The constructor is a step-by-step wizard for building a profile of a non-standard fixture that isn’t in the library: a spider, a multi-beam head, a matrix, a LED bar, a scanner. It builds an “extended profile” (.svf v2) that understands not only the channels but also the shape of the fixture — and that’s what makes it look good in the visualizer.
Before you start
Open the DMX table in the fixture manual and choose the mode that is enabled on the physical fixture. For the first mode, enter a profile name and paste its channels, one per line, for example:
1: Pan
2: Tilt
3: Dimmer
4: Red
5: Green
6: Blue
Lines without numbers are also accepted, but explicit numbers make gaps easier to spot. Keep the names from the manual: the app will try to recognize Pan, Tilt, Dimmer, RGB/CMY, strobe, gobo, zoom, and other roles automatically.
The seven wizard steps
- Data — the profile name and channel table for the selected DMX mode.
- Type — lighting fixture, effect, or decorative fixture.
- Movement — static body, Pan/Tilt, scanner mirror, internal rotation, or independently moving beams.
- Emitters — a single beam, line, matrix, sphere, honeycomb, fan, and other layouts. The app derives a suitable shape (topology) from these answers.
- Details — number of heads, emitters/beams, and spacing. The available fields depend on the selected shape.
- Options — additional fixture properties (strobe, lasers, gobo and color wheels, zoom, prism, frost, infinite rotation) and the axis travel in degrees.
- Beam angle — an approximate Beam / Spot / Wash / Flood width or an exact angle in degrees. If the fixture has Zoom, enter its range.
The live 3D preview on the right remains available throughout. It previews the profile geometry, not the fixture’s real position on the venue.
Axis travel (the “Options” step)
Pan travel and Tilt travel — how many degrees the model turns end to end. The figure comes from the fixture’s datasheet (“Pan 540° / Tilt 270°”) and decides how widely the head moves in the visualizer and where the beam really points: the 0–100 % scale spans the whole travel, 50 % being the middle (beam straight down).
Leave the fields empty for the factory value: Pan 540°, Tilt 270°. The “Infinite rotation (360+)” checkbox makes Pan endless: 360° of travel with no end stops, where 0 % and 100 % are the same position. Some archetypes come with their own datasheet figures — a mirror scanner starts at Pan 180° / Tilt 90°, a galvo laser at 50° per axis.
Every fixture created from this profile inherits the value. A single fixture can still be adjusted later in the patch — the “Motion (Pan / Tilt)” block.
Checking channels and using multiple DMX modes
Review the recognition result in the lower table:
- Role — what the channel controls. If recognition is wrong, select the correct type manually.
- Segment — the beam, pixel, or moving part controlled by the channel. Shared channels can remain unassigned.
- Confidence — how reliably the role was inferred from its name.
- Test — briefly highlights the selected channel in the constructor UI.
If the fixture has several DMX modes, click “+ Mode”. A new mode starts with an empty table: return to the Data step and paste that mode’s own channel list. Switching mode tabs now shows the table that belongs to the selected mode. “Auto-map from …” copies the base mode as a starting point; then add or remove the channels that differ. Before saving, select the mode that should be active in the project.
Saving and correcting errors
Click “Done”. The constructor validates the profile: critical errors block saving and are marked red; warnings are yellow. The hint below the table explains the problem and can take you to the affected channel. Pay particular attention to empty modes, duplicate channel numbers, missing required channels, and unassigned segments.
“Publish” runs the same validation first and then offers to send the profile to the community library. Use the exact model name so other users can find it.
