The Workspace interface has been revamped in Captivate to allow for an easier, more efficient by highlighting a default Edit Workspace Layout and Present Workspace layout to accommodate a number of new features without cluttering your view.
Tips
- You can move and resize panels in the playout interface to accommodate your workflow. For details, see Customize Captivate's layout.
- The Graphics Library includes collections of graphics that you can add as layers. For details, see Graphics Library overview.
Top Menu Bar
The top Menu Bar has been added for some additional controls and status bars to assist in your editing and broadcast efficiency.
Panel Access Controls
To View or Hide your panels quickly and easily, simply click any of the Library, Properties, Shots, Switcher, or Audio icons to display or remove the panel in the workspace. The menu icons will highlight in blue when visible in the workspace and switch to grayscale when hidden.
Workspace Layout
The workspace Layout Toggle allows to efficiently switch between an Edit Mode and a Present Mode. Edit Mode will present your Graphic Library next to your project list to build your graphic layers, along with the Preview and Properties Panel to keep the space limited while you are preparing your broadcast. Present Mode removes the Graphic Library to focus on your project list and adds an additional Shot Launcher, Video Switcher, Audio Mixer, and Program Monitor panels.
Resource Monitors
Streaming Controls
On the right side, there is an App and System Resource monitor scale to track within Captivate itself. With the newly added feature of RTMP streaming, the Start Streaming control button will open the panel for setup initially and then directly control the Stream. The final control will allow you to fade out all your video inputs and graphic layers in case of emergency.
A single click will open a warning message indicating you will need to double-click to enact the feature.
This location will also display Zoom Meeting connection status and a Leave Zoom Meeting control button once connected. Otherwise, it will remain hidden to not clutter your broadcast space.
Get to know your panels:
Prepare your broadcast with a focus on setting up your project list, graphics, properties, variables, and video switcher. The project layers can be media files, live video sources, or graphics. Updating properties, linking variables, and previewing graphics prior to a broadcast is available by default. Any of the other panels can be toggled on quickly via the Panel Access Controls in the top Menu bar that we just reviewed.
Graphics Library
The Graphics Library includes collections of all graphic collections that are installed with Captivate. Any Legacy graphic templates will also populate in a Legacy folder if you had any previous versions of Captivate installed. Any custom graphics you have created and saved to the Graphics Library or graphics collections you installed separately will also be stored and accessed within the Graphics Library. For more detail on how to navigate and utilize the Graphics Library
Project List
The Project list is the main control panel to compile, connect your data sources, assign hot keys, and play all the required layers for your broadcast. These layers can be media files, live video sources, and graphics. You can manage your layers as separate channels when creating a new channel by clicking "+Add Channel" at the top of the Layers list.
Each channel is assigned a tab and behaves as its own specific NDI channel. The Channels can be renamed to suit your needs by double-clicking on the label of each.
Note: Captivate Present and Sport allow you have 1 channel of layers, but you can create 16 channels in Captivate Broadcast.
For more information about channels and playing layers, see Channel Panel management and Play graphic layers in a specific sequence.
Preview panel
View edits made to a layer graphic or manage change variable links from connected data sources in the Preview Panel by selecting the layer in the Project List. The currently selected layer will display in the Preview panel.
- To view or hide the linked data Variables, Choose Select Data/Hide Links. Note: Connecting data to graphics is an extremely efficient workflow of Captivate, using a single graphic and linking multiple versions of input data to minimize stress and render times on your system resources during Broadcast. See Connect General Data to Graphics and Create Graphics in Captivate for an introduction to this workflow.
- To reposition and scale the graphic from this panel, click on the graphic, then click and drag the graphic or the graphic's green handles. Double-click the graphic to reset the graphic's position and scale.
- Click the Edit Graphic button to open the Designer where you can edit every element of a design.
- Click on the Preview button to preview the graphic's animations.
Back to top
Properties
The Properties panel populates tabs to manage:
- Live Data - the data within variables for the selected graphic layer from the Layers list.
- The Cache List - Ability to compile and pre-render data for broadcast.
- Connected Data Source - Displays the connected source data.
- Transform - Gives you the ability to adjust the position and scale of your graphic.
For more information, see Update variables in live graphic layers.
You have the ability to set up your panels for your optimal broadcast operation.
Shot Launcher
The Shot Launcher Panel enables multiple graphics to be compiled into a single Shot. Each shot Layout is showcased and can be played from the Shot Launcher. For more information on utilizing the Shot Launcher in your broadcast, please refer to Creating Shot Layouts.
Video Switcher
The Live Video Switching panel allows you to group, view, and control all live sources from a single panel during broadcast. Two different types of Transitions can be assigned directly within the panel itself. For more detail on how to operate your Video Switcher Panel during broadcast, please refer to article Live Video Switching.
Audio Mixer
Live Audio Sources will appear in Audio Mixer after being added to the Project List. Control the Audio Source's levels with the slider or mute completely via the headphone or speaker buttons associated.
Program Monitor
The Program Monitor panel shows Captivate's output in real-time when you play layers from one or more channels. The name of each channel appears in the top-right corner. The name isn't visible in the final output.
- To view or hide the Program Monitor, choose View > Program Monitor.
- To change the monitor's volume, click the Audio slider and drag it left or right. (This won't affect the output.)
- To set the program's output, click the drop-down list in the bottom-right corner and select an output.