Patch the show
Patch is where you connect the show to a venue's outputs. Your show's pictures and sounds are on the left, and the venue's displays, LED boards, network feeds and speakers are on the right. A cable between the two means the picture or sound plays there.
Open Configuration. Under Venue, select Patch.
The header shows the venue name and a status line, for example
7 of 8 outputs present · Concourse missing. If a picture or a bus has no connection, the
line says so too: 1 picture plays nowhere. The Patch item in the navigation shows
a badge with the number of problems.
To use another venue, select the venue name in the header. See Take the show to another venue.
The two columns
Show is the left column. It travels with you from venue to venue.
- Pictures lists your canvases.
- Sounds lists your audio buses.
Venue is the right column. It describes the place you are in now.
- Screens
- LED boards
- Network feeds
- Speakers
Each item has a port, and a cable joins a show item's port to an output's port. An output that is not available right now shows an orange dot and orange details, and its cables stay as orange dashed lines.
Connect a picture or a sound
- Drag from the port of a canvas or a bus to the port of an output.
- Release on the port. The cable stays.
You can also start at the output and drag to the show item. One show item can have several cables, so a canvas can play on two displays and a network feed at once.
Create a canvas or a bus from an output
Drag an output into the Show column. Drop it on Drop here: new canvas for an output that carries a picture, or on Drop here: new bus for speakers.
- A new canvas gets the size of the display. See Create a canvas.
- A new bus is connected to the speakers. See Set up a bus.
The new item is already connected to the output you dragged.
Change a connection
Select a cable to open the Connection panel on the right.
| Control | Does |
|---|---|
| Connected | Switches the cable. When it is off, the cable stays but the picture or sound does not play there. |
| Native, Fit, Fill | Chooses how the canvas fills the output when their sizes differ. Shown for pictures only. See Canvases, surfaces and displays. |
| Disconnect… | Removes the cable after you confirm. The canvas or bus and the output stay. |
Change an output
Select an output to open the Output panel.
| Control | Does |
|---|---|
| Name | The name of the output. Use a name you will still recognize in a year. |
| Screen and Identify | For a display. Chooses the physical display. Identify shows the name of the output on that display for 3 seconds. |
| Show as | For a display. Full screen covers the display. Window opens a window that you can move. |
| Delay | The latency trim in milliseconds. See Add an output. |
| Sync group | The group of outputs that show content together. New group… makes a group. See Add an output. |
| Remove output… | Removes the output from the venue after you confirm. The dialog lists the pictures and sounds that will no longer play anywhere. |
The panel also shows whether the output is present or missing, its size and refresh rate, and what is connected to it.
Fix a picture or sound that plays nowhere
A canvas or bus with no connection shows Plays nowhere in this venue. Select it to open the Fix panel. Under Connect to, select an output to connect it.
Add an output
Select + Add output. The menu lists:
- Found, not added yet: displays and audio devices the app found on this computer. Select + Add on a row to add it.
- New: Screen, LED boards, Network feed (NDI) and Speakers. If your plan does not include LED boards or network feeds, the row shows the plan that does and opens an upgrade message. See Plans and limits.
See Add an output.
Choose the clock source
The Clock menu in the header selects the audio device whose clock the rest of the show follows. The setting belongs to the venue. See Clock source.
When Patch is empty
- Outputs, no cables. The status line shows, for example,
3 outputs · nothing connected. Drag from port to port. - No canvases or buses. The show is empty. Select Create from outputs to make a canvas or bus for each output, or select + Canvas or + Bus.
- No outputs in the venue. The status line shows
Nothing patched, and the app lists what it found. Select Add all to add them all, or add them one by one. - No hardware found. The app cannot find a display or audio device. Connect the hardware, then select Scan again.