Setup

The main configuration panel for all your Audio and MIDI Devices, your personal folders for Sounds and Plug-ins, Network use and the Kiosk mode, see each link to access a specific tab.

Tabs

Pages

    Usine's global setup tab. Various interface layouts and performances options.

    import old setup

    Imports all the settings from a previous Usine's installation. Click the button and select the folder (Win) or the .app (MAC) of the previous version.

    This will copy the /Config/ folder of the old Usine to the new installation, including Snapshots, Devices, Addons, Browser Favorites, Plug-ins, Templates, Trash, Recent workspaces.

    Requires a restart of Usine to apply the change.

    global Interface

    main language

    Sets the language Usine is displayed in, English or French.

    color Style

    Color style of Usine.

    global zoom scale

    Allows the adjustment of zoom for the entire Usine interface.

    Useful to adjust the interface size on tablets.

    performances

    Various tweaking options of the engine.

    hardware acceleration

    Turns on the hardware graphic acceleration for the GUI of Usine. Sometime the graphic card can de in conflict with sound card drivers.

    • no acceleration : all graphics are calculated by the CPU. Slower but safe.
    • direct 2D : all graphics are calculated by the GPU using the Windows Direct2D layer.
    • skia : all graphics are calculated by the GPU using the skia 2D layer. See skia.org.
    • 3D GPU : all graphics are calculated by the GPU using the Windows DirectX layer. Fonts can be aliased.

    It may seem counter-intuitive, but for video projects it is better to disable hardware acceleration in order to give the video engine full access to the graphics card, and not share it with the Usine interface.

    buffered drawing

    Usine will use a 2 steps buffering for drawing. This improves the graphic performances, but decrease the render quality especially when controls are zoomed.

    fast text canvas

    Try to draw text faster, but takes more memory.

    graphic quality

    Option to choose the graphic quality to increase the global performance. Low graphic quality can reduce significantly CPU load, but also reduces graphic precision.

    refresh speed

    Sets the global Usine refresh speed. For low value (5 ms) Usine is very reactive and the graphic display looks smooth but cost more CPU.

    25 ms is a good value in most situations.

    max number of threads

    Determines the maximum number of threads allowed in Usine.

    Each rack is processed in a separate thread.

    max number of sub threads

    Some heavy modules and sub-patch calculation are split into several sub-threads. This Number of sub-threads max allowed, you can increase it if your CPU has a lot of cores.

    disk buffer size

    Disk Buffer Size of the reading audio file buffer.

    A good value is around 2000ms. Increase if you use large multi-channels files.

    CPU load max

    Sets the CPU protection level. If the CPU Load is greater than the CPU maximum level, the process engine stops for few seconds, to avoid hard crash of your system.

    Generally 90% is a good value modern processor. If you want to disable this protection set the value to 100%.

    draw in the background thread

    Ask Usine to refresh the GUI as often as possible, but always in the background. Increase fluidity at the expense of CPU consumption.

    floating windows

    Switch the selected windows into floating mode.

    floating window for patches

    Switch the patch-editor-panel into a floating window.

    floating window for settings

    Switch the settings-panel into a floating window.

    settings window height

    Height of the settings window in percent of the screen height.

    Only if floating window for settings is activated

    floating window for grid

    Switch the grid-panel into a floating window.

    floating window for popups

    Switch the panel-popup into a floating window.

    See also

    Audio and sound cards settings.

    drivers

    Choose your sound card driver mode in the available drivers list.

    in/out

    Choose the device for the selected driver.

    nb in

    Number of inputs of the selected Sound card.

    nb out

    Number of outputs of the selected Sound card.

    sample rate

    Choose the working sample rate.

    Remember that 44100Hz is generally enough for live situations and CPU friendly.

    buffer size

    Buffer size in sample (latency).

    Don't forget that in the real world (not in the marketing) all drivers have 1 input and 2 output buffers. It means that to get the real latency, you always have to multiply by at least 3!

    show driver

    Click to open the Sound card panel.

