Studio
Studio is a live switcher built into the Cliqer desktop app. You add inputs (screens, cameras, NDI sources, people on a video call, media files, web pages, scenes), put one on Preview, take it to Program with a transition, and Studio sends Program to wherever you choose: the room, an NDI source, a recording, a live stream or a virtual camera.
Open Studio
Any of these opens the single Cliqer Studio window:
- Menu bar: Studio > Open Studio (Option+Command+0).
- Dock menu: right-click the Cliqer icon, then Open Studio.
- Classic Panel layout: the Studio button (people icon) in the icon row. Its tooltip reads "Sign in to use Studio" while you are signed out.
- Split View layout: the Studio section, Open Studio button.
The window is at least 1100 points wide and grows to fit your open panels.
Any of these opens the single Cliqer Studio window:
- Menu bar: Studio > Open Studio (Ctrl+Alt+0).
- Classic layout: the Studio icon (signed in only).
- Windows layout: Open Studio in new window in the command bar.
The minimum width is 1240 DIP.
The window
Studio is built from panels that you can move, resize, close and reopen, and a row of key groups along the bottom. The arrangement is called a layout and is saved for you. Panel names are the same on both platforms, apart from the transition column.
| Region | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Toolbar (leading) | Show menu (New Show, Open Show..., Open Recent, Save Show, Save Show As..., Collect Show..., Import vMix show, Open Last Show) and Layouts menu |
| Toolbar (centre) | Output lamps REC, STREAM, EXT, ROOM, NDI, and the Display menu (show Program or Preview on a display) |
| Toolbar (trailing) | Go Live key (becomes End Live while live), Live button (scheduled start), Captions button (live captions, custom words and fixes), Clips, Outputs (opens the Outputs window), Callers N (opens Chat), Talkback All (while callers are in), Automation, Scoreboard, Stage (Beta), Pause Inputs ("Pause every playing media input"), Basic, Inspector |
| Preview panel | The next source, tally ring green, badge PVW |
| Switcher panel | Quick Play, Cut, five transition buttons, FTB, eight stinger keys, the T-bar and the clocks |
| Program panel | What is live, tally ring red, badge PGM |
| Inputs panel | Category chips, search, tile size, the Tiles or Layers switch, and the grid of input tiles or the Layers view |
| Library panel | Every file the show uses, in bins and smart views, with search and import. See Library |
| Audio Mixer panel | One strip per input with sound, plus Bus A, Bus B, Phones and Master |
| Multiview panel | A grid of Preview, Program and inputs. Closed by default |
| Replay group | A bottom bar group for the replay ring: In, Out, Save and Play. Closed by default, so open it from Layouts > Panels. See Replay |
| Bottom bar | Key groups Add Input, Record, Stream and External, MultiCorder and Multiview, PlayList, Room and NDI, Overlays and Tools |
| Status line | The Program frame rate (Program 60 fps), GPU and CPU load, stream time, show name, room code, viewers, callers, plan |
| Inspector | A side column for the selected input, transition, overlay or play list. Never a dialog |
The only built-in layout is Classic: Preview, Switcher and Program across the top, Library, Inputs and Audio Mixer side by side in the middle, the bottom bar underneath. See Layouts.
| Region | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Top bar | Preset (Undo and Redo; the show commands are in the File menu of the menu bar), Outputs, output lamps STREAM, REC, EXT, ROOM, NDI, then the Go Live key (becomes End Live while live) and the Live button (scheduled start) and the Captions button (live captions, custom words and fixes), then Callers, Automation, Pause Inputs, Panels, Layout, Basic, Settings and ? (keyboard help) |
| Preview panel | The next source, green title bar |
| Transitions panel | Quick Play, Cut, five transition buttons, FTB, stinger keys, the T-bar |
| Program panel | What is live, red title bar, with a master level meter |
| Inputs panel | Category swatches, search, tile size, an Audio Mixer toggle, the Input view menu (Tiles or Layers) and the grid of input tiles or the Layers view |
| Library panel | Every file the show uses, in bins and smart views. Not in the Classic layout: open it from Panels. See Library |
| Audio Mixer panel | One strip per input with sound, plus outputs. Shown only when the screen is tall enough |
| Multiview panel | A grid of Preview, Program and inputs |
| Replay panel | The replay ring: In, Out, auto marks, saved events and Play last. Closed by default, so open it from Panels. See Replay |
| Outputs bar | Add Input, Record, External, Stream, MultiCorder, PlayList, Room, NDI |
| Tools bar | Overlay channels, List view, Audio levels on tiles, Multiview panel, Snapshot of Program, the lock |
| Status readout | FPS (the Program frame rate), Render, GPU, GPU Mem and CPU, the MultiCorder time (ISO) while it records, and at the right the room, input count and caller count |
The default layout is also called Classic: Preview, Switcher and Program across the top, Inputs and the Audio Mixer in the middle, the Outputs bar and Tools bar underneath.
