Server URL

Base URL of the LLM provider endpoint.

URL string

API Key

Authentication key for cloud providers. Not required for local Ollama.

String (masked)

Model

Which model to use for each provider. Populated automatically after a successful connection.

Dropdown (fetched from provider)

Chat

General conversational queries.

Vision

Image analysis tasks.

Orchestration

Multi-step reasoning and tool use.

Image Generation

AI image generation (uses Stable Diffusion engine).

Color Primaries

Default color primaries assigned to assets without embedded primaries.

BT.601, BT.709, BT.2020, DCI-P3, Adobe RGB, Manual (custom RGBW)

Color Transfer

Default transfer function (EOTF) for assets without embedded metadata.

Gamma, sRGB, ST.2084 (PQ), HLG, Log, Linear

Aspect Ratio Correction

Default fit mode when asset and destination aspect ratios differ.

Dropdown (fit modes)

Backup Path

Directory where automatic project backups are stored.

Folder path (browse)

Number of backups

How many backup copies to retain.

Integer

Receive Latency (frames)

Capture card receive latency in frames.

1.0–4.0

Latency offset for frame-blending

Additional latency offset applied when frame blending is active on capture inputs.

0.0–5.0

Audio buffer size (milliseconds)

Buffer size for capture card audio input.

1–500 ms

Synchronization Tolerance

Tolerance window for capture frame synchronization.

1.0–16.0 ms

Time

Displays the current Backstage clock time (read-only).

Read-only

ASIO clock

Select an ASIO audio device to drive the system clock. Only ASIO output devices are listed.

Dropdown (ASIO devices)

Clock reset

Reset the global clock to zero.

Button

Master elevation

Require elevated (admin) privileges before this instance can become PTP master.

Checkbox

NIC

Network interface used for PTP. Can be set to the Sync NIC or a specific adapter.

Dropdown (NICs)

BMCA

Enable Best Master Clock Algorithm. The PTP network automatically elects a grandmaster when enabled.

Checkbox (Clock only)

Domain

PTP domain number. Instances on different domains do not synchronize with each other.

0–255

Timing

PTP timing profile. Determines announce, sync, and delay request intervals.

AES67, PTP1588v2, SMPTE, Backstage

Priority 1 / Priority 2

BMCA priority values. Lower values give higher priority when electing a grandmaster.

0–255 (visible when BMCA is enabled)

E2E

Use End-to-End delay measurement (as opposed to Peer-to-Peer).

Checkbox

Relative

Slave relative timestamp mode. Uses relative offsets rather than absolute time.

Checkbox (Clock only, when BMCA is off)

Automatic

Let Backstage manage CPU affinity assignments automatically.

Checkbox (on by default)

Process Affinity

Select which CPU cores the Backstage process may use. Disabled when Automatic is on.

Per-core checkboxes

Thread Affinities

Assign specific cores to individual thread types (e.g. render, scheduler, IO). Select the thread type from the dropdown, then toggle cores.

Thread type dropdown + per-core checkboxes

Bind to interface

Default network interface for ArtNet output. "None" uses the OS default.

Dropdown (NICs)

Send on change only

When enabled, ArtNet frames are only sent when values change (reduces network traffic).

Yes / No

Automatic

Let Backstage assign GPU queue affinities automatically.

Checkbox (on by default)

GPU Task

Select the GPU task to configure.

Dropdown (GPU task types)

Queue assignment

Toggle which hardware queues the selected task may use. Disabled when Automatic is on.

Per-queue checkboxes

Mode

GPU memory allocation strategy. "Realtime 3D" keeps resources ready for fast scene changes. "Media Server" optimizes for linear playback with a static scene.

Realtime 3D / Media Server / Auto

Pool Size (%)

Percentage of total GPU memory reserved for the playback buffer pool.

5–80%

Pool Block Size (MB)

Size of each individual allocation block within the GPU memory pool.

Integer (MB) / Auto

Script checkboxes

Toggle individual Unicode script blocks.

Per-script checkboxes

Enable Logging

Master toggle for all logging.

Checkbox

Minimum Level

Minimum severity shown in the Log window.

Dropdown (log levels)

Maximum entries

Number of log entries retained in the Log window.

Integer

Enable file logging

Write log output to a file on disk.

Checkbox

Minimum Level

Minimum severity written to the log file.

Dropdown (log levels)

Enable Syslog logging

Send log messages to a remote syslog server.

Checkbox

Minimum Level

Minimum severity sent to syslog.

Dropdown (log levels)

Target IP

IP address of the syslog server.

IP address string

Target Port

UDP port of the syslog server.

