What Raedia is
Raedia is a local-first media server that drives screens — projectors and LED walls over standard HDMI / DisplayPort — with a strong real-time mapping engine. It mixes video, images, live camera and generated visuals on the GPU, warps the result precisely onto physical surfaces, and lets a single operator drive the whole show live from the keyboard, a MIDI controller, or a phone.
It is built on one clear position: Resolume-grade power with consumer-grade ease. The differentiator is a mapping surface a non-technical operator can actually run on the night — plus a zero-config browser remote that turns any phone on the network into a control surface, with no app to install.
VJs and club nights · houses of worship · corporate & live events · installations and set pieces · anywhere content must land precisely on a physical screen and be driven live. Currently Windows-first, in Beta. A Codexa product.
Headline capabilities
Display
Real-time layer & clip compositing on the GPU, with 31 effects, blend modes, transitions and an A/B crossfader — smooth on multiple hardware-decoded streams.
Map
Projection mapping — keystone, mesh (N-point) warp, masks and soft-edge blending — plus LED-wall mapping over standard display output, with output presets and offline virtual screens.
Control
MIDI, OSC and DMX (Art-Net / sACN) I/O, keyboard mapping, a REST API, a dashboard of exposed parameters, and a zero-config browser & phone remote.
The feature list, in brief
Full feature matrix
Core instrument
| Composition (name, size, fps) | Built |
| Layers · columns · decks — up to 20 each | Built |
| Clips · groups | Built |
| Per-layer opacity & blend modes (Normal/Add/Multiply/Screen/Overlay/Difference/Exclude) | Built |
| Transform (clip / layer / group / comp) | Built |
| A/B crossfader | Built |
| Clip & column transitions (duration + easing) | Built |
| Duplicate / clear / rename · undo & redo | Built |
Media & sources
| Video playback, hardware-decoded (DXVA / Media Foundation) | Built |
| HAP · ProRes · DXV codecs | Built |
| Still images | Built |
| Per-clip audio (audio can be the master clock) | Built |
| Live camera / capture cards | Built |
| NDI in · Spout in | Built |
| Text generator/animator (align, marquee scroll, fade) | Built |
| Generators — solid · gradient · plasma · noise/Perlin · fractal · shapes · test card | Built |
| Media Manager (relink) · transcode to HAP | Built |
Effects & blend
| 31 GPU effects + effect framework | Built |
| Per-clip & per-layer effect stacking | Built |
| Parameter animation · envelopes / curves | Built |
| Blend modes · feathered masks · 3D (.cube) LUTs | Built |
| ISF shader support (runtime-loaded) | Built |
| FFGL 2.0 plugin support (runtime-loaded) | Built |
Audio & sync
| Audio FFT → any parameter | Built |
| BPM detection / beat-sync | Built |
| Ableton Link | Built |
| SMPTE / MTC timecode | Built |
| Autopilot | Built |
Output & mapping
| Simple output · multi-screen output | Built |
| Regions / slices · input-selection vs output-transformation | Built |
| Perspective / linear / mesh (N-point) warp | Built |
| Masks & silhouette presets · alignment test grid | Built |
| Edge blending / soft edge | Built |
| Output presets · virtual screens (offline setup) | Built |
| Network output | Built |
Control surfaces
| Keyboard shortcuts / mapping · Quick Search | Built |
| MIDI mapping (multiple devices) · effect-parameter binding | Built |
| MIDI clock in / out | Built |
| OSC in / out | Built |
| DMX / Art-Net / sACN (as control input) | Built |
| REST / HTTP API | Built |
| Dashboard of exposed parameters | Built |
| Zero-config browser / phone remote | Built |
Interface & workflow
| Detachable / floating panels · redock & snap | Built |
| Named layout presets · save-as-default · reset | Built |
| Preview monitors (composition / selected / output) | Built |
| Snapshots · multi-monitor UI | Built |
| Video exporter (render composite to file) | Built |
System, licensing & deployment
| Online serial activation · node-lock | Built |
| Offline grace · dongle (offline machines) | Built |
| Backup-instance / multi-server allowance | Built |
| Watermark demo mode · annual-updates model | Built |
| Wire node patcher (custom sources / effects / signal flow) | Beta |
| Cross-platform (macOS) | Planned |
Technical specifications
| Area | Specification |
|---|---|
| Architecture | Native Windows application (Tauri 2 shell) with a Rust + wgpu real-time GPU compositor at its core. |
| Rendering | GPU compositing pipeline (DirectX 11 class). Layers, effects, blend modes, masks, LUTs and warps run on the graphics card. |
