NDI

NDI sends video over your ordinary network cable instead of a video cable. Turn it on and another computer, a video switcher or a projection server can see what CuePoints is playing, with no video hardware at all.

Sending A Feed

1. Open Settings and switch on Broadcast Primary Media.

2. Set Network interface to the wired network if you have one.

3. Leave Broadcast resolution on 1080p unless you have a reason not to.

Each media slot you switch on becomes its own named source on the network, so the far end can pick which it wants. Broadcasting your primary video to a projector while leaving your backup video off the network is a perfectly normal thing to do.

Only switch on what you need. Every feed costs your computer some work and your network some traffic.

Finding Your Stream

On the receiving machine, open any NDI-capable app and look at its source list. CuePoints appears under your computer's name. If it isn't there:

• Both machines must be on the same network.

• The receiving app needs NDI installed. Vizrt's free NDI Tools is the usual way.

• Wired is far more reliable than Wi-Fi for this.

With Or Without The Overlay

The feed can carry your overlay, the cue names, timers and timecode you built in the Overlay Editor, burnt into the picture. Turn Broadcast media with overlay on for a monitor feed that people read from, the stage manager or a video village. Leave it off when the picture is going to a projector or into a mix.

Settings

CuePoints > Settings… > NDI

Broadcast

Three switches, one for each of your media slots:

• Broadcast Primary Media

• Broadcast Secondary Media

• Broadcast Tertiary Media

They're independent. Turn on the ones you want other machines to see.

Output

• Network interface: which network card the video goes out of. If your computer is on Wi-Fi and a wired network, pick the wired one; video needs the steady bandwidth a cable gives it.

• Broadcast resolution: how big the picture is. Native is exactly the size of your media: best quality, most network traffic. 1080p is the sensible middle and right for most people. 720p is smaller and lighter, good for a monitoring feed or a busy network. 480p is fine for a confidence monitor where you only need to see that something is playing. Smaller is not worse if nobody is looking closely; match it to what the far end is doing.

• Broadcast media with overlay: On and the far end sees the video with your overlay on it. Off and it's clean video only, no text.

When It Isn't Working

A warning appears under Network interface. NDI couldn't start. The usual cause is that NDI isn't installed on this computer, or another app has already taken the name. Restart CuePoints and try again.

The picture stutters. The network can't carry the feed at that size. Move onto a cable if you're on Wi-Fi, then drop Broadcast resolution to 1080p or 720p.

The overlay isn't showing. Turn on Broadcast media with overlay. If it's already on, check the overlay itself is switched on; see Overlays.

NDI® is a registered trademark of Vizrt NDI AB, ndi.video