Session Lifecycle in FMXUpdated 16 hours ago

What a Session Is, When It Starts, and When It Ends

This article explains what FMX considers a session, when a session starts, when it ends, and what happens in common real-world scenarios.

What Is a Session?

A session is one complete guest run of the booth.

In simple terms:

• One guest (or group)

• One full experience

• One final result

A session may produce:

• One Final Photo

• And optionally a Final Video or GIF

• Plus any raw photos, videos, AI results, prints, or shares created during that run

Every session is tracked independently and saved under the event that was active when the session started.

When Does a Session Start?

A new session starts only when FMX begins a new booth run.

This happens when:

• The experience starts for a new guest

• The workflow loops back to the beginning after finishing

• The operator restarts the experience (for example using Restart / Ctrl+R)

At session start, FMX:

• Creates a new session record

• Locks the session to the currently selected event

• Prepares placeholders for the final photo/video (even before they exist)

• Resets camera, video playback, and internal state to ensure a clean run

Important:

• Navigating between screens inside the same workflow does not start a new session.

• Going back and forward between selection screens is still the same session.

What Happens During a Session?

While a session is active:

• Raw photos and videos are collected

• AI processing may run

• Guests can enter email, SMS, or survey information

• Media may be queued for upload or sharing

All of this activity belongs to one session until it is explicitly ended.

When Does a Session End?

A session ends when FMX decides the current run is finished.

This happens in these common cases:

1. Normal workflow completion (most common)

When the workflow reaches its final step:

• FMX finalizes the output (photo/video)

• The session is closed

• A new session is immediately started for the next guest

This is the standard “looping booth” behavior.

2. Restarting the experience (Ctrl+R)

If the operator restarts the experience:

• The current session is closed

• A new session starts immediately

• The booth is reset cleanly

3. Exiting the experience (ESC / hard exit)

If the experience is exited instead of completed:

• The workflow stops

• The session does not automatically rotate to a new one

• The booth waits until the operator starts again

This is intentional, to avoid creating “empty” sessions.

What Happens When a Session Ends?

When a session ends, FMX:

• Marks the session as finished

• Finalizes or removes unused placeholders

• Stops camera recordings and AI jobs

• Fully cleans up video playback and decoding

• Safely saves all session data to disk

Key Things to Know

• One guest run = one session

• Sessions do not restart when moving between screens

• Sessions rotate only at the end of a workflow or a restart

• ESC exits the experience without auto-starting a new session

• FMX always cleans up fully between sessions to ensure stability