The Nodes Window

The Nodes window is where you discover, monitor, and manage the WATCHOUT computers on your network. Every machine running WATCHOUT services — whether it serves as a Director, Asset Manager, display node, or any combination — appears here. From this window you can assign roles (designate a Director or Asset Manager), add output devices to specific nodes, monitor hardware performance in real time, track asset transfer progress, and perform system-level operations such as renaming, restarting, or updating software.

Open the Nodes window from Window > Nodes.

Window Layout

The Nodes window is split into two resizable panes by a vertical splitter:

• Left pane — the node list, showing all discovered WATCHOUT nodes on the network
• Right pane — the detail panel, showing either detailed information for a single selected node (Node Info) or a multi-node performance dashboard (Node Metrics) when zero or multiple nodes are selected

Drag the splitter to adjust the relative sizes of the two panes. Each pane has a minimum width of 200 pixels.

Compact and Expanded Views

The node list supports two display modes, toggled by clicking the info icon at the top of the node list:

• Compact view — shows only the host name and service icons for each node, allowing more nodes to be visible at once.
• Expanded view — shows full node details including IP addresses, download progress, version warnings, and multi-show indicators.

Toggle between views depending on whether you need a quick overview or detailed node status at a glance.

Node List

The left pane displays all discovered nodes with the following information for each:

• Host name — the machine's network hostname
• IP addresses — up to two IP addresses are shown
• Service icons — small icons indicating which WATCHOUT services are running on that node
• Download progress — when asset transfers are in progress, a progress bar with estimated time remaining appears
• Version mismatch warning — if the node's software version does not match the Producer's version, a warning is displayed
• Multi-show warning — if the node is serving more than one show simultaneously, an indicator appears

The local machine (the one running Producer) is highlighted with a distinct background color for quick identification.

Nodes that are referenced in the show but are not currently responding are shown with a red left border and red background, making offline nodes immediately visible.

Service Icons

The following service icons may appear on each node:

Icon	Service
Database	Asset Manager
Earth/Globe	Director
Run/Play	Runner (display rendering service)
Folder with eye	Asset Watcher
MIDI port	MIDI Bridge
Timer	LTC Bridge

Filters

A filter dropdown at the top of the node list lets you narrow the displayed nodes:

Filter	Shows
All	Every discovered node on the network
Active in Show	Only nodes currently assigned to and participating in the show
Referred by Show	Nodes referenced in the show configuration, whether online or not

Refresh

Click the Refresh button next to the filter dropdown to trigger an immediate connectivity check. Recently refreshed nodes briefly highlight in green (for about 10 seconds) to confirm they responded.

Selection

• Click a node to select it and view its details in the right pane
• Ctrl+Click to toggle individual nodes in and out of the selection
• Shift+Click to select a range of nodes
• Ctrl+A to select all nodes

When a single node is selected, the right pane shows Node Info (detailed information). When zero or multiple nodes are selected, it shows Node Metrics (performance dashboard).

Node Info (Single Node Selected)

When you select a single node, the right pane displays comprehensive information organized into sections:

System

General node information:

• Host name and license status
• Software version and list of running services
• Last seen timestamp
• Director show — which show the Director on this node is running (if applicable)
• Runner show — which show the Runner on this node is rendering (if applicable)
• Machine ID — unique identifier
• WHEA events — hardware error count (if any)
• Pixel usage — total pixels being rendered

Additional system sub-sections:

• NTP — time synchronization status, offset from server, and NTP server address
• Protocols — toggles for enabling/disabling ArtNet, OSC, PSN, Web UI, WO6, and WO7 protocols on this node
• Addresses — all network interfaces and their IP addresses
• Download Progress — current asset download state

Actions

Buttons for common operations, grouped by function:

System:

• Rename — change the node's hostname
• Restart Services — restart all WATCHOUT services on this node
• Shut Down — shut down the machine
• Restart — restart the machine
• Working Directory — view or change the working directory
• Sync Settings — configure NTP synchronization
• Network Interfaces — view and configure network adapters

Director:

• Use Director — designate this node as the show's Director
• Close Director — release the Director role from this node
• Startup Action — configure what the Director does on startup (Director Settings)

Asset Manager:

• Use Asset Manager — designate this node as the show's Asset Manager
• Close Asset Manager — release the Asset Manager role
• Asset Watcher — configure the Asset Watcher service on this node

Runner:

• Local Cache — configure the local asset cache on this node
• Splash Screen On / Off — show or hide the WATCHOUT splash screen on the node's outputs

Other:

