Import Video & Audio Assets

Last updated 7 August 2026

Everything Backstage plays is an asset. Once imported, an asset can be placed as an event on a video or audio channel in the Sequencer, set as a surface's default asset, or played from an Audio:Stream node.

Before you start

Open the Assets window and expand the group for the type you want to import. Each group has its own + button. Files can also be dragged straight in from the file explorer.

For the formats Backstage reads natively, see Supported Media Types.

Image sequence

A folder of numbered frames played as a clip — the frame-accurate path, stored uncompressed or as NotchLC or HAP.

  1. Click + and browse to the sequence.

  2. Select any one file inside it. All frames must be numbered at the end of the file name and sit in the same folder.

  3. Double-click the file, or click OK.

  4. Choose Image Sequence in the dialog that appears.

  5. Enter the frame rate to play it at, and click OK.

Image

A single still frame.

  1. Click + and browse to the file.

  2. Select the image and double-click it, or click OK.

  3. If the file is detected as part of a numbered sequence, choose Image File in the dialog and click OK — otherwise the whole sequence is imported as a clip.

Video

A compressed movie in a container — smaller files, suited to long-form playback. For maximum quality or frame-accurate scrubbing, use an image sequence instead.

  1. Click + and browse to the file, or drag the file in from the file explorer.

  2. Double-click the file, or click OK.

Audio file

  1. Click +.

  2. Select Add Audio File or Add Ambisonic Audio File.

  3. Browse to the file and double-click it, or click OK.

Several WAV files sharing a name with numbered endings, in the same folder, are imported together as one multi-channel file stream. The same applies to surround sets using the _L, _R, _C, _Ls, _Rs, _LFE suffixes.

To change what that stream contains, select the imported asset and expand Audio Multi-File-Stream:

  • Drag the file paths to reorder them.

  • Add channels or files with the buttons beside the list.

  • Remove a channel with its x button.

NDI

Every active NDI source on the network appears here on its own — there is nothing to import.

Capture input

Requires a supported capture card in the server.

  1. Click +, then select the new capture input in the list.

  2. Expand Capture Input in the asset properties.

  3. Choose which physical input to use. The options come from the installed card.

  4. Set the input bit depth and the audio sample rate to match the incoming signal.

Crop and Combine

Combines several assets, or regions of them, into one asset — see Crop & Combine.

Stereo Container

Pairs sources into a single stereoscopic asset, so 3D content is handled as one item.

  1. Click +, then select the new container.

  2. Expand Stereo Container in the asset properties and rename it so it is easy to identify.

  3. Choose how many channels it combines:

    • Mono — one asset

    • Stereo 2 — one asset per eye, the usual case for 3D content

    • Stereo 4 — two images per eye, for projectors that combine several input signals themselves

  4. Assign an asset to each channel. Import them first if they are not in the library yet.

Common Mistakes

  • A single image imports as a clip, or a sequence imports as one frame — the dialog asking which it is decides this. Choose Image File for one picture, Image Sequence for the whole folder.

  • An image sequence plays at the wrong speed — the frame rate is entered at import, not read from the files. Re-enter it in the asset's properties.

  • Only part of a numbered sequence is found — the frames must all be in one folder and numbered at the end of the file name. A frame numbered mid-name breaks the set.

  • Surround files stay separate assets — automatic grouping keys on the exact suffixes above. A file named _Left instead of _L is imported on its own.

Tips

  • Dragging files from the file explorer into the Assets window skips the browse dialog entirely.

  • For long-form content a compressed video is far lighter on storage; for scrubbing and frame accuracy an image sequence wins. Choose per asset, not per project.

Get Started with Backstage — full walkthrough from an empty project to content on screen

Combine multiple Capture Inputs to one Asset — build one image from several capture cards

Supported Media Types — the formats Backstage reads natively

Sequencer — where assets become events on a timeline