Every right-click and cog menu is a standard Windows menu: it opens where you clicked and stays there, and a submenu opens when you point at it.
The Program frame rate in the status line (FPS on Windows) counts the Program frames delivered in the last second, so a stall shows. While nothing uses Program, Program is not drawn, and the cell shows the rate the engine runs at, the Frame rate in Settings, instead of 0. If nothing at all needs the clock, it keeps its last value.
A toolbar key that holds a state lights amber while it is on, on both systems, and returns to the plain glass when it is off. A key that opens a popover or flyout, such as Live and Captions, also lights while that popover is open. Momentary keys never light.
| Platform | Lights amber when |
|---|---|
| macOS | Lock (show locked), Live (popover open), Captions (captions running or popover open), Automation (auto switching on), Basic (basic mode on), Inspector (inspector shown), and Cells in the Multiview window (popover open) |
| Windows | Lock (show locked), Live (flyout open), Captions (captions running or flyout open), Automation, Basic and Inspector (same meaning as on macOS) |
How a picture travels
Every input is a live source. You choose one for Preview, then a take (Cut, Quick Play, a numbered transition, the T-bar or a click on an input's GO key) swaps Preview and Program. Program feeds every output at once.
Overlays (up to 8 channels) sit on top of Program, and Scenes can be inputs themselves, built from layers of other inputs.
Audio takes its own path
Each input with sound gets a mixer strip. Strips feed Master (the Program mix), the buses (Bus A, Bus B and any you add) and the Headphones mix. The room and the NDI output each choose which mix they hear.
Details are on Audio mixer.
Layouts and Basic mode
Every panel can go anywhere: dock it beside another panel, give it its own window, or collapse it to its title.
- Drag a panel by its grip (tooltip "Drag to move ...") and drop it on the outer edge of another panel to dock beside it, or on the middle to swap the two.
- Drag a panel out of the Studio window and let go to give it its own window. The panel menu has Open in Window and, in a window, Dock in Studio. Layouts > Panel Windows lists them and Dock All Panels brings them all back.
- Drag the dividers to resize.
- Each panel menu has Collapse Panel (Expand Panel) and Close .... Option-click collapses or expands them all, and Layouts has Collapse All Panels and Expand All Panels. Reopen a closed panel from Layouts > Panels.
- Drag the PVW or PGM picture of a screen from the Screens strip into the window to make a viewer panel for that screen.
- Layouts also offers Save Layout, Save Layout As..., Rename Layout..., Delete Layout..., Reset to Classic (or Revert Layout) and Tile Size (Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large).
- Basic hides the category chips, search, the Audio Mixer and the status line to leave a simpler window. The mixer is hidden, not closed. Basic is not saved.
- The small cog buttons on the bottom bar hide when the window is narrower than 1420 points. Right-click the key instead to open the same settings.
- Drag a panel by its header and drop it on the edge of another panel to dock it there. A green rectangle named "Drop here" previews the landing. Dropping on the panel itself does nothing.
- Let a panel go outside the Studio window and it floats in its own window. The panel menu has Open in Window and Dock in Studio.
- Drag the splitters to resize.
- The panel menu has Collapse Panel.
- Drag the PVW or PGM picture of a screen from the Screens strip to make a viewer panel for that screen.
- Each panel header menu has Close .... Reopen from Panels in the top bar.
Layout: name(the current layout's name) opens a list of layouts with a New layout name box, Save as new layout, Reset to Classic and Delete this layout.- The menu bar has the same commands in Studio > Layouts: the saved layouts (the current one ticked), then Save Layout, Save Layout As..., Rename Layout..., Delete Layout... and Reset to Classic (Revert Layout on a saved layout). View > Panels reopens panels.
