Connecting to Display Servers

A WATCHOUT system becomes a multi-machine installation when Producer connects to one or more display servers (Runners) through a Director. The Nodes window is your central interface for discovering machines on the network, verifying their services, assigning roles, and monitoring system health. Before you can run a show across multiple outputs, you need to confirm that all nodes are visible, that the correct services are running on each machine, and that your display assignments match the physical hardware. This article covers the complete process from network discovery through to a fully connected, verified system.

System Architecture Overview

WATCHOUT's networked playback involves three key services that run on machines across your network:

Service	Role	Typical Location
Director	The central coordinator that manages the authoritative show state, controls playback timing, and distributes playback commands to all connected Runners	Usually runs on a dedicated machine, or on the same machine as Producer for smaller setups
Runner	The media playback engine that receives playback state from the Director, renders content, and outputs to connected displays	Runs on each display server — one Runner per machine
Asset Manager	Manages asset distribution across the network, ensuring that all Runners have the media files they need before playback begins	Usually runs on one machine (often the same as the Director)

Producer is the authoring application where you build and control your show. It connects to both the Director (for playback control) and the Asset Manager (for asset management). The Director then broadcasts playback state to all Runners in real time.

The Nodes Window

The Nodes window is your primary interface for managing the machines in your WATCHOUT system. Open it from Window > Nodes.

The window is divided into two areas:

Node list (left side) — shows all discovered machines with their names, IP addresses, service icons, and status indicators
Detail panel (right side) — shows detailed information about the selected node, either as a single-node info view or a multi-node metrics dashboard

Node List Filters

The node list supports three filter modes to help you focus on relevant machines:

Filter	Shows
All	Every node discovered on the network, regardless of whether it is part of your current show
Active in Show	Only nodes that are currently running services (Director, Runner, Asset Manager) for the loaded show
Referred by Show	Nodes that are referenced in the show configuration, whether or not they are currently online

Use Active in Show during operation to focus on the machines that matter. Switch to All when troubleshooting to see if a missing machine is visible on the network but not yet assigned to your show.

Node Information Display

Each node in the list shows:

Host name — the machine's assigned name in WATCHOUT (also called the host reference)
IP addresses — the network addresses where the node can be reached
Service icons — visual indicators showing which services are running on that node (Director, Runner, Asset Manager, and others)
Version — the WATCHOUT software version running on the node
Download progress — when assets are being transferred, a progress bar shows the download status

Status Warnings

The Nodes window displays visual warnings for common problems:

Warning	Meaning	Resolution
Version mismatch	The node is running a different version of WATCHOUT than Producer	Update all machines to the same WATCHOUT version to avoid compatibility issues
Multi-show warning	The Director and a Runner have different shows loaded	Ensure all nodes are running the same show — use the Director to load the correct show on all Runners

Node Discovery

WATCHOUT automatically discovers nodes on the network using UDP multicast. When a machine running WATCHOUT services is on the same network as Producer, it should appear in the Nodes window within a few seconds.

Discovery requires that:

All machines are on the same network subnet (or that multicast routing is configured between subnets)
Firewalls allow WATCHOUT's multicast traffic
The WATCHOUT process manager is running on each machine

Automatic discovery relies on multicast networking. If your network infrastructure blocks multicast (some managed switches, VLANs without multicast routing, or cloud/virtual networks), nodes will not appear automatically. Consult your network administrator to ensure multicast is enabled on the relevant network segments.

Assigning Services to Nodes

Once nodes are visible in the Nodes window, you need to assign the Director and Asset Manager roles to specific machines. Runners are typically configured at the node level and do not need to be explicitly assigned from Producer.

Setting Up the Director

Right-click a node in the Nodes window and choose Use Director to designate that machine as the Director for your show. The show configuration stores this assignment, so it persists across sessions.

You can also connect to a Director from the File > Open Show from Director menu, which lets you choose a Director to connect to and load its currently active show.

To disconnect from a Director, right-click the Director node and choose Close Director.

Setting Up the Asset Manager

Right-click a node and choose Use Asset Manager to designate it as the asset distribution point for your show. Runners automatically connect to the Asset Manager to download any media files they need.

To disconnect, right-click and choose Close Asset Manager.

Display Assignment

Each display in your show must be assigned to a specific host — the machine whose Runner will render and output that display. This assignment is made in the display's properties (see Display Outputs). The host reference in the display properties must match the host name of the intended Runner node.

