Liberation features

Live control

Trigger clips and change effect levels, parameters and tempo from a mapped MIDI controller. Control a running design without opening the Clip Editor.

• Controller profiles include APC40 Mk1/Mk2, APC64, APC Mini, Launchpad Mini Mk1/Mk3, BeatStep and MIDI Fighter Twister. Custom configuration files map other controllers.
• Zone delay offsets a clip’s animation and active effects between zones. Choose the order and delay to create a sweep; chase mode turns zones on and off in sequence.
• Tap and nudge the tempo, map a controller to tempo controls, or follow MIDI Clock or Ableton Link. Tempo controls the beat-based speed of clips and effects.

Timeline and live recording

Record your performance onto the timeline, then refine clips and effect changes. The timeline uses the same content as live control, so a recorded performance can become an edited show.

• Effect levels and parameters can be recorded directly into the timeline. Clip previews help identify recorded content; blocks can be copied, moved and edited.
• Use a fixed tempo, edit a tempo map or import tempo maps from Logic Pro and Ableton. A timeline can also run with live tempo, MIDI Clock or Ableton Link.
• For playback tied to an absolute show position, use LTC, MTC, SNTC or Art-Net Timecode. LTC can be received through a standard audio interface.
• Add audio and video files to the timeline, split audio blocks and add fades. Video playback includes thumbnails and a preview window.

Lighting console control

Each Liberation zone can act as a fixture controlled by a lighting console via Art-Net or sACN.

Select clips, blend RGB colour, change XY position, scale, zoom and rotation, and control effect parameters and tempo override from the desk.

Basic 16-channel and Extended 32-channel fixture profiles are provided; the Extended profile includes per-zone effects. The beta notes list GrandMA and Wolfmix-compatible profiles, with later ChamSys GDTF and Avolites D4 additions.

Console input is separate from Liberation’s DMX output, which can generate lighting effects from the laser show.

Integration

Visualisation: Capture and Depence

Capture receives Liberation’s armed laser outputs as media sources on the same local network. Attach each source to a laser fixture in Capture; firewall settings must allow the connection.

Depence visualisation is also supported. External visualiser output requires an appropriate paid licence; Liberation’s built-in 3D visualiser remains available for free.

[State the verified laser-output connection and setup for Depence. One sentence.]

Video output: NDI into Resolume

Liberation can send separate Canvas and 3D Visualiser video outputs over NDI. Resolume and other NDI receivers can use these as video sources; this is an NDI connection rather than a dedicated Resolume integration.

Graphics input: TouchDesigner and custom applications

Receive geometry from TouchDesigner and MadMapper via PONK. Custom applications can send unrendered shapes through the Liberation SDK network protocol.

Synchronisation: tempo and timecode

Ableton Link shares tempo and beat phase with Ableton and other Link-enabled applications. MIDI Clock is another tempo source. Neither is a substitute for absolute timecode position.

[State the verified ShowKontrol connection method, distinguishing tempo from timecode.]

Live tempo controls → / Timeline and timecode →

Graphics and multi-laser mapping

Canvas and zones

Select areas of the Canvas and assign them to lasers, dividing one design across the rig. Distributed scanning can instead share the drawing load automatically between lasers.

Adjust a quad corner independently with Alt/Option, or edit selected points on a line/curve zone. Correct the part that needs adjustment without repositioning every point. Subdivided zones provide local corrections for architectural mapping.

Graphics tools and formats

Load SVG Tiny artwork or SVG animation sequences, or paste artwork from Inkscape as an editable Creator Node.

[Describe verified Lottie import support and limitations in one sentence.]

Create text with [confirmed font count] bundled single-stroke fonts or TrueType/OpenType fonts. Imported font glyphs are cached to keep projects portable.

Translate, rotate and scale content in 3D. Use Boolean operations to combine, intersect, subtract or mask shapes. Depth sorting and masks let foreground shapes occlude content behind them.

Node-based clip editor

Start with a Creator node for a point, line, circle, polygon, imported graphic or text. Connect Operator nodes to move, scale, rotate, recolour or combine the content.

Connect oscillators to property sockets to animate position, scale, rotation or other settings. Parameter Control nodes expose selected settings for live adjustment.

A simple clip can use a short chain of nodes. Multiple creators and operators can feed the same design when you need more layers or combined shapes; previews show the content at the selected node and in the 3D visualiser.

Real-time 3D visualiser

Preview your rig while building clips or a timeline. Check the design before connecting physical lasers; the built-in visualiser is available for free.

Hardware and setup

Supported controller families include Ether Dream, Helios, X-Laser Mercury, LA Sollinger AVB and LaserCube.

LaserCube WiFi models require a wired network connection.

Platforms and development

Windows 10/11 (64-bit) and macOS 12 or later, with the same features on both platforms. Liberation is built in C++ and remains in active development.