    WIN only.

    block size

    In Usine (like in almost all audio softwares) the audio flow is sliced and processed by blocks. This parameter indicates the current block size.

    inputs

    Activates Audio inputs to makes them available in Usine.

    outputs

    Activates Audio outputs to makes them available in Usine.

    soft Clipping

    Soft Clipping limiter: prevent audio saturation of the sound card.

    audio engine running

    Lets you know the state of the audio engine and if it is active.

    pre-listen volume

    Gain applied when you pre-listen a sample in the browser-panel.

    external wave editor

    wave editor

    Specifies your favorite wave editor path.

    See also

    MIDI global settings.

    rescan devices

    Rescans and updates the list of available MIDI devices connected to the system.

    Can be used for Hot plugged in MIDI devices.

    reset devices

    Resets all MIDI devices connected to the system (shutdown an reopen).

    If a device fails to respond, this option is useful to reset the device in hopes of regaining functionality.

    recreate MIDI devices

    • on Windows, this command recreate the MIDI devices manager to provide a full reset of all devices. More efficient than the rescan devices command above.
    • on MacOS it does a simple rescan devices as the command above.

    Can be used for Hot plugged in MIDI devices.

    inputs / outputs

    Shows available and connected MIDI devices. It allows you to activate devices you want to use.

    For example in the picture below, the Launchpad mini controller is enabled and ready to use as MIDI Input.

    midi lan & bridge

    Activates the built-in MIDI-to-LAN interface that allows MIDI communication between computers running Usine on the Local Network.

    memorize devices name in the learns

    Tells Usine to remember device names during MIDI-learn. Thus, the MIDI assignment will also depend on the device used.

    MIDI feedback to all devices

    When ON, the MIDI feedback is sent to all motorized devices, even if they are not concerned by the MIDI learn.

    Since HH3.0.133 the MIDI learn is associated with the name of the device. When this option is ON it turns Usine to old (prior HH3.0.133) MIDI feedback behavior.

    send ALL NOTES OFF on stop sync

    When activated, Usine sends the a MIDI All Note Off message when sync has stopped.

    ignore active sensing messages

    Some MIDI controllers send continuously active sensing messages. When ON, Usine filters them directly.

    This way the trace panel and your MIDI devices are not polluted by this message.

    always enable all MIDI inputs

    When this option is activated, Usine will automatically activate all available MIDI inputs.

    always enable all MIDI outputs

    When this option is activated, Usine will automatically activate all available MIDI outputs.

    MIDI show control Input

    Various MIDI SHOW CONTROL settings for the reception of MSC information's.

    MSC device ID

    Current Usine's MSC device ID.

    MSC group

    Current Usine's MSC group.

    MSC format

    Current Usine's reception MSC format.

    See also

    Global configuration parameters for ArtNet, sACN and DMX .

    The Usine's light engine can manage Enttec Open DMX, Enttec USB pro devices, as well as all ArtNet and sACN devices connected to the Ethernet port.

    But on Mac OSX you'll probably have installation troubles with DMXUSB PRO devices. It's generally caused by FTDI drivers conflicts. So in this case you can try the utility app free FTDI Driver Control 1.0.3 to disable the built-in FTDI driver.

    rescan devices

    Rescans all connected USB DMX devices. Usine can connect up to four devices.

    reset devices

    Resets all connected devices (shutdown and restart). Use it if you encounter issues.

    outputs

    List of Connected USB DMX devices to activate inside Usine.

    DMX active

    Turns the DMX engine ON. Must be activated to run Usine's DMX.

    num of plots

    Number of actives plots.

    ArtNet settings

    artNet active

    Turns the ArtNet engine ON.

    artNet port out

    Output port used for the ArtNet communication (send messages). By default the port is 6454.

    artNet in active

    Activates the reception of ArtNet messages in Usine. To get messages use the light-artnet-sacn-input.

    ArtNet port in

    Input port used for the ArtNet communication (get incoming messages). By default the port is 6454.

    ArtNet automatic poll

    When ON Usine's, Usine will automatically send 'ArtNet Poll' data to retrieve all connected devices.

    poll ArtNet

    Sends an 'ArtNet Poll' data manually, useless if ArtNet automatic poll is ON.

    artNet devices

    List of all connected ArtNet devices.

    sACN settings

    sACN active

    Turns the sACN engine ON.

    sACN port out

    Output port used for the sACN communication (send messages). By default the port is 5568.

    sACN in active

    Activates the reception of sACN messages in Usine. To get messages use the light-artnet-sacn-input.

    sACN port in

    Input port used for the sACN communication (get incoming messages). By default the port is 5568.

    Global settings

    DMX frame rate

    Sets the maximum DMX frame rate (packets sent per second). Usine will send packets only if necessary.

    clear on stop

    Clears all DMX parameter set as "master" when the engine is turned OFF (Blackout).

    See also

    Video options of Usine.

    video active

    Activates/deactivates the video engine.

    video in devices

    Activates/deactivates the video inputs devices (several inputs possible). Also choose the resolution and framerate in the list of possible settings.

    For IP camera's you must use the video-ip-camera module.

    out format

    Choose the target format of the video ie. the final display form factor like 16/9, 3/4, etc. All video player modules will automatically adapt the videos to the proportions of the final target.

    If not defined is chosen, the scaling will be done at the end of the process, generally in the output video device.

    video frame rate

    Video engine speed in fps (frames per second). It concerns only the internal video engine of Usine. and has a limited impact on the real output framerate. Hi values can overload CPU but improve the fluidity. The recommended value is 100 fps

    mix strategy

    Determines the mix-down strategy when 2 video flow are in the same wire and have to be mixed together.

    • largest win : the smallest video is enlarged to fit to the largest video size; use more CPU.
    • smallest win : the largest video is reduced to fit to the smallest video size; use less CPU.

    hi quality resampling

    When ON, Usine will use a better quality algorithm for the video resampling and rescaling but increases the CPU load.

    use legacy output device

    When ON Usine will use the legacy output device as it was in HH4. Otherwise (OFF), a new device module will be used and the global fluidity will be improved.

    preload images in memory

    When ON the video-player-image preloads images in memory. It can reduce the access time of images but increases the memory load.

    give absolute priority to video

    If enabled (ON') the Usine graphics engine will give absolute priority to video. This may cause a decrease in the fluidity of the interface to the benefit of the fluidity of the video.

    Video conversion tools

    About Video Compression

    Most of video files are compressed to keep their size on disk as small as possible. The main drawback is that it's generally impossible to play frames in a random order, especially backward (You can only play a video forward).

    If you want to have a precise access to frames, convert video files into motion-JPEG with the convert video to motionJPEG tool.

    You can also convert the file into separated images (one image per frame) with the convert video to images tool. Then, images can be loaded into Video Player Image module.

    convert video to JPG images

    Converts a Video file into separated JPG images, to be able to load them into Video Player Image module.

    convert video to PNG images

    Converts a Video file into separated PNG images, to be able to load them into Video Player Image module.

    convert video to motionJPEG

    Convert a Video file into a motionJPEG format file. It increases the size on disk but can solve many frame to frame access issues.

    video conversion compression

    Compression rate used for the motionJPEG compression. Low values for best quality, hi values for low quality.

    This option is only visible in God Mode

    convert video to HAP

    Convert a Video file into a HAP format file. It increases the size on disk but can solve many frame to frame access issues. See hap codec.

    extract audio from video

    Extracts the audio flow of a video into a wav file to be able to load it into a Sampler module.

    See also

    Global configuration parameters for laser devices.

    Actually Usine works only with Helios Laser DAC. Other DAC's will coming soon.

    rescan

    Lists all the Helios-laser-DAC devices available on the computer.

    ID

    ID of each Helios-laser-DAC available.

    laser speed

    Maximum speed of the laser's devices in point-per-second.

    See also

    Sets favorites folders for your personal library, Sounds, videos, fixtures and MIDI files and for the recording, etc. Personal folders will appear in the browser-panel.

    library

    Specifies patches, racks, devices and workspaces library browser's path.

    sound

    Specifies sounds library browser's path.

    By default it's the /Music/ folder of your system.

    recorded audio files folder

    Specifies where sounds recorded in Usine are saved by default.

    video

    Specifies your Video files browser's path.

    recorded video files folder

    Specifies where sounds recorded in Usine are saved by default.

    various

    Specifies your other paths, Banks and MIDI files, fixtures, user modules and the the default record out for audio files.

    clear images cache

    Clear the /Usine/Config/Cache/ folder. The Cache folder is used for a fast access to patches, workspaces thumbnails on the start page and the browser.

    clear audio peak cache

    Clear the /Usine/Config/AudioPeaks/ folder. The AudioPeaks folder is used to store audio peaks files for display waveforms.

    See also

    plug-ins folders

    You can specify up to 6 different folders for your plug-ins.

    On Windows, default VST Plug-ins folder is generally C:Program Files/VSTPlugIns.

    On MAC, plug-ins are located at /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/.

    rescan changes

    If you add or install a new Plug-in, you can quickly check the plug-ins folder and update the browser.

    rescan all

    Use this button to rescan all the plug-ins folders from scratch.

    See also

    Usine's modular setup tab.

    example of modular interface

    wire opacity

    Sets the opacity for the wires.

    wire gravity

    Sets the gravity for the wires.

    minimum gravity

    wire width

    Sets the width for the wires.

    maximum width

    display range knob on tlet

    Display the range indicator on the modules modular-in

    ON OFF

    See also

    The OSC and Network options of Usine where you can activate OSC (Open Sound Control) and share on network capabilities.

    network active

    Turns the network and OSC engine ON (receive and send).

    network speed

    Speed of the network engine when data are sent. For a speed=20ms, Usine sends data and SHARED commands every 20 milliseconds.

    opened ports

    The local ports numbers used to receive OSC messages.

    Can be a comma separated list of integers in the range [0..65535]. For example 2002 or 2002,2003,5623,1336

    input buffer size

    Size of the buffer for incoming network data. Increase it if you receive a large amount of data.

    OSC translator file

    Name of the OSC messages translator file. Can be used to convert automatically convert incoming or outgoing OSC messages. See osc-translator.

    iP address local

    List of addresses of the computer on the local Network, called the local IP address. If you see 127.0.0.1 it means that you're not connected to a Network.

    Only available when share active or OSC active is ON.

    host name

    Name of the computer as seen on the Network.

    share active

    Turns the Network share engine ON.

    share port

    Port number used on the network for patch sharing. This port is determined automatically by Usine according to the number of Usine instances present in localhost.

    share broadcast mask

    Subnet mask used for network sharing for detection of other Usine on the network.

    Can be used to restrict the shared network to a sub net.

    send tempo and synchro info

    Sends tempo and synchronization information's to the Network. This computer will be considered as a master.

    Only one connected computer should have this option to avoid conflicts

    send grid sections info

    Sends and synchronize information's about sections to the Network. This computer will be considered as a master.

    Only one connected computer should have this option to avoid conflicts

    When ON, it automatically synchronizes grids of all connected computer to the master grid.

    On slaves computers, new buses are created:

    • current-section: number of the current section.
    • sections-list: list of section's captions as a comma-text.

    send playlist info

    Sends playlist information's to the Network. This computer will be considered as a master.

    Only one connected computer should have this option to avoid conflicts

    When ON, it automatically synchronizes playlist of all connected computer to the master grid.

    send global arrays

    Global option to disable or enable the sharing of global-arrays modules. When this option is ON, Usine can send all values over the network.

    When OFF, sending is disabled even if the send to shared computers setting of global-arrays modules is activated.

    connected computers

    Displays the list of all the connected computers on the Network running Usine.

    Share active must be ON on all connected computers.

    internet

    You need a connection to get help pages inside Usine or to register with your activation key. You can disable the internet connexion in expert-tab disable-internet-connexion.

    is connected to internet

    Read only property which indicates if Usine is connected to internet.

    The test for connection is made at startup, so if its status has changed you must use the command test internet connection bellow.

    iP address internet

    Address of the computer on internet.

