Signal Protocols
Spout, Syphon, NDI, etc
Spout / Syphon / NDI
These are all signal protocols that allow you to route video (and audio!) from one application to another. Or, in the case of NDI, one computer to another! You can also use this to send from a computer to an emulated computer. QLab running video in Mac, same computer running touch in Windows via parallels or Bootcamp.
- Syphon: Mac
- Spout: Windows
- NDI: Platform agnostic and can run over IP. Supports alpha channel. Better latency at least when on same machine. Can recommend!
- RTSP: Platform agnostic IP access to cameras
Spout and Syphon just work and don’t require additional software.
NDI works without additional software but I recommend installing the NDI toolset. It’s free and very good to have. The toolset is better on Windows (there are more utilities).
NDI is supported in a lot of places except: QLAB versions prior to v5. There are free NDI to spout/syphon softwares. I’ll look it up later, but there’s one I like.
Accessing RTSP in VLC: File → Open Network Stream (⌘N on Mac) and paste the URL. There might be some user/password syntax but that's dependent on how the camera is set up.