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Advanced Machine Settings

Colloquially known as option switches, Advanced machine settings allow you to alter the default state of a project and enable behaviour not available in the core product.

Option switches can be enabled on a per machine or per project basis.

Advanced machine settings take precedence over project settings.

Advanced machine settings are roughly the same as setting a machine.ini text file containing option preferences prior to r15.

Setting project options is roughly the same as editing the options.ini file in a project folder prior to r15.

  1. In Manager, right-click on a project folder.
  2. Select Advanced project settings from the list.

Accessing Advanced machine settings

  1. Access the advanced project settings dialogue.
  2. Select tick boxes to enable Boolean options, or double-click on Integer value options to set them to the desired value.
  3. Click Save to close and save the desired settings. Or click Close to close the window without saving.

Applying Advanced project settings

  1. In Manager, expand the Machine Settings menu.
  2. Left-click Advanced machine settings to open the editor.

Accessing advanced machine settings

  1. Open the Advanced machine settings editor.
  2. Double-click on a name cell.
  3. Enter the value from the defined list of settings.
  4. Click save to save settings, or close to exit without saving settings

Applying advanced machine settings

Under the Machine Settings menu, there is an Enable Application Mode button from r17.2 onwards. This is simply a shortcut to pre-set the following options:

  • isMouseUnrestricted
  • isWindowed
  • maxHeads
  • useApplicationWindow

Application mode allows Designer to run in a windowed mode with access to minimise, maximise and close buttons, as well as keeping the windows taskbar visible. This is default on Designer machines, but not rackmount machines.

NameTypeCategoryDescription
disableOverlayMessagesBooleanDebugSuppress pop-up overlay messages on startup
disableConfirmationDialogBooleanDebugSuppress confirmation dialogue on mass actions
enableSLCBooleanPreviewEnable support for larger than 16k canvases
enableProjectorDeviceRetriesIntegerDebugEnable support for retrying projector device commands. Enter number of retries (excludes the first call to device). -1 to disable.
enableProjectorDeviceLoggingIntegerDebugEnable logging level for projector device commands.
0 = disable, 1 = enable
enableSeparateRotationAndSpatialDelaysBooleanSettingsAdd a field to the Camera that allows you to set a separate delay for position and rotation data
projectorDeviceThreadPoolSizeIntegerDebugOverride the number of worker threads for servicing projector device comms.
projectorDeviceMaxActiveTasksIntegerDebugOverride the max number of tasks which task manager should run on each process call for servicing projector device comms. Set to 0 to use system default. System default = 100.
enableViconBooleanPreviewEnable Vicon Datastream position driver
allowOpenEditorsWhilePlayingBooleanSettingsAllow layer editors to be opened while playing, even if a non-dedicated director or solo. Off by default to prevent frame drops that can happen when the editor is opened
allowPersistentMuteBooleanSettingsSave layer mute state between restarts and track jumps
audioLinePcmSizeIntegerExperimentalIncrease size of window for FFT in the audio analyser
audioStreamBufferSizeIntegerExperimentalSet the audio file buffer size in bytes
audioMinFadeRampIntegerSettingsMinimum audio volume fade ramp in milliseconds.
Default is 50
debugMediaManagerBooleanDebugEnable detailed console logging about video file loading.
defaultDetachedBankEditorResourcesBooleanExperimentalOpen the bank editor with the objectView detached by default
disableUnsupportedEmbeddedAudioNotificationBooleanSettingsDisable notification for unsupported audio format in video files
disableAltTabBooleanSettingsDisable switching applications via Alt+Tab and other Windows shortcuts
disableActiveLatencyPhaseAdjustmentBooleanGraphicsDo not adjust active latency of render streams to the closest frame time
disableOutputModeHotkeysBooleanSettingsDisable keyboard shortcuts that toggle the global output mode (Fade, Hold)
disableAudioInputBooleanSettingsDisable audio input in case it conflicts with other applications
audioInputDriverIntegerDebugSets the audio input driver.
0 = WASAPI, 1 = Legacy DirectSound, 2 = Both
disableAudioASIODriverBooleanSettingsDisable ASIO support in case it conflicts with other applications
disableDllVersionCheckBooleanDebugIf dll exports have not changed, allow dlls to load with mismatching version numbers. DANGEROUS.
disableFullscreenCheckBooleanGraphicsDisable the attempt to maintain fullscreen mode
disableInputInCameraEditorBooleanSettingsThe small preview in the camera editor ignores all input if this is set
disableProxyMakerBooleanDeprecatedDisable the proxy maker
disableRefWarningsBooleanSettingsDisable ‘ref already added’ messages, due to 2 references across machines to the same on-disk resource
enableShadowResourceDomainBooleanDebugTo use the resources API endpoint. Warning may have performance side-effects in complex projects.
disableTelnetNotificationBooleanDebugDisable the notification for timed out telnet connections
disableTrackSanityChecksBooleanDebugDisable the track sequencing sanity checks
disableVideoclipThumbnailVersionsBooleanSettingsHide version numbers underneath video clip thumbnails
disableVFCConfigOnStartupBooleanExperimentalPrevent reconfiguration of VFC outputs when d3 starts
disableDmxPacketSendWaitBooleanDebugDisable waiting for DMX packets to be sent and instead dropped. Can improve performance when remote node does not exist on network.
disableVRBooleanSettingsDebugOptionsDescription
enableGuiFeedBooleanSettingsEnable selecting the local GUI as a Display for arranging on the feed outputs
enableIPSDIExperimentalModesBooleanExperimentalAllow the use of Quad modes and 720p resolutions in SDI mode on an IP VFC
enableMultiviewBooleanPreviewEnable a multi-view style video input. Subdivides a single video input into multiple inputs. Useful for pure director or editor scenarios
enableNotchNDIBooleanSettingsSet to allow blocks to use their own internal NDI stream. May cause NDI instability if used alongside d3 NDI streams.
enableProofOfPlayBooleanSettingsEnable writing proof of play data
enableRenderStreamNDIBooleanSettingsSet to allow RenderStream to use the NDI transport. Does not work with image parameters.
enableTimelineZoomOnScrollBooleanSettingsEnable timeline zoom on scroll. Zoom in on layers with scroll wheel, scroll through timeline layers with alt + scroll wheel
enableUnusedMediaManagementBooleanSettingsEnable Unused Media Management part of Media Distribution widget
etwLevelIntegerDebugETW log level.
0 = default value(= 4);
1=Critical,
2=Error,
3=Warning,
4=Informational,
5=Verbose
forcePIDTimecodeChaseBooleanExperimentalForce timecode chase to always use PID correction instead of BangBang
forceOutputBitDepthIntegerDebugForce output window bit-depth (0 = auto, 8 or 10 for bit depth)
forceVsyncOnPrimaryIntegerGraphicsForce vsync behaviour for primary desktop.
0 = Auto,
-1 = Force Off,
1 = Force On
enableCrashReportingBooleanSettingsEnable crash dump capture on unhandled exception by default
GPUFanSpeedPercentOverrideIntegerDebugOverride the fan speed setting for rackmount machines. 1-100%
isMouseUnrestrictedBooleanSettingsDon’t restrict mouse to GUI desktop. Useful for multi-monitor designer machines
isQuietFeedMapEditBooleanSettingsRemove the red border around geometric projections
isSingleKeyGlobalJumpEnabledBooleanSettingsAllow next-section key to jump across tracks. Ordinarily this is done with shift-key combination
isWindowedBooleanSettingsRun in windowed mode instead of fullscreen. Useful for designer machines
maxHeadsIntegerSettingsLimit the number of outputs. Useful for designer machines with multiple monitors. Remove option or set 0 to restore all outputs
mouseOrbitInvertYBooleanSettingsInvert Y mouse movement when orbiting the Camera.
multicastSACNTTLIntegerSettingsSet the TTL for multicast sacn packets.
Default=1
Max=255
noSplashScreenBooleanSettingsForce the software to start with a black screen, in case the UI output is visible to the audience
noStartupStatusBooleanSettingsForce the software to start with a black screen, in case the UI output is visible to the audience
notchCameraSwitchingResetInstancesBooleanSettingsReset the notch scene during camera switching
notchDisableLiveLoadingBooleanDebugDisable live reloading of Notch blocks
notchLazyLoadingBooleanDebugDisable preloading of Notch blocks on startup
notchMaxFramerateFractionIntegerGraphicsUseful for setting on machines which are unable to keep up with their Notch workload, while keeping output machines controlled via the timeline. Recommended to be set in machine-wide, rather than project-specific options.
Set to 2 for all Layers to run at at most 1/2 rate, for example.
notchLCKeepAliveIntegerDebugKeep NotchLC decoders alive for N frames (0 for default of 30)
notchLCMinBuffersIntegerDebugMinimum no. CPU decompress buffers to keep around at all times (default 0)
notchUseDisguiseClippingPlanesBooleanSettingsUse the clipping planes defined in disguise, not the notch scene. Useful in AR/XR effects to split the scene in depth.
notchAutoPurgeVramBooleanDebugPurge block VRAM pool after module is not in use is deactivated. May save memory but also causes stutters
omniCalBackupCapturesEnabledBooleanDebugBackup capture folder each time a capture completes. Helpful in order to send OmniCal debug info back to HQ.
omniCalEnableBlobDetectionMasksBooleanExperimentalEnables hidden feature to load per-camera mask images that are applied during Blob Detection. Mask images need to be placed in the plan folder, named ‘_mask.png’.
omniCalEnableResumeCapturesBooleanExperimentalEnables ability to resume from partial captures which failed due to device timeout errors or user cancellation. Should be used with caution as it assumes capture settings and physical cameras and projectors have not changed since last capture.
omniCalEnableProjectorCalibrationRetryBooleanExperimentalEnables OmniCal initial projector calibration to retry with different algorithms to select best result.
omniCalIgnoreMeasuredCameraIntrinsicsBooleanExperimentalIf pre-measured camera intrinsic parameters are ignored in OmniCal initial calibration steps.
omniCalCameraDistanceIntegerExperimentalCamera distance in [m] used when choosing from pre-measured initial intrinsic parameters.
Possible values: 3,
8 (default), 130.
omniCalCameraTimeoutIntegerSettingsTimeout in seconds for OmniCal camera commands and heartbeat. For values <= 0 a default of 10s is used.
omniCalMaxThreadsPngIntegerSettingsMaximum number of CPU threads to use for encoding PNG images in the machine vision capture process. Default is 25% of CPU hardware threads (e.g. 4 on a VX 4 server), and maximum is 50%.
omniCalMaxBlobDetectionConcurrencyIntegerSettingsMaximum number of CPU threads to use for blob detection. For debugging CPU starvation issues. Default is 50% of CPU hardware threads (e.g. 8 on a VX 4 server).
omniCalUseProjectorDevicesInSimulationBooleanDebugSend shutter and warp commands to projectors during simulated captures. Helpful in order to test projector devices in stacking simulations.
overrideUnpatchedMediaFieldsBooleanSettingsWhen fields pertaining to media in the SockpuppetVideoModule are un-patched, use clip field values instead of sequences ones. Effected Fields: Frame index, Trim frames, Loop Inframe, Loop Outframe
pythonApiExecutionTimeoutIntegerExperimentalAny python script received on the python execute api endpoint is interrupted if its execution time exceeds this amount in ms. Set negative to disable.
pythonApiOutputRequestsToProjectBooleanExperimentalSave python api execution requests to project.
reportMainThreadHangMsecIntegerExperimentalInterval [ms] for timeout to watch for hanging main thread
renderstreamOutputSyncDelayIntegerSettingsNumber of frames to wait after all actors are ready to start presenting a workload. This additional delay is used to compensate for network communication latency. Set to -1 to disable RenderStream output sync (each fragment of a workload starts presenting as soon as possible). Default is 5.
rmaxReceiverPoolBooleanSettingsUsed if uncompressed streams are started and stopped mid-show.
useLegacySLCRegionTagBooleanSettingsUse legacy video tag for identifying SLC region slices.
sessionStartNodeDiscoveryDelayIntegerDebugTime to wait [seconds] for discovering sessions on the network
sessionSyncTimeoutIntegerDebugTime to wait [seconds] for actors and understudies to sync from the director before the director carries on without them. -1 to wait forever, 0 is a default of 5 minutes.
smoothVideoInputFramesDelayIntegerExperimentalVideo input in video layers is forced to be delayed by this many frames to maintain smooth playback.
Default 0. Off -1
suppressActorsAtStartupBooleanDebugDon’t start actors when starting director
useApplicationWindowBooleanSettingsUse standard application style window instead of borderless, requires isWindowed to be set
useApproximateGammaBooleanGraphicsUse faster approximate (less accurate) gamma curve formulas
useAutomaticProfilingIntegerExperimentalUse automatic detection FPS drop to generate d3 performance profiles. Value is the percentage threshold of dropped frames that should trigger a profile. Default is 0.
lockMouseWhileOrbitingBooleanSettingsLock mouse to point you’re orbiting around the stage
enableChromaKeyModuleBooleanExperimentalEnable basic Chroma Key module for testing purposes. Not intended for production use.
commsProcessingTimeIntegerDebugTime in ms to process comms messages
enableHighDynamicRangeBooleanSettingsEnable High Dynamic Range imagery
maxMasteringLuminanceIntegerExperimentalThe maximum number of nits of the display used to master the content. Values are in whole nits.
minMasteringLuminanceIntegerExperimentalThe minimum number of nits of the display used to master the content. Values are 1/10000th of a nit (0.0001 nit).
maxContentLightLevelIntegerExperimentalThe maximum content light level (MaxCLL). This is the nit value corresponding to the brightest pixel used anywhere in the content.
maxFrameAverageLightLevelIntegerExperimentalThe maximum frame average light level (MaxFALL). This is the nit value corresponding to the average luminance of the frame which has the brightest average luminance anywhere in the content.
outputColorSpaceIntegerExperimental0 = Auto,
1 = Rec.709,
2 = Rec.2020,
3 = DCI-P3
disableHdrOnPrimaryBooleanSettingsDisable HDR support for primary display (GUI)
forceDXGIColorSpaceIntegerExperimentalDebug HDR colour spaces. See console for supported colour space list
forceDXGISwapEffectIntegerExperimentalDebug swap effect.
0 = Auto,
1 = Flip Discard,
2 = Flip Sequential,
3 = No Flip
useSwapGroupBooleanExperimentalUse nvidia swap group for output synchronisation
deferActorStartupBooleanDebug Defer actor startup until director has fully started
generateWorkloadHTTPCommandsBooleanExperimentalGenerates HTTP commands for RenderStream workloads on project start
profileGPUPoolFromLaunchBooleanDebugStart profiling GPU pool allocations from launch (default: false)
blackMagicMatrixSendDelayIntegerSettingsFor BlackMagic matrix devices: delay in milliseconds between establishing Telnet connection and sending command. Set to 10ms for 12G matrix devices. Default is 0ms.
additionalCommandLatencyIntegerDebugAdditional latency (in frames) to wait for synchronisation before issuing transport commands. (default: 0)
forcePrimaryOutputTo8BitBooleanSettingsForce gui to 8-bit colour even if outputs are 10-bit