The 3D preview stays black or stutters
The 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.
Step by step
- First check whether only the light is missing: if you see floor, walls and fixtures but no beams, no show is running.
- In the Studio: tap the play button below the preview.
- In live mode: tap a pad.
- In the visualizer: choose “Test pattern” behind the sun button at the top right of the 3D view. With “SoundSwitch” there is only light while SoundSwitch sends Art-Net.
- In edit mode: the work light shows the fixtures without the show. Switch to “Show light” in the bar above the 3D view.
- If everything is black, including floor and fixtures: in the Chrome or Edge settings, under “System”, turn on graphics acceleration (hardware acceleration) and restart the browser.
- Update Chrome or Edge to the latest version.
- If it stutters: close other tabs and programs, make the window smaller and plug a laptop into power.
- Switch to a lighter view: “2D view” in the Studio, “Overview” (each light as a color tile) in the visualizer and in live mode.
Good to know
- Fixtures you hid don’t appear in the 3D view.
- Moving heads move like real motors in the 3D view. Quick position changes therefore look smoother than the values in the program.
- On screenshots from the feedback window the 3D view can be black. Then use “Capture exactly (browser will ask)”, see Marking up and redacting a screenshot.
If something goes wrong
- “No lights in the project” in live mode: no controllable fixture is patched in your project.
- “Waiting for Droplit …” in the visualizer: the “Designer” source waits for a running preview in Droplit. Start the show there or choose “Test pattern”.
- “Output off” in the visualizer: the light source is set to “Off” (sun button at the top right of the 3D view). Choose another one there.
Still not working? With you can send us a screenshot. Technical details about browser and window size are sent along automatically.
More from “Troubleshooting”
- 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