Welcome to Studio IQ

Studio IQ is a set of tools for people who run synchronized light shows. Each tool does one job well. Use one, or use all four — they play nice together. This page is the quick tour: what each tool is for, how a show ties them together, and the fastest path from a fresh account to lights on the lawn.

The four tools

From the Studio IQ home page you’ll see a launcher with one tile per tool. Click a tile to open it.

How the tools fit together

The tools form a simple chain. You don’t have to use every link — but when you do, each one feeds the next.

• TRK:IQ turns a song into timing tracks, the grid an xLights sequence is built on. It also reads each song’s BPM.
• MAP:IQ takes a finished sequence and remaps it onto the exact props you own, so a borrowed sequence lights your yard, not someone else’s.
• SET:IQ takes your mapped songs and the BPM values from TRK:IQ and builds the night-by-night setlists for your season.
• REQ:IQ lets viewers pick from that same catalog on their phones, and your player slots the picks into the show.

Shows: the one thing to set up first

Most tools work on a show — your display, with its song catalog and your xLights layout. A show is the folder everything else lives in. You can keep more than one (say, one for Halloween and one for Christmas) and switch between them from the show menu.

TRK:IQ is the one exception: it works on a single song, with no show needed. Everything else reads from the active show, so it’s worth setting up first.

1. 1

   Create a show

   On the Studio IQ home page, click New show and give it a clear name. Pick a season if it asks.
2. 2

   Upload your layout

   On the Layout tab, upload your xLights rgbeffects.xml. This tells the tools what props you actually own, so MAP:IQ has real targets to map onto.
3. 3

   Build your catalog

   Add your songs on the Catalog tab. SET:IQ and REQ:IQ both work from this list, so the more you add, the more they can do.

The studio shell

Once a show is open, you’re inside the studio shell. The show name sits up top, and the sidebar tabs switch between the parts of that show — your Catalog, your Layout, the per-show tools, and the FPP Hub where you sync to your player. The tools stay in context: open SET:IQ from here and it already knows your songs.

Importing a catalog

Adding songs one at a time is fine for a handful. For a full season, import the whole list at once instead.

1. 1

   Open the Catalog tab

   Inside your show, go to Catalog and click Import.
2. 2

   Bring in your songs

   Point it at your sequence files or a song list. Each song shows up as a catalog row with its title and length.
3. 3

   Fill in the gaps

   Songs missing BPM can be sent through TRK:IQ; songs not yet fitted to your props can be sent through MAP:IQ. The catalog flags what’s still missing.

What the Beta and Alpha badges mean

Some tiles in the launcher wear a small badge. Here’s what each one is telling you.

• No badge — Stable. Use it for your real show.
• Beta — Works well; small rough edges possible.
• Alpha — Early. We’d love your feedback, and we’d love it twice as much if something breaks and you tell us.

Connecting your show player

SET:IQ and REQ:IQ shine brightest when they’re connected to the thing that actually plays your show. You make that connection in the FPP Hub tab — one place per show for connection status, your show key, and two-way sync.

• Running FPP (Falcon Player)? Install our plugin — Connect FPP.
• Running xSchedule? A native xSchedule plugin is in the works — Connect xSchedule.

Where to start

Not sure which tile to click first? Match your goal to a tool.

• Just want to see it work? Run one song through TRK:IQ. Zero setup, useful in two minutes.
• Have a sequence that lights the wrong props? Send it through MAP:IQ.
• Ready to plan a whole season? Create a show, build your catalog, then open SET:IQ.

FAQ