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Getting Started

This guide takes a fresh install of Modulaser to its first laser output. Plan on about ten minutes once your hardware is connected.

Lasers can cause permanent eye damage. Read Laser Safety before you power on a projector.

A laptop running Modulaser on stage at a venue, with two laser projectors firing red beams in the background

Before You Start

You'll need:

  • A laser projector with ILDA input.
  • A DAC: LaserCube, Helios, Ether Dream, IDN, ShowNET, or AVB. See the Outputs section for hardware-specific setup.
  • Modulaser installed.
  • A flat surface to project onto: a wall, screen, or stage element.
  • The projector's safety interlock and key switch ready to engage.

How Modulaser Routes Your Visuals

Modulaser keeps visuals, routing, and hardware separate. Three concepts, in order:

  1. Clips are the visuals you build: patterns, audio-reactive scenes, node graphs, ILDA files.
  2. Output Groups are the routing layer. A group decides which lasers receive which clips.
  3. Lasers are your hardware. Each laser handles its own projection mapping and safety settings.

Clips never address a laser directly. They go to a group, and the group fans them out to every laser inside it. Once this clicks, the rest of the app follows the same pattern.

Your First Output

The steps below assume your DAC and projector are physically connected. If not, start with the setup guide for your DAC and come back here.

1. Add a laser

Open Modulaser. In the Output Groups panel, click Output Settings (the gear icon). Click Add Laser, then assign your connected DAC under the DAC dropdown on the Settings tab.

You'll see a default Laser 1 with a small centered projection area. That's expected; you'll calibrate it later in Projection Mapping.

2. Create an Output Group

Back in the Output Groups panel, click + to create a group. Drag your laser into the group from the laser list.

A group with no lasers can still receive clip assignments, but nothing plays until a laser is attached.

3. Pick a clip

Make sure your clip deck has a clip on it. If the deck is empty, open the Library (View → Library or CmdCtrlCmd/Ctrl + 1) and click any clip in Beam Visuals or Modulaser Classic Defaults to drop it on the deck.

The Modulaser Library showing Factory packs of clips above the clip deck
The Library ships with two Factory packs. Click any clip to drop it on the deck.

The clip plays in your preview window immediately. It is not yet routed to the laser.

4. Assign the clip to your group

Click the clip on your deck to select it. Then click Assign on your Output Group card. The clip routes to every laser in that group.

The Assign button stays neutral until you have a clip selected and the group has at least one laser. If it doesn't light up, check those two things.

5. Arm the laser

Click Arm in the right panel. The laser starts emitting.

If nothing appears on the wall, confirm the DAC is selected on the laser, the projector's safety interlock and key switch are engaged, and the ILDA cable is firmly seated.

6. Calibrate alignment (recommended)

Your output probably lands in a small centered square, the default projection area. Open the Projection Map tab on your laser and drag the corners outward to fit your surface. See Projection Mapping for the full procedure.

While you're at it, run the Calibration Wizard from the Output Settings window to tune scan speed, color, blanking, and brightness for your laser. See Improve Laser Output.

7. Save your project

File → Save. Corner positions, lasers, groups, and clips persist in the project file. Clip assignments do not; when you reopen, you'll assign again. Many operators keep a starting-point project per venue for quick setup at the next show.

Troubleshooting

  • Nothing on the wall when I arm. Check the laser is connected to the DAC, the DAC is recognized, the interlock and key switch are engaged, and the laser is in the active Output Group.
  • My clip plays in the preview but not on the laser. You probably haven't assigned it yet. Select the clip on the deck, then click Assign on the group.
  • The Assign button is grayed out. Either no clip is selected, or the group has no lasers. Click a clip on the deck, and check the group has at least one laser.
  • I assigned a clip but the laser shows something else. A laser can be in multiple Output Groups. The most recently assigned group wins. Clear the other groups, or assign on the group you want active.

Where to Next

You have a clip on the laser. From here: