Help and lighting know-how.
76 articles anyone can read, no account needed: getting started, lighting know-how, SoundSwitch, troubleshooting. The 146 feature guides are shown here as a summary, in full after signing up for free.
Getting started free to read
What Droplit does, what you need and how to open your first project.
- What is Droplit?Droplit builds light shows for SoundSwitch without programming effect after effect. You pick a slot, a mood and colors. Droplit turns that into a show for exactly your lights and saves it to your SoundSwitch project.free to read
- What you needFor Droplit you need a SoundSwitch project with your lights.free to read
- Getting started in the web versionThe web version runs in Chrome or Edge and needs a free account. Once it's set up, you're in your project with a few clicks.free to read
- Sharing your SoundSwitch folder or a projectIn the web version, the designer works directly with your SoundSwitch projects. To do that, you share them with the browser once: either the whole folder with your projects or just a single project. Nothing gets uploaded.free to read
- Opening and switching projectsOn the start page you choose the SoundSwitch project you want to design. After that you see your lights, banks and songs in the Overview.free to read
- Set up together – the video coach“Set up together” walks you through the first setup with short videos. Each step plays as a video first, then it’s your turn – in your own designer, with your project. The coach watches along, notices when a step is done, and shows you the way out by itself when something gets stuck.free to read
- Build your first Autoloop – video and coachIn the video you build an Autoloop step by step: pick a slot, mood, colors, fine-tuning, length and variants, 3D view, saving, and how to find it in SoundSwitch. About 6 minutes; the chapters are below the video.free to read
- Build a Static Look – video and coachIn the video you build a Static Look for the first dance: pick a slot, look mood, your lights in this look, Thru, moving heads, gobo and prism, fade in and out, saving, and how to find it in SoundSwitch. About 5 minutes.free to read
- Build a show for your song – video and coachIn the video you build a light show for one song: find the song, share your music folder, mood and colors, song parts, song concept, saving, and how it plays in SoundSwitch. About 4½ minutes.free to read
- The “Getting started” assistantThe “Getting started” assistant sets up a project with unknown lights in six short steps: check your lights, lay out your setup, gobos, a test on the real rig and your first show.free to read
- Your original stays untouchedThe designer never writes to your original. The first time you save, it creates a copy of your project and only saves there from then on.free to read
- Changing the languageDroplit is available in English and German. English is the default, and you can switch with two clicks.free to read
- Finding helpThere are short guides for every page. The help panel shows you the matching ones right away, and the search finds the rest.free to read
- What's new: new features and how to try themNew features, improvements and fixed bugs are collected under “What's new”. Every entry comes with short steps to try it, and the designer shows you the spot on the page.free to read
- Keyboard shortcuts at a glanceThe most important keys in Droplit at a glance. On a Mac use ⌘, on Windows use Ctrl.free to read
Projects & banks summaries
Your banks as pads, the check for what's missing, existing shows and copies.
- The Overview: banks and padsAfter you open a project, you land in the Overview. It shows the banks of your SoundSwitch project as pads, much like on a controller, and you pick the slot you want to design.Summary
- Banks and slotsSoundSwitch organizes Autoloops and Static Looks in banks of 32 slots each. Droplit shows the same banks and names as SoundSwitch and writes to exactly the slot you choose.Summary
- Filling an empty slot with a new showA pad with “+” is a free slot. When you tap it, Droplit immediately builds a first show for your lights. You adjust it in the Studio and then save it to SoundSwitch.Summary
- Opening and editing an existing showTo open a show that’s already in SoundSwitch, tap its pad. Droplit loads it exactly as it’s saved in SoundSwitch and plays it in the preview.Summary
- Renaming, deleting or moving a showDroplit builds and changes shows in their slot. You can rename a show in the Studio. Deleting and moving aren’t part of Droplit; you do that in SoundSwitch.Summary
- Switching projectsAt the top left, next to “Droplit”, the project button shows which project you’re working in. It takes you back to the project list at any time.Summary
- The automatic copy “… Show-Designer”Droplit never writes to your original project. The first time you save, it creates a copy and saves everything there from then on. That keeps your original safe if anything goes wrong.Summary
- Your lights in the OverviewThe “Your rig” section stays at the bottom left. Its list “Your lights” shows every fixture group Droplit found in your project, each with an icon and a count. From here you get to all the settings for your fixtures.Summary
- The “What’s missing” status lightAt the top right, a status light shows whether your project is ready. Tapping it opens the list “What’s missing and what you should know”, which tells you how to sort out each point.Summary
- Fixtures on universe 2DMX addresses above 512 belong to DMX universe 2. Many templates park fixtures there that don’t really exist. That’s why Droplit asks whether you really have lights on universe 2.Summary
- Moving heads without positionsMoving heads need positions such as “Dance floor” so a show knows where to point them. If they’re missing, the status light tells you and offers the right fix.Summary
- Missing gobo images: finding a fixture profileTo show real gobo images in the preview and offer “Gobo, rotation & prism” in the Studio, Droplit needs a fixture profile for your moving heads. If it’s missing, you find it through the status light.Summary
- Project is open in SoundSwitchSoundSwitch writes an open project back to disk when it saves or switches projects. That would overwrite your new shows from Droplit. So Droplit doesn’t save to a project that SoundSwitch has open.Summary
Studio: designing shows summaries
Moods, color palettes, sliders, variants, preview and saving to SoundSwitch.
