Light Studio – Quick Start

Light Studio is a VST3 MIDI-effect plugin that drives WS2812B (NeoPixel) addressable LED strips from your DAW in real time. A Teensy 3.6 microcontroller receives MIDI CC messages from the plugin over USB and translates them into LED output via the FastLED library.

What You Need

Step 1 — Wire the Hardware

5 V PSU (+) ──────────────────── LED strip (5 V pad)
5 V PSU (–) ─────┬────────────── LED strip (GND pad)
                 └────────────── Teensy (GND pin)
Teensy (Pin 0) ────────────────── LED strip (DIN pad)
Teensy (USB)   ──── to PC

Important wiring notes:

• Never power a long strip from the Teensy's 5 V pin — it can only source ~250 mA. Run a dedicated wire from the PSU to the strip.
• Share a common GND between the PSU, the strip, and the Teensy.
• Add a 300–500 Ω resistor on the DIN data line close to the first LED to protect against signal reflection.
• Add a 1000 µF capacitor across the PSU leads close to the start of the strip to absorb inrush current.

Step 2 — Flash the Teensy Firmware

1. Install Arduino IDE (2.x recommended) and the Teensyduino add-on.
2. Install the FastLED library: in Arduino IDE go to Sketch › Include Library › Manage Libraries, search for FastLED, and install it.
3. Open the firmware sketch from your Light Studio download: Firmware/LightStudio.ino.
4. Configure these settings under the Tools menu:

   Setting	Value
   Board	Teensy 3.6
   USB Type	MIDI
   CPU Speed	180 MHz
   Port	(select the Teensy COM port)

5. Click Upload (→). The Teensy LED will blink while uploading, then stay solid.
6. After a successful upload the Teensy will appear as a MIDI device named Teensy MIDI in Windows.

Step 3 — Install the VST3 Plugin

1. Run the Light Studio installer.
2. The installer copies Light Studio.vst3 to:
   C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\light studio\
3. Restart FL Studio. If the plugin is not found automatically, go to Options › Manage Plugins and click Find More Plugins.

Step 4 — Route MIDI in FL Studio

Light Studio is a MIDI-effect VST3 and must be loaded in the FL Studio Mixer, not a Channel Rack instrument slot.

4a — Load Light Studio in the Mixer

1. Open the Mixer (F9).
2. Select any insert, click an empty FX slot's menu triangle, and choose Select › More Plugins.
3. In the Select effect plugin window click Manage plugins (bottom-right).
4. In the FL Studio Plugin Manager, confirm that C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3 is listed under Plugin search paths. If not, add it.
5. Click Find installed plugins (top-left). Find Light Studio and drag it into the FX slot.
6. To set the MIDI output port for the plugin:
   1. Click the gear icon in the top-right of the plugin window.
   2. Click the plug-gear icon in the pane that appears.
   3. Under the MIDI panel, set Output port to a number not already in use.

4b — Add a MIDI Out instrument

1. Right-click in the Channel Rack and choose Add › MIDI Out.
2. Name the channel Lights (or any name you like).
3. In the MIDI Out instrument panel set:
   • Port: the same port number you assigned to Light Studio in step 4a. To confirm the Teensy's port go to Options › MIDI Settings, look under Output for Teensy MIDI, and note its port number.
   • Channel: 1
4. Note On events on this channel trigger the Move LED on Note On behaviour in the firmware.

4c — Enable the Teensy output port

Go to Options › MIDI Settings, find Teensy MIDI under Output, and make sure the checkbox is ticked and the Port value matches what you set in step 4a.

Step 5 — Activate Your License

When you open Light Studio for the first time the License Activation dialog appears automatically.

1. Your license key is in the confirmation email you received when you purchased the plugin.
2. Paste your license key into the text field and click Verify License.
3. The plugin contacts the activation server. On success the dialog closes and MIDI output is enabled. The key is stored locally so subsequent launches activate automatically — an internet connection is only needed for the initial activation or when moving to a new machine.

The license file is stored at:

C:\ProgramData\DigitallyRemastered\Light Studio\license.json

Moving to a New Machine

Open the License menu in the plugin and choose Remove License. This clears the fingerprint on the server so you can activate on a different PC.

Step 6 — Set Your LED Count

1. Right-click anywhere in the LED preview panel and choose Set LED Count.
2. Enter the number of physical LEDs on your strip (e.g. 108).

The preview redraws immediately to reflect the new count.

Step 7 — Shape the Preview Strip (Bezier Editor)

The preview pane shows approximately how your lights will look once deployed. Use the bezier editor to draw your strip's physical layout so that the on-screen animation matches what you see on your light installation.

• Drag an endpoint to reposition the start or end of the strip.
• Drag a control handle (the smaller square at each end) to bend the curve.
• Right-click the preview to add additional bezier segments if your strip turns a corner.

Bezier settings are saved per-preset inside the plugin state.

Step 8 — Choose a Mode and Dial In Your Look

1. Use the Foreground / Background drop-down to select which layer to edit. Foreground effects appear on top; Background effects are the base.
2. Choose an effect from the Mode drop-down. The knobs below update to show parameters relevant to that mode.
3. Adjust the knobs to shape the look. Right-click any knob to expose it for FL Studio automation.
4. Click the waveform icon on a knob to enable a tempo-synced LFO — the parameter will animate automatically in time with your composition's BPM.

Preview and live output are both active by default when you launch the plugin without a preset (these states are saved with presets). If they become disabled, re-enable them from the View menu:

• View › Enable Preview — live simulation of the LED strip in the plugin window.
• View › Lights On — sends MIDI CC messages to the Teensy to light up the real strip.

Quick-Reference: Key Menus

Step 9 — Load a Custom Light Engine DLL (Optional, Advanced)

If you want to control lighting patterns with your own code, Light Studio is designed to be extensible. The lighting effect modes live in a separate DLL so they can be updated independently of the plugin.

Place your custom LightEngine.dll in the same folder as Light Studio.vst3 and it will load automatically on every subsequent launch.

To load a DLL while the plugin is already open:

1. Go to File › Load Light Engine (DLL)…
2. Browse to your custom-built LightEngine.dll.

File Locations

Troubleshooting

• LEDs don't respond at all — confirm Lights On is enabled in the View menu. Open Options › MIDI Settings in FL Studio and confirm the Teensy output port is enabled and the port number matches what you set in steps 4a and 4c. Unplug and replug the Teensy — Windows sometimes assigns a different COM port after sleep.
• Wrong colours or flickering — check that the DIN data line has a 300–500 Ω series resistor near the first LED. Confirm the strip is WS2812B; SK6812 or APA102 strips require different firmware.
• License dialog keeps reappearing — verify your internet connection. The plugin retries activation every 30 seconds when unlicensed. If you recently changed hardware (motherboard, CPU) the machine fingerprint may have changed — enter your key again to re-bind it to the new fingerprint.
• "LightEngine.dll not found" on startup — use File › Load Light Engine (DLL)… to load it manually, then move the DLL to the same folder as Light Studio.vst3 so it auto-loads next time.

For further support contact us at digitallyremastered128@gmail.com.