Getting Started

This page walks you through opening Filament for the first time, creating a project, and understanding where everything lives.

Trial or paid, it starts from the same app

Filament ships as one desktop app for both trial and paid customers.

• Download the latest public build from filament.click/download
• Start with the trial immediately, or buy a license later without reinstalling
• If you already bought Filament, retrieve your key from the customer portal and activate it in Settings -> License

For the exact licensing rules, read:

• Licensing and Trial
• Activating a License

The landing workspace

When you open Filament, you land on the Library page. The top of that page acts as your project home: it shows Project Settings for the active project and a Recent Projects list with quick access to open, duplicate, or delete saved projects.

[GRAPHIC: Screenshot of the Library landing state with Project Settings on one side and Recent Projects on the other, showing canvas size badges and the "New Project" button prominently. Conveys familiarity and ease of use]

If you're opening Filament for the first time, the recent-project list will be empty. Hit New Project to begin.

Creating a project

The new project dialog asks for:

• Project name — give it something meaningful ("Main Stage LEDs", "Arch Installation")
• Canvas size — this represents your stage or installation space in virtual pixels

Canvas presets

Canvas dimensions can go up to 16,384 × 16,384 pixels. You can change the canvas size later in Project Settings — it's just a coordinate system, not a rendering resolution.

[GRAPHIC: Screenshot of the New Project dialog with the preset selector open. Shows how quick it is to set up]

Your project's home base

Once a project is open, the sidebar on the left is your primary navigator. It shows your Surfaces (output groups) and the curves/fixture groups inside each one. Think of it as your installation's wiring diagram in tree form.

The top navigation bar lets you switch between the five main areas:

The big picture workflow

Here's the typical sequence from blank project to lit LEDs:

1. Set up your fixtures (Library)

Before you can place LEDs, Filament needs to know what type of LED pixel you're using. Go to Library → Fixtures and either import from your Resolume installation or load the built-in presets. A WS2812B single-pixel preset is included out of the box.

2. Draw your LED layout (Canvas)

Switch to the Canvas tab. Upload a photo of your stage as a background reference image, then use the Bezier or freehand pen tool to trace where your LED strips will go. When you finish a curve, you'll be asked how many LEDs are on it and what fixture type to use.

3. Route to hardware (Output)

Switch to the Output tab. For each Surface, choose Art-Net or sACN, set its destination behavior, enter a target IP when that mode uses one, and set the starting universe. Hit Auto-Assign All to distribute channels across all your LEDs automatically. If you are using Art-Net, the Discovery panel can help you pick a node from the local network. sACN outputs are configured manually.

4. Test and play (Player)

Switch to the Player tab. Hit play. Watch your LEDs react to the built-in animations, or connect an external stream provider such as NDI, Syphon, or Spout to map live video directly to your installation.

5. Export to Resolume (Export)

When your layout is finalized and you want Resolume to drive it, use File → Export to generate an Advanced Output XML file. Resolume can then use your entire mapping during your live performance.

Export is a paid-only feature. Trial users can still draw, route, test, and preview a project before activating a license.

[GRAPHIC: Annotated screenshot of the main app window showing all 5 tabs, the sidebar, and the canvas area, with labels pointing to key areas]

Project settings and autosave

You can update your project's name and canvas dimensions at any time from Project Settings at the top of the Library page.

Filament has a built-in autosave that runs every 1 minute by default. You can disable autosave entirely or set the interval anywhere from 1 to 60 minutes in Settings. Your work is saved to a local database — there are no cloud dependencies.

Keyboard shortcuts

Filament is designed to be keyboard-friendly. Press Cmd+/ (macOS) or Ctrl+/ (Windows) to open the full keyboard shortcuts reference at any time. The most important ones: