Sentinel / Features
Features
Everything in Sentinel, and what the free version includes.
You'll need an agent. Sentinel is built to be driven by one, such as Claude Code, Codex or a local model. You describe what you want, and the agent builds it with the tools on this page. The agent isn't included. Never used one? The quickstarts for Claude Code and Codex show how to install one on Windows and sign in.
Windows 10/11 · NVIDIA RTX 30-series or newer · CUDA 12.x
New In the nightly now, and in stable next.
01Stage and lighting
Stage simulation
Fixtures, truss, haze, looks and special effects like sparks, flames and fireworks, all simulated in real time.
Laser simulationNew
Beams in haze and scans on every surface, in the same scene as the lighting rig. Scanner simulation models the mirrors and draws exactly what each laser was sent.
GDTF and MVRNew
Import an MVR, or build a rig from your GDTF library and patch it by hand or automatically. Each fixture is built from its GDTF: body, emitters, beam and photometry. Exports MVR.
Create fixtures from specsNew
The agent builds a fixture from its spec sheet: gobos, prisms, zoom and the DMX layout. It can write a GDTF for a fixture that does not have one.
Match to referenceNew
Point a camera at the real fixture, or give it reference video, and the agent refines the model and how its light behaves to match.
02Lasers
Vector laser contentNew
Lines, curves and shapes drawn straight to the scanner, with color and gradients along every line, for beam shows, abstracts and graphics.
Laser and 3D togetherNew
Author laser paths with the 3D content they belong to, so the laser and the projection come from one scene. Both travel in one cable.
Laser textNew
Text drawn as laser paths, with effects that move and modulate it.
ILDA filesNew
Play up to eight ILDA files at once, one per laser, looped or locked to a video or timecode. Record any laser output to an ILDA file.
Laser tracingNew
Real-time vectorization of video, renders and 3D scenes into steady full-color laser paths, down to single-pixel lines and dots. GPU-accelerated.
Geometric correctionNew
Fit content to real surfaces with corner pins, a mesh warp, and scanner correction for bow and spacing.
MaskingNew
Mask out any part of the laser output with rectangles, ellipses and polygons, or keep the laser inside one. Masked parts are skipped in one blank jump, not traced dark.
Multi-laser contentNew
Spread one picture across several lasers, soft-edge blended where they meet.
Scanner protectionNew
Step, acceleration, dwell, blanking and duty limits on every sample, plus color delay. Load your own copy of the ILDA test pattern to tune your scanners.
In sync with videoNew
Frame Lock and per-output delay keep lasers in step with projectors and screens.
Simulate and recordNew
Run the whole laser output with no hardware, and record every sample.
Running lasers for an audience is regulated in many places. The operator is responsible for safety and compliance.
03Reliability and workflow
Runs offline
No dongle and no check-in. A show you have built runs with no internet; a license needs a connection once, to activate.
Recovery snapshots
Your project is autosaved as you work, and you can restore any recent snapshot.
Isolated shader compilesNew
Shaders compile in a separate process, so a failed compile touches only its own module and the show keeps running.
Create presets
Save a preset of a whole module, or of just the parameters you pick. Recalling it changes only those, so presets can layer.
Randomize parameters
Randomize every parameter in a module, or one group of them, to explore. Lock the ones you want to keep, and save a preset when you find something good.
Scene GroupsNew
Package part of a show and drop it into another project as a ready look, with its controls and presets.
Custom shortcutsNew
Rebind any keyboard or mouse shortcut, with conflict detection.
Node search and libraryNew
Add any node by typing: right-click, drop a cable or press Tab, and it suggests what fits. Keep your best modules in a library and reuse them in every project.
04Show control
Build a show from looksNew
Make as many looks as you like in one project and switch or crossfade between them. The switch carries everything in the look: video, DMX, laser paths and any other data.
TimecodeNew
Chase Art-Net timecode, MTC or LTC. Video clips and ILDA shows follow it, and hold the exact frame when it stops.
Native Push 2New
Pads, encoders and the screen. Send the screen any video, a shader, or 2D drawing from a script.
Audio reactivity
Spectrum, mel bands, and kick, snare and hat detection, from system audio or a mic.
Expressions and binds
Drive any parameter from any other with a short expression, or bind parameters so moving one moves them all.
05Build your own tools
The agent writes them, and you can edit them. They reload live.
HLSL shader modules
GPU nodes with their own interfaces: controls, interactive viewports and gizmos. Data flows in and out, so a module can read tracking, audio, DMX or meshes and drive anything. Compute, raster, SDF 3D and feedback.
Luau scriptsNew
Logic, mappings and interfaces on a 240 Hz control clock.
Show desksNew
Desks with pads, faders, grids and meters, for a mouse or a touchscreen. Ask for one, or start from an example.
Custom control surfacesNew
Turn any MIDI controller into a fully custom control surface. Its pads, LEDs, encoders and screen can do anything you want, down to a game played on the pads. Ready-made for Midi Fighter Twister, Push 2, APC mini mk2 and X-Touch Compact, each with a virtual surface.
06Inputs and outputs
MIDI in and outNew
Learn, pickup and relative encoders, with timestamped events.
OSC in and out
Every parameter over OSC, with feedback. Send expression-driven messages out.
Cameras and capture cards
Webcams and capture cards, plus video files, images and test patterns.
Spout and NDI in
Video from Resolume, OBS, media servers and anything on the network.
DMX inNew
Art-Net or sACN. Answers ArtPoll, so consoles list Sentinel.
DMX outNew
Art-Net or sACN, with universe masks and priority.
Laser outputNew
Ether Dream, LaserCube and Laserworld ShowNET, or into Pangolin BEYOND on the same PC, as many lasers as you connect.
Spout and NDI outNew
To Resolume, OBS, media servers and anything on the network.
Display outputsNew
Fullscreen to any monitor or projector, with per-output delay.
Recording
MP4 from any node or the app window, with desktop audio.
PNG sequencesNew
Deterministic and frame-accurate, several outputs per pass.
07Video and 3D
HAP, HAP Q and HAP Q AlphaNew
Decoded on background threads. Seamless loops, locked to the display.
H.264 and H.265New
Color range and matrix read from the file.
Mesh import
OBJ, FBX, glTF and GLB models, as a mesh any module can render, light and reshape.
Projection mappingNew
Corner-pin and mesh warps drawn on the projector's own pixels, soft-edge blended where projectors overlap. Start from the example.
08Real-time models
Powered by Stability AI
Generation
StreamDiffusion
SDXL Turbo in native C++ on TensorRT. Up to 54 fps with IP-Adapter on a 5090.
IP-Adapter
Style from an image reference.
ControlNet video-to-video
Restyle live video as it plays. Depth or line art keeps the shape of the input.
3D parallax zoom
Diffusion feedback with depth and parallax blended back in.
Custom engines
Import TensorRT engines you have built for SDXL, depth, pose, background removal and person segmentation.
Vision
Depth estimation
Depth Anything V2.
Background removal
BiRefNet matting.
Person segmentation
RF-DETR-Seg.
Pose estimation
RTMPose body keypoints.
Hands and gestures
MediaPipe, 21 points per hand.
Face mesh
MediaPipe, 468 points.
Object detection
YOLOX, 80 object classes.
Optical flow
On the GPU's optical flow hardware.
Video super resolution
NVIDIA RTX Video Super Resolution.
Image features
Corners, blobs, edges and lines, with no model.
Free and licensed
Build anything you want, for free.
Pay when you bring it into the real world. The free version is the whole application, with no time limit. One license covers everything on this page and lifts the limits marked with a padlock above.
Founding price. Goes to $249.
Includes 12 months of updates & support · 2 machines · versions you own keep working forever
You are purchasing a revocable license to access Sentinel, not ownership of the software. This license is subject to our EULA and may be revoked in accordance with its terms.
Art-Net™ Designed by and Copyright Artistic Licence Engineering Ltd.
Other product and model names belong to their owners and are used only to say what Sentinel works with.
Windows 10 and 11, NVIDIA RTX 30-series or newer. See the system requirements.