Working with slots and outputs

Slots in Livegrade are intended to handle image signals and stored media items.

In this article, you will get an overview of different types of slots and how they can be used to feed dedicated outputs.

Slots#

A slot in Livegrade can be seen as a working bench for an image signal, be it live or stored in the library. Slots are used to

• adjust the look of an incoming image signal,
• playback clips,
• review stills,
• re-grade looks, and
• route video signals to outputs.

Slot types

Slots are represented in the user interface as individual slot cards in the slot bar in the middle of the main window. Depending on the type of image signal and the use case, there are the following types of slots:

• input slots,
• library slots, and
• temporary slots

Input Slots#

An Input slot represents one camera of your setup. It can be used to

• capture a frame grab or an image stream,
• send a live-graded look to an attached look device,
• create stills and record clips together with slating and camera-specific metadata including the look,
• review stills and playback clips, and
• re-grading stored stills and clips

Adding and deleting an input slot can be done via the slot manager.

When live-grading multiple units at once, e.g., “Main Unit” and “2nd Unit”, an input slot can be added to a stage (LINK TO STAGES).

Configuring an input slot can be done via the slot settings, which can be found in the slot panel on the bottom-right in the main screen.

The following modes are only available in input slots:

• Live
  • shows the attached live image source (image stream or frame grab)
  • sends the live-graded look to an attached look device
  • fills the upcoming clip or still shot with data entered by global and slot metadata fields
• Playback
  • shows a shot from the library
  • allows playback and regrading of stored stills and clips
• Private Mode:
  • Excludes attached look devices from further changes.
  • is only available in Live mode

Library Slots#

A library slot represents a shot of your library. It can be used to

• view up a reference
• re-grading a still or a clip
• create stills from a clip

Adding and deleting a library slot can be done via the ellipsis menu in the slot’s subtoolbar.

Configuring a library slot can be done via the slot settings which can be found in the slot panel on the bottom-right in the main screen.

The following modes are only available in library slots:

• Follow Selection in Shot Library
  • Enable or disable automatically loading the selected shot into the library slot. Enabling this option makes it easy to go through several shots in your library.

Temporary Slots#

A temporary slot represents a shot of your library that is currently loaded in the viewer. It can be used to

• add a reference to the multi-view
• view up a reference
• re-grading a still or a clip
• create stills from a clip

Adding and deleting a temporary slot will be done automatically by using multi-view modes or by removing a temporary slot from the multi-view.

Configuring a temporary slot can be done via the slot settings, which can be found in the slot panel on the bottom-right in the main screen.

Outputs#

An output can be seen as the final stage where the image signal can be adjusted before it is sent to its destination, most commonly an SDI monitor fed by a video output device.

Within the main screen, outputs can be accessed via the viewer’s header, whereas the viewer always shows the configuration of the selected output.

Outputs

Adding, deleting, and assigning a device to an output can be done via the slot manager.

Configuring an output can be done via the output settings tab within the right sidebar, which can be found in the top right of the main screen.

Selecting the source of the currently selected output can be done by selecting a slot. So, for example:

• To show camera A, click on slot A
• To show a library slot, click on the library slot

Outputs that are currently not selected stay with their current configuration.

Locking the source, in order to prevent configuration changes when switching slots, can be done via the lock button in the top right of the viewer.

Changing the view of specific outputs can also be done without using the mouse by using dedicated menu items, Stream Deck or Tangent actions.

• To change the configuration of a specific output (e.g., switching from single- to multi-view), take a look the the following actions (available as menu item, Stream Deck and Tangent action)
  • Set Output To Single-View
  • Set Output To Multi-View – All Input Slots
• To set the source of a specific output to show a specific slot (e.g., to show Camera A on Out A and Camera B on Out B), take a look at the following Stream Deck action
  • Set Input Slot as Source In Output
  • Set Library Slot as Source In Output