CAPTURE PROPERTIES

In this chapter you will learn about the available Capture Properties.

GENERAL

This section contains the possibility to set a name for the capture device and define the resolution for all cues that will be referring to the captured stream.

Capture Properties General Section

  • Name - A user defined name for the capture device.
  • Width - Defines the width, in pixels, of the cue associated with the stream being captured.
  • Height - Defines the height, in pixels, of the cue associated with the stream being captured.

SOURCES

This section gives you the possibility to configure which streams the capture device should listen to.

Sources Configuration Interface

1 Sources

Shows a list of the streams that this capture device will listen to. WATCHOUT will use the first valid stream starting at the top of the list.

  • Trash can button lets you remove a specific stream.
  • Arrow Up/Down buttons allows you to rearrange the priority of the streams.
  • Remove All - Removes all streams that have been added to the capture device.

Note: Streams are prioritized from top (highest priority) to bottom (lowest priority). If the topmost stream is unavailable, WATCHOUT will attempt to use the next available stream in the list.

2 Add NDI® Source

Captures video over network using the NDI® protocol.

  • Stream - Lists all available NDI® streams. You can also manually enter a stream name if it's not discovered automatically.
  • Audio Channels - Set how many audio channels you want (0 disables audio).
  • Color Space - Allows you to override auto color space detection.
  • Sync Mode - Controls frame synchronization behavior:
    • Off - No synchronization, frames are displayed as they arrive.
    • Maintain - Maintains consistent frame timing for smoother playback. Adds some latency.

TIP: If an NDI source is not automatically discovered, you can add its IP address in Show Properties > NDI Extra IPs to help WATCHOUT find it.

3 Add Capture Source

Captures video from local sources including Spout streams, Deltacast cards, webcams, and USB capture devices.

  • Host - The node/machine where the capture source is available.
  • Refresh - Update the stream list for this source.
  • Stream - Lists all available capture streams on the selected host (Spout senders, Deltacast inputs, MediaFoundation devices).
  • Format - Defines the pixel format to use for the stream, e.g., YUV, RGB (hardware capture only).
  • Range - Defines the signal range to use for the stream (hardware capture only):
    • Auto - WATCHOUT uses whatever range the device provides.
    • Limited - WATCHOUT overrides the device setting to use limited range (16-235 for 8-bit content).
    • Full - WATCHOUT overrides the device setting to use full range (0-255 for 8-bit content).
  • Color Space - Override the color space interpretation:
    • Auto - Automatically detect color space.
    • Rec. 601, Rec. 709, Rec. 2020 - Standard broadcast color spaces.
    • Rec. 2100 HLG, Rec. 2100 PQ - HDR color spaces.
    • scRGB, sRGB, sRGB (gamma 2.2) - Computer graphics color spaces.
  • Sync Mode - Controls frame synchronization (Off or Maintain) see NDI above.

Note: Spout capture only works when the Spout sender and WATCHOUT Runner are on the same machine. Spout provides low-latency, lossless capture supporting up to 32-bit float RGBA.

TIP: During playback you can watch the actual Capture Info in Nodes.

Supported Capture Hardware

Deltacast Video Cards

WATCHOUT supports Deltacast video capture cards including HDMI 2.1 models. These professional cards provide low-latency, high-quality capture for broadcast and live production workflows.

MediaFoundation Devices

Any capture device compatible with Windows MediaFoundation is supported, including:

  • USB webcams
  • USB capture cards
  • Internal capture devices

Spout Sources

Spout is a real-time video sharing framework for Windows. Applications that support Spout output include:

  • Resolume
  • TouchDesigner
  • Notch
  • Unity (with Spout plugin)
  • Unreal Engine (with Spout plugin)
  • OBS (with Spout plugin)