Recording and playback

Livegrade provides a highly performant video pipeline and a modern recording and playback engine, allowing for simultaneous TC-synced group recording of up to four camera signals in HD & 4K resolution at up to 60 fps.

In this article, we will first cover the preparatory steps and then various aspects of recording and playing back image streams in Livegrade.

Preparations for recording image streams#

Video input devices#

In order to capture and record image streams, a corresponding video input device is required for each signal. Attach the video input device to the computer and assign it as image source to an input slot via the slot manager.

An overview of all supported video I/O devices can be found here: All device integrations.

Record and Media folders#

Media items such as clips and stills are saved in so-called media folders in Livegrade. One of these folders must be selected as the record folder. New clips (but also stills) are saved in this folder.

You can configure media and record folders in the “Recording” tab of the Livegrade settings (open via main menu Livegrade > [Settings …]).

More information about the media and record folder can be found here: Media folders and record folder.

Clip identifier#

Each shot in Livegrade is identified by its clip identifier. The naming scheme of the clip identifier can be customized very flexibly and according to individual needs.

The clip identifier naming scheme can be set in the “Library” tab of the Livegrade settings (open via main menu Livegrade > [Settings …]).

Clip name#

Each media item in Livegrade is saved with a specific name. This can be a name generated by the system or correspond to the clip identifier.

The clip name can be set in the “Library” tab of the Livegrade settings (open via main menu Livegrade > [Settings …]).

Recording image streams#

In Livegrade, you have the option to record a slot individually or as a group.

Individual Recording#

An individual recording saves a shot without a reference to another shot.

You start an individual recording

• by pressing the Record button within the slot’s view
• via menu items
  • Shot Library > [Record Clip for Selected Slot]
  • Shot Library > [Single Recording in Slot]
• via Stream Deck und Tangent controller actions
  • [Toggle Recording in Slot]
  • [Toggle Single Recording in Slot]

Group recording#

A group recording saves a shot together with recordings made at the same time in other armed slots as a group.

This offers the following advantages:

• Recorded clips of the same take can be loaded into their source slots at once. To do so, just double-click them after the creation has finished.
• Clips will be synced by their timecode. With the Multi-playback and audio module, you can play them back simultaenously.
• Looks of grouped shots can be applied to their source slots with one single action, which is accessible via the contextual menu of a shot: Apply Look of Group to Source Slots.

You can start a group recording

• by pressing the Record button in the main toolbar
• via menu items
  • Shot Library > [Record Clip for All Armed Slots]
  • Shot Library > [Record Clips for All Armed Slots of Stage]
• via Stream Deck und Tangent controller actions
  • [Toggle Recording in All Armed Slots]
  • [Record Clips for All Armed Slots of Stage]

Arming#

You can control which camera will be part of the group recording by “arming” and “unarming” a slot.

Arming controls:

• Which slots will be used for shot creation when triggering [Record Clips for All Armed Slots] or [Create Still for All Armed Slots]
• Which slots will be grouped by their time code. This allows to load them back into the playback mode of their source slots with just one double click, after the stills or clips have been stored.

When working with multiple cameras, make sure that all shooting cameras are armed – and all cameras that won’t roll in the next take are unarmed.

You can arming/unarming a slot

• by pressing the Arm button in the slot’s preview
• via menu
  • Shot Library > Arm Slot > [Arm Slot A for Recording]
• via Stream Deck and Tangent controller actions
  • [Toggle Arming in Slot]

Auto increment options for take and clip#

To make it easier to maintain the slating metadata, Livegrade provides a mechanism to automatically increment the take number after a group recording has been completed.

The settings for this mechanism can be found in the “Recording” tab of Livegrade’s settings (open via main menu Livegrade > [Settings …]).

Tip: Even if you are only working with one camera at a time, use the “Record Clips for All Armed Slots” actions and “unarm” all cameras that are not currently filming. This will also increase your take number.

Cancel recording#

If you want to abort an ongoing recording, you can cancel recordings via menu items, keyboard shortcuts, or controller actions, either for the selected slot or for all recordings. Canceled recordings are not added to the clip library.

Playback#

To playback a clip, you have to load the shot into a slot first.

Load shots into slots#

The playhead position of the clip will always be the thumbnail frame.

If you are loading a shot via skimming within the shot library’s collection view, the playhead position of the clip will be the current skimming position.

You have the following options to load a shot:

• Load the shot back into the playback mode of its source slot
  • by double-clicking on the shot
  • via menu item
    • Shot Library > [Load Group of Selected Shot Into Source Slots]
  • via Stream Deck and Tangent controller action
    • [Load Group of Selected Shot Into Source Slots]
• Load the shot into a dedicated slot
  • via drag and drop
  • via menu item
    • Shot Library > [Load Selected Shot Into Selected Slot]
  • via Stream Deck and Tangent controller action
    • [Load Selected Shot Into Selected Slot]
• Add the shot to a multi-view and load it into a temporary slot
  • by pressing OPT and clicking on the shot
  • via the contextual menu of the shot
    • [Add to Multi-View]
  • via Stream Deck and Tangent controller action
    • [Add or Remove Selected Shot to Multi-View]

Playback controls#

There are several ways to control the playback of clips:

• Industry-standard “JKL” keyboard shortcuts let you navigate conveniently within clips:
  • Toggle playback (Space)
  • Play forwards/backward (L/J)
  • Play faster (press L/J multiple times to increase playback speed to 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x and 64x)
  • Play slower (Shift+L/Shift+J, and press multiple times to decrease playback speed to 1/2x, 1/4x and 1/8x)
  • Step to next/previous frame (hold K and press L or J)

• Various controls and actions let you navigate through markers:

  • Jump to next/previous marker (cycle through)
  • Learn more about working with markers by reading the knowledge base article.

• Loop playback controls allow you to loop a playback

  • Loop
    • loops from the start until the end of a clip or range
  • Ping Pong
    • loops alternating forward and backward from the start until the end of a clip or range

Extend possibilities via modules#

Livegrade offers the possibility to extend the feature set for recording and playback via modules.

Multi-playback and audio adds the following features

• Synced playback
• Audio recording
• In/out ranges
• Custom playback speed

I/O pack adds the following features

• Recording of up to 6 image streams simultaneously