showstack / software / isadora
Isadora
Node-based real-time media environment where video, audio, sensors and control protocols are patched together as actors inside scenes. Long-standing tool for interactive video in dance and experimental theatre, also used as a straight scene-cued playback system.
Protocols it speaks
| Protocol | Direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| osc | bidirectional | Specifications page lists input and output of OSC; Isadora 4 adds an OSC Address Listener actor. Commonly used to take cues from lighting consoles and other cue software. |
| midi | bidirectional | MIDI input and output listed on the specifications page. |
| midi-show-control | in | MSC listed on the specifications page; the show-control page describes triggering cues from external software or hardware over MSC. |
| mtc | in | Specifications page states MIDI Timecode support and the show-control page lists MTC for synchronisation; the docs do not state that Isadora also generates MTC. |
| art-net | bidirectional | Integrated Art-Net send and receive from Isadora 4. In Isadora 2 and 3 Art-Net was a separately downloaded plugin (32-bit for 2, 64-bit for 3). |
| dmx512 | out | Video can be pixel-mapped to RGB DMX values and sent out via USB-DMX devices. The lighting page says DMX input and output but only output is described in any detail. |
| ndi | bidirectional | Input via the NDI Watcher actor (integrated from Isadora 4, a downloaded add-on actor before that); output is configured in Stage Setup. Syphon (macOS) and Spout (Windows) cover local texture sharing. |
What to watch for
A perpetual buy-to-own licence includes two years of updates, not updates forever. After that the installed version keeps running but newer releases need a paid update, which extends the window by another year.
Release notes explicitly exclude Surface Pro-class tablets, Linux, and macOS running on non-Apple hardware. A rented Windows laptop that turns out to be a Surface is not a supported playback machine.
Art-Net was a downloadable plugin in Isadora 2 (32-bit) and Isadora 3 (64-bit) and only became integrated in Isadora 4, so version-specific plugin builds matter when opening older patches.
IzzyCast, the remote video/audio/data streaming feature, is a separate product with its own credit-based charging rather than something the Isadora licence covers.
Perpetual licences come in digital and USB-key variants; the USB-key version is the one that needs no internet connection, which matters for air-gapped show machines.
Typical use
- Interactive video for dance and experimental performance, driven by camera or sensor input
- Live camera processing and GPU effects chains built as actor patches
- Scene-based cue playback with crossfades, triggered from a console over OSC or MSC
- Pixel-mapping video content out to LED via Art-Net or USB-DMX
- Multi-projector setups with blending and routing, up to 16 stage outputs
Sources
- Isadora Specifications — TroikaTronix primary
- Isadora 4 Release Notes — TroikaTronix primary
- Isadora 4 License Types Overview — TroikaTronix primary
- Isadora - Lighting Control — TroikaTronix primary
- Isadora - Cueing (Show Control) — TroikaTronix primary
- Basics of NDI Input and Output — TroikaTronix primary
Understand the mechanism
Something wrong, or missing?
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