Full control over lighting, without sacrificing creativity. Beam gives you lighting composition directly from the musical grid and makes lights react to your playing. Turn Ableton Live into your lighting console.

Lights for Live, and Live for lights

Use Live's automation, MIDI and signal flow features to control your lights. If you don't want to stop there, create your own Max for Live lighting devices using the Beam SDK.

<span class="nowrapAlways">Control complex</span> <span class="nowrapAlways">lighting setups</span>

Control complex lighting setups

Control lights from various manufacturers with a single instrument. Perform on a new lighting rig without making changes to your Live Set; your set is decoupled from the lighting patch for maximum flexibility.

A direct connection

Connect Beam directly to your lighting setup without the need of a lighting desk. Send out unlimited universes over Art-Net, or connect with a range of supported USB-DMX devices.

New in Beam for Live 2

Windows support

Beam for Live 2 marks the first release for the Windows platform, offering a fully-featured application identical to its macOS counterpart.

Improved performance

Beam for Live is now more efficient, allowing you to work with an even larger number of fixtures with a lower CPU load.

New user interface

Introducing a new, streamlined user interface for both Windows and macOS. This elegantly designed interface brings together all essential settings into one convenient window, providing a smoother user experience.

New fixture profile schema

Now supporting the advanced SBF v3 format, Beam enables expanded fixture compatibility, improved color handling, and multi-mode support within a single profile. Enhanced cell support consolidates complex fixture data, and the Test function now activates any channel for setup.

Extended connectivity options

New connectivity options include Art-Net Input, more flexible DMX routing, and CITP output for seamless visualizer integration. Additionally, the new External In device enables smooth handling of DMX input from external consoles and software.

Playground visualizer

Now bundled with two demo projects, Beam for Live lets you get started without extra hardware. The Demo Project offers a virtual stage with a pre-made composition, while the Playground provides a flexible setup with common lighting fixtures. Both are accessible from the Beam menu.

Full release notes ›

Instruments and effects

"I recommend Showsync on every live show I work on. Anyone that uses Ableton frequently will be able to pick this up super quickly and run with it. Showsync has been a complete game changer for me and the artists that I work with because it lets us do things that we thought were previously not possible."

Tony Friend

Musical Director, Flawless Playback

"Beam gives me the ability to create all kinds of moods I want, without the help of a lighting designer and without knowledge of lighting techniques. It's like composing music but for the eyes. This is a real game changer for live performances."

O D Y S S E E

"The Feed Me With Teeth show is built entirely on Videosync and Beam. We use no other lighting desks or media servers. This has served us very well for multiple USA tours and various festival shows all over the world."

Auke Kruithof

Founder of Studio Rewind

"With Videosync and Beam, building visuals and lighting together with my audio feels most like sculpting. I mix, blend and layer until what I see matches exactly with what I feel."

Nikki Hock

Audiovisual performer, lighting
designer and installation artist

"Beam is a game changer when it comes to musical lighting control. Designing a unique lighting counterpart for every note in every clip of the Feed Me show might sound daunting, but with Beam it was truly fun and the synergy with Videosync is unparalleled."

Michel Suk

Senior lighting engineer and show
designer at Ampco-Flashlight

Fixture Profiles

The amount of supported fixtures increases with every update, but in case you are missing one or more fixture profiles in Beam, you can submit a fixture profile request, or create your own using the web fixture editor.

Support

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