Canvases & venue mode
This page explains how to show your canvases on real screens during a live event — how to toggle them on and off, what happens when a display is connected, and how the always-on preview strip keeps you informed.
Before you can show a canvas on a screen you need to create it and assign it to a display. If you have not done that yet, start with Canvases first.
Show or hide a canvas
You can show or hide any canvas in two places:
From the Canvases menu — the menu bar at the top of the app contains a Canvases menu (labeled Outputs in the current build). Each canvas in your project appears there as a checkable item. Select it to show the canvas; select it again to hide it.
From the preview strip — at the bottom of the app, each canvas tile has an eye icon in its lower-right corner. Click the eye to show the canvas; click it again to hide it. Both controls stay in sync: toggling one updates the other immediately.
Hiding a canvas does not stop the video — ArenaDirector keeps playing in the background. When you show it again the picture reappears instantly, with no gap or restart.
Venue mode
When a canvas is shown and its assigned display is physically connected to the computer, ArenaDirector detects the screen automatically and places the canvas on it full screen. This is called venue mode.
You do not need to drag a window or configure anything at event time. As soon as the display comes up ArenaDirector claims it. If you later unplug the screen and plug it back in, the canvas returns to full screen on its own.
The canvas must be marked as shown (see above) for venue mode to activate. A hidden canvas stays hidden even when its display is connected.
Floating window
If you show a canvas but its assigned display is not currently connected, ArenaDirector opens the canvas in a moveable floating window instead. You can position the window anywhere on your operator screen.
When the assigned display is plugged in later, the floating window closes and the canvas moves to full screen automatically — no action needed from you.
If a canvas has no display assigned at all, it also opens as a floating window whenever you show it.
The preview strip
The preview strip runs along the bottom of the app at all times. This is the same Outputs panel described in Audio and mixers — the panel that also shows your mixer level cards. Every canvas in your project has a tile there showing a live miniature of what is playing on that canvas right now — even when the canvas window is hidden or an assigned display is not connected.
When a show is running and owns a canvas, a small label with the show's name appears inside the tile. If a live slot interrupts the show on that canvas, the tile border turns amber so you can see at a glance which canvas was taken over.
Click anywhere on the strip's header bar to collapse it if you need more space, or click again to expand it.
See also
- Canvases — create canvases, set their resolution, and assign them to displays.
- Core concepts — how canvases, displays, slots, and shows fit together.