- The Studio at a glanceIn the Studio you design a show for exactly one slot: pick a mood, adjust the colors and a few sliders, watch the preview and save to SoundSwitch. For most shows, that’s all you need.Summary
- Customize your layoutYou decide what the Studio shows: hide sections, collapse them, reorder them (also into the other column), drag their height and make their content larger or smaller. You can also make the preview taller and the columns wider. The Studio remembers all of it for every Autoloop, Static Look and song show.Summary
- Fill bank“Fill bank” fills empty pads with Autoloops and Static Looks that suit your event and your lights. You decide how much you want to do yourself: everything automatic, a quick look, pad by pad, or playing the show together live from scenes.Summary
- Just say it (AI)With “Just say it” you describe the light you want in one sentence, for example “first dance, romantic, rosé and gold, slow movers”. The AI then sets the mood, colors and sliders, and the designer builds the show as usual. You can also name single lights and moments, for example “uplights red, movers white, strobe in the second chorus”.Summary
- Show rules: limits, favorites and no-gosShow rules let you decide once what Droplit should use, what it should avoid and where the limit is. Everything it builds afterwards follows them: moods, song shows, the Fill assistant, the Look assistant and AI. You can lift any rule for a single case.Summary
- Control it with your own ClaudeYou can also control Droplit from your own Claude (claude.ai, the desktop app or the phone app). Tell Claude what you have in mind, for example “Make me an autoloop for the first dance, rosé and gold, slow movers”. Claude then sets it up in your open designer, and you see every change live. It runs on your own Claude account and does not count towards the AI requests on this website.Summary
- Set up step by step (interview)The interview lets you set up a show without writing a sentence: you tap answers and the preview shows the change right away. It starts very simple (feeling and colors) and goes into as much detail as you like, for example “moving heads circling in the second chorus, with a gobo”. The interview doesn't use an AI request and works without AI.Summary
- Suggest a song concept (AI)For a song show, Claude comes up with a concept made just for this song at the press of a button: an idea with a name (for example “Dance Hall 1963”), its own colors, and for every song part a mood, energy, movement, gobo and one or two signature effects. So not every song looks the same.Summary
- Rating AI results (thumbs up/down)Below the results of “Just say it” and “Suggest a concept” you can use thumbs up or down to say whether the result worked for you. This shows us how well the AI hits the mark, and we improve its instructions exactly where it misses. This is only available on the website.Summary
- Share preview (link for the couple)With “Share preview” you send a link to a couple, for example. There they see your show in 3D, can like it and write comments – without signing in. Several shows go into one folder, such as “First dance”, “Cake & speech” and “Party”. This is only available on the website.Summary
- Choosing a moodA mood builds a complete show that fits your lights. You tap it, and Droplit spreads colors, brightness, chases and movement across your fixture groups.Summary
- Color palette and your own colorsEvery show uses a color palette of six colors. Another palette recolors the whole show without changing its structure or effects. Instead of a ready-made palette, you can also choose each of the six colors yourself.Summary
- Taking colors from a photoWith “From photo” you take the colors of the decor, for example from a photo of the table decor, the bridal bouquet or the venue. Your browser works out six colors that look good on LEDs and sets them as the show's own colors.Summary
- Energy, movement and base lightThree sliders fine-tune a mood: how wild the show is, how much the moving heads move, and how dark it may get in between.Summary
- Length and variantsThe length sets how many bars an Autoloop lasts. Variants give you a different mix of the same mood without switching moods.Summary
- Warmer, Cooler, Subtler, PunchierThe buttons under “A bit more …” tell Droplit which direction to go, without touching sliders or colors.Summary
- Family party safetyFamily party safety limits strobe and fast pulsing to three flashes per second at most and keeps the moving heads gentle. That keeps the show comfortable for guests who are sensitive to fast flashing.Summary
- Setup test loopThe setup test is an Autoloop for checking your rig. It lights up every fixture on its own, so during setup you see right away whether the order and addresses are right.Summary
- Preview: 2D, 3D and playbackThe preview plays the show while you design it. You see it as a flat front view (2D) or in the 3D visualizer with your setup.Summary
- Moving fixtures in the 3D previewIf a light in the 3D preview doesn’t match your real setup, you can move it to the right place right in the Studio. The show keeps playing while you do.Summary
- Setting single fixturesFor advanced users: under “Set single fixtures” you select specific fixtures and give them their own brightness, color or movement. These settings sit on top of the mood and win.Summary
- Moves for moving headsOnce you’ve selected moving heads under “Set single fixtures”, you can give them their own movement under “Moves”, e.g. circling, a sweep or a fixed position.Summary
- Setting gobo, rotation and prismFor selected moving heads you set the gobo, gobo rotation and prism per fixture model. Droplit turns this into its own Attribute Cues for SoundSwitch.Summary
- Look Assistant: scenes, desk, pianoThe Look Assistant sets up your Static Looks the way you want to play on the night. It reads your SoundSwitch version from the project, asks what you play on and builds finished banks for you to try out.Summary
- Designing a Static LookA Static Look is a fixed lighting mood for a special moment, such as the first dance, a speech or the cake. In the Studio you set every fixture group – or every single fixture – with everything it can do: intensity, color, strobe, position, movement (circle, figure 8 …), gobo, rotation, prism, focus, zoom and all other channels. On top of that come fade in and fade out times for the whole look.Summary
- Saving to SoundSwitch“Save to SoundSwitch” writes the show to exactly the slot you chose in the Overview. Then you open the project in SoundSwitch and find the show there.Summary
Song shows summaries
Light shows for single songs: finding the song, song parts, analysis and music in the web version.
