Your footage.
A complete visual set.

Start with a rehearsal or your own footage.

You can learn the whole path with the original four-act kit before importing anything. Both paths use the same Studio library, layers and Show controls.

1. Try the four-act rehearsal: Open the rehearsal review. Read the replacement notice and save a current session before choosing Load. The kit supplies two original loops and four captured compositions. Opening its link applies nothing and starts no audio or video playback.
2. Bring your own loops: Review the video-layer workflow, then choose Open media library. Import browser-decodable local footage and assign it to a Program layer. No account or media upload is needed.
3. Choose sound separately: open an MP3/WAV or deliberately connect an available live source in Sound. The video layers remain muted; hearing music in the source video does not put that music into your analysis or recording.

The rehearsal is a starting composition, not a promised show for your track. Loading it replaces settings; its in-tab Undo restores settings, and prior media may need reattaching. Keep your own session file first.

Make one complete picture before saving acts.

The library stores available clips. Layers A and B decide which two clips are part of the current Program. They are different from the manual A/B mixer’s two procedural banks.

1. Import and inspect: in Video library, add a short clip and inspect its actual decoded dimensions and duration. A filename alone is not proof it decoded. Start with a usable MP4 or WebM; codec support depends on this browser and device.
2. Assign a layer: in Layers & text → Video layers, select the clip for layer A or B. Adjust opacity, blend, Fit/Fill, flip and layer order. Check the intended final frame, especially when wide footage fills a portrait composition.
3. Set movement deliberately: choose trim In/Out, speed and Loop. Imported or reopened media does not start itself. A layer captured playing will restart at In when that act fires; a layer captured paused stays paused.
4. Keep the audio path clear: use the Sound meters for the separate soundtrack/input. Speakers off lets you work quietly; it does not mute the analysis. Clip sound never becomes the music source.
5. Add effects in the right place: the Program rack processes the complete Program picture before mapping. A surface selecting Program receives those video layers and effects. An independent procedural surface uses its own world and surface FX instead.

The library admits up to 12 clips, 200 MB per file and 512 MB in total, with a 4096-pixel edge limit. These are admission bounds, not a guarantee of decoding speed, smooth playback or available GPU memory.

Turn the composition into distinct acts.

Capture the complete state instead of trying to recreate several controls at the same instant during a performance.

1. Capture the first act: choose Show → Add current look. New captured cues include the Program look, both clip layers, their playback intent and master FX. When Mapping is enabled, they also capture surface looks while preserving calibrated geometry on recall.
2. Make a genuinely different next act: change the world, clip assignment, framing or blend, then add another cue. Choose a Manual, seconds or manual-BPM bar hold and a Cut, Dissolve, Dip or Wipe transition.
3. Edit an older act explicitly: use Edit cue → Copy current Program into draft → Save when you want current clips and FX in that saved act. Older cues keep their earlier behavior until deliberately enabled or copied and saved.
4. Check the whole transition: incoming files prepare off air before the complete cue changes. Missing or unusable media blocks that recall and keeps the current output. Outgoing clips continue moving during a fade.

Manual A/B banks share the global clip layers and rack; they do not store an independent clip deck per bank. Use captured Show cues when the whole composition must change together.

Prepare, rehearse, then choose the output.

A prepared list is useful, but it does not prove the computer, projector and venue will sustain your actual show.

1. Run Prepare show: it checks required cue media and warms the procedural worlds off air. It preserves the stage, transport, mapping and settings; it does not preload every incoming video or promise instant launches.
2. Rehearse the next change: deliberately start the intended music and fire several acts. Watch for the correct clip, In point, pause/play state, frame and transition. Use the real files and a sounding passage.
3. For one projector: review Output and Mapping, open the projector deliberately, then rehearse its physical alignment. Surfaces using Program share this complete picture; separate procedural surfaces do not become independent video players.
4. For a performed recording: use Output’s real-time recording path, keep the required Studio view visible and inspect a short saved take for picture and the separate audio source. A file-rendered music video is a different workflow; review its supported composition and delivery before rendering.

Reduce composition/output demand if your device struggles. A short browser rehearsal does not certify venue latency, DXV/plugin support, multi-projector routing or long-set reliability.

Save the settings. Keep the actual media.

A saved session keeps clip metadata, not the video bytes. Keep the original files separately and plan for reopening before relying on a show away from this computer.

1. Save the session settings: header menu → Save session reviews a frozen snapshot of the composition, cues and media metadata. Choose Download settings JSON to request the file; the request does not confirm local saving. Keep the original audio, artwork and video files separately. A session can contain filenames and other project details; share it deliberately.
2. Reopen and reattach: import the session and Apply deliberately. Continue this session shows actual attachment counts and missing filenames; Review video files opens the existing library to select the matching originals. Reopen Review / Undo last import to refresh the count. Restored layers remain paused until deliberate playback or cue fire.
3. Resolve ambiguity before the show: changed or duplicate files may not be a safe match. Inspect the actual import/recovery error; do not assume that renaming an unrelated file restores the expected media.
4. Prepare and test again: check the required files, fire representative acts and inspect a short recording or the intended display. Keep the previous working project until the reopened setup is verified.

The MCP endpoint and shared public recipe links cannot inspect, package or reattach your private media. The Studio performs those local actions only when you choose them.

See the complete four-act rehearsal.

Open the same rehearsal for review →. Its own Load action prepares the loops before replacing settings. A public kit is separate from your private footage.

Common questions.

Why is my video silent?

Program video layers are always muted. Choose music separately in Sound. For a saved take, check the actual recording’s audio; speaker monitoring and video-layer sound are separate questions.

Why did the clip disappear on a mapped surface?

Check that the surface uses Program and inspect its opacity, visibility and source crop. An independent procedural source intentionally excludes Program video layers.

Why does a cue leave the current picture unchanged?

Read its actual error and check its required media. A missing or unusable incoming clip blocks the complete cue rather than switching half the composition.

Does Prepare show load every video in advance?

No. It checks required decoders and warms the procedural worlds. Incoming clips still prepare on cue fire, so rehearsal with the real files remains necessary.

Can I move the session to another computer?

Move the original media separately and reattach it deliberately after importing the settings. Browser/codec and device performance can differ. The session is not a media package or an offline copy of the application.

Keep the next step specific.

• Open the existing video-layer workflow to work with your own files.
• Route a mixer, interface or shared audio source when the picture needs live sound.
• Inspect a saved performed take before sharing it.
• Set up one projector when the complete Program needs mapped surfaces.
• Recover a reopened session if media is missing.