Node Detail View

Selecting a node in the list opens its detail view in the right panel. This view provides comprehensive information about the machine:

General Information:

Machine name, license status, software version
Running services
Last seen timestamp
Currently loaded show (for both Director and Runner roles)
Machine identifier

NTP Synchronization:

Time synchronization status — all machines in a WATCHOUT system should be NTP-synchronized for accurate playback timing across multiple outputs

Protocol Status:

Active protocol toggles showing which communication protocols are enabled on the node (Art-Net, OSC, PSN, WebUI, and others)

Network:

All network addresses associated with the node

Asset Transfer:

Download progress for asset transfers
Active transfer and asset processing queues

Performance Metrics:

CPU usage
GPU usage
Memory usage
Drive activity
Network throughput

Render Information:

Current rendering frame rate (FPS)
Dropped frames count — a key indicator of whether the Runner is keeping up with the demanded output rate

Media Sources:

Active capture sources (cameras, capture cards)
Audio VU meters

Node Metrics Dashboard

When multiple nodes are selected (or when switching to the metrics view), the right panel shows a multi-node dashboard with comparative charts for:

CPU usage across nodes
Memory usage across nodes
GPU usage across nodes
Network throughput across nodes
Drive activity across nodes
Render information (FPS, dropped frames) across nodes

This dashboard is invaluable during rehearsal and show operation for identifying which machines are under stress and whether any Runner is struggling to maintain frame rate.

Right-clicking a node provides access to several categories of operations:

Director Operations:

Use Director — assign this node as the Director
Close Director — disconnect from this Director

Asset Manager Operations:

Use Asset Manager — assign this node as the Asset Manager
Close Asset Manager — disconnect from this Asset Manager

Runner Operations:

Cache — manage the Runner's local media cache
Splash — control the Runner's splash/startup screen

System Operations:

Rename — change the node's host name
Restart — restart the WATCHOUT services on the node
Shutdown — shut down the machine remotely

Connection Verification Workflow

After setting up your nodes, follow this process to verify that the system is fully connected and ready:

Open the Nodes window and set the filter to Referred by Show to see all machines your show expects.

Verify all nodes are visible. Every machine referenced in your show should appear in the list. If any are missing, see the troubleshooting section below.

Check service icons. Confirm that the Director is running on the intended machine, the Asset Manager is running where expected, and Runners are active on all display server machines.

Check for version warnings. All nodes should be running the same WATCHOUT version.

Check for multi-show warnings. All nodes should have the same show loaded.

Verify asset transfer status. If assets are still being transferred, wait for all downloads to complete before beginning playback. Incomplete asset transfers will cause missing media during playback.

Check display assignments. Confirm that each display in your show is assigned to the correct Runner node by reviewing the host references in display properties.

Review NTP sync status. Open the detail view for each node and verify that time synchronization is healthy. Poor time sync causes playback drift between displays.

Troubleshooting Missing Nodes

If a node does not appear in the Nodes window:

Check	Action
Network connectivity	Verify that the machine is powered on, connected to the network, and reachable (try pinging its IP address)
Same subnet	Confirm all machines are on the same network subnet, or that multicast routing is configured between subnets
Firewall	Check that the machine's firewall allows WATCHOUT's network traffic. Temporarily disabling the firewall can help isolate this as the cause
WATCHOUT services	Verify that the WATCHOUT process manager is running on the node. The services must be active for the machine to announce itself on the network
Unique host names	Ensure each machine has a unique host name. Duplicate names can cause discovery conflicts and unpredictable behavior
Multicast support	Confirm that your network switches and routers support and allow multicast traffic. Some enterprise switches require explicit multicast configuration

Duplicate host names are a common source of connection problems. If two machines share the same host name, the system cannot reliably distinguish between them, which can cause displays to connect to the wrong Runner or control commands to reach the wrong node. Always ensure every machine in your WATCHOUT network has a unique name.

The Producer menu bar provides at-a-glance status information about your network connections:

FPS display — shows the current rendering frame rate
Director hostname — shows which Director Producer is connected to (if any)
Asset Manager hostname — shows which Asset Manager Producer is connected to (if any)
Node activity badge — a clock icon that appears when nodes have active download jobs or asset processing work
Message bell — a notification icon that opens a dropdown showing persistent errors and warnings from across the system, with color-coded severity (information, warning, error), timestamps, and source information

Monitor these indicators during setup and operation. The message bell in particular can surface problems that are not immediately visible in the Nodes window, such as network timeouts, asset transfer failures, or Runner errors.

Relationship to Other Articles

For details on display configuration and host assignment, see Display Outputs.
For preparing the full system for live operation, see Going Online.
For previewing content locally before connecting to Runners, see Preview Mode.
For operational procedures once everything is connected, see Running Your Show.

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