- What is a song show?A song show is a light show for exactly one song. It follows the song's structure with calm parts, build-ups and drops, and plays along in SoundSwitch automatically as soon as you load the song.Summary
- Song studio – parts, zones, notes and effect chainsThe song page works like a lighting console: tools on the left, the stage in the middle, below it the song as part cards and as a timeline with the beatgrid. On the right you adjust whatever you tapped below – the whole song, a part, a zone or a single note.Summary
- Your song is missing from the listThe song list only shows songs that SoundSwitch has already created a script file for. SoundSwitch creates this file once you open the song there, place an effect and save.Summary
- Choosing and opening a song“Songs” lists every song that SoundSwitch has set up for a show. Tap a song to open it in the Studio.Summary
- Song analysis: beatgrid, drops and breaksTo make the show fit the music, Droplit takes the beatgrid from SoundSwitch and listens to the audio file hit by hit. From that it builds the song parts Calm, Groove, Build-up, Drop and Breakdown, and the special moments: hard hits, drum passages, breaks, fills and impacts.Summary
- Special moments: hits, breaks and impacts in the lightThe mood builds the look for every song part. On top of that, Droplit now listens to every single hit and plays up the spots a lighting designer would program by hand: hard hits of the whole band, drum passages, breaks, fills, the impact after a build and the ending.Summary
- Moment workshop: timeline, loop and your own momentsThe timeline shows the music as a waveform with the bar grid, and below it the “Moments” row with all special moments. Tap a moment and the music jumps there and plays that spot in a loop – with the lights in the preview. On the right you choose what the lights do there, turn the moment off, or tell the AI in one sentence. You drag your own moments right in the “Moments” row.Summary
- Adjusting song partsIn the song studio you see the song in parts – intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, solo, finale, end. You can listen to each part, lock it, reroll it or give it its own mood, e.g. every chorus “Wild” and the rest “Party”. The designer finds the parts without AI, straight from the music.Summary
- Basic structure from the song analysisIn Effect lanes, “Basic structure from song analysis” fills the whole song at once with building blocks from the effect library: a matching block for every drop, every groove and every calm part. Then you keep refining the clips.Summary
- Music in the web version (share your music folder)SoundSwitch remembers where each song's music file is, for example on your external drive. A browser isn't allowed to. It only reads folders you've shared with it once. So share the folder or drive with your music once. After that Droplit finds every song by itself, exactly the file SoundSwitch uses.Summary
- Playing a song show with musicThe best way to check a song show is with the real music. In the Studio and in Effect lanes the preview then runs exactly on the song's beat, and you can jump straight to the drop or the breakdown.Summary
- Saving a song show and checking it in SoundSwitchWhen you save, Droplit writes your show into the song's script. In SoundSwitch it then plays automatically as soon as you load the song. Your original stays untouched.Summary
Effect lanes & effect studio summaries
Timeline, lanes, generator, effect studio, moving head targets and your own effects.
- Opening Effect lanes and going back to the StudioIn Effect lanes you edit a show effect by effect on a timeline. You start in the Studio with a mood and then refine single spots in Effect lanes.Summary
- Look programmer: Static Looks like on a lighting consoleWhen you open a Static Look in Table, you get the look programmer: every fixture is a row, every channel a column – intensity, color, strobe, position, movement, gobo, prism, focus and everything else. Thru is hatched. On the right you set everything the selected fixtures can do – across all groups.Summary
- How Effect lanes are laid outEffect lanes have four areas: the preview at the top left, groups and tools on the right, and the timeline below. You save in the header at the top. For songs the lanes sit right in the Song Studio at the Everything level.Summary
- Editing lanes and clipsThe timeline shows one or more layers (lanes) per fixture group. Clips sit on them: colored bars that play an effect for a certain time.Summary
- Master lane and color palette changesThe master lane affects all fixture groups at once. Use it to set a base mood, e.g. a cool verse and a warm chorus, and add accents in the groups on top.Summary
- Editing one group or single fixturesWith many lanes the timeline fills up quickly. Group focus shows just one fixture group. With “Single fixtures” every fixture in the group gets its own timeline.Summary
- Adding effects from the libraryThe effect library holds ready-made effects and building blocks. Drag them onto a lane, or tap them and they land at the playhead.Summary
- Setting a clip's propertiesIn the “Properties” tab you set everything about a clip: effect, fixtures, start, length, colors and speed. With no clip selected, it shows the settings and checks of the whole show.Summary
- Base effects: what each effect doesEvery clip in Effect lanes is based on a base effect. Ready-made effects from the library, the generator and the effect studio are presets of these base effects. This article explains what each base effect does and which settings it has.Summary
- Generator: creating effects in a few clicksThe generator builds effects for a group from a few settings: movement, color, brightness and gobo. After generating it stays live, so you see every change in the preview right away.Summary
- Effect studio: building effects in a big windowThe effect studio is a big window for one fixture group. On the left you see only these fixtures in the preview, on the right every choice as a card with a small running preview. Only “✓ Keep” puts the effect into the timeline.Summary
- Fine-tuning effects, colors with white, amber and UVEvery card in the effect studio has fine settings like direction, speed or width. You take colors from the color palette or mix them in the color wheel, including white LED, amber and UV.Summary
- Painting pixel zones and controlling single columnsPixel fixtures like tubes or bars have many cells you can control one by one. In the effect studio you split them into up to four zones (A–D) and give each zone its own effect, e.g. a pulse at the bottom and rings at the top.Summary
- Pixel map: fixtures & layoutThe pixel map shows every fixture with several individually controllable cells the way it really looks and hangs: tube, stick, bar, matrix, ring, sun, spider or bee eye. Effects then run the right way round and, if you like, across all fixtures.Summary
- Chase generator: chasers, color and movement chases across the whole rigThe chase generator builds chases across the whole rig or across fixtures you select. Brightness, color and movement are separate layers that you combine. Before you add anything, you see exactly what will happen: in the stage plan, in the 3D preview, as a plain sentence and as a score over time.Summary
- A sequence with several looks: “What happens next?”An effect doesn't have to stay the same the whole time. In the strip “What happens next?” you create several looks, e.g. first a color chase on the dance floor, then circles on the back wall, and decide how they take turns.Summary
- Choosing and changing mover targets in the top viewIn the effect studio you see every position of your moving heads as a top view: where do the beams really land, on the dance floor, the back wall or the mirror ball? If a target is off, you aim again right in the 3D preview.Summary
- Saving custom effects and building blocksOnce a clip is set up the way you like it, save it as a custom effect. Several clips together become a building block. You'll find both in the effect library under “Custom”.Summary
- Undo, redo and keyboard shortcutsAlmost everything in Effect lanes also works with the keyboard. Undo and redo are also available as buttons above the timeline.Summary
- Saving and checks in Effect lanesFrom Effect lanes you save straight to SoundSwitch without going back to the Studio. The checks in “Properties” tell you beforehand whether the show is complete.Summary
Live mode summaries
Shows in action: playing live, connecting a controller, microphone beat and running order.