Integer

Enable Kernel Error Logging

Log Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA) events. Useful for diagnosing hardware faults (GPU errors, memory errors).

Checkbox

Media Root

Root directory for media files. Backstage resolves relative asset paths against this folder.

Folder path (browse)

Align start to V-Sync

Synchronize the start of media playback to the next V-Sync signal.

Checkbox

Align every loop start to V-Sync

Re-align to V-Sync on every loop iteration (visible when Align start to V-Sync is on).

Checkbox

Enable reverse playback

Allow backward playback for image sequences and mono/stereo audio files.

Checkbox

Playback tempo adjustment

Enable automatic tempo correction to keep audio in sync with the scheduler.

Checkbox

Playback adjustment mode

Method used for tempo correction: Tempo (pitch-preserving) or Pitch (shifts pitch).

Tempo / Pitch

Quick algorithm

Use a faster but less precise tempo adjustment algorithm.

Checkbox

Click prevention

Reduce audible clicks during tempo adjustment.

Checkbox

Tempo AA filter

Anti-aliasing filter size for tempo adjustment. Set to 0 to disable.

0, or 8–128

Mixer threads (1..16)

Number of threads used for audio mixing.

1–16

Playback buffer (ms)

Decoder playback buffer size.

≥ 10 ms

Splitter buffer (ms)

Audio splitter buffer size. Must be ≥ Playback buffer.

≥ Playback buffer ms

Async stream buffer

Async audio stream buffer size.

Integer

Stream ramps

Enable fade ramps when audio streams start/stop.

Checkbox

Mixer ramps

Enable fade ramps on mixer transitions.

Checkbox

Non-stop output

Keep audio device output running even when no audio is playing.

Checkbox

Non-stop ASIO mixers

Keep ASIO mixer outputs running continuously.

Checkbox

Number of pre-buffered frames

How many frames are loaded into GPU memory ahead of playback.

Integer (≥ 0)

Playback buffer size (frames)

Number of frames the video stream buffers in advance during playback.

Integer (≥ 0)

Playback buffering queue grow limit (frames)

Maximum number of frames the buffer can grow by per render iteration.

2–Playback buffer size

MB/s per Core

Expected sustained read throughput per CPU core. Used to calculate how many cores to allocate for media IO.

Integer (≥ 50)

Number of pre-buffered frames

Pre-buffer size for compressed video assets.

Integer (≥ 0)

Playback buffer size (frames)

Stream buffer size for compressed video playback.

Integer (≥ 0)

Max Frame-to-Time Deviation

Maximum allowed deviation between decoded frame time and expected time before a stream reset.

0.5–1.0

Max AV Sync Deviation

Maximum audio/video sync deviation before correction occurs.

0–2000 ms

Default frame blending type

Frame blending mode used by new video channels.

Dropdown (blending modes)

Number of frames for frame blending

Number of frames involved in skip/repaint frame blending.

Integer

Smooth stream time

Enable outlier smoothing on the scheduler time to prevent jitter-induced frame jumps.

Checkbox

Max pre-buffer GPU memory usage

Maximum percentage of GPU memory that may be used for asset pre-buffering.

0–100%

Host to device transfer mode

Method for transferring frames from CPU to GPU. Auto selects the best mode for your hardware.

Dropdown / Auto

Allocate GPU memory on each physical device

When multiple GPUs are installed, allocate playback memory on every GPU (not just the primary).

Checkbox / Auto

Node sync NIC

Network interface used for node editor synchronization (multicast). All sync traffic between Backstage instances uses this interface.

Dropdown (NICs)

Sync UDP size limit

Maximum UDP message size for sync traffic. Messages exceeding this size are sent using a different transport.

1–65507 bytes

Receive Buffer

Minimum receive latency for NDI inputs (in frames).

1.0–3.5

Disconnect unused

Automatically disconnect NDI sources that are not routed to any output or channel.

Checkbox

Exclude "Remote Connection" sources

Filter out NDI Remote Connection sources from the source list.

Checkbox

Enable NDI Input Slots (HTTP / REST Port 8080)

Enable the REST API server for NDI source routing. When enabled, Username and Password fields appear.

Checkbox

Username / Password

Credentials for the REST server (visible when REST is enabled).

String

Enable Device Routing Window

Enable the NDI device routing matrix for remote device management.

Checkbox

HTTP session threads

Number of concurrent HTTP session threads for device routing (visible when Device Routing is enabled).

2–64

Scale %

Resolution scale of the monitoring stream, as a percentage of the output resolution.

1–100%

Framerate

Frame rate of the monitoring NDI stream.

