The Configuration Dialog Box

The Configuration Dialog Box in BEYOND allows you to set various parameters that relate to show control, including: Live Control, Misc, Tuning, Grid, Timecode In, Timecode Out, Video, Controllers, Blackout, Zone Hotkeys, Laser Preview, and Log System. A detailed description of these features, and a screenshot of the Configuration Dialog Box, are provided below.

New for 5.2: You can now search all elements within the configuration window by clicking on the magnifying glass in the bottom left.

This setting will enable or disable the use of a QM2000. This is required when a PC has the LD2000 software installed, but no QM2000 hardware actually exists. HINT: You can enable or disable the start of QM000 controllers, during the startup of BEYOND. Right after BEYOND starts, hold the CTRL key. This will show the Welcome dialog option for the QM2000.

There are a few communication models that will influence the way the QM2000 and BEYOND communicate together. These are outlined below.

Genius output style - With this model, BEYOND calculates new frames, but updates them only if they are changed. This helps to increase the load on the CPU, and saves on communication between the hardware and software.

New Streaming interface - This is a new generation, temporary interface. It requires the network version of the LD2000.DLL.

LivePRO Sync style - This is the classic model, where BEYOND will update all QM2000 controllers at the same time.

LivePRO Async style - Another classic model, where BEYOND updates all QM2000 controllers one by one.

Reset master size and position - This will reset the QM2000’s settings (master, size, and position).

Leave frames in QM2000 memory after Disabling Laser Output - BEYOND uses the last frames of the QM2000 for output. By default, BEYOND will clear these frames. If you use this option, BEYOND will not clear the frames and you can inspect the output using the LD2000 software.

QM2000 Min number points - This defines the minimum number of points for LivePRO styles.

IMPORTANT: Do not set a small number points. It will not make the system more effective. In reality, it will actually do the opposite, and create a bigger workload for the CPU. The calculation and communication process for one update takes the time independently of how many points it calculates. As such, we recommended a minimum of at least 200 points. Also, please do not create short frames (for example a frame with 10 or so points). Point number is compensated according to the minimum, by means of blank points, and if you do this, you’re laser projector will appear to have reduced brightness.

Stop all QuickTool - This stops all editors located in the QuickTools area.

Reset Master Live Controls - Resets the Master level LC.

Reset Master QuickFX - Resets the Master level FX.

Reset Live Control of all Cues - Resets the Live Control of all Cues.

Reset QuickFX of all Cues - Resets the FX of all Cues.

Reset Live Control of all Zones - Resets Live Control of all Projection Zones.

Reset QuickFX of all Zones - Resets the FX of all Projection Zones.

Restart application core - Restarts the main threads of BEYOND.

Reset Manual Effects in QuickFX - Resets the Manual Effects in QuickFX.

Set grid mode to One Cue - Sets the grid mode to “One Cue” (button on the main toolbar).

Set cue mode to Toggle - Sets the cue mode to “Toggle” (button on main toolbar).

Stop DMX-IN - Disables DMX Input button from top bar

Refresh DMX-IN - Enables a refresh of the input to check for changes of DMX

This was a feature in QuickShow that we have brought over to BEYOND, due to it’s popularity. Nine numeric keys can be used to control Zone selection. For each of the nine keys, you can define what Projection Zone will be selected. This is a good option for a full size keyboard. Using your left hand and alpha keys, you can start cues, and using your right hand with numeric keys, you can select zones.

Click on buttons 1 – 9 and after that click on “Edit” for Projection Zone selections.

HINT 1: Similar or even better result can be obtained using the Keyboard To PangoScript table.

HINT 2: The Universe has a Multi-select component. A button and can select multiple zones.

HINT 3: PangoScript can be used in many places, and you can organize zone selection in a variety of ways.

Maintain square appearance of laser preview window - Paints the frame in the Preview panel, with a fixed 1:1 ratio.

Apply laser-based color correction from projector settings - Uses the same RGB values that go to the laser projector.

Apply zone's Beam Attenuation Map - Applies a BAM to the preview window.

Apply zone's preview settings (size, position, mirror, etc) - Uses the LD2000- style Preview with settings defined on the Projection Zones dialog. It can also use a simple overlay mode.

Hide Muted Zones - Zones have a mute option. Some clients prefer to see the output of a Zone even if it is muted, and for other clients, this can cause confusion. So, we give the option to control both with this setting.

Deselect Projection Zones after preview mode change - If using the grid version of the preview window you can select zones, when going back to one view preview window this will de-select those zones and go back to default zones when checked

Max Beam Brush Width in UI the first value is how many pixles wide per the next value, the default is 7 at 100.