- Opening live modeLive mode plays all Autoloops, static looks and song shows of your project on the 3D stage, and you control them the way you do on the night: on the computer, on the PRIME 4 or on the Control One. That way you see how your shows work together before the gig.Summary
- Live Desk: control your show while you DJThe Live Desk is your own MIDI surface for SoundSwitch: on your computer, tablet and phone. It comes mapped to your show, with the names and colors of your loops and looks. There is nothing to learn or map.Summary
- Spot Director: guide your movers from your phone on the nightWith Spot Director you guide your moving heads from your phone or tablet during the event. Tap the floor and all selected heads go there together. Drag your finger and they follow the couple across the dance floor.Summary
- Choosing the controls: Perform, PRIME 4, Control One, StageAt the top of live mode you choose what the controls look like. Each layout recreates a device, so you pick your shows the same way you do on the night.Summary
- Playing Autoloops and static looks liveIn the “Perform” layout you see SoundSwitch 2.11 in Performance mode, just like on your laptop after clicking “MIDI”: the same tabs, buttons, colors and spacing. You play Autoloops and static looks there just as on the night.Summary
- Overrides: color, strobe, blackout and moreOverrides sit on top of everything that is running. Use them to color everything in one color, trigger strobe, black out, aim the moving heads or set the brightness. They only affect the preview, like the buttons of the same name in SoundSwitch.Summary
- How the layers work togetherLive mode mixes your shows in three layers, like SoundSwitch 2.11: the base layer at the bottom, static looks above it, overrides on top. Once you know the idea, you understand why a light looks the way it does.Summary
- What the stage shows: card and tagsThe top left of the stage always shows what is running. The card shows the base layer, so the Autoloop or the song show. Below it, small tags show everything else that is active: waiting loops, looks that are on, and overrides. This is the same in every layout.Summary
- Live settingsIn the live settings you decide when Autoloops change, how looks are layered and whether family party safety is on. The settings apply to all projects in this browser.Summary
- PRIME 4 and PRIME 4 G2: Engine Lighting recreatedThe “PRIME 4” layout shows the Denon DJ PRIME 4+ or the PRIME 4 G2 as in the manufacturer’s photo, with Engine Lighting on the touchscreen. On the PRIME 4 and PRIME 4+ you control the lights on the touchscreen only, on the G2 also with the pads.Summary
- Control One recreatedThe “Control One” layout shows the SoundSwitch Control One the way it sits on your desk: upright to the right of the stage, button for button from the manufacturer’s photo. Like on the real unit, the pads carry no names. They only light up in their color.Summary
- Beat and tempo: tap, BPM and the downbeatAutoloops run to the beat. In live mode you set the tempo yourself, let the microphone listen or play a song from the project. This article covers setting it by hand.Summary
- Microphone listensWith “Microphone listens”, the computer listens to the music in the room through its microphone and follows the beat, like a lighting desk’s sound-to-light. That way the Autoloops run in time even when the music comes from another device.Summary
- Playing music from the projectIn live mode you can play a song from your project. If it has a light show, the show runs with the music. For all other songs your Autoloops run to the song’s beat, just like on the night with Engine DJ.Summary
- Preparing and playing the evening run sheetIn the evening run sheet you set up the moments of an evening as steps, e.g. reception drinks, first dance and party. Each step remembers what should run. The space bar moves on to the next step, like a cue list.Summary
- Showing the stage: camera, full screen, projector, recordingFor client meetings or just to try things out, you can show the stage large, on a second screen or as a video. The tools are at the bottom right of the stage.Summary
- Keyboard shortcuts in live modeThe keyboard is faster than the mouse in live mode. The main keys work in every layout; the pad keys depend on the layout you picked.Summary
- What’s different on the real deviceLive mode recreates the devices as closely as manuals and reviews allow. Some limits only exist on the real device, though, and there are things the preview can’t know. Here is what to watch out for.Summary
Fixtures, stage & 3D summaries
3D visualizer, editing the setup, stands, furniture and decor, moving head positions and floor plan.