    Only available when is connected to internet is ON.

    test internet connection

    Tests manually internet availability.

    remote control

    Allows the remote control of Usine from a web page. See remote-control.

    enable remote control

    Turns ON/OFF the remote control capabilities.

    remote ID

    ID used for remote control identification. Must be a string with letters and digits in the set [A..Z,a..z,0..9].

    remote server

    Address of the remote access server, by default http://remote.brainmodular.com/.

    remote port

    Port used by the web socket to communicate with Usine. By default 80, change it if this port is already used on your computer.

    response file

    Files used as response for the webserver. Only used for a local network connexion.

    remote control connected

    Indicates if Usine is currently connected to a remote web page. Inside a patch you can use this field with the usine-setup-settings module.

    See also

    Usine's touch screens setup tab.

    Windows only.

    enable touch screen

    Enable/Disable the touch screen feature.

    activate double click

    When ON, Usine considers two consecutive touch-down as a double click.

    trace Gestures names

    Traces gesture's names (the finger movement recognition).

    See multi-touch for more infos.

    use virtual keyboard

    Displays the virtual keyboard when text entry is needed. Useful on tablets.

    virtual keyboard zoom scale

    Determines the zoom applied to the virtual keyboard.

    See also

    Various settings and commands for expert users.

    startup options

    Various option applied when Usine starts.

    full screen

    Opens the main interface in full screen when Usine starts.

    window width at startup

    Size in height of the Usine window at startup.

    window height at startup

    Size in width of the Usine window at startup.

    auto play

    Turns the main process engine ON automatically.

    auto play Grid

    Starts the grid-panel automatically.

    Only if the grid is not empty.

    show grid

    Opens the grid-panel automatically.

    Only if the grid is not empty.

    show interface builder

    Opens the interface builder automatically.

    show toolbox

    Affiche la toolbox automatiquement.

    on shutdown

    Various option applied when Usine quits.

    save setup on quit

    Determines if the configuration files is automatically saved when Usine quits. Disable for special installation to be sure that the original setup will never be lost if the user has changed it.

    clean usine on quit

    Determines if Usine is cleaned on quit. If disabled Usine will quit much faster but, with some workspaces, will not be destroyed properly by the Operating System.

    layout & design

    settings panel width

    Width of the items in the settings-panel.

    disable draw selection square

    Do not display the white square around selected objects.

    extended accents char set

    Extends the characters set to resolve some compatibility of file names with special characters.

    Mac OSX only

    disable red value when size=0

    Disable the display of values in red when the size is flux is zero.

    bezier curves in patches

    Choose between smooth Bezier or straight curves in the patch-editor-panel.

    Bezier curves enabled

    Bezier curves disabled

    smooth cpu values in patches

    Enable or disable the smoothing of CPU consumption values in the patch-editor-panel.

    CPU consumption smooth enabled smooth disabled

    disable remote hilite

    The controls are surrounded by a clear edge when activated by a remote control (MIDI or OSC learn for example), the network or an automation. When this option is active, edge drawing is disabled and may reduce graphics engine load in case of heavy remote control flow.

    disable icons in contextual menu

    Disables the display of context menu icons. icons-menu

    disable mouse over effect

    Enables the color animation when a control is hoovered.

    hide remote learn indicator

    Does not display the assignment indicator.

    disable pin in separate window

    Disables displaying settings in a separate window when pinned.

    internet

    disable internet connection

    Disables the internet connection of Usine.

    disable upgrade message

    Disables the message "this patch/workspace has been created with a newer version of Usine, please upgrade".

    Usine will not verify that the workspace/patch you want to load is compatible with the current version.

    Be aware that, generally, newer workspaces/patches are not compatible with an old version of Usine and can't be loaded properly.

    hints and tooltips

    disable hints

    Disables display of hints strings.

    When ON, hints strings on modules are also disabled.

    disable hints on modules

    Disables display of hints strings on modules in the patching panel.

    hints delay

    Determines the time delay for displaying hints when the mouse stops moving.

    disable tips display

    Disables display of tips strings.

    audio files

    adapt audio files pitch to sample rate

    Ensure that the pitch of audio files is correct whatever the sound card sampling rate.

    disable locate audio files

    Disables the locator-panel when media files are missing in the workspaces, racks and patches. Missing files will be ignored.

    max nb opened files

    Maximum number of opened files in Usine. On OSX a process can open only 256 files at the same time (ie: audio files with the stay-on-disk option or video files). To ensure Usine's stability, you must keep the limit under the maximum allowed. more info

    keyboard and mouse

    disable warning on locked objects

    Disables the trace warning when you try to modify a locked object (ie. step-panel).

    disable click to use mouse wheel

    Disables having to click on an object to zoom with the mouse wheel.

    disable hidden strings

    Disables all the hidden-string.

    disable all key learn

    Disables all Usine's key learns. Either completely or only in kiosk mode.

    disable alt click to rename

    Disables the ability to rename objects with the [alt+click] combination.

    disable mouse wheel zoom

    Disables the ability to zoom with the mouse wheel.

    other

    export separated rack/patch

    If this option is activated, when you export a workspace, Usine will create folder with all patches and racks exported as individual files.

    disable file-lister modules

    Disables all file-lister modules.

    disable show trace on error

    Disables the appearance of the trace-panel when an error occurs. Either completely or only in kiosk mode.

    convolver panel

    Opens the convolver panel.

    various

    god mode

    Adds various options and tweaking commands like save screen shot, gives an access to additional settings and displays more internal error messages. It also activates the debug mode of Usine. Various intern error messages will be displayed but Usine will be slower.

    extended objects address

    Extend the objects-address to all the settings of the object (not only usual parameters).

    on large workspaces enable this option can slow down Usine, especially in scripts.

    utilities

    benchmark mono-core

    Launch a speed calculation test, mono-core CPU oriented, of your computer, compared to a 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7.

    benchmark multi-core

    Launch a speed calculation test, multi-core CPU oriented, of your computer, compared to a 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7.

    cpu stress

    Launch a CPU stress procedure (try to use 100% of CPU).

    test memory capacity

    Try to allocate as much as possible memory to verify the real available memory.

    There is a Possibility that it crashes Usine...

    See also

    This is the setup for the kiosk mode. See 25.create-stand-alone-application for more details.

    This tab is available in the Expert version.

    password

    The password you want to use to activate/deactivate the kiosk mode.

    By default the password is : PROTECT.

    toggle kiosk mode

    Click to simulates the kiosk mode for the current project.

    elements to hide

    Elements to hide in Kiosk mode especially in the main-menu-panel.

    hide main on-off switch

    Hide Main ON-OFF switch of the master-panel.

    hide master panel

    Hide all the master-panel.

    hide global synchro panel

    Hide the master-synchro-panel.

    hide rec automation switch

    Hide the Rec Automation icon of the main-menu-panel.

    hide MIDI learn switch

    Hide the MIDI the learn icon of the main-menu-panel.

    hide zoom buttons

    Hide the zoom icon of the main-menu-panel.

    hide save workspace button

    Hide the save workspace command in the main-menu-panel.

    hide open workspace button

    Hide the open workspace command in the main-menu-panel.

    hide setup button

    Hide the show setup command in the main-menu-panel.

    hide fullscreen button

    Hide the show setup command in the main-menu-panel.

    hide devices buttons

    Hide the show devices-panel command, so it's impossible to modify devices.

    hide start page buttons

    Hide the show start page command, so it's impossible to display the start page. Recommended if your deploy folder contains only one workspace.

    application settings

    General options of the application.

    application name

    Name of the application as appears in the task manager of the operating system and the window tittle bar.

    application version

    Version of the application as appears in the task manager of the operating system and the window tittle bar.

    workspaces are read only

    Workspaces in the deploy folder can't be saved in any cases.

    splash image

    Name of the splash image displayed in front of Usine.

    startpage items size

    Size (height) of workspace items in the start-page-panel.

    start page image

    Image displayed on the start-page-panel.

    See also

    Once your purchased license, it's the place to activate it with your activation key.

    You must be connected to Internet to activate Usine, so please deactivate all protections like anti-virus and firewalls software's. The activation is only necessary once.

    Activate

    activation key

    Enter the activation key that you have received.

    activate key

    Clicks on this button to activate key to finalize your activation.

    deactivate key

    Click on this button to deactivate the activation key present on the version.

    See also

    Displays various information's about the current version of Usine.

    version

    Current software version number.

    acknowledgements

    Usine's implementation use several externals software tools and libraries. Our thanks to their developers.

    See also

version 6.0.240115

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