Display MIDI messages - Displays MIDI messages in the Preview panel. This is a monitoring tool, and is helpful during the setup of MIDI equipment.

Display OSC messages - Displays OSC messages, and again, it is a monitoring tool that is helpful during setup.

Display Internal BEYOND Command - Shows the internal commands generated by the UI.

User defined Preview dimension - Custom preset 1, Custom preset 2, Custom preset 3. BEYOND has a few standard dimensions… 2×2,3×3,4×4. Custom preset dimensions allow you to make presets as they suit your needs.

The Log System is a debugging and problem troubleshooting tool. BEYOND keeps the log messages within it’s memory - We choose the memory, because from a “speed” standpoint, this is the most optimal place to keep these.

However, if BEYOND crashes, those messages will be lost. So, your alternative solution is to save each message to a file. This is not as fast, but it is (in some ways) more reliable.

If support requests you to do this - enable intensive mode, restart BEYOND, reproduce the problem, and send the log report to Pangolin.

Apply Master Animation Speed slider to Beat tempo - Beats should be controlled via the Metronome located within the main toolbar of BEYOND. However, some client’s may prefer to use the “Master Animation Speed” slider, to control “everything” including the Beat and Metronome. This option allows you to use Master Animation Speed as a multiplier (of speed control) of the beat.

Reset Master FX time on change - Resets the effect’s time after the change of Effect. In simple terms , the effect will start form beginning.

Round BPM value for Tap-tempo - Rounds the BPM value to an integer, without using a decimal point. Allow reflection in Physics - Controls “bouncing”. When values come to the bounce, it can stop at the maximum, or reflect and go back.

Reflection power (%) - During reflection, motion speed can be decreased, and reflection power can control this decrease of speed.

Preserve brightness in Color slider processing - The color slider in Lice Control originally was made to work as a recoloring device, without preserving the brightness level. Using this option, BEYOND will keep the brightness level of the original frame’s points.

Master Live Control before Zone Live Control - Defines the order of calculation. By default, the calculation order of Live Controls is Cue-Master-Zone.

“Size slider max value” and other controls in this panel are used for control of the maximum values of sliders in the Live Control panel.

Show Zoom panel - Shows the Zoom panel in the Live Control tab. Zoom is the last in calculation order. Size is first.

Show R-G-B-A panel - Shows the RGBA panel in the Live Control tab. The RGBA panel provides a bit more control than the Color slider. However, this panel takes more space because, and it is hidden by default.

Default time accumulation mode - Here you have four options - “Master - Use own FX time”, “Cue - Use own FX time”, “Zone - Use own FX time” and “ProTrack - Use own FX time”… Each defines a default state for the Time Control model. We recommend that you do not use “own time” by default. “Own time“ accumulation can inject possible accumulation errors and this may lead to desynchronization of your show. “Own time” is only required for independent speed control. BEYOND uses a dynamic method, and can enable “own time” automatically after changing the speed.

Dont Show “Some Controllers Disconnected” Message when laser controllers are disconnected - Notifications come up when controllers are disconnected, somteimes due to network issues you can have repeated connection and disconnections and can cause issues by the notification coming up, you can disable these notifications.

Show Dialog before enabling laser output from Dialog/editor - When using a content editor, and you click enable laser output, if your regular laser output isnt currently outputting, then it will ask are you sure, if you dont want to be asked and you want to enable immediately, you can disable this.

Ignore EntTEC error messages - EntTEC DMX devices report any possible errors to software, sometimes it can be a lot of error messaages even if the device is functioning fine for most users. You can ignore them to keep notifications down.

Flash tabs as notification of playback activity - This is the flassing bars you see all around BEYOND, like on content pages, under quick fx and more, if these are distracting for the user you can disable them here.

Here you can select if you want no notifications at all, a BEYOND/QS window, or as standard windows notifications.

The status bar is the bottom bar where you will see connected hardware and some extra status data on the bottom left.

Line number - Here you can set how many lines tall you want this bar to be, if you have a lot of laser projectors conencted, this can help you see them all. Maximum is 3.

Indicate Registration Status by Orange/red This is the registration status bars on the very left for licensing and registration window.

Indicate FPS range by color - This is where you will see FPS output from your hardware, as the fps gets lower the color goes from green to yellow to orange to red to help identify if things are running at low FPS for one reason or another, you can disable this behavior here

Indicate FB4 Streaming state by colors This will be the color of the text in the window, for status bar identifiers, disconnected being red, TV mode being yellow and more, you can learn more about this with the “FB4 status bar” page in this manual.