- The workbench: setting up the visualizer with the toolbar on the leftThe visualizer has a new layout: instead of one long sidebar and lots of buttons at the top, there is a toolbar on the left with seven areas. Only one area is open at a time, and the 3D view stays large next to it. At the top you see which location and which setup are loaded, and the search gets you to any function in two seconds.Summary
- Opening and using the 3D visualizerThe 3D visualizer shows your lights on a virtual stage. You see what SoundSwitch or Droplit is sending to your fixtures right now, and you can rebuild your real setup.Summary
- Fixtures & stage in Droplit“Fixtures & stage” is the full 3D visualizer right inside Droplit. This is where you set up your stage and hide fixtures that your shows shouldn't use.Summary
- Choosing the source: SoundSwitch, Designer or test patternAt the top right of the 3D view you choose where the light values come from. You either watch live what SoundSwitch sends to your fixtures, or the preview from Droplit.Summary
- Fixture details and DMX monitorClick a fixture to see its address, its mode and all channel values live. The DMX monitor adds all 512 channels of a universe at a glance.Summary
- Recording the 3D view as a videoThe visualizer can record the 3D view as a video. That way you can show a couple or an event planner in advance how the light show will look.Summary
- Editing the setup: the basicsIn edit mode you place truss, stands and booth the way they stand at your gig and put the fixtures on them. The visualizer then shows your shows from exactly this setup.Summary
- Check lights, packing list, capacity and package comparisonUnder “Check” you see at a glance whether your setup works: six rows from load to house rules, each with a traffic light. Below that you get the packing list to tick off and compare two setups side by side – to show in the client meeting, with picture, price and facts. Under “Location” you see how many guests really fit at tables there.Summary
- Furnish the room automatically, guests and the day's scheduleThe visualizer furnishes the hall to suit the occasion: dance floor in front of the booth, tables with place settings and centerpieces, buffet, bar with bartender, high-top tables, lounge, photo booth and more. Then you jump through the day with one click, from the reception through dinner to the party, and see the room each time with the right guests and the right light.Summary
- Check and present: sight lines, sound, cables, take a seat, video, sunsetSix tools help you check a setup before the gig and show it to the couple. You'll find them in the bar on the left under “Check” (“Sight lines”, “Sound”, “Cables & power”), “Film” (“Film studio”, “Take a seat”) and “Event” (“Date & sun”). The overlays disappear as soon as you close or switch the area. On top of that, there's the photo look with ChatGPT in the “Location” area.Summary
- Film studio: a flythrough of the day as a videoThe film studio turns your setup into a short film: scene by scene through the day, from setup through the reception and dinner to the party, with camera moves, your music on the beat, a title and credits. You end up with an MP4 to send to the couple or post on social media.Summary
- Setting up truss, stands and DJ boothTruss, stands, totems and the DJ booth hold your fixtures. You put them on stage with a click or by dragging, and adjust height, length and rotation.Summary
- Building truss rigs and DJ boothsYou can build complete rigs from truss: goalpost, double goalpost, truss arch, box, U shape, roof over the dance floor, circle and crank stands. For the DJ booth you pick one of many builds, from a scrim facade to an LED booth, many of them with a TV at the front. The sizes come from real products.Summary
- Putting fixtures on truss and standsFixtures hang on or stand on the holders you've set up. Drag them onto a holder: they snap on and then move along with it.Summary
- Setting up several fixtures at onceWhen you select several fixtures, you set them up in one go. On the right you get the “For all selected” box with every setting that works for each selected fixture. A change there applies to all of them.Summary
- Tipping fixtures, mounting them sideways and checking with the test beamReal fixtures rarely hang perfectly straight. Pars point at the dance floor at an angle, moving heads sit sideways on a truss leg. In the setup you set a free angle for every fixture. The test beam shows you right away where it shines.Summary
- Match orientation – when moving heads really point somewhere elseThe preview uses the same pan/tilt values as SoundSwitch. If the heads still point somewhere else here than in your venue, they're mounted differently than in the 3D setup: rotated by 90° (display facing sideways instead of forward), pan runs the other way, or they hang instead of standing. “Match orientation” works this out. You show once where the heads really point, and the setup is rotated to match.Summary
- Hanging or standing a mirror ballThe mirror ball turns all the time and throws light dots onto the floor and walls. It hangs from the ceiling or truss, or stands on a stand.Summary
- Arranging, mirroring and duplicating objects“Arrange” lines up several objects with one click: mirrored around the booth, on a line, in an arc or circle around the dance floor, in a grid, or at the same height.Summary
- Checking the load on stands and trussThe visualizer adds up the weight of the fixtures on stands and truss and compares it with the manufacturer's spec. A bar shows whether it fits. For truss this is a guide value – always check your manufacturer's load table.Summary
- Adding furniture, guests and decorBesides the gear, you can place tables, rows of chairs, a bar, buffets, a dance floor, guests and decor. You see how light and gobos look in a full room, and the floor plan counts tables and chairs for you.Summary
- Building stage risersStage risers lift the booth, stands and fixtures. Anything standing on a riser automatically stands higher and moves along when you move the riser.Summary
- Locations: barn, ballroom, open air – or your real locationWith locations, your setup looks like it's in a real hall: brick and roof truss in the barn, chandeliers in the ballroom, a starry sky in the garden. Light, gobos and the mirror ball land on real walls. Start with a template or rebuild your location from whatever you have: photos, a 360° image, a floor plan or a 3D scan. Everything can be combined.Summary
- Adding a balcony or galleryMany venues have a balcony or gallery. If you add it to your setup, stands and fixtures on it sit as high as in real life, and you see how the light falls into the hall from above.Summary
- Fine-tune a location: size, ceiling, materials, windows, lightsA template is just the start. When fine-tuning, you set size, ceiling shape, materials, colors, windows, columns and decor so the location matches your real hall. You see every change right away in the 3D view.Summary
- Recognize a location from photos (AI) or rebuild it with ChatGPTYou have photos of the hall, a link to the venue's website or just a description? Then you don't have to set up the location by hand. “Analyze photos (AI)” recognizes the kind of room, materials, colors and furnishings right in the visualizer. “Rebuild with ChatGPT” runs for free through your own ChatGPT. Either way, you first see the result as a preview in 3D.Summary
- Match a photo: your setup in the real hallWith “Match a photo” you take a normal photo of the location, for example from your phone from the guests' view. On it you mark a rectangle on the floor whose size you know. From that, the visualizer works out where the camera stood and lays the photo onto walls, floor and ceiling. In the “Photo view”, your setup then looks as if it was photographed in the real hall.Summary
- 360° photo: the whole location from one imageA 360° photo shows the whole hall from one spot. The visualizer lays it onto walls, floor and ceiling. When room size and camera position match, the hall looks like the photo, and your lights shine onto it.Summary
