Control your screens with Bitfocus Companion and a Stream Deck

Bitfocus Companion is free software that turns an Elgato Stream Deck, or the buttons in a web browser, into a control panel for your whole production. With the Screenbird connection in Companion, one press puts a scene live on all its screens, and the button lights up in the color of the scene while it is live. Your screens keep running by themselves between those moments.

You need:

  • Companion 4.3 or newer.
  • An API token from Screenbird.
  • For the scene buttons: Scenes turned on and at least one scene. How that works: Switch many screens at once with Scenes. Without Scenes, Companion can still push content to a screen and stop it.

Create an API token

  1. Go to Settings > Connections.
  2. Under API tokens, click New API token.
  3. Give the token a name, for example the name of the venue or the Stream Deck.
  4. Under Access, choose Control screens and scenes.
  5. Click Create token and copy the token. You see it only once.

The token works in the team that is active when you create it. For the screens of another team, switch to that team first and create a separate token. Use one token per Companion connection.

More about tokens: API tokens.

Add Screenbird in Companion

  1. In Companion, go to Connections, search for Screenbird and add it.
  2. Paste the token under API token and save.
  3. Open the presets of the connection and drag the buttons onto your Stream Deck.

Leave API address as it is, unless Screenbird support gives you another address.

The computer that runs Companion needs outgoing HTTPS and secure WebSocket (WSS) access on port 443 to api.screenbird.app. Without a working internet connection, the buttons do not work.

The buttons

The presets come in three groups.

Scenes

  • Go: one button per scene, in the color of the scene.
  • Stop: one button per scene that puts that scene back to normal. It is dark, with the name of the scene in a light version of its color.

Control

  • STOP ALL puts everything back to normal. It is dark red.
  • NEXT starts the scene after the one you started last, in the order of Scenes in the dashboard. It shows the name of that scene.

Screens

  • One stop button per screen or sub-screen. It turns dark red while a scene or pushed content shows on that screen.

The color of a scene button tells you the state:

  • Dark: the scene is off.
  • Full color: the scene is live on all its screens.
  • Half bright: the scene is partly live. Some of its screens show something else, or the scene is still on screen from earlier.
  • Amber, with "(changed)" in the text: the scene was edited after it went live. Press it again to put the changes live.

The buttons follow changes right away, also when someone starts a scene in the dashboard, on a phone or at a set time. A new scene or a new screen appears in the presets by itself.

Actions

Use these actions on your own buttons:

  • Scene: go: show the scene on all its screens. If the scene changed since it went live, pressing it again puts the changes live.
  • Scene: stop: stop this scene. Its screens return to their own content.
  • Scene: next: go to the scene after the one that was activated last.
  • Stop all: stop all scenes and pushed content. Screen mirroring keeps running.
  • Screen: push content: show content on one screen or sub-screen, for a number of minutes or until stopped. You pick the content from a list with the files, designs, apps, split screens and playlists of the team.
  • Screen: stop: stop pushed content or a scene on one screen or sub-screen.

Feedbacks

Use these feedbacks to change the look of a button:

  • Scene is live, