Annotation / Collaboration Tool

The Collaboration Tool lets a team draw on a shared whiteboard that is overlaid live onto a surface in Backstage, capture snapshots of it, and manage sessions — all on the local network. The server side is a node in Backstage; the client is a Windows application for tablet PCs.

Collaboration Server

Setting it up in Backstage

1. Add a CollaborationServer node from the Brainsalt category.

2. Select the output to capture for collaboration.

   • For a display, that is the connected output.

   • For a surface driven by projectors, create an extra projector that fits the surface exactly — distance 1 metre, projector aspect ratio set to the surface aspect ratio — and disable blending in its properties. Then create a dummy output at the resolution you want to collaborate in and connect it to that projector.

3. Under Output collaboration session to, select the surface and mapping the session should be overlaid on.

4. Open the node to reach the rest of its options:

   • Server Name — what appears in the client's server view.

   • Ask for session name — the client asks for a name when a session starts.

   • Always start in solo mode — only the strokes of one client are shown. Cleared, every client's strokes and annotations appear.

   • Folders and options for snapshots, on the server and on the client.

   • The unique server key — make sure it differs when several servers share a network.

The node's input pins let you block new sessions from starting — and allow them again — or abort a running session.

Once enabled, a session started from a client renders automatically onto the selected surface at the configured render layer, 100 by default, and disappears when the session ends.

Collaboration Client

Installing

The client runs on a Windows tablet PC. Download it from the server: enter http://serverip/ in a browser and take the Windows client.

Install it and launch from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut:

Only one copy runs at a time — close the existing window before starting another. To exit, return to the home screen and click Close (X) or press Alt+F4.

Home screen

The home screen lists every server it can find, with live status.

Toolbar, top left:

• Settings — themes, language and network preferences.

• Search — refresh the server list, after powering on a server or joining a new network.

• Snapshots — go straight to the snapshot viewer.

• Close — quit; available on the home screen only.

Server tiles show the server name, IP address and a preview image or video stream where available.

• Start/Join — the green play icon starts a session on an idle server, or joins the running one.

• Leave/Close — the red square, shown while you are in a session.

• Waiting for session data… means the server is preparing the whiteboard. Stay on the tile until it finishes.

• Some servers show an update banner — click it to install the recommended version.

• Red text on a tile means the server is offline; a spinning circle means the client is still scanning.

Joining a session

1. Click the server tile.

2. Press the green Start/Join button.

The client switches to the session workspace.

The session workspace

The workspace holds the shared canvas, the toolbars and the sketch manager.

Navigation strip — top right by default:

• Home — back to the home screen. Its small light shows connectivity: orange disconnected, light green busy, green stable.

• On Air — show or hide your strokes for other viewers.

• Send Scale — apply your zoom and position to the shared session view.

• Reset View — re-centre the canvas.

• Snapshot — open the snapshot dialog.

• Docking arrows move the toolbar to another edge.

Drawing toolbar:

• Pen — pressure-sensitive strokes.

• Highlighter — semi-transparent strokes for emphasis.

• Eraser — tap to erase; press and hold for stroke, small, large or erase-all.

• Eyedropper — sample a colour from the canvas.

• Selection, Delete, Copy/Paste, Undo/Redo — move, remove, reuse and step back through edits.

• Laser Pointer — highlight areas for remote viewers, where the server supports it.

Sketch manager, bottom left: Add a sheet, Duplicate the current one, or Delete it after a confirmation. Hover a thumbnail to reveal its duplicate and delete buttons; the active sketch is highlighted.

Taking snapshots

1. Click Snapshot.

2. Choose Local for your own strokes or Global for everyone's. Each sketch can be captured separately, or all sessions combined.

3. Pick a save folder if prompted — external drives work well for quick exports.

Snapshots are stored in dated folders.

Overlays you may see: No connection! if the server link drops, Saving snapshot… while images are stored, and a timeout countdown before the server closes an idle session.

Snapshot viewer

Open it from the home screen toolbar. Browse by date in the tree on the left and tick the items you want to act on.

• Select All / Clear All — toggle everything in the current folder.

• Delete — permanently remove the checked snapshots, after a confirmation.

• Create PDF — export the checked snapshots into one PDF.

• Previous/Next — step through snapshots without changing the ticks.

Settings

Settings are grouped into three tabs.

User Interface — keep the PC awake while the client runs, light or dark theme, language (English and German), drawing feel via Bezier smoothing, ignore pressure and touch drawing, and the local snapshot folder.

Network & Identity — the display name shown to servers, your remote pointer colour, viewing or regenerating your personal key (a restart is needed after regenerating), the poll frequency in milliseconds, and a static server IP for networks where discovery traffic is blocked.

Advanced — unlocked with a password. Regenerate or copy the personal key, or delete the configuration file to return the app to factory defaults.

Common Mistakes

• Drawing with a finger does nothing — the client listens to pens only by default. Enable Touch Drawing in the client settings.

• No servers appear — firewall permission was refused at first start, or discovery traffic is blocked. Allow the app through the firewall, or set a static server IP.

• The home light stays orange — the client is disconnected. Check the network connection and rejoin.

• "Waiting for session data…" appears and then disappears — that points at the server side, not the client.

• Snapshots do not save — the destination folder must still exist and not be write-protected.

• Two servers respond as one — they share a unique server key. Give each its own.

Tips

• There is no lockout on the advanced password — a mistyped entry can simply be retyped.

• On a crowded network, a static server IP is more reliable than discovery.

Network ports

Related

Node Editor Window — where the CollaborationServer node is added

Edit Mappings — the surface and mapping a session is overlaid on