Video Geometry & Projection
For projection mapping and multi-projector setups, CueForge2 provides per-output geometric correction and edge blending.
#Video Output Geometry window (Video menu, ⌥⌘G)
Open this to calibrate each video output slot individually. Changes take effect immediately at the next vsync; you don't need to refire a cue.
#Test patterns (per-output)
Each slot has its own test pattern picker at the top of the Geometry window. SMPTE bars, solids, grid, focus chart, PLUGE, and Identify are all available. The pattern shows on the selected output only, so it never covers the screen that has your menu bar. The "Identify" pattern (full-screen) is best for calibration; for "which output is which" during setup, use the Identify button in Video Routing instead — it's a small badge overlay that doesn't interrupt playing content. Press Esc anywhere in the app to clear every active test pattern at once.
#Lens correction
- Barrel — correct barrel or pincushion distortion from a projector lens.
- Centre — shift the distortion centre point to match the actual lens.
#Edge blending
For adjacent projectors with overlapping zones:
- Left / Right / Top / Bottom — the inset distance of each blend edge (0–1, fraction of the output width/height).
- Gamma — curve the blend ramp so the overlap region looks seamless.
- Black level — set the floor luminance in the blend zone.
#Mesh warp
Full-surface grid warping for curved screens and irregular surfaces — the generalisation of corner-pin to a whole grid of control points:
- Pick a grid size (2 × 2 up to 9 × 9) in the Mesh Warp section. Changing the size later preserves the warp you've already shaped.
- Drag control points in the editor — the output follows live, so calibrate against a test pattern (the alignment grid works well), live content, or the backdrop on the projector.
- Reset Points straightens the grid; setting the grid to Off removes the mesh.
The mesh warps everything on that output — videos, images, cameras, test patterns, and crossfades together, so you can calibrate directly against the alignment grid. Edge blending is applied in true screen space after the mesh, so blend zones stay on the physical projector edges no matter how the content is warped. The one thing the mesh does not affect: NDI / Syphon receivers always get the un-warped frame. (A test pattern shown while a cue is playing renders above the content without the mesh.)
#Network output (NDI / Syphon)
Toggle "Apply to network outputs" to send the post-correction image to NDI and Syphon receivers. When off, receivers get the uncorrected frame. Mesh warp is never sent to network outputs — it's a property of the physical projection surface.
#Calibration export / import
Use the Export button to save a slot's calibration as a JSON file, and Import to restore it. Share calibration files between shows on the same rig.
#Backdrops
Set a backdrop image per output in the Video Routing window — each output carries its own. The backdrop is shown whenever no cue content is playing on that output, as an idle holding image — on physical screen outputs and virtual monitors alike. It hides the moment a video, image, text, or camera cue attaches and returns when the output goes idle again.
The backdrop also serves as the Video Black Back holding image: when you engage Black Back (⌘⌥B), outputs with a backdrop show that image in place of solid black, so Black Back takes each output to its holding slide even over a playing cue. Outputs with no backdrop go solid black. Clearing an output's backdrop reverts it to solid black.
#Video Surfaces (composite canvases)
A surface is one logical canvas spanning several video outputs — for example a 3840 × 1080 canvas across two 1920 × 1080 projectors. You route ONE video or image cue to the surface; each member output automatically shows its own region of the canvas, so a wide image or video no longer needs pre-splitting into per-projector files.
Set up in the Video Routing window, VIDEO SURFACES section:
- Add Surface — creates a surface pre-filled with the first two free screen outputs side by side.
- Set the canvas size in pixels, then position each member's region with the draggable canvas mock or the X / Y / W / H fields (canvas pixels).
- Overlapping regions are allowed and expected on blended rigs — the overlap readout tells you how many pixels adjacent regions share; set each projector's edge-blend width to match.
Route a cue to the surface with the Surface picker at the top of its VIDEO OUTPUTS section (video and image cues). While a surface is selected the per-output checkboxes are ignored. The cue's geometry (custom W / H / offsets) then positions the content on the CANVAS instead of one output.
Notes:
- Each output keeps its own lens / edge-blend / mesh calibration — the crop happens before correction, so a surface member calibrates exactly like any other output.
- A screen output can belong to only one surface at a time.
- NDI / Syphon receivers get the whole canvas frame (uncorrected), not one member's crop.
- Surfaces are saved in the show file and sync across session peers.