1–240 fps

NDI Group Name

NDI group used for the monitoring stream.

String

Present API

Graphics API used for output presentation.

Dropdown / Auto

Output Rendering

Synchronization mode for output rendering before swapchain present.

Dropdown

Output Bit Depth

Override the bit depth for all outputs set to Auto. Force 8-bit for better performance, or 10-bit for higher color precision.

Auto / 8 Bit / 10 Bit

Wait for v-sync

V-sync wait mode for Vulkan presentation (visible only when Present API is Vulkan).

Dropdown / Auto

Keywords

Comma-separated, case-insensitive substrings. A GPU output is hidden if any keyword matches its adapter name or friendly name.

String (default: aspeed,basic,kvm-via-ip,virtual)

Role

Startup role for this server. Primary is standalone; Backup syncs its media from a Primary.

Primary / Backup / Leader / Follower

Primary IP

Address of the primary server to sync from (visible for Backup and Follower roles).

IP address string

Replication scope

What to replicate. Mirror drive copies an entire drive; Mirror folder copies specific folders; Active assets copies only what the current scene uses.

Mirror drive / Mirror folder / Active assets (default)

Delete stale files

Remove files on the backup that no longer exist on the primary (drive and folder scope only).

Checkbox (off by default)

Block Replicators

Prevent replicators from pulling files from this machine.

Checkbox (off by default)

Autoload last scene

Automatically load the most recently opened project when Backstage starts.

Checkbox

Startup file

Load a specific project file at startup (disabled when Autoload last scene is on).

Checkbox + file path

Wait entire scene loaded

Delay auto-starting sequences until the full scene (all assets, outputs) has finished loading.

Checkbox

Allow system go to sleep

Allow the operating system to put the server into sleep mode. Disable this for always-on installations.

Checkbox

Remote User-Interface: Only transfer frames with visible changes

Reduce bandwidth for remote/streamed UI sessions by only sending frames when something on screen has changed.

Checkbox

Timecode timeout (us)

Timeout in microseconds before an external timecode signal is considered lost.

≥ 100000 us

Scheduler sleep (ns)

Sleep interval for the main media scheduler thread.

≥ 0 ns

System scheduler sleep (ns)

Sleep interval for the system scheduler.

≥ 0 ns

Scheduler sync (ns)

Sleep interval for the scheduler synchronization thread.

≥ 0 ns

ASIO ctrl sleep (ns)

Sleep interval for the ASIO control thread.

≥ 0 ns

Lazy Load Prepare Time (ms)

How far in advance (in milliseconds) lazy-loaded assets begin loading before they are needed on the timeline.

≥ 0 ms

Latency window min (frames)

Below this latency (in producer-frame units), a frame repeat is issued to avoid underrun.

0.0–4.0

Latency window width (frames)

Above min + this offset, a frame skip is issued to reduce latency buildup.

0.0–5.0

Enable (HTTP Port 80)

Start the built-in web server on port 80. Used for Web Consoles and the web-based remote interface.

Checkbox

Always Orthogonalize

Automatically orthogonalize projector calibration results.

Checkbox

Display Calibration Markers on geometry

Show imported calibration marker points on surfaces in the 3D viewport.

Checkbox

Reset Camera View

Reset the 3D viewport camera to its default position and orientation.

Button

Show Navigation Overlay

Show or hide the navigation orientation cube in the Scene View.

Checkbox

Navigation Overlay Size

Size of the navigation overlay widget.

50–200

Display mode

UI color theme or display mode.

Dropdown

Synchronize UI render to v-sync

Synchronize the UI rendering loop to the monitor's v-sync signal, reducing screen tearing in the UI.

Checkbox

V-Sync UI Render Timing

Target percentage of the v-sync interval at which the UI frame is rendered (visible when sync is on).

0–100%

Open Inspector Popup after Output creation

Automatically open the Inspector popup when a new output is created.

Checkbox

Show Transient

Show transient (temporary, system-created) assets and sequences in the Assets and Sequencer panels.

Checkbox

Assets

Default directory for asset files.

File Upload

Upload destination for remote file transfers.

File transfer infos

Location for file transfer metadata.

Audio

Default directory for audio files.

Models

Default directory for 3D model files (.obj).

Textures

Default directory for texture files.

AC FH Meshes

Directory for Auto Calibration meshes.

AC Scaleable

Directory for Scalable Display auto-calibration files.

Blend Masks

Directory for blend mask images.

Screenshots

Directory for screenshot output.

Saves

Directory for project save files. Locked when set by an environment variable.

XML

Directory for XML configuration files.