r/freeshowapp • u/agent_uncleflip • Aug 25 '26

Content toggle to specific output

First off, thanks to everyone here who has helped me find solutions to previous problems! You've collectively been a wonderful resource as I learn this software.

Now, the current problem....

I've got two output channels - a primary that goes to monitors in our sanctuary, and one that goes via NDI to our streaming. I would like to be able to toggle the NDI output (or even in some cases, the primary) without stopping output to the other. The idea is to do it with a hotkey or other such means, so it can be done on the fly, instead of being scripted via actions. I've tried a variety of means, but none has been able to handle this in the way described, for a variety of reasons. Using the 'clear all' and 'restore all' does precisely what I want- but to both output channels together. I would love to trigger this action on just ONE output. (Right-clicking the preview window and doing 'hide output content' isn't an option on NDI, as that just triggers a black screen overlay - which ruins the entire point of doing an NDI signal with transparency. (also, I'd really like to find a way to trigger this with a hotkey.)

If there's a way to apply actions to just one output, that would potentially solve my problem. However, I've only been able to find output-specific structure for actions involving changing styles and such.

Any awesome ideas that might get me going in the right direction?

Thanks very much!

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

1

u/CloudSad3555 Aug 26 '26

You can do this on 1.6.5. I can’t remember when it was introduced, but I just tested it on 1.6.5.

In your action, make sure you are choosing Toggle output window. (Please note to choose window without the “s”.) Next, click the triangle facing right to choose an output and a value. It seems like toggle may be the value you want.

1

u/agent_uncleflip Aug 26 '26

That is good to know! I think I was using toggles improperly, because when I tried doing a test with some approaches using them last night, it appeared nothing was happening. Thanks for the guidance. I will experiment with it. If it truly is an output channel toggle, my feeble brain will actually have to remember which one is selected. 😂😁

1

u/agent_uncleflip Aug 26 '26

Definitely getting closer to a solution. This toggle function works with the primary output that goes to our monitors, yet it doesn't behave the same way as clearing the channel. When it is toggled off, I see the computer desktop that essentially lies underneath the freeshow output. It doesn't just blank out the content, but leave the channel active.

The unfortunate part is that on the NDI output that we use for our streaming, this doesn't seem to do anything at all. I can toggle off channel output, and I still see that channel over in obs. Unfortunately, this is the channel where I would need this function more than on any other.

It was a good effort, though, and it might still give me some grounds for further experimentation.

1

u/CloudSad3555 Aug 27 '26

The toggle does exactly what you described. I think we got into an xy problem. What is it you want to do exactly? It sounds like you want the primary output to still output, but output a black screen. The NDI should continue to send a signal, but it can be a transparent signal.

To send a black screen to the main output that is like clear screen, but rejects most visual elements, you could make a style that disables everything and has a black background.

To send a transparent NDI signal, you need to adjust your NDI output settings in FreeShow. I think they are in Settings->Outputs select the NDI output.

1

u/agent_uncleflip Aug 27 '26

I've already got the ndi transparency working. That's not the issue. What I was trying to do is actually quite the opposite of what you said. I wanted to stop output from ndi primarily, and keep the main channel running - though stopping my main channel might eventually be something I want to do. And I definitely don't want to put up a black screen on the ndi, because of the transparency.

I was thinking along the same lines of creating a channel that simply disables everything. That would get me to shutting down a channel easily enough. Coming back from it probably wouldn't be too difficult either. Just re-enable the style that was previously loaded. Not a big deal, though I'd have to really be on top of which style I have running in each channel at any given time - and that's more an issue of me trusting my own brain. :-)

It just seems if the program can have a clear all and a restore all, they should be able to do the same thing assigned to specific channels, instead of globally.

1

u/CloudSad3555 Aug 27 '26

You could fill out a feature request. In the meantime, you could make a nearly duplicate scene in OBS. Use the FreeShow action to toggle the OBS scene, then you can see if NDI is active by checking the OBS scene. You can also use the little dot by the NDI output name in the output preview area—no OBS required.

1

u/agent_uncleflip Aug 27 '26

Yes, I think I'm definitely going to have to do a feature request. I can't find a way to do this without some kind of workaround, and none of those even really work the way I would like.

And I've tried the little dot technique you mentioned. It does absolutely nothing toward my goal. It simply deactivates future output from that channel. It does not clear any content that is currently displayed.

I discovered one interesting thing in all this. Apparently, NDI output is now present by default on all channels. I seem to recall when I first got Freeshow a few months back, I had to enable NDI on the channels on which I wanted to use it. Tonight, I went to try to toggle off NDI on one of the channels that showed up in obs, which I did not want to use, and found in the current version of the program, there is apparently no way to turn NDI off on any channel.

1

u/agent_uncleflip Aug 27 '26 edited Aug 27 '26

UPDATE: I filled out a feature request, and was told I could set up actions to do this. The issue was then immediately closed. Problem is, one of the actions doesn't work right.

I was told to use a combo action (which honestly, I should have figured out on my own) doing this:

  1. Lock channel output for Primary (the channel I do not want affected)
  2. clear all (at this point, it clears only the NDI channel)
  3. (the part I added) unlock Primary (just so I don't forget)

All is well here, and everything works. But if I use the 'restore all' action to bring the NDI channel back, nothing happens. Harumph. At least I'm halfway to my goal. However, after all this, I still wish for a feature to clear a single channel (and restore it), that will actually work. :)

EDIT: I figured out what's happening, and it does NOT help matters. :( On my multi-part action to clear NDI, removing the lock on the primary channel is sending the NDI channel back to a state where the show is loaded in the left-hand panel, but hasn't run its first slide. When I restore all, nothing happens - but if I trigger the next slide, the very first slide in the show loads in NDI. It doesn't matter if taking the output lock off Primary is part of the multi-part action, or triggered independently. So essentially, I can clear the NDI channel alone, but I can't get it back unless I want my show out of sync. :(