Outputs and Stage Display

Crater can drive more than one screen at a time. Besides the main projection, you can add:

• A stage monitor facing the platform, showing the words, speaker notes, what's next and a clock.
• Mirror screens, such as a lobby TV or overflow room, each with its own theme and on its own display.
• An NDI stream for OBS, vMix and other streaming software. See NDI Streaming.

The main projection

The main projection (called Primary Output) is the screen the congregation watches. You choose its display from the arrow next to Go Live, or in Settings > Projection:

• Output display. Which screen shows the projection. Crater remembers it by name, so it finds the projector again even if you use a different port.
• Projection mode. Fullscreen covers the whole screen. Windowed shows a movable window, useful for testing.
• Show projection in Alt-Tab. When on, the projection window has a taskbar button and appears in Alt-Tab. Turn it off to keep it out of the way.
• Single display: full-size projection behind the console. For one-screen setups. See First Launch.

Go Live opens the main projection window and End Live closes it.

If a screen gets unplugged

If the projector's cable is knocked out mid-service, Crater drops the projection to a small preview window and brings the console to the front. When the projector is plugged back in, Crater puts the projection back on it, full screen, with the same content.

Adding more outputs

Go to Settings > Projection > Multiple Outputs.

• A Stage Monitor output is already there, switched off.
• Click Add output for more. New outputs are called Output 1, Output 2 and so on. Click the name to rename one, for example Lobby TV.

For each output, set:

1. Mode. Mirror shows the same content as the main projection, with its own theme and transition. Stage shows the presenter view described below.
2. Display. Which screen it goes to.
3. On/off. Turn the output on.

An output appears as soon as it's switched on and has a display, whether or not the main projection is live. To stop it, switch it off here, or click its window and press Esc.

Crater warns you in the list when:

• An output's display isn't connected. The output stays dark until it comes back.
• No display is chosen yet.
• The display is the one the console is on. The output stays behind the console instead of covering it.
• Two outputs share one display.

With only one screen connected, extra outputs appear as small preview windows in the bottom-left corner until you plug in more screens.

To remove an added output, click its trash button. The built-in Stage Monitor can be switched off but not removed.

Stage monitor

An output in Stage mode is a confidence monitor for the people on the platform. It uses a fixed high-contrast layout designed to be read from a distance, whatever theme the audience sees:

• The current slide's words, large.
• NOTES: the speaker notes for the current presentation slide.
• NEXT: what's coming up.
• The item's title, the slide number (for example 3 / 8) and a clock.
• A banner when the audience screen is cleared or showing the logo, so the speaker knows what the room sees.

Set it up by switching on the Stage Monitor output (or any output in Stage mode) and choosing the screen that faces the platform.

Themes for each screen

Mirror outputs can each have their own theme. For example, a lobby TV can show lyrics in a smaller, lighter theme. On the Themes tab, right-click a theme, open Set as default … theme, and choose the output. See Themes.

The stage monitor always uses its own layout.

Transitions

Settings > Projection > Transitions controls how the main projection changes from one slide to the next:

• Primary output style: Cut (instant), Crossfade (the default), or Fade through black.
• Primary output duration: Instant, Fast (150 ms), Normal (280 ms, the default), Slow (500 ms) or Very slow (1 second).

When Dual output mode is on, the NDI stream gets its own transition settings too.

Settings > Appearance > Reduce motion turns every transition into a cut, on every screen.

Casting to a TV browser

If a TV or phone has a web browser and is on the same network, it can show the live projection without a cable.

1. Go to Settings > Remote Control and turn on Cast to TV browser.
2. Crater shows an address like http://192.168.1.20:7373.
3. Type that address into the browser on the TV or phone. CONNECTED lights up while a browser is watching.

A few things to know:

• The browser shows a live picture of the projection at about 12 frames a second, up to 1280×720. That's fine for lyrics and scripture. When a video is live, the browser plays the video itself, with sound.
• It's view-only. The browser can't control Crater.
• Anyone on the same network who knows the address can watch, and there's no password. Use it on your church's own network.
• It switches off each time Crater closes.
• The first time, Windows may ask whether to allow Crater through the firewall. Allow it on private networks.
• If the address doesn't open, your computer may have several network adapters (for example a VPN) and Crater may have picked the wrong one. Try disconnecting the VPN.