Docs — FAQ

FAQ

The questions people ask, with short answers.

Do I need a phone to see anything?

No. Demo Mode plays bundled concert footage through every look, no phone needed, so you can try every look before a single camera is connected.

How many cameras can I use?

Free mode runs two live cameras at once, total (phone, browser, USB or the Mac's camera); a third is refused with “Camera limit — enter a license to go beyond 2” on its row. Demo Mode and imported video loops don't count. The license removes the cap. After that your Mac and network set the limit (we have tested four phones), and USB cameras and the Mac's own camera are wired, so they don't use Wi-Fi at all.

Does STAGEVIS output 4K?

The stage output is composed at the camera's resolution (720p or 1080p) and upscaled to the display, so a 4K wall gets an upscaled picture. It plays on a 4K display, but it is not native 4K detail.

The wall stutters or my Mac gets hot. What do I do?

Plug in the power adapter, turn Low Power Mode off, use fewer cameras and lighter looks, or set Settings → RENDER SCALE to 75 or 50. A fanless MacBook Air needs airflow. Details are in Troubleshooting. How many cameras each Mac model carries has not been measured on every model yet.

What will I pay?

€149, one time, for the Show license. VAT is included where it applies; the checkout shows the final amount before you pay.

How many Macs can I use my license on?

The Macs you own or control, one show at a time: a main Mac and a backup Mac are fine. It is one personal key, not a key to share with other people.

I lost my license key

Search your mail for “Your STAGEVIS license”; the key is in that email. If you cannot find it, reply to the license email or write to hello@stagevis.app from the address you bought with, quoting the order reference, and we resend the same key.

Can I get a refund?

Paddle handles refunds. If you are a consumer in the EU or EEA you can withdraw within 14 days; once delivery has begun (the license email is sent, at the latest when you activate the key) and you agreed to immediate delivery at checkout, that right ends. Use the link in your Paddle receipt, or write to hello@stagevis.app with the order reference. The free version lets you try everything first.

Does it work for streaming?

Yes. STAGEVIS can stream by itself (see the next answer), or hand the program to OBS through Syphon. For Syphon, open Settings → SYPHON OUT and switch Syphon out on, then add a “Syphon Client” source in OBS and pick “Program”: your stream gets the same multi-camera show, cut to the music, straight from the GPU with no window to capture. The same source works in Resolume, VDMX, MadMapper and Millumin on the same Mac. It is what an output recording gets, so the free version's watermark is on it too. You can also run the output fullscreen or in its own window and capture that window in any streaming app.

Can STAGEVIS stream to YouTube or Twitch by itself?

Yes, no other app needed. Open Settings → STREAM, pick YouTube or Twitch (or Custom for any rtmp:// or rtmps:// server), paste the stream key from the service's dashboard, and press Go live. The chip in the preview's top bar shows LIVE while it runs and Stop ends it. The stream is exactly what an output recording gets: the free version's watermark is on it, BLACK sends black and FREEZE holds the frame. The audio is the program audio only while Audio out is on (Settings → AUDIO OUT); otherwise the stream carries silence, and the Settings line says which. If the connection drops, STAGEVIS reconnects on its own; a wrong stream key stops it with a message. The key stays on this Mac and is never shown again, only replaced or forgotten. The stream starts only when you press Go live, never by itself, and the settings are locked while it is on.

Does need internet?

No. Camera video, audio, control traffic and recordings stay on your network and your disk. The Mac and the phones only need to share a network. No cloud, no account, no telemetry. The app goes online in three cases. It asks stagevis.app for the update list when it starts, about once a day while it runs, and when you choose Help → Check for Updates… (your IP address and the app version are visible to our website host). Its media server may ask public STUN servers for your network address (your public IP is visible to that server, with no video or audio). And when you press Go live in Settings → STREAM, the program video and audio go to the service you entered (YouTube, Twitch or your own server), and only then. If the venue has no internet, the update check and STUN fail and the show carries on.

Does it work with iPhone?

Yes — and there's nothing to install. Scan the pairing QR (Web side; the preview shows it while no camera is on the program, otherwise it is in the Cameras card) with the iPhone's camera and Safari opens (the address alone isn't enough: the QR carries a join secret that changes about every 15 minutes). The first time, Safari shows a security warning — expected, because the Mac serves the page with its own certificate. Tap Show Details → visit this website, then Go live and allow the camera. Keep the phone on the same network as the Mac with Auto-Lock set to Never; the page streams only while it is on screen.

Is there an Android app?

Yes — a native camera app, built for phones rigged on stands: install it once, scan the QR, and it reconnects by itself every time you open it. It is a direct download (not on Google Play), published with the first release: on an Android 8.0+ phone open https://stagevis.app/download/StageVisCamera.apk, allow your browser to Install unknown apps, and tap More details → Install anyway if Google Play Protect warns. Pair it with the Native QR. The browser camera also works on Android, with nothing to install. The install guide has the steps.