| Video decode | Hardware decode via D3D11 / DXVA and Windows Media Foundation, with a concurrency gate that falls back to software for additional streams. |
| Codecs | HAP (GPU-friendly), ProRes, DXV, and common formats via OS decoders. Built-in transcoder converts source footage to HAP. |
| User interface | React / TypeScript. The same interface runs in the desktop app and, unmodified, as a browser client for remote control. |
| Show data model | 100% local — SQLite plus a single .raedia JSON bundle holding layers, clips, mapping, control bindings and panel layout. No cloud dependency at show time. |
| Outputs | One or more physical displays (HDMI / DisplayPort) as full-mix or region-mapped outputs; network output; per-region assignment. |
| Mapping engine | Arbitrary regions/slices; perspective, linear and mesh (N-point) warp; feathered polygon masks with silhouette presets; edge blend; alignment grid; output presets; offline virtual screens. |
| Effects engine | 31 built-in GPU effects; per-clip and per-layer chains; animatable parameters with envelopes; runtime-loaded ISF shaders and FFGL 2.0 plugins; 3D LUTs. |
| Audio | Per-clip audio (can act as master clock); FFT band → parameter mapping; BPM detection; Ableton Link; SMPTE/MTC timecode. |
| Control I/O | MIDI (multi-device + clock), OSC in/out, DMX / Art-Net / sACN input, REST/HTTP API, browser remote. |
| Interop sources | NDI receive, Spout receive, DirectShow/MF capture devices. |
| Reliability | Release build tuned for frame-time headroom; a decoder or render-thread fault unwinds that thread only, so the show keeps running. |
| Licensing | Ed25519-signed licences, device node-lock, online activation with offline grace; central per-tier caps. |
| Platform | Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit. macOS port planned. |
System requirements
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 (64-bit) | Windows 11 (64-bit) |
| Graphics | DirectX 11-capable GPU | Modern discrete GPU with ample VRAM |
| CPU | Modern quad-core | 6–8+ cores for heavy decode + capture |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM | 16–32 GB RAM |
| Storage | SSD | NVMe SSD for high-bitrate media |
| Display output | 1 × HDMI / DisplayPort | Multiple outputs for multi-screen / edge-blend |
| Network | LAN for browser remote | Wired LAN + Wi-Fi AP for phone remotes |
Transcoding source footage to HAP markedly reduces decode load and is the single biggest lever for smooth multi-layer playback. Match GPU and storage to your target resolution, layer count and codec.
Licensing & editions
Raedia is licensed to be undramatic on the night: activate once, then the show runs whether or not you're online. This describes the model; editions and prices are confirmed at checkout when you are invited to pay.
| Element | How it works |
|---|---|
| Trial / demo mode | Full-feature evaluation; output carries a watermark and saving is reserved for licensed seats. When the trial ends, your show is preserved — unlock to continue. |
| Activation | Purchase on the web, receive a signed key on-screen, paste it into the app (or use Unlock Raedia →). Keys are cryptographically signed (Ed25519) and node-locked to the device. |
| Editions | The purchase page offers a Single and a Pro option, payable in ZAR (PayFast) or USD (Stripe). Tier is carried in the signed licence; per-tier caps come from central config and can be adjusted without re-issuing keys. |
| Offline grace | An entitled seat keeps its tier however long it is off the internet — never cut off mid-show for a missed check-in. |
| Annual updates | The seat runs indefinitely; the updates entitlement governs access to new app versions. A lapsed updates period doesn't stop the app — it only pauses new-version installs. |
| Offline & multi-machine | Provisions for dongle-based offline activation and backup-instance / multi-server allowances for larger deployments. |
Until Codexa's paid code-signing certificate is in place, Windows SmartScreen shows an “unknown publisher” warning on first install. This is a signing gap, not a security issue, and is separate from the app's own (already-working) update signature. Choose More info → Run anyway to install.
At a glance
| Product | Raedia — GPU-native media server for live visuals, projection mapping & LED-wall control |
| Category | VJ / media server / projection mapping |
| Positioning | Resolume-grade power, consumer-grade ease |
| Platform | Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) · macOS planned |
| Status | Beta |
| Publisher | Codexa · Cape Town, South Africa |
| Web | raedia.dev |