Custom Warning - This area aloows you set your own franges and point numbers for minimum and maximum for BEYOND to warn you using those colors stated above

Windows firewall by default will block FB4 data transmission, do combat this we have a tool which will correct these permissions, and every time BEYOND is started, it will check these settings to make sure nothing changed. This adds a small amount of time to startup, and you can disable this if you choose.

Never Delete Workspace and Timeline backup files - BEYOND automatically makes backup files of all your show files. However lots of backup files can create massive file sets which can take up lots of storage, if you do not want backups of every version of your show files, you can disable this and it will only keep a few and delete significantly old versions automatically.

Enable workspace compression - We can use compression to make your workspace file smaller, however this is only recommended when large files just cannot be transferred or fit, most users are not recommended to use this feature.

Validate Files after Saving - BEYOND will verify the integrity of show files when saved, this ensures your save did not get corrupted during the save, if it did not save correctly it will immediately let you know that the file was corrupted and you should save again. This warning has saved many people from corrupted files due to failing hard drives, and it is recommended to leave this enabled.

Use Frame Browser for Complex Animation files - This will force load of large frame files in the preview, usually the preview in the file loading window isn't used during large frame files to avoid lockup. If you have a fast hard drive you should be able to do large files without issue.

Simplified Open/Save dialog - Lowers options for saving and makes it easier if you desire.

Do not ask confirmation on exit from BEYOND - When closing beyond you will be asked are you sure? This may get in the way for pangoscript automations or times where clicking okay on exit may slow or break codes. You can disable it to immediately close BEYOND.

Disable Laser Output on Blackout - This will also disable laser output when the blackout button is pressed.

Stop Playing when switching between Grid / Timeline / Playlist - Normally when switching between different modes of BEYOND, playback will continue to prevent accidental stops during showtime playback. You can enable this if you want things to always stop outputting when switching between modes. Could be useful when programming, but may lead to unintended stops during showtime playback.

Always use vector oriented clipping for laser projections - When laser content goes off the edge of projection area, BEYOND will use the vector mode settings to compensate for the fall off. You can disable this to allow for points to not be smoothed or automatically adjusted for anchors and endpoints. Not recommended for most users.

Use Optimal performance mode for 10 or more projectors - In “Performance tuning” you have the ability to tell BEYOND how hard it should be hitting the computer system and network, when in Maximum, any issues with the PC or your network can become exaggerated quickly. By default, when more then 10 projectors are connected, BEYOND automatically goes to “optimal” performance mode which can work around hiccups and issues, and 95% of users don't notice the difference between the two in output. This helps keep issues down. You can disable this if you want to always run a more high-performance mode.

Show SMS Quick Tool - SMS quick tool in the quick tools and tabs are is hidden by default, enable this to show that tool in the tabs.

Use NickName in SMS - When running SMS you can choose to present the full name of a user send or shorthand versions.

Show Simple Frame Editor - When using BEYOND Advanced or Ultimate you have access to the advanced frame editor tool and likely wont use the simple tool, if you would like to see them both leave this checked.

Show LCADAT Menu - LCADAT is a virtual ADAT reading tool for old-school WAV based show files, which we can use to convert into frames that can be saved and altered in BEYOND. This tool is very niche and only in BEYOND Ultimate and is hidden by Default.

Minimum Size - In projector settings size options there is a minimum size to avoid zero size issues and safety issues. You can change this to zero if you prefer.

Mouse Mode - Windows allows both mouses and touchscreens. BEYOND will react differently to inputs from either, you can force touch and you can force mouse only if you are having issues, but auto should work for most.

Invert mouse wheel direction in Frame Editors - If you would like to invert your scroll directions for zooming in and out, you can do so with this checkbox.

DMX-IN Server Timeout (seconds) - This is how long without data output will disable when using DMX Server

Allow DMX IN toolbar button to control DMX-In related PangoScripts - By default, DMX in button only is related to live control tools like DMX in and DMX server, but pangoscrips take all DMX inputs either way. Check this button if you wish to disable all DMX reactions when that button is disabled.

Mandatory update the state after click on DMX-IN button When enabled, this will force a refresh for everything that is looking for DMX inputs to ensure things are correct. But may mess up “wait for” triggers if you need things to happen at exactly the right moment.

Make Enhanced reality preview as “always on top” window - This will force enhanced reality preview window to be on top of all other windows.

Make 'DisplayPopup“ window as stay-on-top window - For forcing the popup windows to always be on top, as sometimes they can get hidden behind other things and can be annoying.

