Capture and Re-map a Video Stream

Last updated 5 May 2026

Backstage can receive a live video feed from a capture card or process window and display it on any surface — flat, curved, or projection-mapped — in real time. See Supported Capture Hardware for the full list of supported input types.

Before you start

  • Your capture card is installed with drivers present, or your source application is running
  • Your SDI or HDMI source is connected and sending signal (for hardware cards)
  • You have a Display or Projection Surface set up in the Scene

Steps

1. Create a Capture Input asset

Open the Assets window. Find the Capture Input section and right-click its header. Select the entry matching your hardware (e.g. Add Datapath Capture Card, Add DeckLink Capture Card, Add Rivermax Input, or Add Process Window).

2. Configure the device

Select the new capture asset. In the Inspector, configure:

Setting

Description

Values / Range

Device

Select your capture card or source window.

Dropdown

Input

Select the connector (SDI, HDMI, or Auto).

Dropdown

Audio Input

Typically Embedded for SDI/HDMI with embedded audio.

Dropdown

Audio Channels

Match your source (2 for stereo, up to 16 for multichannel).

2-16

3. Assign the capture feed to a surface

Drag the capture asset from the Assets window onto the target surface in the Scene View. The surface immediately shows the live feed, remapped to match the surface geometry.

4. Route to an output

In the Outputs window, ensure the surface is routed to the correct GPU output or projector.

Common Mistakes

  • Capture asset added but no signal indicator appears — the driver for your capture card is not installed or the card is not detected. Reinstall the driver and restart Backstage.

  • Signal shown in Inspector but nothing on the surface — the surface is not routed to an output. Check the output routing matrix.

Tips

  • The capture asset can be assigned to multiple surfaces simultaneously.

  • Audio from the capture card is available as an audio stream and can be routed through the audio mixer.

  • Drag the capture asset into a Sequencer track to blend the live feed with pre-recorded content.

Supported Capture Hardware — full list of supported capture card types

Receive an NDI Stream — receive live NDI streams

Installation Scenarios — all installation scenarios