Effects
Automate colors and movement with beat-synced effects - from simple color cycling to complex position patterns. Every effect brings its own set of controls: pick one and the sliders it uses come up at that effect's own defaults, while any slider it does not use dims out.
8. Color Effects
Color effects automate your fixtures' colors - cycling, chasing, pulsing, and more - without manual programming for every step.
Opening Color Effects
Navigate to Colors → Color Effects sub-tab.
Applying an Effect
- Select one or more fixtures
- Click an effect button to activate it - the effect starts running immediately
- Click No Effect to stop
Effect Library
Effects are organized into categories:
Color Cycling
Smoothly transitions between colors.
| Effect | What It Looks Like |
|---|---|
| 2 Color | Alternates between 2 colors you choose |
| 3 Color | Cycles through 3 chosen colors |
| 4 Color | Cycles through 4 chosen colors |
| RGB | Cycles red → green → blue → red |
| RGB Snap | Snaps between red, green, blue (no fade) |
| CMY | Cycles cyan → magenta → yellow |
| Red-Green | Alternates red and green |
| Red-Blue | Alternates red and blue |
| Green-Blue | Alternates green and blue |
| Random | Random color each cycle |
Flick Effects
Rapid single-color flashes against black.
| Effect | Color |
|---|---|
| Blue Flick | Blue flash |
| Green Flick | Green flash |
| Red Flick | Red flash |
| White Flick | White flash |
Sequential Patterns
Fixtures light up one at a time in order - like a marquee.
| Effect | Direction |
|---|---|
| Sequence | Left to right |
| Sequence Reverse | Right to left |
| Middle Out | Center outward to edges |
| Middle In | Edges inward to center |
Chase Effects
A “lit window” of fixtures moves through the line - the rest stay dark.
| Effect | Direction |
|---|---|
| Chase | Forward |
| Chase Reverse | Reverse |
| Chase Inside-Out | Center outward |
| Chase Outside-In | Edges inward |
| Chase Inverted (+ variants) | The dark window moves instead of the lit one |
Wave Effects
A rolling brightness wave moves through the fixtures - think of a stadium wave.
| Effect | Direction |
|---|---|
| Wave | Forward |
| Wave Reverse | Reverse |
| Wave Inside-Out | Center outward |
| Wave Outside-In | Edges inward |
| Wave Inverted (+ variants) | Inverted wave pattern |
Pulse Effects
Fixtures pulse in brightness - together, rotating, or phased.
| Effect | Pattern |
|---|---|
| Pulse | All fixtures pulse together |
| Pulse Rotate | Pulse point moves across fixtures |
| Hybrid Pulse | Combined pulse pattern |
| Phased Pulse (+ variants) | Fixtures pulse offset from each other |
Alternation
On/off toggle patterns.
| Effect | Pattern |
|---|---|
| Switching | All toggle on/off together |
| Alternate | Even/odd fixtures alternate |
| Alternate Reverse | Reverse alternation |
Wash Effects
Uniform color movement across all fixtures.
| Effect | Pattern |
|---|---|
| Wash | Uniform pulse |
| Wash Phased | Phased uniform wash |
Atmospheric
Complex decorative effects for special looks.
| Effect | What It Looks Like |
|---|---|
| Twinkle | Random flicker (candle/star effect) |
| Rainbow | Moving color gradient (forward) |
| Rainbow Reverse | Moving color gradient (reverse) |
| Meteor | Rapid color sweep (comet trail) |
| Meteor Reverse | Reverse meteor |
| Fairground | Rapid on/off sweep (carnival lights) |
| Fairground Reverse | Reverse fairground |
Effect Controls
Three sliders control how the active effect behaves:
Speed (Beat-Synced)
The speed slider ranges from -3 to +3, representing beat divisions relative to the master BPM:
| Slider Value | Beat Division | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| -3 | 8/1 | One full cycle every 8 beats (very slow, dramatic) |
| -2 | 4/1 | One cycle every 4 beats (one bar in 4/4 time) |
| -1 | 2/1 | One cycle every 2 beats |
| 0 | 1/1 | One cycle per beat (default) |
| +1 | 1/2 | Two cycles per beat |
| +2 | 1/4 | Four cycles per beat (fast, energetic) |
| +3 | 1/8 | Eight cycles per beat (very fast, strobe-like) |
The BPM comes from your active beat source - audio beat detection, Ableton Link, or manual tap. If no source is active, it defaults to 120 BPM.
Tip
Double-click the speed slider to reset to 0 (one cycle per beat).
Crossfade (0–100%)
Controls how smoothly colors transition:
- 0% - Hard snap between colors (dramatic, punchy)
- 100% - Fully smooth blend (gentle, flowing)
Not all effects support crossfade. When unsupported, the slider dims to 30% opacity.
Spread (0–100%)
Controls how the effect is distributed across selected fixtures:
- 0% - All fixtures do the exact same thing at the same time
- 100% - Maximum offset between fixtures (creates movement across the line)
Not all effects support spread. When unsupported, the slider dims.