Automatically enable laser output on start - Enables laser output on start as long as hardware is connected, this can be useful for startup automations.

Automatically start 1st cue on the 1st page - Starts playing the first cue in the workspace on startup, may be useful for installs where there is only a single constant sequence needed when running.

Automatically enable WebCam on Start - Starts the webcam service automatically, built mainly for installs where enabling the service should happen for that particular install.

Automatically enable DMX IN on start - Starts the DMX In feed automatically on startup, built for installs.

Inform about Problem Reports on start - Some installs may not want to have a prompt if there was problem logging on startup, and some users may want to ignore those prompts, this will not notify the user of issues if disabled.

Show MIDI Hints - When working in the midi tools, this will show hints and suggestions about how to use the tools and features related to midi functions.

Show tool-tips when the mouse over tools - These are the little hint windows that will popup when hovering over tools to explain their functions. Highly recommended to leave enabled unless you are extremely familiar with the tools, or just hate little windows I suppose.

Warn about multiple BEYOND or QuickShow applications in network - When checked this will notify you of other BEYOND or QS session that may exist on any of your network connections. This may help diagnose issues with controllers not connecting to your system, or issues that may occur with multiple systems sending data all at once.

Shift cursor position after Paste - This will move the cursor position to the end of pasted content when enabled.

Pangolin sends two types of builds to the in-software updater. Production builds and Beta builds. Production builds are normally known as stable and the build most users should be using. Beta builds that are sent while known not to have any major bugs, may still have some unknown bugs, but will include new cutting-edge features. As a user you can decide here which builds you would like to use. Its likely that bugs that have been found and fixed in the production builds are integrated into beta builds, and if you are experiencing a bug in a production build, its likely its already known and fixed in beta builds and pangolin support may advise you to try a beta build. There are many builds that are made internally that don't make it to the beta release in software, so while actually released beta builds are generally reliable, they remain unperfect.

Save Project before Export wizard when exporting to FB4, it will ask you to save your export project every time, this is to ensure you can easily export again if there is an export issue but may be annoying for those who repeatedly export. You can disable the forced save using this.

Automatically close Export window after the end of calculation - By default when exporting is done, it re-opens the project. If that is annoying to you, you can have it finish when closed.

Enable “kinect touch” in Universe - If using a version that supports Kinect, then you can use kinect distance to virtually touch and interact with things in your BEYOND Universe. The values are distance from zero value from Kinect

Force Vector Mode - This will force all incoming SDK frames to be processed as Vector frames and use the vector display settings on output.

Redirect SDK v1 Zone frames to Frame Port - This is a compatibility tool for things built for the V1 SDK tools to work with V2 SDK built into modern BEYOND versions, old versions forced zone identity numbers to content while new versions allow outputting to cues as well.

Timeout - Milliseconds before stopping output if stream for SDK ends.

User vector mode by default - When creating non laser fonts automatically it will use vector oriented settings to create the fonts.

Distributed scanning is a function in zones to distributed points in a frame between multiple lasers. Here you can determine the settings exactly if the defaults do not work for you. Minimum number of points is how many points each laser will use up before asking for asistance from the next laser. if you want to force use of more lasers on smaller frames you can lower this number. Beginning overlap and ending overlap are basically anchors oif movement before lasers are enabled to ensure scanners are scanning the exact right place without hot points. Segment overlap (visible points) is how many points two lasers will do on top of each other to smooth the transition between lasers in the frame.

Visualize using Preview Size/Pos instead of Geo correction - When checked, visualization stream will be sized and positioned using the preview settings instead of geometric correction, this will let you maintain your visualization and real life zoning in the same file if you would like to have your visualizer running while on your show.

Enable access to DMX Server from PangoScript - All DMX parameters for server control are only accessible via DMX, however with this checked, you can control those parameters from pangoscript as well, this may cause conflicts between multiple instructions.

Allow “RunApp” PangoScript command - The RunApp command encapsulates the ShellExec() functions of the Windows, that can start programs, open documents and in some cases, do dangerous things. For safety reasons this command is disabled. Enable it only if you need to, and make sure you understand all of the risks associated before doing so.

Lock Screen allows users to set the password for the lock screen in BEYOND. You can enable the Lock Screen under the system menu icon:

When BEYOND is locked, it will display this overlay and not allow any interaction with BEYOND until the password has been entered:

Just enter the password to disable the lock screen. When the password is correctly entered the lock overlay will immediately disappear.

NOTE: This only locks BEYOND and users will still be able to access the rest of the computer.

