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How To

Video Outputs & Routing

CueStudio 2 drives multiple video outputs simultaneously; screens, projectors, virtual monitors, and network video streams.

#Video Routing window (Video ▸ Video Routing…, ⌘⌥V)

Configure your video outputs here. Each output slot can be:

  • A physical screen or projector connected to the Mac.
  • A virtual monitor: a floating window you can position anywhere, useful when working on a single display or for offline programming.
  • An NDI stream: sends video over the network to any NDI receiver.
  • A Syphon output: shares video with other apps on the same Mac via the Syphon framework.

#Per-output controls

  • Name the slot (e.g. "Stage Left", "FOH Projector").
  • Assign to a specific display.
  • Set a backdrop image: the image shown when no cue is playing on that output.
  • Enable Metal compositor (on by default) for GPU-accelerated rendering.

#Mirror NDI to Virtual Monitor

By default the NDI output has no on-screen preview: cues routed only to NDI show nothing on this Mac. Turn on "Mirror NDI to Virtual Monitor" (under the NDI Output row in the Video Routing window) to add a dedicated 5th cell to the Virtual Monitor that shows whatever is being sent over NDI: video, image, text, or camera. This is preview only; it does not change the NDI stream itself. The extra cell appears as an extra column in the 1×4 / 1×2 layouts, or a strip across the bottom of the 2×2 layout, and disappears again when you turn the toggle off.

The Syphon output has no equivalent preview cell, so it cannot be set to Virtual mode. Route the cue to a screen or virtual output as well if you need to see it locally.

#Video cue routing

In a Video, Image, Camera, Text, or Syphon/NDI-In cue's Routing tab, tick the checkboxes next to the output slots you want. A single cue can play to multiple outputs at once.

#Cue geometry

In the Playback tab, set custom Width, Height, X, and Y to position the cue's output within the slot (0 = fill the entire output). This lets you show a video in a specific corner or region without configuring the output itself.

#Corner-pin (keystone warp)

In a Video cue's Playback tab, the CORNER PIN section warps the image to an arbitrary quadrilateral: useful for projecting onto angled surfaces. Switch it on with the toggle, then type X/Y positions for each corner (TL, TR, BL, BR) in 0–1 output space; values a little outside 0–1 are allowed so a corner can be pulled past the edge. While the cue is playing on an output, edits apply live; otherwise they take effect on the next fire. Reset restores the identity rectangle.

#Per-cue placement (Playback tab, Video / Image / Text cues)

Every visual cue has Width, Height, X-offset, and Y-offset fields under Cue Geometry. Leave them at 0 for full-screen fill. Set width/height smaller than the output resolution to render the source into a rectangle inside the output, and X/Y-offset to position that rectangle. This is how you place a company logo, a lower-third card, or a picture-in-picture insert without touching the projector's own aspect. Multiple image cues on the same output can occupy different regions this way: one for a logo top-right, another for a caption bottom-centre. Transparent PNGs render with their alpha channel respected, so you can layer an image with a transparent background over a playing video.

#Per-cue colour correction (Playback tab)

For Video and Image cues:

  • Brightness (−1 to +1)
  • Contrast (0 – 4)
  • Saturation (0 – 2)
  • Hue rotation (±180°)
  • Blur (0 – 50)

#Video Effects chain (FX tab)

A stacked chain of CIFilters applied after colour correction:

  • Vignette, Sepia, Monochrome, Posterize, Pixellate, Exposure, Sharpen, Gaussian Blur.
  • Add, remove, reorder, and bypass individual stages.

#Global video controls

  • ⌘F: toggle all video output windows open or closed.
  • ⌘⌥B: All Video Blackout (the red button at the top of Video Routing; formerly "Video Black Back"): a master blackout that covers every output (and the virtual monitor preview), on top of any playing cue. Where an output has a backdrop image set, that image is shown in place of the black: the output goes to its holding image; outputs with no backdrop go solid black. Useful between scenes or acts. Press again to release: each output returns to whatever it should show: the playing cue, or its idle backdrop when nothing is playing.
  • Identify (Video Routing → each output row): a toggle. Switch it on and that output shows a full-screen identify pattern with its output number and screen name; the button stays lit so you can see at a glance which outputs are identifying. Switch it off again (or press Esc) to clear it. Use this to confirm which physical screen each slot is driving; it doesn't interrupt a playing cue, which keeps running underneath.
  • Test patterns: per-output, in the Video Output Geometry window (Video menu, ⌥⌘G). See "Video Geometry & Projection" below. Press Esc anywhere in the app to clear every active test pattern (safety hatch, keeps you from getting trapped if a pattern covers the menu-bar screen).