What happens when Wi-Fi drops mid-show?

reconnects on its own. If a camera goes dark, the next live one takes the screen, and the camera's row tells you what happened and what to do. BLACKOUT and FREEZE stay one click away through all of it.

Why did my phone stop streaming when it locked?

Phones pause their camera when locked or in the background. Keep the camera app or page on screen with auto-lock off — the runbook has the full pre-show checklist.

Does audio leave the Mac?

No. Audio input (off by default) listens to the room so cuts land on the beat — it is analyzed on your Mac for level and tempo and records nothing by itself. Audio out is a separate switch in Settings, off at every launch: while it is on, the input is played through the Mac's output and added as the audio track of the output recordings saved on your Mac. Nothing is sent anywhere either way.

Can someone else on the network mess with my show?

No. Control from another device (HTTP/WebSocket, OSC) is off by default: you switch it on yourself and hand over an access key (OSC has no login, so use it on trusted networks only). Joining as a camera needs the QR that is on your screen right now: it carries a join secret that changes about every 15 minutes, and the bare address gives a device no camera slot. An admitted camera can stream video, name and tag itself, and take itself on and off air; it cannot change Filters or Effects, cannot use Black Out, freeze or panic, cannot send control commands, and cannot act for another camera. Whoever scans the QR while it is current can take a camera slot. Don't leave the pairing card where the audience can photograph it, and use your own router or a production network at a public venue. To remove a camera, right-click it in the Cameras card and choose Forget Camera… — it is ejected from the room and blocked until you choose Re-admit on it.

Will macOS let it run?

Yes — is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, which checks it for malware, so it opens like any other Mac app. The first time you open it, macOS asks you to confirm: click Open.

What's the difference between BLACKOUT and FREEZE?

BLACKOUT (the BLACK button in the header) cuts the output to black. FREEZE holds the current frame. Both leave your look as it is, so releasing them puts the same picture back. Panic (Show → Reset Look (Panic), ⇧⌘⌫, or panic from an external controller) clears every look and goes back to the plain camera picture.

Where do recordings go?

Into your Movies folder, under StageVis — named and ready for the aftermovie. The Recordings card in the app manages them.

Is my setup remembered?

Yes. Looks, presets, paired cameras, output display, aspect and fit all persist. Blackout and freeze deliberately do not: after a relaunch the wall shows the program, not black.

Does it work with MIDI controllers?

Partly. appears as a MIDI port named StageVis Control and connects to hardware controllers automatically. MIDI clock, start and stop sync the tempo, and notes fire triggers named midi-note-<number>. Mapping knobs and faders (CC) or Program Change to parameters and presets has no screen in the app yet; OSC and HTTP/WebSocket cover that today (Control API).

Where is my data, and how do I back it up or reset it?

Everything is on your Mac:

Back up or move to a new Mac: quit the app, copy the plist, the Application Support/StageVis folder and ~/Movies/StageVis (or use Migration Assistant), and re-pair phones if they don't reconnect. Your license key is also in your purchase email.

Reset settings but keep the license: quit the app and run defaults delete com.d4b.stagevis in Terminal. Presets and parameter defaults are lost; leave the License folder alone.

Uninstall: quit the app and delete it, the plist, ~/Library/Application Support/StageVis and, if you no longer want them, the recordings in ~/Movies/StageVis. On macOS 13 and 14 you may also find a STAGEVIS certificate in Keychain Access (login keychain) that you can delete.

Updates and older builds: updates arrive through Help → Check for Updates… and always ask first. Updates never interrupt a live show: during a show STAGEVIS says “install after the show”, and you install from the Help menu or Settings afterwards. STAGEVIS must run from Applications, or updates can’t install. Versions and build dates are listed at https://stagevis.app/releases/. Your license covers every build released through the “updates included” date in Settings → LICENSE. Earlier builds are at https://downloads.stagevis.app/StageVis-<version>.zip; back up first, because an older build may not read data saved by a newer one.

How do I report a problem?

In the app: Help → Contact Support… opens an email to hello@stagevis.app with the app version and build in the subject. Then choose Help → Export Support Bundle…: it writes a zip and reveals it in Finder. The zip holds the diagnostics report, the last 2000 lines of the server log, STAGEVIS crash logs, macOS crash reports of the last 30 days (macos-reports/), the last saved diagnostics snapshots (snapshots/) and the app event timeline (app-events-tail.log). After a crash or stall STAGEVIS offers Send Report… (never during a live show); it builds the same bundle and opens an email, or copies the support address when no mail app is set up. Attach the zip to the email; nothing is sent automatically. Hostnames, web-guest camera names, your home folder path, public IP addresses, secrets, tokens and the per-Mac identifiers in crash reports are redacted; names of your own USB, RTSP and Android cameras, local network addresses, versions and timestamps are not. Please do not attach the raw server log. If the export fails, Settings (DIAGNOSTICS) shows the reason, and Help → Copy Diagnostics still works.

Where are the open-source licenses?

In the app: Help → Third-Party Notices. The browser camera page links its own notices too.

· hello@stagevis.app · stagevis.app