- Distribute uplights: all lamps with one click“Distribute uplights” places all your uplights around the room at once, instead of dragging each lamp. Set the number of lamps and pick a pattern, and the rest happens by itself. A group is one DMX address: all lamps in a group show the same light. The number of groups comes from your patch.Summary
- Floor plan and surfaces from photosWith a floor plan, the hall gets the right size and the plan lies on the floor to scale. Tables, stage and bar from the plan help you place your setup. With “Surface from a photo” you use the venue's real wallpaper, tiles or carpet as a tile.Summary
- Load and line up a 3D scan of the locationA 3D scan is the real location as a model. You scan the hall with your phone, load the file as GLB, and the scan replaces walls, ceiling and floor. Your lights then shine onto the real location.Summary
- Room settings: hall, ceiling, wall color, lightWithout a location, you set up a simple room here: hall size, ceiling, wall color and room light. For real materials, ceiling shapes, photos and 3D scans, use a location.Summary
- Aiming moving heads in the setupWhile setting up, you check here where your moving heads can reach and how big their light circle is on the floor. It's a planning aid for stand height and position.Summary
- Setting mover positionsSoundSwitch shows send moving heads and scanners to named positions such as “Stage Left” or “Crossed In Down”. Here you set with a click where your movers point in each position, and which positions shows may use at all.Summary
- Remove “Invert P/T” from SoundSwitch without redoing your positionsIn SoundSwitch you can reverse pan and tilt for each moving head under “Edit Positions” (“Invert P/T”). Many people use it so every other head circles the other way. If you simply turn it off in SoundSwitch later, these heads point mirrored in all positions and you'd have to set every position again. Droplit does it for you: it turns the checkbox off and converts all positions so the heads still aim exactly at the same spots.Summary
- Duplicate fixtures (several fixtures on one DMX address)Often several real fixtures share one DMX address, e.g. 32 uplights on 4 addresses, or two moving heads left and right of the DJ booth. “Duplicate” lets you show all of them in the visualizer, each copy with the same values as its original.Summary
- Saving and loading setups as presetsA preset is a slot for a complete setup. That way you can bring back, for example, “Small wedding” and “Big gala” with one click.Summary
- Printing the floor planThe floor plan shows your setup from above with numbered fixtures and a patch list. Printed or as a PDF, it helps you and your crew set up on site.Summary
Fixture profiles & rig summaries
How Droplit recognizes your lights, roles, gobos, profiles and missing fixtures.
- How Droplit recognizes your lightsDroplit reads your SoundSwitch project and builds your rig from it: which fixtures there are, what they can do, which groups they belong to and in which order they stand. You don't have to create anything by hand.Summary
- Roles: what a fixture does in showsThe role decides what a fixture does in your shows. The designer assigns it when it recognizes your rig, and if it got something wrong, you change it with a few clicks.Summary
- Roles & order: check groups and rolesIn the “Roles & order” window you check and change what the designer recognized from your patch: groups, order, roles, moving heads, positions and gobo mapping.Summary
- Taking over your rig in another projectA checked rig doesn't only apply to copies with exactly the same patch. If you open a project where your fixtures are patched a little differently, the designer takes over groups, roles and order from the most similar rig you have already checked.Summary
- Hiding fixtures you don't bringNot every fixture in your patch comes to every gig. If you hide it, it disappears from the 3D view and the floor plan, and in “Fixtures & stage” the shows leave it out too.Summary
- Sparks and hazeFor safety reasons, Droplit never controls spark machines, fog machines and hazers, flames, CO2, confetti or bubble machines. You keep triggering them yourself in SoundSwitch.Summary
- Parked fixtures and universe 2Addresses above 512 belong to DMX universe 2, where many SoundSwitch templates park fixtures that don't actually exist. That's why the designer leaves them out until you tell it they're really there.Summary
- Fixture profiles: gobos, prism, zoomA fixture profile tells the visualizer which DMX value means which gobo, rotation and prism, because SoundSwitch doesn't store this. Without a profile, the visualizer shows placeholder gobos and estimates the values.Summary
- Add new fixtures to existing AutoloopsAn Autoloop only contains the fixtures that were patched when it was made. If you add a fixture later, its track stays empty. With this tool the new fixture gets the track of another fixture in all Autoloops.Summary
- Adding a profile from the fixture databaseThe fixture database holds about 1,800 free profiles from the QLC+ library. For many moving heads you'll find a matching profile there in two clicks.Summary
- Real gobos from a GDTF fileGDTF is an open file format in which manufacturers describe their fixtures. A GDTF file brings the real gobo images, plus DMX ranges, pan/tilt, zoom and strobe.Summary
- Create a fixture with ChatGPT (fastest way)If the fixture database doesn't find your fixture, the fastest way is to create it with ChatGPT. An assistant briefly asks for the manufacturer, model, user manual, links and photos and packs everything into a ZIP file with precise instructions. You upload it to ChatGPT. ChatGPT gives you a result ZIP that you upload here – then the fixture is complete: 3D shape, size, weight, housing color, colors, gobos, prisms and all DMX modes, and for multi-part fixtures every part in its place.Summary
- No profile found: upload the manualIf a moving head has no fixture profile, the designer reports it under “What's missing”. If you find nothing in the fixture database, upload the manual and we'll build the profile from it.Summary
- Test a fixture profile on the real fixtureA fixture profile tells the visualizer which DMX value shows which gobo, color and prism. With the fixture test you check once on the real fixture that it's right. The Designer writes a test sequence to SoundSwitch, you tap pad by pad and say “Correct” or “Wrong” for each step.Summary
- Choosing the fixture shape (e.g. spider wash)The fixture shape decides how a fixture looks in the 3D view. This helps when a fixture is patched in SoundSwitch with a simple profile, e.g. a spider wash as a 6-channel uplight.Summary
- Fixture catalog: real 3D models and housing colorsThe fixture catalog knows fixtures from over 400 brands, including Eurolite, ADJ, Chauvet DJ, Cameo, LightmaXX, Stairville, Betopper, SHEHDS, beamZ, Showtec, Varytec and U'King. For the main brands the data comes from the manufacturer; other models are basic entries with typical dimensions. For every fixture it has the shape, dimensions, LED layout and housing colors. The visualizer uses it to draw your fixtures the way they really look: a flat par in its bracket, a battery uplight, a bee-eye mover or a white moving head.Summary
- Combo fixtures (GigBAR, KLS Laser Bar, Multi FX Bar …)Combo fixtures have several kinds of light in one unit: pars, derbys, lasers, strobe LEDs and sometimes moving heads or scanners. The visualizer shows them as one fixture with every part where it really sits, so they look like the real thing.Summary
- Wrong DMX mode detectedMany fixtures have several DMX modes with different channel counts. If the mode in the visualizer doesn't match the one set on the fixture, values land on the wrong channels.Summary
- Colors look different than on screenThe visualizer mixes colors like real LEDs, not like a color picker on a screen. That's why some mixed colors look different in 3D than in the designer's color swatch – but the way they'll look in the room.Summary
Lighting know-how free to read
What makes a good show: colours, movement, setup and how to pace an evening.
