Output and Recording

Output shows the last module’s result, or the mix of both decks in Mixer Mode. Recordings, NDI, Spout, Syphon, and Dual Monitor Output use this image.

Recording writes an MP4 straight to disk with no save dialog, at whatever quality, frame rate, codec, and audio-inclusion setting Settings > Recording holds at the time. The codec is H.264 or H.265. It captures the aspect-locked output image itself, not the window or its docked panels. Start and stop it from the REC pill in the toolbar, which Mixer Mode also shows, or with Ctrl+Alt+R (Cmd+Option+R on macOS).

If encoding falls behind, frames are skipped without changing the recording’s duration or audio sync. The save message reports skipped frames. Choosing H.264 or a lower frame rate can reduce the load. If the selected codec is unavailable, recording cannot start.

Stopping a recording doesn’t hold up the app. The file finishes writing in the background, and a message then names the saved file. When finishing takes more than a moment, the timer shows Saving... and REC is dimmed until the file is complete. Quitting while a file is still being written waits for it to finish.

NDI, Spout (Windows), and Syphon (macOS) each send the same output live to another program instead of, or alongside, a file. Each is enabled separately in Settings > Output, under its own sender name.

Parts of the picture that no module has drawn on are empty. The Output window, Dual Monitor Output, recordings and snapshots show them as black. NDI, Spout and Syphon send them as transparency. A receiving program that ignores alpha shows partly see-through areas at full strength, for example FEEDBACK echoes that are fading out.

Dual Monitor Output, also in Settings > Output, opens a second window carrying nothing but the output image, sized independently of the main window.

Display Fit controls how the output image sits inside whatever window or monitor shows it, when the two don’t share an aspect ratio: Fit Best, Fill, or Shrink.

Related: Signal Chain.