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How To

Video Geometry & Projection

For projection mapping and multi-projector setups, CueStudio 2 provides per-output geometric correction and edge blending.

#Video Output Geometry window (Video ▸ Video Output Geometry…, ⌥⌘G)

Open this to calibrate each video output slot individually. Changes take effect immediately at the next vsync; you don't need to refire a cue.

#Test patterns (per-output)

Each slot has its own test pattern picker at the top of the Geometry window. SMPTE bars, solids, grid, focus chart, PLUGE, and Identify are all available. The pattern shows on the selected output only, so it never covers the screen that has your menu bar. The "Identify" pattern is best for calibration; for "which output is which" during setup, use the Identify toggle in Video Routing instead: it shows the same pattern, stays lit while it's on, and doesn't interrupt playing content. Press Esc anywhere in the app to clear every active test pattern at once.

#Lens correction

  • Barrel: correct barrel or pincushion distortion from a projector lens.
  • Centre: shift the distortion centre point to match the actual lens.

#Edge blending

For adjacent projectors with overlapping zones:

  • Left / Right / Top / Bottom; the inset distance of each blend edge (0–1, fraction of the output width/height).
  • Gamma: curve the blend ramp so the overlap region looks seamless.
  • Black level: set the floor luminance in the blend zone.

#Mesh warp

Full-surface grid warping for curved screens and irregular surfaces: the generalisation of corner-pin to a whole grid of control points:

  1. Pick a grid size (2 × 2 up to 9 × 9) in the Mesh Warp section. Changing the size later preserves the warp you've already shaped.
  2. Drag control points in the editor: the output follows live, so calibrate against a test pattern (the alignment grid works well), live content, or the backdrop on the projector.
  3. Reset Points straightens the grid; setting the grid to Off removes the mesh.

The mesh warps everything on that output: videos, images, cameras, test patterns, and crossfades together, so you can calibrate directly against the alignment grid. Edge blending is applied in true screen space after the mesh, so blend zones stay on the physical projector edges no matter how the content is warped. The one thing the mesh does not affect: NDI / Syphon receivers always get the un-warped frame. (A test pattern shown while a cue is playing renders above the content without the mesh.)

#Network output (NDI / Syphon)

Toggle "Apply to network outputs" to send the post-correction image to NDI and Syphon receivers. When off, receivers get the uncorrected frame. Mesh warp is never sent to network outputs: it's a property of the physical projection surface.

#Calibration export / import

Use the Export button to save a slot's calibration as a JSON file, and Import to restore it. Share calibration files between shows on the same rig.

#Backdrops

Set a backdrop image per output in the Video Routing window: each output carries its own, on the "Idle backdrop" row of its output. The BACKDROPS section below the outputs also carries a Set for All / Clear All shortcut when every screen should hold the same image. The backdrop is shown whenever no cue content is playing on that output, as an idle holding image: on physical screen outputs and virtual monitors alike. It hides the moment a video, image, text, or camera cue attaches and returns when the output goes idle again.

The backdrop also serves as the Video Black Back holding image: when you engage All Video Blackout (⌘⌥B), outputs with a backdrop show that image in place of solid black, so Black Back takes each output to its holding slide even over a playing cue. Outputs with no backdrop go solid black. Clearing an output's backdrop reverts it to solid black.

#The Video Routing window

Laid out in the order a rig gets built:

  • ALL VIDEO BLACKOUT at the very top; the one control here you reach for under pressure. Outputs with a backdrop show the backdrop; the rest go solid black.
  • VIDEO OUTPUTS 1–4: assign each to a display, or to the Virtual Monitor while you build offline. Rename, set window geometry, Identify, and set the idle backdrop here.
  • BACKDROPS: what each output holds on when idle, plus Set for All / Clear All.
  • COMPOSITE SURFACES: one canvas spanning several outputs.
  • NETWORK OUTPUTS: NDI (over the LAN) and Syphon (to other apps on this Mac).
  • OUTPUT WINDOWS: the plumbing you set once: - Auto-hide outputs in Edit mode; hide output windows while editing; they reappear when a cue fires, and are always visible in Show Mode. - Setup mode: unlocks every output window so you can drag and resize it on its display, outlines each one, and forces them all visible. Press Apply to store the positions you dragged to; turning Setup off without Apply leaves the stored geometry unchanged. - Outputs ON / OFF: the master switch for the output WINDOWS. OFF hides every output window regardless of show mode or auto-hide. It does not stop cues running, and it is not the blackout button.

In demo mode the window shows a notice at the top and the display pickers are disabled: only the Virtual Monitor can be used, and NDI and Syphon stay off. Any display assignment saved in the show is kept and starts working again as soon as CueStudio is activated.

#Video Surfaces (composite canvases)

A surface is one logical canvas spanning several video outputs, for example a 3840 × 1080 canvas across two 1920 × 1080 projectors. You route ONE video or image cue to the surface; each member output automatically shows its own region of the canvas, so a wide image or video no longer needs pre-splitting into per-projector files.

Set up in the Video Routing window, VIDEO SURFACES section:

  1. Add Surface: creates a surface pre-filled with the first two free screen outputs side by side.
  2. Set the canvas size in pixels, then position each member's region with the draggable canvas mock or the X / Y / W / H fields (canvas pixels).
  3. Overlapping regions are allowed and expected on blended rigs: the overlap readout tells you how many pixels adjacent regions share; set each projector's edge-blend width to match.

Route a cue to the surface with the Surface picker at the top of its VIDEO OUTPUTS section (video and image cues). While a surface is selected the per-output checkboxes are ignored. The cue's geometry (custom W / H / offsets) then positions the content on the CANVAS instead of one output.

Notes:

  • Each output keeps its own lens / edge-blend / mesh calibration; the crop happens before correction, so a surface member calibrates exactly like any other output.
  • A screen output can belong to only one surface at a time.
  • NDI / Syphon receivers get the whole canvas frame (uncorrected), not one member's crop.
  • Surfaces are saved in the show file and sync across session peers.