happens when every deck stops. It can run a cue, and from v1.0.52 it can also raise Live Edits you built yourself, alongside the cue or instead of it with no cue picked at all. Tick as many as you like and they come up together when every deck stops, then go back down when one starts playing. A Live Edit you already have up by hand is left alone.
Live Wire does not use this setting. It has its own When the music stops control on the Live Wire tab, offering the same choice of a cue or your own Live Edits, and that supersedes both the Fallback Cue section and Dark On Silence while it is running.
Two fixes worth knowing about
- ✓Reset All Overrides now clears fallback Live Edits as well as the fallback cue. It used to report itself finished while the rig would still raise them.
- ✓A fallback Live Edit now shows as lit on controller pads and on the mobile remote, not only on the desk.
Engine Layers (Final Mix)
The DMX engine merges all active layers by priority. The lowest number wins - it overrides everything below it.
Per-Frame Processing Order
For every frame of playback, each DMX channel goes through this processing pipeline before reaching the engine.
Is Dark on Silence active?
If audio has been below the silence threshold for the buffer duration, the system enters a special path: colour/dimmer channels are dimmed to the silence level, movement freezes, and all other processing is skipped for affected channels.
Check for channel override
If a static channel override exists for this fixture/channel, use it directly with no scaling. This is an absolute value - no dimmer, fade, or other processing applies.
Is the group disabled?
If the fixture's group is disabled, output zero. All subsequent steps are skipped.
Apply group dimmer
Scale colour and dimmer channels by the group's dimmer percentage (0-100%).
Apply live colour override
If a colour override is active and this is a colour channel, replace the show's colour with the override colour. The show's brightness pattern is used as an intensity guide. Group dimmer and master dimmer are applied within the override calculation.
Apply master dimmer
Scale colour and dimmer channels by the master dimmer percentage. Special channels (audio volume, energy, BPM, derby) have their own processing instead.
Apply fade in / fade out
At the start and end of a track, smoothly ramp brightness up or down over the configured duration.
Send to engine
The processed value is written to the "show" layer in the DMX engine, where it's merged with all other active layers (effects, manual controls, MIDI, etc.) before final output.
Common Scenarios - What Wins?
Quick reference for understanding which setting takes priority in real-world situations.
Show Source Conflicts
| Scenario | Winner | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline show exists + auto-show exists | Timeline show | Auto-generated show |
| Timeline show + global settings changed | Timeline show (unchanged) | Global settings (no rebuild) |
| No timeline show + auto-show exists | Auto-generated show | - |
Build-Time Setting Conflicts
| Scenario | Winner | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Global colour theme + per-track colour (enabled) | Per-track colour | Global colour theme |
| Global strobe=high + per-track strobe=off (enabled) | Per-track (off) | Global (high) |
| Global energy + per-track energy (disabled) | Global energy | Per-track (ignored) |
Runtime Control Conflicts
| Scenario | Winner | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Dark on Silence active + colour override active | Dark on Silence | Colour override (bypassed) |
| Dark on Silence active + channel override set | Dark on Silence | Channel override (bypassed) |
| Channel override + master dimmer at 50% | Channel override (absolute) | Master dimmer (not applied) |
| Group disabled + colour override active | Group disabled (zero output) | Colour override (skipped) |
| Audio volume channel + show value | Live audio level | Show's pre-compiled value |
| Colour override (user) + cue point colour | Cue point colour (tier 1) | User colour (tier 3) |
| Fade-in ramp + dark on silence | Both apply (stacked) | - |
Engine Layer Conflicts
| Scenario | Winner | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Triggered blackout + DJ show playing | Blackout | DJ show output |
| Triggered strobe + DJ show playing | Strobe | DJ show output |
| Manual fader moved + DJ show playing | Manual fader | DJ show output |
| MIDI controller + manual fader | MIDI controller | Manual fader |
| DJ show + cue effects (beam/colour) | DJ show (priority 35) | Cue effects (priority 40) |
DJ Software & Playback Notes
Behaviour worth knowing about when DMXDesktop is following someone else’s decks.
Traktor now follows the tempo fader
The lights run at the tempo Traktor is actually playing at. They previously ran to the BPM Traktor worked out when it analysed the track, which never changes, so riding the pitch fader moved the music and left the lighting behind. VirtualDJ was never affected, and the two now agree on what BPM means.
Opening a tab no longer switches the plugin on
Clicking a DJ software tab just to look at its settings no longer activates that plugin, so you can check something mid-set without handing the show to the wrong application.
A deck could start silent
After moving the crossfader, the next track could begin playing with no sound. Fixed.
Large VirtualDJ collections
DJ Mode no longer stalls while loading when used with VirtualDJ and a big library.
AutoMix with Loop off
The final track of a playlist is no longer repeated.
Accented and non-Latin track names
Track tags, and the key, waveform and content analysis, all handle the full range of characters in file and folder names instead of quietly failing on them.
