A video installation that runs itself, on a Mac Mini

Museums, shop windows, lobbies, festival builds: the show has to come up after a power cut with nobody there, run for weeks, and survive someone unplugging the wrong cable. Here is the Phosphor setup for that, in six steps. Everything in it is free.

Download Phosphor for Mac (free)Projection mapping guide

1. Build the show on your laptop, export it

Make the project as usual: clips, generators, effects, mapping and outputs. File → Export Show writes a standalone app with the media inside it (a copy of Phosphor that opens straight into your project), so the installation Mac needs nothing else installed. Tick "Open locked (play only)" and set a password if staff should be able to watch but not change anything.

2. On the Mac Mini: install, allow, open once

Copy the exported app (or Phosphor itself plus the project) to the Mac Mini, open it once and allow it in System Settings → Privacy & Security (it is not notarised yet). In the Output & Stats panel tick "Open outputs on their screens when this project opens" and "Start Phosphor when this Mac logs in". Send each output to its projector and check the mapping on the wall.

3. Let macOS log in by itself

System Settings → Users & Groups → Automatic login for the installation user, and Energy / Lock Screen: never sleep, no screen saver, restart after a power failure. Now a power cut ends with the show back on the wall: the Mac restarts, logs in, Phosphor starts, the project opens, the outputs cover the projectors.

4. Make it move by itself

Turn on Auto show in the launch bar: the next column with clips every few bars, a Surprise on drops, every layer reacting to the sound. With a track or a playlist of sound files in the grid, Phosphor finds the tempo and the downbeat itself and keeps the picture on the beat; with a microphone or line input it follows the room. Autopilot per layer and cue lists with timecode are there for scripted runs.

5. If it ever falls over, it gets up

Phosphor keeps a rolling snapshot of the show every two seconds and a watchdog restarts it after a crash or a freeze, restoring the project, the output windows on their screens, playback positions and the session. A bug inside one frame skips that frame instead of closing the app. crash.log keeps the reason for you.

6. Keep an eye on it from your phone

Start a session: a QR code opens the remote on any phone on the Wi-Fi (mixer, clips, Auto show, Surprise, tap tempo), and the viewer page shows the output. Lock Controls keeps staff out of the editing panels; the password lets you back in.

Questions

Does it need the internet?

No. Everything runs locally; the phone remote works over the local Wi-Fi. Check for Updates is the only thing that goes out, and only when you ask (or once a day if the Mac is online).

Which Mac?

Any Apple-silicon Mac; a Mac Mini is the usual choice. Several projectors need enough display outputs (or a USB-C dock).

Can it drive LEDs too?

Yes, Art-Net and sACN pixel mapping from the same picture, paced for the lights.

What does it cost?

Nothing. Phosphor is free and open source (GPL). A free account is optional on the Mac.

More: free VJ software for Mac · projection mapping step by step · coming from MadMapper.