Video Follows Audio

Switch to different inputs or run macros automatically with the Video Follows Audio feature of MixEffect Pro.

Switch to different inputs or run macros automatically with the Video Follows Audio feature of MixEffect Pro.

Video Follows Audio can be useful if you doing a production as a one-man team and want to automate the switching aspects of your show. Suppose you have a four camera setup:

1. Closeup on Host

2. Closeup on Guest #2

3. Closeup on Guest #3

4. Wide shot of the group

With Video Follows Audio, you can instruct your switcher to change automatically to Input 1 whenever the audio level on the input passes -20dB. You can have it hold there for 5 seconds before allowing another audio input to trigger another camera change (e.g. cameras 2 and 3).

When the master audio level dips below -40dB — for instance, when the participants all stop talking — the switcher can go back to the wide camera on Input 4. Finally, when you are ready to take over manual control, a single tap turns off Video Follows Audio.

Enable Video Follows Audio

The Video Follows Audio feature is turned off by default. To enable it, follow these steps:

1. Go to the MixEffect Home.

2. Tap Settings (gear).

3. Tap Automations.

4. Tap Enable Video Follows Audio.

Settings for Video Follows Audio are stored on a per-switcher basis. Enabling the feature in the Automations section allows for the use of Video Follows Audio in MixEffect, but you can turn it on or off individually for each switcher.

Configure Audio Sources

Once Video Follows Audio has been enabled in MixEffect Settings, a VFA button will appear atop the Master Audio panel. Tapping it will turn on Video Follows Audio and enable the VFA bar in the lower-right corner of each audio source.

There are several states for this button, visually indicated as follows:

• Gray: VFA is turned off for this audio source. If VFA is disabled, the VFA bar will be dimmer and cannot be pressed.

• Green: VFA is on and actively waiting for the audio level to be below the set threshold.

• Orange: VFA is on and actively waiting for the audio level to exceed the set threshold,

• Red Hand: VFA has triggered for one of your audio sources. All VFA triggers are temporarily prevented from automatic switching until the hold period has completed.

Settings

Tap the VFA bar to reveal a sheet to edit all of the Video Follows Audio settings for the audio source.

Configuring VFA for Mic 1

• On/Off Toggle: Turn On/Off Video Follows Audio for the selected audio source.

• Allow Trigger When Source is Off Air: Enable this setting to trigger the Video Follows Audio action for an audio source regardless of whether the source is mixed in or not.

• Disable for Inputs on Program: By default, Video Follow Audio triggers for an audio source operate regardless of the input currently on Program. You can customize this behavior by choosing inputs where VFA should be disabled if the selected inputs are on Program. You can also customize the amount of time that the trigger must wait before becoming available after switching Program to an input that is not on the disable list.

Trigger

The settings below set the type of Video Follows Audio trigger for the selected audio source.

• Threshold Type: Choose between less than or greater than.

• Threshold Slider: Choose the exact dB level for the action to occur.

• Sample Size: Adjust how quickly the trigger will run when the audio level dips below or surpasses the threshold. Use this to prevent a stray sound like a cough from accidentally triggering a scene shift.

Action

These settings dictate the action to be performed when Video Follows Audio is triggered for this audio source.

• Source Picker: Select the input to switch to. Select the source to switch to when the decibel level dips below or surpasses the set threshold. To reset and do nothing when triggered, choose No Source.

• MixEffect Picker: By default, the currently selected Mix Effects bus will be used for the input change, but you can use this picker to force a source change on a particular bus.

• Transition Picker: Choose the transition to use when switching sources.

• Transition Revert: Choose whether to save the custom transition or revert back to the previous transition after a switch.

• Macro Picker: Select a macro to run.

After Running

These settings instruct MixEffect on what to do after Video Follows Audio runs for this audio source.

• Hold: Set the amount of time in seconds before the next Video Follows Audio switch can occur. Use this feature so your cameras aren't switching non-stop.

• Repeat Delay: Set the amount of time to wait in seconds before Video Follows Audio can run again for this audio source.

Using Video Follows Audio

Video Follows Audio only works when these conditions are set:

• Automations are enabled in MixEffect.

• Video Follows Audio is enabled in MixEffect.

• Video Follows Audio is activated for your switcher.

• You are currently viewing the Audio section or are on a switcher page with the Audio panel present.

Also note that every time you connect or reconnect to a switcher, Video Follows Audio is disabled in the switcher. You will have to go to the Audio section or panel to re-enable it.

This is done because MixEffect can be used on multiple devices at the same time. If all of them were running with Video Follows Audio active, it could lead to conditions where multiple transition commands could be sent to the ATEM at the same time.

For this reason, it is recommended that only one Video Follows Audio session is active for each switcher.

Video Follows Audio Settings File

Video Follows Audio settings are stored in an XML file named videoFollowsAudio.xml, located in the switcher directory of MixEffect in your iCloud Drive Documents folder.