- Colors that work togetherGood shows get by with few colors. Two main colors plus white as an accent cover most of a song. What matters is which two you pick and where they land.free to read
- Why variety mattersA show works through contrast. If every light runs all the time, everything ends up looking the same and the big moment gets lost. Dark, calm stretches are what make a peak feel big.free to read
- Building a song show: from intro to dropA good song show retells the song: it starts small, opens up in the chorus, takes a breath in the middle and saves the brightest moment for the end. Droplit builds this arc by itself. Once you know how it works, you can fix things with more purpose.free to read
- Lead your moving heads, don't just wave themMoving heads get noticed right away. If they circle all the time, the show looks restless. Well-led heads often stand still, change position with purpose and move when the music calls for it.free to read
- Using gobos, rotation and prism wellA gobo is a small stencil inside a moving head that shapes the beam into a pattern. Add rotation and a prism and one head can give you many different pictures, as long as you use the three tools on purpose.free to read
- Uplights in the room: putting color on the wallsUplights stand on the floor and light the walls. They give the room its base color and often stay on when everything else goes dark. That makes them the foundation of every show.free to read
- Pacing the evening: dinner, first dance, party, last songAn evening has an arc, just like a song. If you show everything at 9 p.m., you have nothing to add at midnight. So plan the light in stages and hold back the biggest things.free to read
- Lighting the first danceDuring the first dance everyone is watching two people, and the cameras are rolling. The light should show the couple and nothing else. That takes very little gear and a lot of restraint.free to read
- Blinders and strobe: less is moreStrobe and blinders are the exclamation marks of a show. An exclamation mark works because it's rare. Used briefly and on purpose, they deliver the biggest moment of a song. Left running, they get on people's nerves.free to read
- Fog and haze: making the beams visibleYou only see light when it hits something. Without fine particles in the air, beams stay invisible and all you see from your moving heads is spots on the floor. That's what hazers and fog machines are for.free to read
- Planning DMX addressesEvery fixture listens to a DMX address. Plan your addresses at home and you'll save yourself a search for faults at the venue. Patch and addresses are the foundation that loops, looks and scripts are built on.free to read
SoundSwitch & export free to read
Opening shows in SoundSwitch, copies, Art-Net preview and Control One / Engine devices.
- Where Droplit saves“Save to SoundSwitch” writes your show to exactly the slot you picked. Droplit never touches your original project: the first time you save, it makes a copy and works there from then on.free to read
- Opening the project in SoundSwitchAfter saving, your show is in the copy “<project Show-Designer”. To see it in SoundSwitch, open exactly that project there.free to read
- Checking an Autoloop in SoundSwitchA saved Autoloop sits in SoundSwitch in the bank slot you picked in Droplit. Here is how to find and check it.free to read
- Checking a static look in SoundSwitchA saved static look sits in SoundSwitch’s Performance mode, in the bank and slot Droplit named when you saved.free to read
- Checking a song show in SoundSwitchDroplit writes a song show into the song’s script. In SoundSwitch it plays automatically as soon as you load the song.free to read
- Why Droplit works in copiesDroplit only writes to copies of your projects. That way the original you perform with stays unchanged, whatever happens while you design.free to read
- Switching projects in SoundSwitch before savingSoundSwitch writes to the project it has open by itself, including when you switch projects and when you quit. If SoundSwitch has your project open while Droplit saves, it overwrites the new show later. So briefly open another project in SoundSwitch first.free to read
- Watching SoundSwitch live in the visualizer (Art-Net)The 3D visualizer shows in real time what SoundSwitch sends to your lights. SoundSwitch sends its DMX values via Art-Net to the visualizer on the same computer. That way you can check Autoloops, song shows and looks without setting up your lights.free to read
- Art-Net bridge: see SoundSwitch live in the web version (Windows and Mac)Your browser can't receive Art-Net from SoundSwitch on its own. The Art-Net bridge is a small program that does it and passes the values to the 3D visualizer of the web version. This way you can see live on Windows too what SoundSwitch is sending to your lights. The bridge doesn't need to be installed.free to read
- Shows on the Control One and Engine units (standalone)Droplit writes your shows into a perfectly normal SoundSwitch project. So when you transfer this project for use without a computer, your new shows come along. Without a computer, though, the Engine Lighting limits apply.free to read
- Group 1–4: assigning fixtures to a group (control group)In SoundSwitch you can assign each fixture to one of four groups, the control group. The “Group 1” to “Group 4” controls make exactly the fixtures of that group brighter or darker, for example just the uplights or just the moving heads. Live mode reads the groups from your project and controls them the same way.free to read
- Why the preview can look different from SoundSwitchThe preview in the Studio, in Effect lanes and in live mode calculates your show itself. On the night, SoundSwitch works with the same data, but not everything can be shown the same way. Here is where differences come from.free to read
Account & data free to read
Signing up, logging in, password, language, your data and privacy.
