Exports | HappyMaps

Canvas PNG

The default. One image of the full canvas, after slicing and after the anamorphic squish. Basically the reason HappyMaps exists. This is the one you send to clients, VJs and/or content creators.

Per-object input PNGs

One PNG per screen, at native pixel dimensions, before slicing and before the squish. A 3840x200 banner you have sliced into two halves on the canvas exports as one 3840x200 PNG, not two.

For anamorphic objects, the PNG uses native (pre-squish) dimensions. A wall that shows as 1792x256 on the canvas exports at 1792x512 when using Vanish 3.9/7.8 type cabinets.

Use case: handing source-content makers the pixel grid for one screen at a time, without slices or canvas decorations.

One limit: a single PNG can't go much past 32,500px on either side. Because this export is the full native grid, a very long screen can pass that even when its slices fit the canvas fine. When that happens the editor flags it, and the per-slice output PNGs are the way to get the pixels out.

Per-slice output PNGs

One PNG per slice, post-slice and post-anamorphic. Mirrors what each slice looks like on the canvas. A two-slice screen exports as two PNGs. An unsliced screen exports as one.

Use case: documentation, or pipelines that consume one slice at a time downstream. Honestly, this is the least commonly used export, but if it's useful to you, it's there.

Resolume XML

Advanced Output XML for Resolume Arena. This saves a lot of time and prevents miscommunication. Send the file XML file to your client alongside the Canvas PNG, and they can import it into Arena to get a composition with the correct geometry, slice layout, and scaling, all set up.

The input and output of each slice can differ in three cases: sliced screens, anamorphic screens, and rotated screens. The next section covers why.

How slices appear on the input composition

On the canvas, slices live separately. In the Resolume composition, all slices of one screen share a single input region: the original screen shape before you cut it up. Slice 1 samples one part of that region, slice 2 samples another. You paint a single continuous source for the screen and Arena cuts it during playback.

Where slices would overlap, later screens shift

Native dimensions and pre-slice grouping can make a screen's input footprint larger than its canvas footprint. If that would push it into another screen's input slice, HappyMaps shifts the later screen down, or right if there is no room below, until nothing overlaps. The notice modal that opens before the Resolume download reports the resulting composition size.

Composition size is a hint

HappyMaps writes a composition size large enough to hold every input slice. Arena treats this as a hint and may keep its own composition size after import. You can resize the composition in Arena's properties without breaking the slice geometry.

Rotated screens stay flat on the input

Rotation is for a screen that's physically hung turned 90, 180, or 270 degrees. On the input composition the source region stays the normal way up, axis-aligned, exactly the pixel grid you'd paint content into. The rotation rides the output side: HappyMaps writes a rotated output region so Arena turns that flat source onto the screen at the right angle. You make content upright and Arena rotates it during playback, the same way it cuts slices for you.

Output Guide image

Arena stores the Output Guide image as an absolute filesystem path, not embedded data, so HappyMaps cannot fill it in for you. After import, drop the canvas PNG into the Output Guide picker on each screen if you want a reference overlay.

Input side vs output side

The output side is what lands on the screen (into the processor), after slicing and after the squish. The input side is the source pixel grid feeding that output. For simple screens the two match. For sliced and anamorphic screens they differ on purpose.

Slicing is a canvas-side construct

Slicing only exists when you place a screen on a canvas. The goal of slicing is to keep the canvas-size smaller than the input size. HappyMaps' input-side exports (per-object input PNGs and the input layout inside the Resolume XML) treat each screen as one continuous rectangle and leave the cutting to whatever consumes the file/source.

Anamorphic squish is a canvas-side transformation

A Vanish 3.9/7.8 screen is shown post-squish on the canvas so the proportions may seem a little weird. The native pixel grid is twice as tall (or twice as wide, depending on cabinet orientation). Input-side exports use the native grid. The squish gets applied at the output stage: by the playback tool for live composition, or by HappyMaps itself for the Canvas PNG.

Rotation is an output-side transformation

A screen hung at 90, 180, or 270 degrees is rotated on the canvas so the map matches the physical reality: the grid, coordinate labels, and info box turn with it. The source content underneath stays upright. Input-side exports keep the screen axis-aligned, pre-rotate, the normal way up. The rotation is applied at the output stage: by the playback tool for live composition, or by HappyMaps itself for the Canvas PNG.

Bulk downloads

Per-object and per-slice exports run as a sequential download, one file at a time. Chrome and some other browsers ask permission the first time a site does this. Click Allow.

HappyMaps shows a one-time notice in the browser before the prompt appears, so the question is not a surprise.