FAQ modul8

Unlike madMapper, modul8 is only available for macOS, and modul8 v3 requires macOS 10.9.5 or later.

The latest Modul8 v3 versions are fully compatible with macOS 10.9.5 and above, and the new Apple ARM-based M series computers. Please note that Apple has stopped the support of 32-bit applications since Catalina. Modul8 v3 being a 64-bit app, the software is now updated and compatible. However the old v2 versions of modul8 (32 bits app) will not be compatible with macOS Catalina and later systems.

You can get Modul8 at academic price for 199€ + taxes. Please and attach a copy of you valid student card or faculty ID write us at sales@garagecube.com. Once we received the appropriate document, we will provide you links to purchase at the educational rate including a coupon code to have the educational discount.

Both versions are the same. The student version has no limitations, though you are not allowed to use it for commercial use.

The limitations of the demo version are:

• You cannot access the online module library
• You cannot save a project
• There is a watermark on the output

Please note that it is not possible to authorize the demo version. Once you purchase the Full version, you can download the most recent version of modul8 at the yourspace page.

Your license information and serial number should have been sent shortly after your purchase by our third party vendor SHARE-IT MyCommerce (Digital River). Please check your mailbox and make sure the message has not been marked as spam. Otherwise, please contact us via support@garagecube.com (Mon-Fri).

You can do so by accessing the ‘Download Modul8 update’ from the ‘Modul8’ menu within the application. If you do not have Modul8 installed and need to download the software, simply use your serial number to access http://www.garagecube.com/modul8/yourspace.

ADDITIONS

• Support for 8 media sets each with 128 pieces of media (a total of 1024 pieces of media)
• New master lightness
• New layer lock option
• New layer normalize options
• New “Image maximum rendering size” preference
• New “Disable Blackmagic support” preference for other apps to use attached decks
• Additional special test cards: FullHD, HDReady, XGA, WYGA
• New color control preview + reset

IMPROVEMENTS

• Optimized media playback (images, movies, image folders, Quartz-Composer, video-inputs): now supports videos up to 8K
• Optimized HAP and H264 video codec playback
• Replaced Quicktime player with FFmpeg and AVFoundation for maximum format compatibility (for multi–audio channel video, use AVFoundation playback option)
• Refined user-interface with support for retina displays
• Improved Direct to Disk Recording
• Saves video preview mode on quit
• Video capture preferences display BlackMagic out-dated drivers warning
• Backwards compatibility with automatic media ID conversion for modul8 projects from earlier versions. Please note that earlier versions of modul8 cannot open modul8 3.0 projects.

How to de-authorize modul8. You must to be connected to the internet for this process.

• Open modul8, and open the Modul8 Menu (next to the apple menu icon).
• Choose ‘De–authorize modul8…’ from the dropdown menu
• You will be presented with a pop-up window asking if you want to ‘De–authorize Offline’ or ‘De–authorize Now!’. Choose ‘De–authorize Now!’
• A new message will appear asking you to “Please wait while modul8 is de–authorized”. A second dialog will ask you for a Mac Administrator password to allow for changes. Once you’ve entered the password, click OK.
• Once authorized, in the same window where you read “Please wait while Modul8 is de–authorized”, you should now see in red, “modul8 has been successfully de–authorized on this computer”. Modul8 will now automatically quit.

You will now be able to install modul8 on a new machine with your serial number.

• If your computer gets stolen or breaks, you will need to contact us and we can perform a de-authorization for you.
• We can only proceed to remote de–authorization upon a document proof of a stolen or broken computer (a police statement, or invoice or estimate from an authorized Apple repair shop).
• If you cannot provide proof of documentation, the machine or cannot be reached, or is broken just before a show use the REMOTE RESET in the modul8 yourspace page.

modul8 uses the system video output resolution. Your composition will automatically scale to fit the selected output resolution. Go to System Preferences > Displays to set the output. 

If you are running modul8 v3 and over, the best video codec is either H.264 or HAP.

If you are running modul8 v2.9.2 and older, the best video codec remains PhotoJpeg.

You need a computer running minimum macOS 10.9.5 or later. 

A fast graphic–card is recommended to get the best of modul8.  

You have accidentally enabled ‘Full Screen At Startup’ in the ‘Output’ menu. This happens when your computer is not connected to an external display device (projector or monitor).

To disable ‘Full Screen At Startup’:

• Launch modul8.
• Press the keyboard shortcut  cmd + ‘T’ to exit full screen.
• Select the “Output > Full Screen At Startup” menu option so that it is unchecked.
• Next time you launch modul8 you will be presented with the main modul8 interface.
  

modul8 natively supports Blackmagic Video input devices and standard Quicktime/ AVFoundation compatible video-input devices.

Press the keyboard shortcut cmd+T to exit full screen.

• Edit Key Map is to configure the computer keyboard.
• Edit MIDI Map is to configure general MIDI input.
• Edit Contextual MIDI is an expert MIDI configuration that allows you to configure different MIDI parameters for each layer/layer set/media.

There is no fixed native resolution in Modul8. You decide the rendering resolution when you configure the second screen of your computer (on a dual display machine). In other words, Modul8 uses the full screen resolution to composite the final image. The maximum resolution is fixed by the video card.

Also, all your medias are rendered in their native size. All the effects and the filters are applied without scaling down the original size of your media. Of course, if you change the size of the media outside Modul8, it will have a different size in the composition. It means also that changing the size of the media can make huge difference in terms of performance.

Please also note that Modul8 applies a bi-linear filter to every layer in order to reduce the pixelization and to increase the quality of the rendering.

modul8 uses Syphon to share frames with madMapper. To enable Syphon, go to the Output menu and select Syphon or use the Shortcut cmd+Y.
In madMapper from the media-list, the current modul8 composition will be available from the Syphon Input Media list.

modul8 can send or receive DMX values. You must first go to the modul8 Preferences  then select the DMX tab to choose the DMX controller to Send or receive DMX values.
Then create or use modules to control or send DMX values.

Resolution settings 
Check that the native resolution of the device is not lower than the display setup of the computer. For example if your video projector is a 1280×720, using 1920×1080 won’t help at all and may even lower the quality of the rendering.

Refresh rates 
Modul8 synchronizes itself to the display refresh rate to get the smoothest possible results. Generally it has been optimized for refresh rates from 50 to 60 Hz. It is better to avoid high frequencies that may lower the smoothness of the animation.

** Do not change the resolution settings when Modul8 is in full screen mode. **