- Basic ("Basic view: fewer tile buttons") hides the button rows on the input tiles.
- Tile sizes: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large.
Replay
The replay ring keeps the last seconds of Program on disk. Mark an In and an Out point to save a clip, which then appears as a media input, or play the last seconds again at a lower speed on Preview or straight to Program. Stopping the ring deletes it. Studio 4K and up replay Program. More angles, Quad and a Default angle need the Replay add-on on Studio 4K, and are included on Studio 8K and Enterprise. Without replay in your plan the controls are greyed out.
In the Replay bottom bar group, Replay starts and stops the ring, In and Out mark an event, the play key plays the selected event and the stop key stops it. The cog (Replay settings) shows Ring length, Status and Saved clips and picks the angles (Every camera or chosen inputs). The Replay Events panel lists the events; its Transport plays the selected event on Preview or Program, sets Speed (100%, 75%, 50% or 25%) and Direction, and holds Quad, Save (adds the event as a media input) and Play last (the last seconds of Program).
In the Replay panel, Replay ring starts and stops the ring and Keep sets how many seconds it keeps. In and Out mark an event, and the auto mark keys make an event of the last 5, 10 or 20 seconds. The Replay Events panel lists the events; for the selected event, Preview and Program play it, Save adds it as a media input, and you set the speed (100%, 75%, 50% or 25%) and Direction. Under Last seconds of Program, set Last and Goes to (Preview or Program), then press Play last.
Go Live and the Live flyout
The Go Live key in the top bar ("Start streaming to every destination that is on") starts streaming to every destination you turned on in the Stream window, all at once. While you are live it turns red and reads End Live; press it again to stop. With nothing switched on to stream to, Studio says Nothing to Stream To, "Switch on Cliqer Live or a destination, then start again."
The Live button next to it opens the flyout, a popover on macOS. It holds the broadcast, the schedule, the TikTok feed and the comments.
Go Live holds the broadcast Title and Description. While you are live, Stop, keep event stops the streams but keeps the event, so Resume goes live again on the same page, and End Live ends the broadcasts. With an event kept, the choice is Resume or End event.
The Scheduled start section starts the show at a set time: Start time, Pre-roll (seconds), Go live, Announce on platforms (only with Go live), Record, Then take (an input, or No input), Fade (ms) (0 is Cut), the Countdown timer input the pre-roll counts on, and a switch for each stream destination to turn on when the countdown starts. Set schedule arms it and Cancel schedule disarms it. "The pre-roll counts down on air, at most 60 minutes. The start time must be in the future."
TikTok LIVE takes your @username and a Feed switch. While you are live on TikTok it shows the viewers and likes.
The comments part has a Read comments switch. "Reads the comments of the live broadcasts. Go live first." Each waiting comment has Show, which puts it on air, and Dismiss. Next Comment puts the next waiting one on air and Take Off Air clears it.
Captions
The Captions button after the Live button opens the captions popover (a flyout on Windows). It lights amber while live captions run or its popover is open. The captions are not part of the Live popover. It holds the status (Off, Starting or Listening), a Live captions switch, the Custom words box and the Write as fixes.
When live captions run out of credits, Studio shows Captions Paused: "Live captions ran out of credits. The stream keeps going; captions come back once credits are added."
Windows has the same flyouts, with the same words.
Plans
Studio itself follows your plan: some inputs, outputs and editors are included only in certain plans, and caps such as the number of inputs differ by plan. When you use something your plan does not include, Studio shows a message and does nothing else.
Alert Not Included in Your Plan: "Your plan does not include ... It is a paid feature: upgrade on cliqer.io to use it." with an Upgrade button. A lock badge Plan limit in the Inputs header names the locked features when you hover it.
The same alert, Not Included in Your Plan, with an Upgrade button.
See Plans and limits for what each plan includes.
In this section
Timeline editor
Lay clips out in time on tracks, with fades, cues and snapping. Mac, Studio 4K and up.
Teleprompter
A script that scrolls past a reading line, with a cue timer and mirror. Mac and Windows.
Screens and Mix
Extra Preview and Program buses, and a Screen shown as an input. Studio HD, Studio 4K, Studio 8K and Enterprise plans.