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Designer r33 Release Notes

Full (Pro) build: 248549
Starter build: 248550
Released: May 13th 2026

Items marked with a are also included in r32.4.5.

  • DSOF-32723 - When upgrading projects from r33.0 or earlier to r33.1 or above, only layers that were muted while the editor was set to Locked to Director are now converted to Disabled. Layers muted on editors while in Independent transport mode are no longer disabled on upgrade.
  • DSOF-32489 - RenderStream workloads no longer occasionally display an INVALID scene and fail to load all remote parameters when they are first detected.
  • DSOF-32670 - Launching RenderStream Local workloads no longer significantly degrades Designer performance while the project is launching in projects with arrows and mesh projections.
  • DSOF-32595 - Track rendering performance is improved, especially for large projects.
  • DSOF-32676 - Pressing Enter to stop the track now works correctly after the playhead has reached the end of the track. See Transport Player Controls.
  • DSOF-32693 - System diagnostics generated through d3manager now correctly include the Mellanox Mlx5_Dump_Me_Now-* dump folders, which are useful when troubleshooting network adaptor faults.
  • DSOF-32550 - The profileGPUPoolFromLaunch option switch now produces more detailed and accurate output, with properly balanced events and correctly labelled buffer entries.
  • DSOF-32651 - Projects that used the legacy virtual camera workflow prior to r25.0 no longer fail to upgrade when opened in a newer version of Designer.

Full (Pro) build: 247780
Starter build: 247781
Released: May 6th 2026

Items marked with a are also included in r32.4.4.

  • DSOF-32605 & DSOF-32592 - Editing keyframes on very large projects no longer causes the director machine to drop frames.
  • DSOF-32643 - When saving a section of a Track as a new Track, Cues, Notes, and Tags on the new Track are no longer linked to the old track as well.
  • DSOF-32620 & DSOF-32621 - Loading Alembic files is now more robust: meshes containing unsupported elements (such as FaceSet material grouping metadata) now load with the unsupported elements ignored, rather than failing the whole file, and projects containing multiple large Alembic files no longer crash to desktop on startup.
  • DSOF-32348, DSOF-32355, DSOF-32356, DSOF-32372 & DSOF-32331 - A range of IP-VFC reliability fixes:
    • IP-VFC cards appear more reliably after a cold reboot.
    • Adding or swapping IP-VFC cards between machine restarts is now more reliable.
    • Failure to lock to PTP is now reported as PTP Not Locked, instead of the misleading PTP Domain Number is different or PTP Profile is different.
    • NMOS connection requests that include a primary or secondary multicast address update now apply correctly to the IP-VFC port, as expected when running ST 2110 with out-of-band NMOS.
  • DSOF-32587 - When an OmniCal Plan contains cameras with no OmniCal camera assigned and is not set to simulate capture, the Plan camera background now correctly shows red instead of green.

Full (Pro) build: 247072
Starter build: 247073
Released: April 29th 2026

  • DSOF-28802, DSOF-28801, DSOF-28447, DSOF-32365 & DSOF-32496 - Mesh Mappings have received a comprehensive update:
    • New methods to control resolution (Scaling, Fixed, or Pixels-per-Degree), independent of the projected screen.
    • An optional No Warp mode that sends the stream without warping content to UVs, so screen-space effects from RenderStream sources render cleanly without seams.
    • Per-axis Overscan X and Overscan Y fields for additional pixels of render area on the seams between meshes.
    • New cross-projection blend modes.
    • Performance improvements.
  • DSOF-29986 - Three new option switches (renderstreamActiveLatencyPercentile, renderstreamActiveLatencyOffset and renderstreamBufferSize) let users tune RenderStream active latency to address intermittent dropped frames caused by variable RenderStream sync timing. See Tuning RenderStream Active Latency for guidance.
  • DSOF-31998 - The Receive Health widget now lists incoming RenderStream texture parameter streams alongside frame streams, with sent and received rates available per stream.
  • DSOF-31948 - RenderStream workloads no longer intermittently crash when texture parameters are switched between sources (e.g. between a precomp and another texture) while the workload is running.
  • DSOF-31834 & DSOF-31719 - The Bandwidth Estimation widget now reports outgoing RenderStream texture parameter bandwidth against the network adaptor that will actually be used (instead of an “Automatic” category), and reports incoming bandwidth for subscribed RenderStream streams.
  • DSOF-32190 - RenderStream asset sync tasks now display progress feedback, indicate when a task has stalled, and can be interrupted with a confirmation prompt.
  • DSOF-32188 - The RenderStream asset list now distinguishes between assets of the same name in different folders by surfacing the full project path.
  • DSOF-32263 - The OpenVPCal Plugin now disables the Designer GUI during capture to reduce the chance of dropped frames during the calibration process.
  • DSOF-32451 - The OmniCal Plan Camera Stats window has been reorganised — bandwidth is now reported in Mbit/s for easier comparison against configured network bandwidth, and the columns most useful for troubleshooting (such as missed packets and packet errors) are visible by default.
  • DSOF-32243 - The Live Update API has been extended to expose the same data points found in the Proof of Play .csv file in real time, enabling integration with content management systems. Note that Proof of Play currently only supports Video Layers.
  • DSOF-32570 - The Designer Plugins API now provides scoped authentication tokens for cloud-aware plugins instead of giving them access to the master Auth0 token, improving security in multi-plugin environments.
  • DSOF-31949 - Designer now displays a helpful notification when an audio input device (e.g. a USB device used for timecode) is unplugged.
  • DSOF-23055 - The audio waveform view now supports the audio of video clips on Video Layers, in addition to Audio Layer tracks.
  • DSOF-29318 - DMX screens now support 8-bit and 16-bit CMY drivers in addition to RGB.
  • DSOF-30285 - You can now force-break references when importing packages, allowing imports to skip dependencies you know aren’t needed.
  • DSOF-25386 - Layers now have a project-level Disable option that persists across project restarts, replacing the legacy allowPersistentMute debug option. Disabled layers display dimmed with a [DISABLED] label and are excluded from rendering. Mute remains a per-machine session-level toggle that resets on machine reboot. Layers that were previously muted when the allowPersistentMute option switch was enabled will now appear as Disabled.
  • DSOF-30338 - Pressing SHIFT + ESC now also closes all the layer widgets on the track, not just the currently visible ones.
  • DSOF-28848 - Mesh Mapping resolution and the resulting RenderStream stream resolution no longer change with local LOD when zooming in or out of the stage on the projected screen on Dedicated Director Machines.
  • DSOF-32351 - Render nodes no longer occasionally fail to render the scene (with receive health dropping to 0) when using compressed RenderStream texture parameters in setups with mixed controllers.
  • DSOF-31723 - RenderStream texture parameter bandwidth is no longer counted multiple times when several texture parameters on the same asset share a single arrowed-in stream.
  • DSOF-32274 - The Python plugin API’s loadOrCreate on Display subclasses (e.g. LedScreen, Screen2) now creates a default DirectProjection automatically, matching the result of creating displays through the UI.
  • DSOF-32459 - ObjectView widgets can no longer be resized smaller than their content on higher-DPI screens.
  • DSOF-32290 - The Surface masks menu now scrolls when there are more options than fit on screen, allowing access to all entries on HD monitors.
  • DSOF-27478, DSOF-31969, DSOF-31968 & DSOF-17067 - List Editor improvements:
    • Custom columns now respect Separator Groups and only appear in the Default group, instead of being shown in every group.
    • The Default Category is now always the initially opened category, including in the Projector List Editor.
    • Importing CSVs exported from non-default categories now works correctly.
    • Importing a CSV no longer creates a duplicate title row.
  • DSOF-32037 - The OSC Event Transport field order has been restored to OSC Device → Input → Output → Behaviour, matching its order before r31.0.
  • DSOF-30252 - The Join Session prompt in d3 Manager now reappears after the second time of joining a session from the same Editor.
  • DSOF-32288 - The Designer installer no longer reports timeout errors when network shares take longer than 20 seconds to respond.

Full (Pro) build: 247066
Starter build: 247067
Released: April 29th 2026

Items marked with a are also included in r32.4.3.

  • DSOF-32580 - The GuiSystem is no longer marked as Internal, so its functions are now available to plugin developers via the Designer Plugins API.
  • DSOF-32581 - Projects with the enableSLC Option Switch enabled and using SLC-sized precomps no longer fail to upgrade properly to the latest gold from r20.0.3 or earlier.
  • DSOF-32428 - Crossfading between sections that use a Precomp Mapping no longer fades through black. Precomp crossfades now match the behaviour of direct mappings.
  • DSOF-32099 - Video content no longer skips or jumps when a speed keyframe lands on a section break, restoring the behaviour from before r32.2.
  • DSOF-32610 - RenderStream Local layers no longer suffer latency spikes of up to 6 frames when the Frame Fraction field is set below 1. Latency now stays consistently at 1-2 frames as expected.
  • DSOF-32611 - Users can now set Min and Max metafields on exposed Unreal Engine parameters on RenderStream Local layers without the value of the field reverting back to the default once these have been edited.
  • DSOF-25822 - Designer no longer reports a spurious error and prevents the user from selecting assets in the RenderStream workload editor under rare circumstances.
  • DSOF-32540 - Designer and d3service now correctly report when their HTTP servers fail to bind their configured ports - for example when WSL2 with mirrored networking ghost-reserves them - rather than continuing to run with a silently unreachable API.

Full (Pro) build: 246160
Starter build: 246161
Released: April 22nd 2026

Items marked with a are also included in r32.4.2.

