How to use Bitfocus Companion and Stream Deck (2023)

This How To will show you the basics of using​Bitfocus Companionto control themsilly directorWell, at least a director's show. you can combine themcompanionwith him​Stream-DeckVonThe cat.

Untilsilly directorThe module is available with the official version of Bitfocus Companion, you can use the beta versions that can be found​on here.

Introduction

We integrate the most important controls in oneadd-on module🇧🇷 You can even create your own buttons and behaviors within the plugin using the actions we provide and the variables you define. The possibilities are endless and we'll just show you some of the basics here.

preparation

you must have the latestcompanionSettings. follow the instructions​bitfocus.ioto download and installcompanion. To beSuction Cup Director Modulealready partcompanionInstallation, so you don't have to download and install anything separately. Onelgato Stream-Deckis optional, thecompanionit works without hardware. This makes it very easy to create and design your own pages and simply copy the design and settings to another machine where you are likely to have them.Stream-DeckTo set up.

If you have Stream Deck installed, make sure to close "Stream Deck Software/Application"; otherwise, the Stream Deck application will replace the dashboard and you will not see the Companion. Or choose the option to use the plugin on your streaming platform when opening the WebGUI for the first time

Make sure you start thesilly directorand activate theControl via web socketwhat can be foundTools->Options:

Connection

First, we want to establish a connection between thecompanionysilly director🇧🇷 To do this, we need to create a connection incompanion🇧🇷 start itBitfocus companion appyclickLaunch the graphical user interface.

In the GUI, which should open in a browser, select andclickTo dielinksTab In it you will find a tab called+ add connectionto the right with asearch boxIn between. He writessuckeron themsearch boxand will show theTechnical Director at VentuzModule.clickthe RedAddbutton in front of the result to create a new connection for thesilly director.

To beModuleappears on the left in the module list - it is labeledsucker, if you want to easily change or edit any propertyclickthe RedTO EDITButton. By default, thedestination IPis set to127.0.0.1/installation host🇧🇷 If you want to control another machine than the local one, you need to configure itdestination IPnow.

clickthe little question mark?) just behind thesuckerlabel for a list of commands available to control thesilly director.

Using presets, commands, and variables

let's use thosepresetWe ship withSuction Cup Director Moduleand take our handscommands-yVariablesin the following examples.

As mentioned above, you can get a list of availablecommandsVonclickto die (?) besidemodule name🇧🇷 They are useful when you want to create buttons manually from thecompanion app.

We want to create something new.Chavesbased on ourpreset-clicklabeled tabChavesto view and editpagesfrom toStream-DeckWithincompanion.

available presets

The easiest way to use thisSuction Cup Director ModuleIt is one of those that must be usedpresetwe ship with it.

The defaults are:

Control playlists

Let's control our playlistIce hockey example for managerjust using theSuction cup director presets🇧🇷 open thissilly directorand starts theice hockey samplewith local topology:

To rememberEnable control via websocket- as we had to do in thepreparation🇧🇷 navigate toaccompanying GUIand find themChavesSide. You'll find one on the right.eyelashcalledpreset,clickTo dieVentuz Tecnologia: DirectorModule defaults:

afterclick Director remoting commands:

You will be presented with a list of availablepreset- that already appear and look like buttons. you can easilypull and releasethese buttons on the buttons page.

Forpull and releaseTo dieactivate playlistto our complementary page 1:

You will notice that the button will turn red immediately, because we can also getOpinionfromsilly director🇧🇷 We actually have 3 predefined visual colors/comments:

	Unable to perform action: there may be a missing argument such as index, channel or name
	Action being processed: can occur during a signal while the model is being loaded
	Action can be triggered or was successful

In our case foractivate playlistThe follower must have valid comments. Sinceactivate playlistTo set an item as active in our playlist, we need to define which item should be activated when the button is pressed.

Select the latest creationactivate playlistbutton and place onpress actionsymessage backProIndexa value of3.

now heactivate playlistThe button turns green because it is also receiving correct feedback from thesilly director🇧🇷 you can use one tooID, name or display nameto activate a specific model. The available properties change depending on the button/preset type. We also leave it for now.channel indexto the standard0- Now you will use the playlist tocanal 0🇧🇷 Changing this to a different value activates the model for a different channel (Ventuz channel 1 starts with 0).

Press the newly created and configured button and note that template #4 in the current playlist is selected and called out:

Again, remember that the index starts with0so index3it is actually the fourth model on our list. To select and retrieve the first template would have to be our index0

You can do the same withrestart playlistand many other actions.

keyword

Cueing can also be done with one of thePresets for the Ventuz Director module🇧🇷 Onlypull and releasethe template labeledkeywordin one of the empty button slots. Select this newly added button and change the properties on the right side of thecompanion.

Make sure you apply the changes you made to bothpress actionsymessage back.

We can invoke a model or page using themodel data,URI,Model display nameoPage display name.

Grab templates/pages

How do we create a button foractivate playlistthat activates a specific model, and akeywordbutton, we would likeWearthe actual signal model.

To do this, simply select a different button slot on the companion and select it.pull and releaseTo diewearbutton in the slot. We don't need to define as many action values, except thosechannel indexfor which channel the input model should be used.

just change thosechannel indexto be0🇧🇷 This goeswearthe template with keys. It doesn't matter if you use the createdactivate playlistor manually point to a template or page, or otherwise... Since something has been indicated on channel 0, you can now use the buttonweares.

User defined variable

let's use auser-defined variableand make the playlist skip two steps by pressing the corresponding button on thecompanionoStream-Deck.

certify yourself of youChavesSelected guide andclickTo die$ variablesGuide on the right:

To becustom variablesit should appear and just create a custom variable with the nameplaylist counter-click Addand the newly created custom variable should appear in the variable list:

clickan empty button slot and let's create new actions for the selected button by typingclickTo dieedit buttonguide to the right andclick normal button🇧🇷 You can add a description to this button in thetext buttonfield likepolishes 2 models.Now we addpress actions-clickon them+ Add down/power action keyand find thembuilt-in: define a custom variable expressionPlot. notUser defined variablewe entered the fieldplaylist counterit's himExpressionyou must read$(interno:custom_playlist_counter)+2.

Add another action, but this timesugar-dir: Playlist: On. To beIndexthe field must read$(interno:custom_playlist_counter).

We can add an action tomessage backand add thoseventuz-dir: Playlist: let it on. To beIndexthe field is also read$(interno:custom_playlist_counter).

You can now skip two playlist items by pressing our newly created button. When changing the+2on themExpressionfield, would you jumpxafter.

Random hints and tips

You can put complete model data in the diemodel dataInput field as shown in the screenshot below.

There is an override for ignoring applied channel rulessilly director🇧🇷 Just use checkbox and set itIgnore channel rules:

Conclusion

Bitfocus Companion can be a very powerful plugin for this.silly directorto control a show or itsilly directoryourself. So you've just scratched the surface of what's possible with the combination of BitFocus Companion and this one.silly director🇧🇷 Be sure to check the companion site regularly for updates as the tool is open source and anyone can contribute. That way you can contribute your own presets.