- Creating an account and confirming your emailFor the web version you need a free account. You create it with your email address and confirm the address via a link.free to read
- Your overview: what matters at a glanceThe overview is your home page after signing in. At a glance it shows what's new, how far you've come and which shows you've built – and one button takes you back into the designer.free to read
- Managing preview linksAll folders you created in the Studio with “Share preview” are managed on your account page. There you see likes and comments, reply to your guests, extend links or withdraw them.free to read
- Plan and AI requestsEvery AI request on the website costs real money. That's why every account has a plan, and the plan decides how many AI requests you can make.free to read
- Signing in and outYou sign in on the website with your account. Your overview then opens, and from there one click takes you into the designer.free to read
- Forgot your passwordIf you've forgotten your password, the website sends you a link to set a new one.free to read
- Changing your passwordIf you know your password and want a new one, you change it on your account page.free to read
- Download my dataOn your account page you download all the data the designer keeps in your account as a single file.free to read
- Deleting your accountYou can delete your account yourself at any time. All the data the designer stored in your account goes with it.free to read
- Where your shows and settings are storedDroplit stores things in different places: your shows in your SoundSwitch project, the designer's data in your account or on your Mac, and a few small things in your browser.free to read
- Language in your accountWith an account, Droplit remembers your language in your account. That way it appears in your language on every computer you sign in on.free to read
- Privacy: what we storeDroplit only stores what it needs for your account and your work. Your SoundSwitch projects and your music stay on your computer.free to read
Troubleshooting free to read
When something's stuck: folder access, browser, loading, saving and display.
- The folder can’t be sharedIn the web version, Droplit works directly with the folder that holds your SoundSwitch projects. To do that, you share this folder in the browser once. If that fails, it is almost always down to the browser or the wrong folder.free to read
- “Loading the Python core …” is stuckThe web version calculates your shows right in the browser. To do that, it loads a calculation core at startup. While that is running, the top shows “Loading the Python core …”. If it stays there, one of the following steps usually helps.free to read
- A project doesn’t appear in the listThe start page shows all SoundSwitch projects Droplit can find. If one is missing, it usually sits in a different folder or has never been saved in SoundSwitch with lights.free to read
- A song is missing from the listDroplit only shows songs for which SoundSwitch has already created a file in your project. That only happens once you open the song in SoundSwitch and save.free to read
- Song listed twice in SoundSwitch: move a showIf a song is in SoundSwitch twice, for example as “Song.wav” and “Song..wav”, a show can easily end up on the entry you never load at the gig. “Move show” copies it to the second entry with one click.free to read
- Saving to SoundSwitch doesn’t work“Save to SoundSwitch” writes your show to the copy of your project. If that fails, Droplit usually tells you exactly why. Here are the most common messages and what you can do.free to read
- The show looks different in SoundSwitchIf your show looks different in SoundSwitch than in the preview, there is usually one of a few reasons. Go through the points in order.free to read
- The 3D preview stays black or stuttersThe 3D preview needs your computer’s graphics card. If it stays black or stutters, it is usually down to the browser settings, too many open programs, or simply no light being on at the moment.free to read
- The visualizer shows no data from SoundSwitchThe visualizer only shows SoundSwitch when SoundSwitch sends its values via Art-Net to the same computer. If nothing arrives, the top right of the 3D view says “Waiting for Art-Net …”, and after a few seconds “No data from SoundSwitch yet” appears.free to read
- Account: “Please sign in” or storage fullThe web version stores your own data in your account, so it is there on every computer. Your SoundSwitch projects and your music always stay on your computer. Here is what can go wrong with signing in and storage.free to read
- The language is wrongDroplit is in English by default and can be switched to German. Your browser remembers the choice and, if you have an account, so does your account.free to read
- The page doesn’t load or only half loadsIf a page stays blank or parts are missing, it is usually down to old files in the browser’s cache, a browser extension, or an unsupported browser.free to read
- A light stays darkIf a single fixture stays dark in the preview or in SoundSwitch, it is almost always one of these reasons. The status light at the top right of the overview (“… things to do”) already shows many of them.free to read
Community free to read
Ask other DJs, help others, show your shows and use other people's shows on your own lights.
- The community: questions, answers and showsIn the community, DJs help each other: you ask questions, answer others and show your shows. Others see them in 3D and can use them on their own lights with one click. The community is for signed-in users only.free to read
- Ask the community a questionStuck? Ask the other DJs. While you type, the community already shows solved questions and matching guides – often the answer is already there.free to read
- Help others and earn pointsYou know your way around? Then help others – every idea moves someone forward. Good answers earn points, levels and badges.free to read
- Viewing a show in the communityEvery show in the community runs in a 3D preview, just as it looks for its creator. Next to it you see which lights it was built for and whether it fits your rig.free to read
- Use a show from the community on your lightsLike a show from the community? Add it to your designer with one click. The designer adapts it to your fixtures – you see it in 3D right away.free to read
- Show a show in the communityShow your best shows: others see them in 3D, give hearts, comment – and can use them on their own lights.free to read
- Notifications, following and reportingThe bell shows what happened in the community for you. With Follow you stay on top of questions, with Report you help keep the community clean.free to read
- Community profile and badgesYour community profile shows others who you are and what you work with. It also shows your points and badges.free to read
Feedback & contact free to read
Report bugs with a screenshot, suggest ideas, ask questions.
- Help assistant and AI helpThe help assistant answers your questions right away from our guides. If that's not enough, ask the AI help or send us your question.free to read
- Report a bugIf something doesn't work as expected, report it right where it happens, with a screenshot in one click. The report reaches us immediately.free to read
- Marking up and redacting a screenshotA screenshot often says more than a long description. In the feedback panel you capture it with one click, point at the spot with a box or an arrow and redact anything nobody should see.free to read
- Suggest an idea or ask a questionIf something's missing or you can't find an answer in the help, write to us straight from the program. Ideas go onto our list, questions we answer by email.free to read
- My feedback and repliesWith an account you see all your bug reports, ideas and questions in one place, with their status and our reply.free to read