• MIDI Bridge — configure MIDI input/output bridging on this node
• LTC Bridge — configure LTC (Linear Timecode) input bridging

Software:

• Update Software — push a software update to this node
• Switch to WATCHOUT 6 — revert the node to WATCHOUT 6 mode

Transfer Jobs

Lists all active file transfer jobs on the node, with per-job details:

• Current state (pending, in progress, completed)
• Retry countdown (if a transfer failed and is being retried)
• Progress percentage
• File counts (skipped, cached, downloaded)
• Error details
• List of currently transferring files
• Cancel button

Asset Jobs

Lists import and export jobs running on the Asset Manager:

• Job state and destination
• Progress percentage and estimated time remaining
• Data transferred and file counts
• Error details

Hardware Monitoring

The following sections provide real-time performance charts:

Section	Metrics
CPU Info	Per-CPU name, manufacturer, and usage chart
Drive Info	Per-drive used space, read rate chart, write rate chart
Network Info	Per-interface send rate and receive rate charts
Memory Info	Memory usage chart
GPU Info	Per-GPU name, manufacturer, usage chart, memory chart, temperature chart, video encoder chart, video decoder chart
Render Info	FPS chart, dropped media frames chart, dropped capture frames chart
Capture Info	Capture device status and statistics
Audio Info	VU meters for audio output

Node Metrics (Multi-Node Dashboard)

When zero or multiple nodes are selected, the right pane switches to a dashboard view showing performance charts across all active nodes. Charts are arranged in a responsive grid and are grouped by category:

Chart Card Anatomy

Each chart card in the dashboard displays the following elements:

• Host Reference — the node hostname identifying which machine the metric belongs to
• Metric Name — the specific metric being charted (e.g., "CPU Usage", "GPU Memory")
• Chart — a real-time line or area chart showing the metric's value over time
• Fullscreen Button — click to expand the chart to fullscreen for detailed inspection

Charts are grouped by category:

• CPUs — usage charts for all CPUs across all nodes
• Memory — memory usage per node
• GPUs — GPU usage, GPU memory, and GPU temperature charts
• Networks — upload and download rate charts per interface
• Drive Reads / Drive Writes — storage I/O charts per drive
• Render Info — FPS, dropped media frames, and dropped capture frames per node
• Audio — VU meters per node

Pinning Charts

In the dashboard view, you can pin specific charts so they remain visible regardless of selection changes:

1. Click the Pin icon on the dashboard toolbar to enter pin-editing mode.
2. Click individual charts to pin or unpin them — pinned charts are highlighted.
3. Click the Checkmark button to save your pinned selection and exit editing mode.

Pinned charts persist across node selection changes, so you can monitor key metrics while browsing different nodes.

Click the Restore button to clear all pinned charts and return to the default dashboard layout.

Context Menu

Right-click a node in the node list to access a comprehensive set of operations:

Device Management

• Add Display — create a new display output on this node
• Add 3D Projector — create a 3D projector output on this node
• Add Audio Device — add an audio output device
• Add Capture Device — add a capture input source

Director

• Use Director — designate this node as the Director
• Close Director — release the Director role
• Startup Action — configure Director startup behavior

Asset Manager

• Use Asset Manager — designate this node as the Asset Manager
• Close Asset Manager — release the Asset Manager role
• Asset Watcher — configure the Asset Watcher service

Runner

• Local Asset Cache — manage the node's local asset cache
• Splash Screen On / Off — control the splash screen display

Other

• MIDI Bridge — configure MIDI bridging
• LTC Bridge — configure LTC bridging

System

• Rename — change the node's hostname
• Restart Services — restart WATCHOUT services
• Sync (NTP) — configure time synchronization
• Shut Down — shut down the machine
• Restart — restart the machine
• Working Directory — view or change the working directory
• Network Interfaces — configure network adapters
• Update Software — push a software update
• Switch to WATCHOUT 6 — revert to WATCHOUT 6

Empty State

When no nodes are discovered on the network, the Nodes window displays the message "No Nodes. Is Manager running?" to help troubleshoot connectivity issues.

Relationship to Other Windows

• Devices — output devices created from the Nodes window appear in the Devices window for further configuration. See The Devices Window.
• Stage — displays assigned to nodes are shown on the Stage canvas. See The Stage Window.
• Properties — selecting a node and using the Actions section provides access to the same settings available through the Properties panel for devices. See The Properties Panel.
• Menu Bar — the Director and Asset Manager indicators in the menu bar reflect the assignments made from the Nodes window. See Main Window Overview.