LightAct 4.6 is released!

We are extremely thrilled to be releasing LightAct 4.6. It is a major release that includes a number of upgrades that were suggested by our users.

Some of the areas of improvements are these:

  • faster workflows in Timeline windows
  • faster and easier workflows in Layer Layouts 
  • a new window dedicated to controlling LightAct with DMX
  • and much more

You can also watch this video for a quick rundown of what’s new.

If you want to go through a detailed list of the new features that we introduced head over to our Changelog.

LightAct 4.6.0 Changelog

We can’t wait to see what you are going to do with LightAct!

Create the Experience

LightAct 4.3.0 is released

LightAct 4.3.0 brings a lot of improvements and upgrades to existing features, all while introducing some new and highly requested functionalities. You can take a closer below:

General improvements

The toolbar design has been updated with a fresh look and the ability to scroll through its content. It also allows you to collapse specific sections, so you can maintain a neat and clutter-free Viewport window.

The node appearance has been revamped for quicker identification of node functions through an efficient color code system. 

Bulk actions are extremely valuable and time-saving in projects with a lot of assets, objects, and advanced mapping subareas. Not only can you easily multi-select these elements in their respective windows but you can also apply the same actions on all selected elements at once! 

Asset window

The Assets window now has its own dedicated menu that makes it way easier to work with a lot of assets. In it, amongst other things, you can also choose to select all unused assets to help you pinpoint which aspects of your project might still require your attention. 

Objects window

We are finally introducing an object management system that allows you to group objects together in a single Collection! This feature enables you to conveniently hide, lock, or delete the entire group of objects as a single unit. To create a Collection, you can also simply press Ctrl+G.

Objects which need a different kind of management, such as unified location and rotation manipulation, can effortlessly be put under a Null parent. All you need to do is select the desired objects and press Ctrl+Shift+G.

Advanced mapping

We are always working on improvements that would make the workflow in LightAct faster and more intuitive. Instead of creating two separate sub-areas with the same properties, you can now just Copy&Paste or Duplicate them to reduce the number of clicks. As mentioned, you can also multi-select several subareas and adjust their properties together.

Timeline and Sequence windows

Working with a lot of Timelines and Sequences is getting more and more convenient. These two windows have been updated with new features to make working with content containers feel like a breeze.

For example, you can move all the content from a single lane to its neighboring lanes with one single click. 

You can effortlessly modify the duration of your Sequence to align with its layers. Likewise, you can adjust the duration of your Timeline to correspond with the placement of your Sequences.

Once finished, you can enjoy the show without having to scroll through it manually as the playhead is moving along. In other words, the show sequence can scroll automatically while your project is playing.

Nodes

Enable Video Output

We always thrive to create new nodes that offer you unlimited flexibility. This time, we have created the Enable Video Output node, which allows you to enable and disable video outputs without having to go through the trouble of opening yet another window in the program. 

Run .bat File

Run .bat File node gives you the option to design your show in a way, where running a desired .bat file wouldn’t require your attendance.

Texture Mesh Warp

The Texture Mesh Warp node got a huge upgrade. You can warp even the most challenging of environments with immense precision by using its new offsetting and scaling features.

Texture Softedge

We are introducing a different way of applying soft edges to your content. The Texture Softedge node now has a more advanced and flexible new Mode, called the Free Mode. 

LightNet improvements

We know that an easily accessible status overview for each server in your cluster can provide a sense of reassurance during stressful and rapidly changing live events. That is why you can now get even more insightful tooltips upon hovering over the servers in your multi-server cluster. 

On top of that, multi-server setups often host complicated projects which have long programming periods. This makes it difficult for programmers to remember which server was responsible for which part of the project right off the bat. Because of this, we have added server Notes meant to store useful and quickly accessible information about the server setup.

Early Access features

We have introduced a lot of new features with the release of LightAct 4.3.0, and yet there is still much more to be explored aside from the abovementioned upgrades. 

Measurement Tool

You can measure distances between different Viewport Objects.

Tracking Follower

Observe Viewport objects as they follow a tracking beacon.

Computer Vision

Dive into different Computer Vision nodes.

ZED2 Camera Integration

Play around with different ZED camera setups.

To explore LightAct’s Early Access features, simply run the program with the “-earlyaccess” launch argument.

