Devices Overview
A device in WATCHOUT is anything in your show that runs on a node and acts as an input or output — a display you send pixels to, a speaker you send audio to, or a capture you receive video and audio from. Producer treats three peer device types side-by-side in the Devices window:
| Type | What it does | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Video | Renders show pixels to an output | Monitor, projector, LED wall (output to GPU, SDI, ST 2110, NDI, or Virtual) |
| Audio | Plays show audio to an output | Integrated audio device, USB audio device, ASIO, Dante |
| Capture | Brings live video and audio streams into the show as a media input | NDI® stream, Spout receiver, SDI / HDMI / ST 2110 capture board, HDMI USB capture, USB webcam |
Each device type has its own properties — covered on the dedicated pages in this chapter. The only property every device shares is Name — an operator-facing label. Node binding, enable/disable, lock, color, and everything else are specific to the device type and documented on their own pages.
Video Devices in the UI
"Video device" is the umbrella term used in this chapter. In Producer's UI you don't add a "video device" directly — you choose one of two object types in the Add menu:
- Display — a 2D Display (flat rectangle on the Stage). This is the default for monitors, LED walls, and projectors aimed at flat or warp-correctable surfaces.
- 3D Projector — a perspective frustum (Eye / Target / Roll, lens parameters) for projection mapping onto 3D model surfaces.
Each can be routed to any of the five output devices (GPU, SDI, ST 2110, NDI®, Virtual) — see Adding Displays.
There is also a shortcut Add Virtual Display in the UI. This is the same as adding a Display and then setting its Output Type to Virtual; the shortcut just skips the routing step. See Virtual Output.
Where Devices Live in a Show
Devices are part of the show's configuration, alongside the timeline and assets. They are added, edited, and deleted from the Devices window or — for video devices — from the Stage and the Nodes window.
How each type appears in cues:
- Video devices receive the output of any cue that intersects them on the Stage. There is no explicit "send to display" step — placement on the Stage is the routing.
- Audio devices are addressed by the show's audio buses. Each audio cue plays to a numbered bus; the device's routing matrix maps buses to its physical output channels.
- Capture devices become media sources. Drag a capture device from the Devices window onto a timeline to create a cue that plays the captured stream live. See Adding Media Cues.
Adding a Device
From the Devices window:
- Click Add.
- Choose Display, Virtual Display, 3D Projector, Audio Device, or Capture Device.
- The new device opens in the Properties panel for configuration.
Most device types are also available from context menus elsewhere — right-click on the Stage to add a display in a specific position; right-click on a node in the Nodes window to add a device already assigned to that node.
Related
- The Devices Window — UI reference for the window itself
- Adding Displays — video device positioning and routing
- Audio Devices — audio driver types and configuration
- Capture Devices — bringing external sources into the show
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