Main Interface

Application Window

Laika opens in a maximized window by default (fullscreen can be enabled via startup preference).

Main Components:

Menu Bar (Top):
File, Sources, Layout, Pads, View, Help menus providing access to all application functions.

Viewing Canvas (Centre):
The main area displays your active layout with viewer tiles arranged according to the current layout configuration. This is where you spend most of your time monitoring video sources.

Status Bar (Bottom):
Provides at-a-glance information:

• Left: Current pad name (if saved) and layout name
• Centre: Connection status and source count
• Right: License status and application version

Menu Organization

File Menu:

• Preferences (Ctrl+P): Open global preferences dialog
• Layout Designer (Ctrl+L): Open custom layout editor
• Quit (Ctrl+Q): Exit application

Sources Menu:

• Refresh Sources: Manually trigger NDI® discovery
• Clear All Sources: Disconnect all viewers simultaneously
• Discovery Server Config: Configure cross-subnet discovery

Layout Menu:

• Preset layouts (1x1, 1x2, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 8x4, etc.)
• Custom layouts (appears when you’ve saved custom layouts)
• Manage Custom Layouts: Import, export, delete custom layouts

Pads Menu:

• Save Current Pad: Store current configuration for recall
• List of saved pads (click to load)
• Manage Pads: Organize, rename, delete, reorder pads
• Pads Overview (Ctrl+O): Visual pad browser with thumbnails

View Menu:

• Fullscreen (Ctrl+F): Toggle fullscreen mode
• Light Mode / Dark Mode: Theme switcher

Help Menu:

• Check for Updates: Manual update check
• Manage License: License activation and status
• About Fetch | Laika: Version and build information
• Open Debug Viewer: Launch single-source diagnostics tool

Viewer Context Menu

Right-click any viewer tile to access:

Source Selection:

• List of all discovered NDI® sources
• Recent sources appear at top
• Unavailable sources shown dimmed

Audio Controls:

• Toggle Stereo Pair N: Link channels as stereo pairs

Source Management:

• Clear Source: Disconnect current source

Visual Feedback

Viewer States:

• Empty: Grey tile with viewer number only
• Connecting: “Connecting to source…” message with spinner
• Active: Video playing with source info and audio meters
• No Signal: “No Signal” message (source dropped or stopped sending)
• Audio Monitoring: Speaker icon highlighted when audio is enabled for that viewer
• Stereo Pair Monitoring: Blue diamonds visible when stereo pairs are being monitored

Audio Meter Colors:

• Green: Normal operating levels (good)
• Yellow: Approaching peak (caution, watch for clipping)
• Red: Hot levels (risk of distortion or clipping)

Status Messages:

Bottom bar shows:

• “Discovering sources…” during manual refresh
• “Loading pad…” when switching pads
• “Applying layout…” when switching layouts
• Error messages if operations fail

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