External Control
WATCHOUT can be controlled by external devices and systems: lighting consoles, show controllers, tracking systems, MIDI devices, timecode generators, and custom software. External control does two things. It sets show variables that drive cue properties and expressions. It also controls timeline playback directly. This chapter covers each supported protocol and integration method.
Foundations
How external control reaches WATCHOUT.
- External Control Overview — protocols, bridge services, the Director API, and how incoming messages become variable updates
- Variables and Inputs — the variable system that maps external input to numeric parameters: keys, clamping, defaults, and interpolation
Primary Protocols
The most commonly used control integrations.
- HTTP REST API — the REST API for programmatic control from show controllers, web interfaces, and custom applications
- OSC Protocol — Open Sound Control for message-based control from media servers, show controllers, and creative tools
- Art-Net Input — receiving Art-Net DMX data over the network and mapping channel values to show variables
Specialized Protocols
Bridge services and protocol adapters for specific control scenarios.
- MIDI Bridge — a standalone service that receives MIDI messages and forwards them as variable updates to the Director
- LTC Bridge — decoding Linear Time Code from an audio input to synchronize timeline playback with an external timecode source
- PosiStageNet — receiving real-time 3D position data from tracking systems for spatial automation
- MIDI Show Control — industry-standard MSC commands for transport control from show control systems
- WATCHOUT 6 Protocol — backward-compatible control interface (TCP and UDP) for systems using WATCHOUT 6 command syntax