  • DSOF-32538 - Hold mode (Alt+P) now correctly freezes the last rendered frame on physical outputs, as it did before r32.4.1 and r33.0.1, rather than stretching the top row of pixels across the entire frame.
  • DSOF-32545 - Resolved an issue where Designer’s interface elements were rendered approximately 11% larger than intended. Interface sizing now matches its behaviour before r32.3.
  • DSOF-32535 - Resolved an issue where d3service could intermittently crash when checking for internet connectivity after Designer had shut down, which previously required a server reboot to recover.
  • DSOF-32423 - Designer now pre-rolls and chases timecode correctly when using a 29.97 drop-frame source with the Custom Timeline FPS set to Global or Custom. Previously the pre-roll started late and the playhead remained permanently offset from the timecode source.
  • DSOF-32481 - Looping FBX animations now play for their full duration before restarting, rather than pausing shortly before the loop point.
  • DSOF-31802 - Colour Inspector RGB error values are now calculated correctly regardless of the active output colour space. Previously the 2014 Macbeth colour chart produced very high error values when a non-sRGB output transform was in use.
  • DSOF-32374 - Designer will no longer intermittently launch in to a Live Update Blocked state with certain video in formats present.
  • DSOF-32521 - Removing an OSC output expression while its ‘Expression’ field is selected now works correctly and no longer reports an error.
  • DSOF-32549 - Designer now has improved logging for identifying frame drops.
  • DSOF-32539 - The Transport Manager timecode dropdown now uses short property labels, restoring the expected dropdown width.
  • DSOF-32525 - d3service now correctly logs any licences that have been removed during an automatic licence update.
  • DSOF-32523 - Improved logging about the Designer shutdown process to make troubleshooting shutdown issues easier.

This release has been superseded by r33.0.2. Please update to r33.0.2 to receive the fixes listed here.

Full (Pro) build: 244994
Starter build: 244995
Released: April 8th 2026

Items marked with a are also included in r32.4.1.

  • DSOF-32385 - Experimental HDR output options have been removed from d3Manager and the user guide, as these were unsupported and could cause unexpected display behaviour.
  • DSOF-32357 - The Python execution API now automatically rolls back project changes when a script raises an exception, preventing partial modifications from persisting.
  • DSOF-31636 - Projection masks now update correctly without needing to enter the display settings first.
  • DSOF-32358 - RenderStream workload processes (including Unreal Engine, Notch, and TouchDesigner) are now correctly terminated when a workload is stopped, preventing ghost processes from remaining on render nodes.
  • DSOF-31668 - Resolved an issue where Designer could hang indefinitely when losing focus while running in fullscreen mode with video outputs on GX 3+.
  • DSOF-32405 - Designer no longer crashes on startup after downgrading from r32.4 to an older build.
  • DSOF-32395 - The Python execution API no longer throws an exception when a script creates a layer.
  • DSOF-32387 - Editing an Expression Variables layer, undoing changes, then switching tracks no longer reports an error.
  • DSOF-32364 - Inserting or deleting time on large projects no longer causes Designer to hang for an extended period.
  • DSOF-32352 - Notch instances are now correctly released for layers with excluded mappings, preventing long hangs when entering Notch Layers.
  • DSOF-32339 - Removing the last transform from an OCIO layer’s transform list now correctly clears the colour effect.
  • DSOF-32320 - Keyframe carets and layer colours now update live when editing layers inside a group, as they did before r32.3.
  • DSOF-31688 & DSOF-32377 - Modifying RenderStream parameters (including OCIO Input Transform and texture parameters) while a workload is running now works correctly.
  • DSOF-32376 - Cross-origin browser requests to the auth0 API endpoint now work correctly.
  • DSOF-32328 - OmniCal no longer generates repeated error notifications when an alignment filename exceeds the Windows path length limit.
  • DSOF-32220 - Bidirectional SockPuppet output patches now correctly send values over DMX, as they did before r32.2.
  • DSOF-32182 - The media provisioning API no longer incorrectly lowercases folder names for the first transfer entry.
  • DSOF-31189 - The multitransport preview widget no longer fails to display all timeline sections in some rare circumstances.
  • DSOF-28762 - Designer no longer unexpectedly enters a test mode if a file named test.txt exists in the projects folder.
  • DSOF-32388 - Skeletal mesh animations now correctly play back animated bone ends with no children in FBX files.
  • DSOF-32323 - Resolved an intermittent grey screen on startup on machines with IP-VFC cards installed and configured to lock to PTP.
  • DSOF-32256 - RenderStream remote texture parameters no longer appear over-exposed when using gamma colour space, particularly with Unreal Engine uncompressed transport.
  • DSOF-32046 - RenderStream exposed parameters are now correctly applied when the controller is set to an Actor rather than the Director, as they did before r32.2.

Full (Pro) build: 244214
Starter build: 244213
Released: April 1st 2026

In r33.0 we are moving a range of media servers from End of Production to End of Support.

The servers that are being deprecated are listed here:

These servers will behave like normal computers on versions of r33.0 and above, meaning that you will need a software license (like Designer Pro or X1) to use the Designer software, and the normal restrictions of those licenses will apply.

These servers will still function normally as Disguise Media Servers on all supported releases up to and including r32 and will still receive software updates for critical bugfixes in the r32 branch in line with our Product Life Cycle Policy. Release notes for r32 legacy support can be found here.