Output Warping

Last updated 7 August 2026
Apply image warping to a projector output to compensate keystone or adjust image in blended projections.

Open it from the output's properties, or from the double wave icon in Video Routing Window. The window warps this output's image on a picture of it — control points are dragged with the mouse, or selected and nudged with the arrow keys, and everything played through the output follows that deformation.

It is used mainly for manual alignment of smaller panoramas and stacked projections.

What the window is built from

A warp is assembled in layers, and each has its own control in the top strip.

Control

What it selects

Output to warp

A projector, or a display output

Warp set

The preset for this output, so several warps can be kept and swapped

Mesh source

Where the mesh comes from — a generated grid, or an imported calibration mesh

Parametric base

The shape the grid is built on: Keystone, Cylinder or Toroid

Grid

Control point count — two fields, horizontal and vertical

Base and grid are independent. The base handles give the overall shape; the grid warp is the local correction on top of it. Either can be flattened without losing the other — one flattens the base back to planar and keeps the grid warp, the other flattens the grid onto the base and keeps the base.

Editing

Control

Function

Edit

Enables editing. While on, some functions of this output are unavailable to you and to other users

Enable mesh warping

Turns warping on for the output, and shows the control points and cursor on the output itself for on-screen editing

Enable UV Warp

Deforms the UV coordinates this output samples content with, rather than the output geometry

Projector

Edits the physical projector in the scene while you watch the output — see below

+ Add point

Adds a control point; the next click on the canvas places it

Remove Points

Removes the selected added points

Reset Selected Points

Undoes the modification of the selected points only

Reset Grid / Reset Base

Resets the grid warp, or the base handles, back to default

Editing the projector instead of the mesh

With Projector enabled, the arrow keys move the real projector in the scene rather than the mesh — useful when the image can be fixed properly instead of warped into place. Pick a mode first:

Mode

Left / Right

Up / Down

Page Up / Page Down

Q — move

Sideways

Up and down

Towards or away from the surface

W — rotate

Yaw

Pitch

Roll

E — intrinsics

Lens shift H

Lens shift V

Throw ratio

Movement is in the projector's own frame. Ctrl makes steps fine, Shift coarse.

Import and export

Control

Function

Export

Writes the current warp mesh to a file

Import

Loads a mesh file. The imported grid replaces the geometry

Export as PFM

Exports in PFM format, for tools that expect it

Select File / Reload

For an imported calibration mesh: choose the file, or re-read it after it changed

Un-routing a projector from an output discards its generated warp mesh. Export before un-routing and import again after re-routing, or the alignment is lost.

Keyboard

Action

Key

Move the selected point

Arrow keys

Coarse steps

Shift + arrows

Fine steps

Ctrl + arrows

Select the neighbouring point

Alt + arrows

Add to the selection

Ctrl + click

Limit editing to an area

Drag a rectangle around the points

Undo / redo

Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y

Common Mistakes

  • Warping compensates for a badly placed projector — if large warping is needed to reach the corners, fix the projector's position in the scene instead. The Projector mode exists for exactly this.

  • The mesh disappears after re-routing — it is tied to the routing. Export it first.

  • Resetting loses more than intended — Reset Selected Points, Reset Grid and Reset Base act at different scopes. The narrowest one that fixes the problem is the right one.

Set up a manual panorama projection — this window used end to end

Video Routing Window — where the warping window is opened from

Outputs — the output this warp belongs to