The network tab allows you to manually select which network adapters different protocols BEYOND uses or allow BEYOND to atomically detect and send.

Note: Not all visualizers will support BeamBrush in the visualization stream, if you are having issues with connection and output, try disabling BeamBrush output.

When importing LD2000 shows, you can decide if you want the frame list to be within one frame, or divided into different cues in the cue list for that show.

Enable Universe pad in the Center (grid) area - Shows the Universe in the center, as a fourth mode.

Enable Universe pad in the QuickTool area - Shows the Universe pad as a tab within the QuickTools area.

Enable Universe pad in the Right-tabs area - Shows the Universe pad as a tab within the Live Control area.

Enable Universe pad in the Preview area - Shows the Universe pad instead of the Preview window.

Automatically start U-MAX window after BEYOND starts - This is pretty much self explanatory. Password for exit from U-MAX - This is for permanent installations where the U-MAX window is used. It is required in order to exit the U-MAX window.

Show Pre-Cue zone selection - Shows the panel within the Cue properties dialog, Image tab, and the panel for zone selection. To reduce confusion, this panel is hidden by default.

Allow Cue zone selection be empty - Cue Zone settings overwrite the settings of an object placed in the Cue. If you leave Cue zone selection empty, then this will enable routing of multi zone Frames or Synths.

Enable External routing for Timelines in the Cue - Allows you to control the Show/Timeline destinations The same principles here, also apply to simple Image types. By default the timeline will ignore the Cue settings. 

Column number and Row number - Sets the dimensions of the Cue grid. Internally, BEYOND keeps the cues in the Page as a 1D list. The Page will show as many cues as it can fit into the Grid. After changing the dimensions, all cues stay as they are.

Column number and Row number - Sets the number of lines in the Effect Grid as well as the number of effects in line. The FX Grid (Effect gird) is constructed differently. The line may have up to 100 effects. The number of lines can also vary from 4 to 6.

Show Sms Tab - Allows you to show the SMS tab at all times, independently of IMU running. By default, this will be hidden until BEYOND detects that IMU is also running. If you want these options to show without IMU running, use this tab.

Show LCADAT Menu - Shows the LCADAT Menu within the Edit menu. LCADAT is not a frequently used tool and as such, this menu is hidden by default. So, use this tab, if you want this settings menu to display.

Timecode can be used in three main places - The grid, timeline, and Playlist. BEYOND offers four options where timecode can be used:

• Automatic depending on mode - Grid, Timeline, Playlist
• Always to Grid
• Always to Timeline
• Always to Playlist

The default option is Automatic, and we recommend that you leave it in this state. It only makes sense to change it if you use mixed combinations i.e. the Grid and Playlist or Grid and Timeline.

Enable MIDI timecode - MTC and MMC - Enables the use use of incoming MIDI time code. If this option is off, BEYOND will ignore these types of timecode messages.

Enable Art Net timecode - Enables the use of incoming MIDI time code. If this option is off, BEYOND will ignore these types of timecode messages.

Enable SNTC Synchronorm Timecode – Enables timecode from applications made by Synchronorm. Keep running even though timecode stops – Does not stop show playback if timecode messages stop being received.

Enable time smooth filter - BEYOND uses special filters that compensate various inconsistencies that may appear in timecode. When a filter is disabled, BEYOND will use timecode time “as is”, without any compensation. This may be required when using BEYOND with software made by Synchronorm. Note: When a filter is disabled, your laser output may appear distorted or “not smooth”.

Timecode timeout (seconds) - Specifies the maximum time that BEYOND will run without timecode. Once this time is reached, BEYOND will stop show playback. For more information, see Keep running even though timecode stops.

Outgoing timecode - BEYOND can generate two types of timecode – MIDI (MTC) and ArtNet timecode.

MIDI Time Code (MTC, Quarter Frames) - Specifies the MIDI device that will send MIDI messages. See the MIDI Settings dialog for more information.

Art-Net Time Code - Specifies the “DMX Out” that will send timecode. See the DMX Settings dialog for more information.

Timecode format - Specifies the number of messages per second: 24, 25 or 30

Video mask aspects - Allows you to control the amount of “mask” created by the laser portion of BEYOND, when using it together with video - Basically, this is where you control the masking of laser together with video.

The laser users a square coordinate system 1:1. The video (as a rule) uses 3:4 (or a similar ratio).

The mask for video is stretched as a result, and this might not look correct when you go to display video together with laser.

As such, we’ve included sliders for “size X and size Y” and this will allow you to change the proportions of the laser frame, so that it matches the video.