Pixel Magic

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LightAct 4.2.0 is available

We are thrilled to announce the release of LightAct 4.2.0. It is more robust, flexible and packed with exciting new features. Here are just a few of the many improvements you’ll find:

Unreal Engine 5 integration

LightAct is now fully integrated with Unreal Engine 5.1.1, one of the most advanced game engines available today. This integration offers a powerful set of tools to create immersive and interactive experiences.

Multiple Timelines

You can now create multiple timelines in LightAct, each of which can be populated with multiple sequences. This new feature allows you to play several timelines at the same time, fade between them and much more. It gives you the tools to create truly unique and engaging experiences.

Sequence master fade and master volume

Every sequence can now be customized with its own fade in, fade out, master fade and master volume. Combined with fade controls on individual layers, this offers even more flexibility in designing your show.

Tracking Visualizer

Tracking Visualizer is a brand new feature which helps you visualize the tracking information inside your Viewport. Every individual beacon is now represented in the viewport so that you can easily check if everything is set up in the correct way.

ASIO & Multi-channel audio support

LightAct now fully supports multi-channel audio. It’s now possible to route your audio to any audio channel available on your sound card.

Genlocking

LightAct can now lock to the incoming video signal thus fully supporting high-end broadcast environments.

LUT node

Light Act’s LUT node allows you to change the colors of any other texture based on the mapping defined by the lookup table. This can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as color grading, color correction, or creating stylized looks. LightAct supports both .cube and .3d files.

Luma key node

The Luma key node is a powerful tool which can be useful for removing a solid background or other specific areas from a texture based on their brightness values. Together with other keying nodes, such as the chroma key, it achieves extremely precise keying results.

Other improvements

In this new LightAct version, you can also expect better Asset management, improved Timeline and Sequence management nodes, smoother polygon mask management, a new Delay node and more.

Pixel Magic

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LightAct 4 is now available!

The Wait is Over!

After more than a year of development we are extremely excited to release LightAct 4. While still being in Early Access stage, we believe you are going to love it. So let’s go through the major differences.

New GUI & Workflow

First off, we simply have to start with the brand new GUI!

We built it from the ground up, so everything is different (but still familiar for users of LightAct 3). For example we’ve added window docking, workspace saving, drag & dropping and many other usability features.

Achieve results faster!

Video & Image Sequence Playback

We’ve invested a lot of work into improving playback of video files and both compressed and uncompressed image sequences.

Supported codecs: NotchLC, HAP, HAPa & HAPQ in .mov containers, mp4 and others

Supported image sequences: tiff, jpg & png

New 3D Model Formats

LightAct 4 supports FBX, OBJ and DAE 3D file formats.

But wait, there is more! 

You can now import 3D models consisting of multiple objects and apply different textures to every object inside your 3D model.

Sub-Frame Real-Time Latency

With Notch, LightAct always had sub-frame latency between render-time of the engine and the ingest time of that texture into LightAct.

With LightAct 4 we’ve achieved sub-frame latency for Unreal Engine as well! 

LightAct 4 controls every aspect of Unreal’s render cycle and there is only a few milliseconds between the moment when LightAct passes new data to Unreal and triggers its render cycle to receiving the updated texture back from Unreal.

New Integrations

LightAct 4 supports all the major object and camera tracking technologies. Now there is almost no limits to what you can push into LightAct and what your content can respond to.

Spherical & Cubic Throwers

In LightAct 4, you can now use cubic or spherical throwers. This makes it incredibly easy to map 360° content to objects or video screens.

Cubic throwers are very useful if you have only a few sides of the 360 cube available, for example in Unreal Engine workflows.

Spherical throwers work with any equirectangular content.

10-bit Displays

LightAct 4 supports 10-bit displays!

Enabling this feature is as simple as checking one checkbox and restarting LightAct.

Output Remapping

Video output window has been greatly improved. For example, you can now:

  • Map only a sub-area of content onto an output
  • Rotate and scale content on an ouptut
  • Map one content to several outputs

Multi-server

LightAct 4 is multi-server ready. Create clusters of machines, transfer assets between them and sync them on a frame-by-frame basis.

Any number of servers for projects of every scale.

Pixel Magic

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