Control

Control (Ctrl+7) is where you run the show: take graphics to air, change them, and clear them.

Take and clear

1. Select a screen: click its preview, or pick it from the list in Single view.
2. In the Layers panel on the right, click Take on a layer to put it on air.
3. Click Clear to take it off air. It plays its out-animation.

A red dot and On air show what’s live. The panel header shows how many layers are on air.

You can also use the Show menu: Take and Clear act on the layer you have open in the Layers panel.

Clear more at once

• Clear screen in the toolbar clears every layer on the selected screen.
• More clear options › Clear every screen next to it clears all screens.
• Show › Clear all in the menu also clears every screen, not just the selected one.

All of these play the out-animations. To cut everything at once, use PANIC.

Change content

Click the arrow on a layer row to show its fields. Type to change the content. Off air, the change applies right away.

Bound fields (filled from a data source) can’t be typed into. Use the previous and next buttons to move through the source’s rows instead.

Timer fields have Start, Pause, Reset and Set buttons, which act at once.

Live edit: changing a graphic that’s on air

Live edit in the toolbar decides what happens when you change a layer that is on air:

• On take (the default): your changes wait. The layer shows Changes on next take. Click Take again to send them to air. This lets you prepare the next name without anyone seeing you type.
• Immediate: changes go to air as you type.

Content, look, variables, position and opacity follow Live edit. Renaming and reordering layers always apply at once.

Automatic changes, such as a timer, a schedule or a data source updating, always go to air at once.

For a full Preview and Program workflow, use Studio mode.

Hotkeys

You can give a layer a hotkey from F1 to F12, with or without Shift. Pressing it takes the layer, or clears it if it’s on air.

1. Expand the layer row.
2. Under Hotkey, click Set hotkey.
3. Press the key. Esc cancels.

The key shows on the layer row. Hotkeys are saved with the project and work while Control is open. You can also right-click a layer and choose Set hotkey.

Cues

A cue is a button that runs several steps at once, for example: clear the lower third, wait one second, take the logo bug. Cues are in the Cues section of the side panel.

• Click Run to run a cue. While it runs, the button says Stop.
• Give a cue a hotkey (F1–F12) with the keyboard icon.
• Click New cue to make one.
• Show › Go in the menu lists the cues of the project. In the command palette, type GO and the cue’s name.

By default, the list shows the cues for the selected screen. Click Show all cues to see every cue.

Cues are flows that start from a button. To build bigger ones, see Automation.

Sources and automation in Control

• Sources used on the selected screen show with previous and next buttons, and an Auto switch to step through rows by themselves. See Data sources.
• Automation lists things that run on their own on this screen, such as an event schedule or a sponsor slideshow. Click Add automation… to add a ready-made one. See Automation.
• Media layers show their time with Play, Pause, Stop and Restart. See Media.

Views

• Grid shows several screens as live tiles. Set the number of Columns (1–6).
• Single shows a list of screens and one large preview.
• Screens lets you hide screens from Control. Hidden screens stay on air.

PANIC

The red Panic button cuts every layer on every screen off air at once, with no animation. Use it when something is wrong on air.

• Click Panic, or press Shift+Esc in Control (this works even while you’re typing).
• It also works from Show › Panic.

PANIC also stops running cues and flows, and stops sources from stepping by themselves. It doesn’t switch automation off.

There is no undo for PANIC. To recover, take the layers you need again with Take. Switch Auto back on for any sources that were stepping by themselves.

Tips

• Leave Live edit on On take during a show, so mistakes don’t go to air while you type.
• Give your most-used graphics hotkeys.
• Use Single view and Studio mode when you want to check a whole screen before it goes to air.

Common problems

Take does nothing in OBS or vMix

Check the output server address at the top of the window, and see Troubleshooting.

“Changes on next take” won’t go away

Live edit is on On take. Click Take on that layer to send the changes to air, or switch Live edit to Immediate.

“Take … anyway?”

A video or image on that layer hasn’t loaded in every output yet. Wait a moment, or click Take anyway. See Media.

A hotkey does nothing

Hotkeys only work while Control is open and you’re not typing in a field. If two things share a key, neither runs: check Preferences › Shortcuts for a conflict.