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Live Producer

Shows and show files

A show is one .vsshow file with everything the switcher needs: what it keeps, what it never keeps, and how it opens on another Mac.

A show is one complete setup of the Studio, kept in one file with the extension .vsshow. You make one show per kind of event and switch between them. Live Producer Studio has one show open at a time.

The main window’s title: the show’s name, with Edited beside it because the show differs from its file

What a show keeps

Section titled “What a show keeps”
  • The sources, as references: file paths, device IDs and addresses, with each source’s delay, gain and mute.
  • The layers with their names and colours, and every shot with its elements.
  • The transition: what Take does, how it looks and its duration.
  • The audio: the buses, what is sent to them and the output devices they play to.
  • The output settings: recording, streaming, captions and the multiview, the panes under This Show in Settings.
  • The windows that were open when you saved, and where: the switcher, Audio Routing, the Preview window and the Program window, a full-screen Program window with its display. Opening the show puts them back.

Inside, a show file is JSON, so it compares and versions well.

What a show never keeps

Section titled “What a show never keeps”
  • What is live. Opening a show always starts with a clear program, so nothing goes on air by surprise. Before you open or make another show while the current one is on the program output, the Studio asks first; nothing in the show is lost.
  • Fade to Black. A show opens with the program up.
  • This Mac’s preferences: the look, the layer heights, the transition presets and the other panes under This Mac in Settings.

Saving and autosave

Section titled “Saving and autosave”

The window’s title is the show’s name, with Edited beside it while the show differs from its file. File › Save (⌘S) writes it. Besides that, the Studio autosaves the working state all the time: quitting loses nothing, and the Studio reopens the same show as you left it. Moving a window does not make a show edited; window positions join the file when you save.

File › Revert to Saved goes back to the file, after asking.

Files and missing things

Section titled “Files and missing things”

A show stores files as references, not copies. A show made with File › New Show… lives in a show folder, and files inside that folder are stored relative to it. So you can move the whole folder, or copy it to another Mac, and the show still finds its files.

If a file moved or a device is missing, the show still opens. That source shows a slate and the Warnings key in the toolbar counts it, with a way to fix it. A camera, audio input or window that is not there links itself again when it comes back; see Stand-ins and linking.

Read more

Section titled “Read more”

Describes Live Producer 0.305 · 29 October 2026

Start here

IntroductionSupport

Studio

Introduction

Sources

Introduction

Audio

Introduction

Streaming and recording

Introduction

Captions

Introduction

Multiview and output

Introduction

Showrunner

Introduction

Platform

Introduction

Spelvin

Introduction

Video calls

Introduction

Remote

Introduction

Stream Deck

Introduction

Reference

Keyboard shortcutsPermissionsFile formatsVersionsGlossary

Release notes

Release notesLive Producer 0.305: the two ways to use Live ProducerLive Producer 0.304: new stand-in drawingsLive Producer 0.303: a new look for the documentationLive Producer 0.302: tooltips in one sentenceLive Producer 0.301: the inspector and the sheets get the ⓘLive Producer 0.300: a small ⓘ beside what it explainsLive Producer 0.299: quieter SettingsLive Producer 0.298: a Help menuLive Producer 0.297: sharper pictures of the inspectorLive Producer 0.296: the documentation, first versionLive Producer 0.295: the documentation site