Hi @dj2mn,
Thanks for sharing your use case and everything you have encountered on the way, this is helpful information as we are working to improve Beam.
I’m running latest macOS Ventura version on both a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro and 2022 M2 Air, but same thing happens on both machines. I can’t really describe the pattern but basically I can’t seem to add more than two or three parameters to the fixture definition. I couldn’t add two custom channel types in a row, but if I select existing types it sometimes lets me add a second parameter but then the third one overwrites the second one, or sometimes goes in at the first position in the list. So far I’ve not managed to get more than two or three channel definitions added to the list.
This is most likely happening because you are trying to add an attribute/channel with a name that already exists, in this case Custom. If you first rename Custom to something unique, like Custom 2 or the actual desired name, you should be able to add more channels via the Custom… option.
I agree this is not so elegant / intuitive, it would be nice to be able to quickly create a number of empty channels and only rename them later - I made a ticket about this.
As @Jean-Paul said, Fixture Editor still has some limitations that will be addressed in a future version of Beam - in the meanwhile you are indeed welcome to request fixture profiles for your fixtures here or at firstcontact@showsync.com.
Improving the overall workflow around fixture profiles is one of our main priorities, but since we are a small team, we are approaching this step by step. Here’s a rough roadmap regarding this:
- We are currently working on an improved version of the fixture profile format (extended support for different lighting color spaces, slot-based channels, aggregate fixtures, DMX modes, highlight values and more) that will allow for better handling of all the different fixture types out there.
- An expanded factory fixture profile library.
- An improved Fixture Editor, better UI/UX.
I’ve had a bit of a look around the site and haven’t come across a description or spec for the format yet though - is there one?
We don’t currently have a spec for the fixture profile format on our website, as it is something that will soon change, in the meanwhile I recommend looking at some of the existing profiles, as the schema is relatively simple. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Leaving that aside, my more difficult problem I have with Beam is that (as far as I can make out) it can only output to one universe or device at a time? In my current setup I have the lights hanging off an Entec DMXIS USB interface and the visuals on a different computer hooked up to the video projector gets controlled by Artnet. I’m using QLC+ which I’ve set up with some gnarly MIDI remote control stuff from Live, and which I’m looking to replace with Beam because it seems like a much better way for me to do what I’m trying to do with QLC. But, I just can’t see a way to get one universe sent to ArtNet and another to USB/DMX, so that’s a bit of a blocker right now 
The current public version of Beam (1.5.2) can indeed only output to a single output source (it can output any number of Art-Net universes, but only to one IP address), but we can share with you a Beta version that can output any number of universes to any number of Art-Net and USB targets simultaneously. Please check your private messages.
