Bitfocus Companion was designed for broadcasters who need to trigger preconfigured actions (or sets of actions) during a live production. It transforms the Elgato Stream Deck to a professional switchboard console for an increasing variety of hardware and software broadcast solutions and allows you to integrate Captivate(Titler Live) with sophisticated, remote-operated action queues. Companion can even be used independently from a Stream Deck surface via web buttons in your browser or mobile device.
Captivate(Titler Live) utilizes rich and unique icons for button presets to enhance the ease-of-use by being quickly identifiable. Captivate(Titler Live) also harnesses Companion’s feedback functionality to provide a dynamic experience that can quickly be tailored to your own unique workflow.
The Companion application must be downloaded and installed on the machine running Captivate(Titler Live) so that the software can be linked. Please find the correct download for your system in our How to get Bitfocus Companion for Captivate(Titler Live).
Bypass MacOS Security
When installing Companion beta version on MacOS, you may be presented this security warning:
1. In order to bypass this warning, right-click the Companion DMG file and click Open. Then you will be prompted with a different version of the warning:
2. Click Open to proceed.
Note: On Mac, you will be prompted to move the Companion application into the Applications folder following download. Please drag and drop the Companion icon into the Applications folder as directed.
You can now place the installer into the trash.
Launch Companion
1. Open the Captivate(Titler Live) project you would like to control with Companion.
2. Open Bitfocus Companion from your Applications folder(Mac) or Program Files(Win).
4. A small control window should open. Click Launch GUI.
5. Bitfocus Companion Admin will open in your Default Browser.
Companion Configuration Settings
These settings are important for Companion to detect your Streamdeck hardware, X-keys USB Keypads, and certain Remote Control Services.
1. We recommend running through the Configuration Wizard located on the right side-bar menu. (This may automatically open for first time users.)
2. Select Use Companion Natively (Recommended) and Enable X-Keys USB Keypads if desired. Please see the Disabling Stream Deck section of this article to ensure full closure of the application if utilizing this option.
Note: If there is a need to assign Stream Deck buttons to other applications that don't support Companion natively, you can enable the Companion Stream Deck plugin. This allows assignment of some keys for Companion actions while reserving others for third-party apps.
3. Select Next > Choose the Remote Control Services you need
4. Finish by clicking the Next button and following the remaining instructions to Finish.
Continue to the next section to finish setting up your Companion with Titler Live.
Note: Here is a link to the Bitfocus Companion Help Documentation for your reference as well.
Setting up your Companion application with Captivate(Titler Live)
You should automatically land on the Connections tab with an Add Connection search bar and list on the right half of the screen.
1. Search or scroll down to NewBlue Titler Live.
2. Select Add NewBlue Captivate(Titler Live).
You should now see Titler NewBlue listed under your Connections with OK on a green background in the Status column.
Note: If Disconnected, please close Titler Live and Companion. Be sure to open Captivate(Titler Live) before reopening Companion.
Disabling Stream Deck
In order to give the Companion application full control of your Stream Deck hardware, you must disable the Stream Deck software. Simply closing the application will not disable the Stream Deck software completely, however. Background processes still continue to run. You must go to your Task Manager on Windows or Activity Monitor on Mac to completely disable all the Stream Deck application processes.
On Mac:
1. Search to open the Activity Monitor.
2. Find and Click to Highlight StreamDeck.
2. Press the Stop Button at the top and choose Quit.
On Win:
1. Search to open the Task Manager.
2. Find and Click to Highlight StreamDeck.
3. Select End Task.
Next, see Assigning Buttons for Project Navigation to link navigation actions toCaptivate(Titler Live) for remote control access during broadcast.