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FreeD Output Sends All Zeros — Wrong Output Type Selected

CGI Motion Resolved All rigs BOTH

Summary

When FreeD is configured in Flair's External Devices and data is being sent, the receiving application (Unreal Engine, Aximmetry, Disguise, etc.) shows the virtual camera stuck at origin with all position and rotation values at zero. The rig moves but the VP wall does not update. The cause is almost always selecting "FreeD Mover" in the device list instead of "FreeD" — these are two different output types with different packet formats.

Symptoms

  • FreeD connection appears active (UDP traffic visible)
  • Receiving application shows camera at zero / does not update with rig movement
  • Switching to a different VP application produces the same result
  • Issue persists even after rechecking IP and port settings

Root Cause

Flair offers two distinct FreeD-like output types in the External Devices dialog:

Device name in Flair What it outputs
FreeD Real-time camera position and orientation (pan, tilt, roll, focus, zoom, XYZ)
FreeD Mover Turntable/mover position data — for tracking a physical object on the rig, not the camera itself

Selecting FreeD Mover when you need camera tracking data sends a packet the receiving VP software cannot interpret as camera motion, resulting in all-zeros or no update.

"We were getting all zeros on the FreeD output — turns out we had selected 'FreeD Mover' instead of 'FreeD' in the external device list. Switched it and it worked immediately." — Community (paraphrased from multiple reports)

Resolution

  1. Open Setups -> External Devices in Flair.
  2. Locate the FreeD output entry.
  3. Confirm the device type is set to FreeD (not "FreeD Mover").
  4. If it shows "FreeD Mover", delete the entry and add a new FreeD device with the same IP/port settings.
  5. Restart the FreeD output (disable and re-enable, or restart Flair).

When to use FreeD Mover

FreeD Mover is only used when you need to track the position of a turntable or physical mover object — not for camera data. It is rarely needed in standard VP setups.

Additional Check — Network Setup

If switching to the correct "FreeD" type does not immediately fix the issue, also verify:

  • The FreeD IP is on the InTime network subnet (192.168.1.xxx by default)
  • The UDP port matches what the receiving application expects (default: 40000)
  • Windows Firewall is not blocking UDP on that port
  • You are not routing FreeD traffic through a managed switch with STP delays (use an unmanaged switch or direct connection for VP setups)

See NET freed unreal setup for full network prerequisites.

WhatsApp Excerpts

  • 2023-10-18 01:07 - Josh T reported that LED tech had confirmed the Flair data stream in two programs, but the information received from Flair was all zeros.
  • 2023-10-18 01:10 - Josh T identified the cause as operator error.
  • 2023-10-18 01:11 - Josh T clarified the fix: FreeD and FreeD Mover are two different things. For camera data, use FreeD, not FreeD Mover.
YouTube How Motion Control Powers Virtual Production

▶ 01:02 — Tracking systems send camera location and orientation data to the virtual world in real time

▶ 01:48 — Explains inherent latency in live tracking vs motion control's advantage of pre-programmed data

Official Documentation

Flair to Unreal — p.1: Unreal setup steps

Flair Classic Manual — Ch.5 Setups: External Camera Setup — p.90

Flair Classic Manual — Ch.20 Data Export & Import — p.289

Flair 7 Manual — Ch.5 Setups: External Camera Setup — p.52

Flair 7 Manual — Ch.17 Data Import and Export — p.241

Revision History

Date Change Editor
2026-05-24 Initial extraction Tom D / Claude Code