Docs & Help
How to run InterDirector.
Install it, license it, and get your first show on air. If something isn't working, start with Troubleshooting.
Guides
Getting started
Inputs
- Camera inputs Choose a device and a format, and pair it with another input's audio, since a camera carries none of its own.
- Audio inputs A Core Audio device as its own input, mono or a stereo pair, that other inputs can pair with for their sound.
- NDI inputs Pick a discovered sender, or enter one by name; choose Full, Low bandwidth or Audio only, and how its sound is timed.
- Controlling an NDI camera Pan, tilt, zoom and focus an NDI camera, set its exposure and white balance, and store and recall its presets, from InterDirector.
- Blackmagic inputs Pick a connector; it follows whatever is plugged into it, with no format to set, and can bring the sound embedded in the signal.
- Framing a source Size, position, crop and rotate a picture, round its corners, add a border, loop between two framings, and recall saved framings from a key.
- Network stream inputs Receive RTMP or SRT from a phone, streaming software or an encoder, here or over the internet, or pull SRT or RTSP from a camera, with a latency you set.
- Colour correction and grading Match a camera's white balance and exposure, push a three-way grade, and apply a LUT, from an input's Colour tab.
- Chroma key Key out a green or blue screen behind a presenter, from an input's Key tab.
- Video FX Black & white, noise reduction, blur, sharpen and a vignette on an input, each switched on and off from its Video FX tab or a key.
- Composite inputs Layer other inputs into one virtual source, with its own size, crop, rotation and opacity per layer.
- Web pages as inputs A live web page as a source, with a transparent background for overlays and a window to sign in.
- Image and media playlists A slideshow of images, or a playlist of media files, each with its own timing and how it behaves with Program.
- The Media panel Pick, reorder, add and remove the items of your media playlists and image carousels from beside Preview and Program.
- The Statistics input A live card of what the show is doing — streams, the Mac, recording, disk space and the bus meters — usable anywhere a source is.
- Window inputs Another app's window as a source, such as slides, a browser or a video call, with that app's sound.
- Lining up pictures with the sound Measure how far each camera's picture is from the sound with a phone on stage, and set the delays that line them up.
Audio
- The audio mixer Master and up to eight buses of your own, named and coloured, the buttons that route a source to them, and solo for your headphones.
- Follow Program A toggle that brings a source's sound in and out with its picture, so you do not have to ride it by hand.
- Adding a VST3 effect Add Effect… on a source or a bus, in its own FX button, with bypass, the plug-in's own editor, presets and saved chains.
Overlays and data
- Adding an overlay Choose a package, edit its text, and take it to air with the Overlay button.
- Binding data to an overlay Add a CSV, JSON or Google Sheets source, then point a parameter at one of its columns.
- Countdowns, clocks and stopwatches in overlay text Type a countdown, clock, date or stopwatch shortcode into any text value, or build one with the generator.
Outputs
- Recording Program Press Record to save Program to a file, written in fragments so a crash keeps everything up to the last second.
- Recordings and cut marks Mark "cut here" while Program records or afterwards in the Recordings window, then export one file per piece.
- Recording your inputs Arm the inputs you want and press Input Rec to record each one to its own file, all at once.
- InterDirector ReCast, restreaming with a safety net Send one high-quality stream from the venue instead of one per platform, and never show viewers a spinner when the upload dies.
- NDI, Blackmagic and the external display Send Program and the multiview out as NDI, Program out of a Blackmagic connector, or any of them full screen on a second display.
- In a video call InterDirector Camera and InterDirector Audio put your show into Google Meet, Zoom, Teams or any app that uses a camera and a microphone.
Replay
- The replay buffer and buckets Add a Replay input to start a continuous buffer of Program, and organise captures into named buckets.
- Capturing and playing a clip Capture into the selected bucket, trim a clip, then play a clip, a bucket or everything, over Program or instead of it.
- Playback speed and clip files Play back from a quarter speed to double, and find your clips as ordinary movie files.
Control
- Keyboard shortcuts and the Stream Deck Learn a keyboard key by pressing it to run any of 75 actions, and set up Stream Deck keys from seventeen ready-made actions.
- The web remote Let other operators, on your network or over the internet, switch and press your hotkeys from a phone, tablet or laptop browser.
- Bitfocus Companion Run InterDirector from Bitfocus Companion's buttons, with tally, on this Mac or from another machine.
- Automation rules When this happens to a source, wait, then do one or more of the actions a hotkey can run.
- The auto director Build a rotation of at least two sources and switch it on; any take of your own turns it off.
Reliability
- Sources that come back on their own A source that fails to start is retried automatically, from one second up to thirty, for as long as the Show is open.
- Recovering your Show InterDirector keeps a rolling Last Show, and opens a damaged file rather than refusing it.
- Moving a Show to another Mac Save As with Files puts a Show and every file it uses in one folder, ready for a USB stick or a shared cloud folder.
- Diagnostics and updates A local journal of what your show did, reporting an issue to us, and updates that never interrupt a show.
Licensing
- The free trial 14 days on each Mac, everything unlocked, with a small mark on Program.
- Buying and activating a licence Buy on the buy page, get your key by email, and enter it in InterDirector.
- Moving a licence to another Mac Free This Mac in the Licence window, or from your customer portal, to move a licence elsewhere.
Troubleshooting
- Getting support Report an issue from InterDirector, chat with us from this website, or email support@interdirector.com.
- A source keeps reconnecting What InterDirector does when a camera, capture device or NDI sender drops, and what to check.
- I don't see any NDI sources NDI sources are found by discovery on your local network, which not every network allows; a sender elsewhere can be searched for by its address.
- Nothing happens when I press Stream Check your licence, your destination address, and that a destination is turned on.
InterDirector Cam
- Getting started with InterDirector Cam Turn an iPhone into a production camera for InterDirector, set up with one scan of a QR code, or by hand for any SRT or RTMP receiver.
- Sending from the phone SRT or RTMP, on your network or through InterDirector's relay, the picture's format, and an adaptive bitrate that follows what reaches InterDirector.
- The camera's controls Pick a lens, zoom with an eased thumb slider, and set focus, exposure, white balance, the torch and stabilisation, or hand the phone over in Simple mode.
- The phone's sound Send the phone's microphone, a USB or Lightning one, or no sound; set its channels and gain, mute it while sending, and choose its bitrate.
- Tally and control from InterDirector Red and green tally on the phone, on your network or over the internet, and its lens, zoom, focus, exposure and white balance set from InterDirector.
- Troubleshooting InterDirector Cam What to check when the picture does not reach InterDirector, tally does not connect, a scan is refused, the picture stutters or the phone runs warm.
Developer
- The control API Build your own remote, panel, plug-in or script on InterDirector's documented API, over a WebSocket or plain HTTP.
- The control API: state What the control API tells your code about the show, field by field.
- The control API: commands Every action the control API can take, with its parameters, and how InterDirector answers.
- The control API over HTTP Read the state and act with plain HTTP requests, for scripts and software that cannot hold a WebSocket.
- The control API: examples Working examples of the control API in JavaScript, Python and curl.
- Building an overlay An overlay is a web page in a folder. Start from a starter package, try it in InterDirector, and add a manifest.
- Overlay parameters Offer the operator a name, a number, a colour, a switch, an image, a folder of images or a choice, and read them in your page.
- On air, transitions and scrolling Know when your overlay goes on and off air, choose how it arrives and leaves, and let InterDirector scroll a ticker or credits.
Can't find what you need? Write to info@interdirector.com.