Advanced Mode includes Preview and Program monitors as well as a mixing panel with transition controls, giving you more options for switching between your video sources using your mouse.
If you are using the Simple Interface mode, see switching instructions here.
Basic Mouse Controls
To put any of your sources into Preview, hover over the source in the multi-view with your mouse, and click on it.
That source will now be in the Preview monitor, and you should notice a green border around it in the multi-view.
If you want to put a source directly into Program without previewing it, hover your mouse over it in the multi-view and right-click it.
That source will now be in Program and will have a red border surrounding it in the multi-view.
You can also double-click on the Preview monitor, which will automatically transition that source into Program.
To adjust how sources are put into Preview and Program using your mouse, navigate to the Mouse / Touch tab in settings. Select the desired actions, then click Save.
Standard Transitions: Cut, Dissolve, Wipe
Livestream Studio’s transition controls can be found in the upper right corner of the software interface. Cut switches Preview and Program immediately with no overlap occurring between them. Clicking the Cut button activates this transition.
Another commonly used transition is Dissolve, which is an overlapping crossfade between the changing sources.
Finally, a Wipe is an animated transition where the Preview source overlays the Program source during the switch.
In Livestream Studio, you can configure fades and wipes under the Transitions tab in the lower right corner.
Notice on the left side that you can choose to set a transition for both your main mix (i.e., any source in Preview) and each individual graphics overlay channel.
Fade is the first option in the menu, which is the dissolve transition. When you select it, you can set the amount of time you want an automatic transition between sources to last.
You can also double-click the duration time under the transition controls to change the speed of any automatic transition quickly.
The next two transition options are Dip to color and Stinger, which are advanced transitions covered below.
The remaining options in this menu are different kinds of wipes. Selecting one will show additional settings on the right.
Reverse Direction will push the wipe in the opposite direction that it moves by default.
Flip Flop will alternate the wipe between the default direction and the reverse direction.
Feathering allows you to determine how hard or soft the edge of the wipe animation will be, in pixels. The more pixels you cover, the more faded the line will be.
Some wipes also have options for adjusting their positions and appearance on the screen when they are used.
Advanced Transitions: Dip to Color, Stinger
Dig to Color is similar to a fade but instead of cross-fading the two sources in Preview and Program, Program will fade, or "dip," into a selected color which then, in turn, fades into the source coming in from Preview.
When selecting Dip to color, you can choose the duration of the transition in frames and the color the transition uses to the right of the transition menu. If you don't like your settings, click Reset Transition Settings to go back to the default settings.
A dip to color transition looks similar to this:
The next transition is referred to as a stinger, which is a video or image sequence that animates in Program while your sources cut in the background. This is common in live sports broadcasts switching to and from replays or news broadcasts switching to different reporters.
You can download a sample stinger directly from Studio by clicking Download sample on the right side.
You can use a short .mov file by clicking Add Video or a PNG image sequence by clicking Add Image Sequence. When selecting an image sequence, go to the folder your image sequence is saved in and select the first file in the sequence; this will import all of them.
Stingers cannot exceed five (5) seconds. If you are using a video, we recommend you use an .mov file that matches your project format in Studio to prevent upscaling or downscaling.
A PNG sequence should not exceed 1920x1080. If your project format is 30 FPS, your sequence should not exceed 150 images; if the project is 60 FPS, the sequence can have a maximum of 300 images.
After importing your stinger into Studio, use the slider below to determine at what point during the stinger the Preview and Program should switch. This should ideally be when the stinger overlays the entire screen so that viewers don't see the cut behind it.
After setting the stinger, click Auto to transition it in realtime.
Automatic and Manual Transitions
To activate an automatic transition, click Auto in the upper right corner. The sources will then switch based on the duration you set for that transition.
You can always employ a manual transition by clicking and dragging the virtual T Bar below the transition buttons. This allows you to control the speed of that transition.