PathfinderCore PRO Panels & Quasar Consoles

01Requirements

• Bitfocus Companion 5.0 or newer — Windows, macOS, or Linux (x64 / arm64).
• .NET 8 Runtime on the Companion machine, matching its CPU architecture. It is used by the licensing library. Install “.NET Runtime 8.0.x” from dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/8.0. Without it the connection stays read-only and shows an install hint.
• A Cloudcast Systems licence serial (supplied with your purchase), and outbound HTTPS from the Companion machine for the one-time activation.
• Network access from the Companion machine to your PathfinderCore PRO server.

02Install the module

1. Open the Companion admin UI and go to the Modules page.
2. Click Import module package and choose ccs-pathfindercore-panels-0.5.1.tgz from this download.
3. The module now appears in the connection list on the next step.

03Add the connection

On the Connections page open Add New Connection, search for Pathfinder, and add Lawo / Axia: PathfinderCore PRO; Quasar.

One connection instance drives one panel page — add another instance for another panel or host. Once added it appears in the list with a status light that turns green OK when connected and licensed.

04Configure the panel

Click the connection to open its settings.

On save, the module discovers the page’s controls over HTTP — every action and feedback dropdown is populated from that discovery, and console (GAINCONTROL) faders expose their Quasar device objects automatically. The module re-checks the panel’s save-version every 15 s, so edits made in the Pathfinder panel designer appear on your buttons within ~15 s with no restart.

05Licensing

The module needs a Cloudcast Systems licence for control. Until it is licensed it runs read-only: feedbacks and variables keep mirroring the panel live, but presses, fader moves and console control are blocked and the connection shows a warning with the reason.

• Enter your licence serial and Save — or an email address to start a trial (the server emails a confirmation link). Activation takes a few seconds; the status turns green and shows licensed to your name.
• The licence binds to this machine’s hardware ID and covers every Pathfinder connection in this Companion. It is stored outside the module folder, so it survives module upgrades.
• Activation happens once per serial, not once per start. Restarting costs nothing, and the last verdict is remembered on disk so the first press after a restart is not held up by the licence check.
• Re-activate on Save — tick this box beside the serial and Save to force a fresh activation. Use it after your licence’s device allowance changes so this machine pulls the new allowance. It clears itself after the save.

06Stream Deck devices

Your licence sets how many physical Stream Deck surfaces may drive Pathfinder. The settings show Stream Deck devices: used / limit (for example 1 / 10, or Unlimited on an enterprise licence).

Decks are added manually — they do not license themselves just by being plugged in, so you stay in control of which decks count against the limit:

1. Press any button on the physical deck once. The module notices it and offers it in the Add a Stream Deck dropdown.
2. Pick it from the dropdown — or type its id / serial into …or paste a surface id / deck serial; a bare serial such as A9IJA54130XSCP is accepted and the streamdeck: prefix is added for you — then Save. It joins the Licensed Stream Decks list, up to your licence’s limit.
3. To free a slot, choose the deck under Remove device(s) (or tick Remove ALL on Save) and Save.

A physical deck that is not on the licensed list is blocked from sending actions, and the log explains why. Everything else on it — styling, text and tallies via feedbacks — keeps working, so you can see the panel but not drive it until the deck is licensed.

07Using it

Presets

Ready-made buttons are generated for everything discovered on the page — drag them straight onto the grid. Find them under Buttons → Presets → Pathfinder_Panels.

• Panel buttons — painted with the panel’s real on/off colours.
• Panel faders & knobs — rotary presets (rotate = adjust, push = min).
• Console faders — gain rotary (push toggles on-air) and a red-lit ON key.
• Fader functions — PGM 1–4, PFL, MUTE, TB keys plus a momentary TALK key.
• Console sources — rotary source stepper showing the live source name.

Rotary presets are for surfaces with encoders (Stream Deck+ dials, Loupedeck, X-keys jog, …); on plain keys the push action still works.

Actions

Panel buttons — Press (down + up edge, like tapping the web panel); Hold / Release as separate edges for momentary buttons.

Panel faders & knobs — Set value (absolute, clamped), Adjust value (relative ±, for rotary left/right), Set to minimum.

Console (Quasar) faders — Set / Nudge gain (dB); On-air (toggle / ON / OFF); Function button (PGM 1–4, PFL, ON, MUTE, TB, push-to-talk TALK, AUX 1–8, or a custom property); Select / Next / Previous source, read live from the console.

Feedbacks

• Use styling from panel — mirrors the control’s colours and text from the panel CSS, switching to ON colours while lit; live Pathfinder logic-flow colour changes are followed in real time.
• Use text from panel — replaces just the button text with the control’s panel text.
• Indicator is ON — panel button indicator lit (ON / TRUE / FLASH / PULSE).
• Fader at minimum / value in range — tally-style styling for panel faders and knobs.
• On-air — red while the console channel’s ON_State is ON.
• Function active / Source selected — while a function or source is active.

Variables

Per panel control: text_<id> (visible text), plus state_<id> (buttons / labels) or value_<id> (faders / knobs). Per console fader: gain_<id>, onair_<id>, source_<id>, and func_<id>_<function> for each catalogue function.

08Connection health

When the Pathfinder server goes down, panel styling freezes at its last-known look and presses are dropped until the link returns. To make a fault visible:

• Feedback Connection: Pathfinder offline — paints any button (default red) while the connection is down. A ready-made Status → Pathfinder connection status preset is included.
• Variables $(<label>:connection_state) (OK / OFFLINE) and $(<label>:connected) (1 / 0) for button text or trigger conditions.

The connection reconnects automatically with a capped backoff, and HTTP discovery requests time out rather than hanging if the server stops responding.

09Troubleshooting

The connection retries every 3 s and re-subscribes automatically after a network drop or PathfinderCore restart.