Multi-Color Effects
Effects like 2 Color, 3 Color, and 4 Color need you to choose which colors to cycle between:
- Activate the effect - color selection buttons appear
- Click a button to choose from presets, or click the palette icon for a custom color picker
- In the custom picker modal, drag on the color wheel and click Apply
Walkthrough: Setting Up a Beat-Synced Chase
- Select all 8 of your LED pars
- Press C → click Color Effects sub-tab
- Click Chase - fixtures start chasing left to right
- Set Speed to 0 (one chase cycle per beat)
- Set Crossfade to about 30% - gives a slight fade between steps
- Set Spread to 50% - the chase window is wider, covering ~4 fixtures at once
- The chase is now running and synced to your music's BPM
- You can record this look as a cue (see Section 10)
9. Position Effects
Position effects create automated movement patterns for moving fixtures - circles, figure-eights, sweeps, and more. Each head orbits the point it is already aimed at, so you aim the rig first and the shape follows.
Opening Position Effects
Navigate to Positions → Position Effects sub-tab.
Applying a Position Effect
- Select one or more moving fixtures
- Click an effect pattern button - fixtures begin moving immediately
- Click No Effect to stop
How Position Effects Are Centred
A position effect is an orbit around a centre point, and every head has its own. That centre is the aim you gave the head in Manual Control, so a circle applied to four heads pointed at four different parts of the stage gives you four circles, one at each aim, rather than four heads swinging back to the middle of their travel.
Re-aim a head while the effect is running and the shape moves with it, so you can keep working on the aim with the effect live.
The Effect Controls panel names the centre it is working from at the top:
| Readout | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Centre: your manual aim | Each head orbits where you aimed it |
| Centre: fixture home | Every head orbits its own home position instead |
| Pan 128, Tilt 96 | The centre itself, shown when every selected head agrees on it |
| Each head on its own aim | The heads are aimed at different points, so there is no single centre to quote |
| Pad centre, mapped to each head | Nothing has been aimed yet, so each head falls back to the position pad |
The button underneath switches between the two: Centre on Home swings every head around its home position, and Centre on Position puts it back on the aim. A running effect picks up the change straight away.
Available Patterns
| Effect | What It Looks Like |
|---|---|
| Circle | Circular motion |
| Figure-8 | Horizontal figure-8 |
| Vertical Figure-8 | Vertical figure-8 |
| Up-Down | Vertical sweep |
| Left-Right | Horizontal sweep |
| Box | Rectangular path |
| Diamond | Diamond-shaped path |
| Arc | Curved arc motion |
| Burst | Radiating burst outward |
| Cross | Cross-shaped movement |
| Opposites | Paired fixtures move in opposing directions |
| Random | Unpredictable random movement |
| Random Pairs | Paired random movement |
| Triangle | Triangular path |
| Star | Star-shaped path |
Position Effect Controls
| Control | Range | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | 1–100 | How fast the pattern cycles |
| Size | 1–100 | How big the movement is (% of available range) |
| Phase | -50 to +50 | Timing offset between fixtures (creates wave-like staggering) |
| Fan Pan | -50 to +50 | Spreads the heads' centre points apart left to right |
| Fan Tilt | -50 to +50 | Spreads the heads' centre points apart up and down |
| Direction | Forward / Reverse / Bounce | Which way the pattern runs |
Tip
Double-click any slider to reset it to its default value.
Direction Modes
| Mode | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Forward | Pattern runs normally |
| Reverse | Pattern runs backwards |
| Bounce | Pattern alternates forward and backward |
Direction is stored with the effect, so recalling a look brings back the direction you set with it.
Combining Position Effects with Fan
The Fan Pan and Fan Tilt sliders in the Position Effects panel are synced with Manual Control. Fanning pulls the heads' centre points apart instead of leaving each one orbiting its own aim in isolation, and each slider fans its own axis: Fan Pan spreads them left to right, Fan Tilt spreads them up and down.
Not every shape moves on both axes, and the slider a shape cannot use is labelled (not used by this shape). Circle, Figure-8, Vertical Figure-8, Diamond, Triangle and Star take both. Up-Down and Arc take Fan Tilt only, Left-Right takes Fan Pan only, and Box, Cross, Burst, Opposites, Random and Random Pairs set their own spread and take neither.
Example: Set a Circle effect, then add Fan Pan of +20. Instead of all fixtures circling in the same spot, each fixture circles around a different center point, spread across the stage.
Travel Limits and Fit to Travel
Every moving fixture has a travel range, and any position limits you set in Manual Control narrow it further. A position effect works inside that range: the shape flattens against a limit rather than driving past it, so a circle will not send beams where you told it not to.
The effect leaves your limits alone, which is what Limits unchanged, full travel in the Effect Controls panel is telling you. Size therefore means the same amount of movement wherever the heads point, and a head aimed near the edge of its travel has less room for a big shape than one aimed at the middle.
Effect Controls works out the largest Size that fits the room the heads have, and says so when you go past it: Size 80 is past the 45 that fits here, so the heads will flatten against their travel limits. A Fit to travel button appears alongside the warning and drops Size to the largest that fits. Nothing stops you leaving Size where it is and letting the shape flatten, if that is the look you want.
Fanning and some shapes reach a little further than Size alone, so on those the figure is a lower bound and the warning says as much.
Heads aimed hard against a limit have no Size that fits at all. The panel says so, and the answer is to re-aim them to give the effect room.
Tip
Aim the rig first, then apply the effect. Working the other way round means reading a headroom figure that changes as soon as you move the heads.
Walkthrough: Creating a Phased Circle Effect
- Select your 4 moving heads
- Press P → click Position Effects sub-tab
- Click Circle - all heads start circling
- Set Speed to 40 (moderate pace)
- Set Size to 60 (medium circles)
- Set Phase to +25 - each head is offset in timing, creating a “wave” of circles rippling down the truss
- The result: a flowing, organic movement pattern across all your movers
