Rank: Member
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Joined: 4/5/2026(UTC) Posts: 10   Thanks: 1 times
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First of all, thanks for the idea. The live state on the keys is something I should have thought of myself, your post pushed me to build it, it went out today. I can't post a link here, but you will find it: I build a rundown/timeline tool for vMix called Directors Plan, and its Companion export does exactly the three things on your list, automatically, for the whole show, in one click.
- Every key gets the input's thumbnail and a background colour (timeline colour or your own), no colour-by-colour clicking.
- Since today the export also writes the live state: keys turn red when their input is on program, green on preview, overlay keys show on/off, mute keys go red, and on the Stream Deck + the encoders become faders for master, buses and your volume groups, with the level meter drawn on the key. That part runs through Companion's own vMix module, which the export sets up for you.
- Text on the keys (duration, name, icon) is generated as well, so the "which Default is which" problem does not come up.
How it works in practice. It is Bitfocus Companion (free) driving the Stream Deck, the Elgato software is not involved:
- Install Companion, start it, click "Launch GUI". The interface opens in your browser.
- Connections, "Add connection", type "http" in the search on the right, pick "Generic: HTTP Requests" (that is the module the keys fire through). On Companion 3 this step is needed by hand; Companion 4 fetched the vMix module by itself when I imported today.
- In Directors Plan: connect vMix (localhost or the IP of the vMix PC, in Settings), make a new plan, add a cue, and drag your inputs from the vMix Controls sidebar into the cue. Each drop becomes a key, with the default transition you pick in Settings. For the thumbnails see the note below. Then Export, Companion.
- In Companion: Import, pick the file, use the green import button and keep your existing config (do not choose the full reset).
- The keys appear on the deck immediately, with thumbnails, colours and live state.
For the thumbnails either run Directors Plan on the vMix machine, or start the free DP Thumbnail Server on the vMix PC (a single .bat, linked from the app) and they come across the network. The plan is a file you save and edit, so the deck layout grows with the show. The Stream Deck export is only one output of it (timeline automation, call sheets, a tablet web controller with the same live states, and more; the manual on the website walks through all of it). The trial is the full version for 30 days, no limits, so you can judge it on your own show. It is Companion instead of the Elgato plugin, so your point 3 about the Activator list itself stays with the plugin. +1 on that.
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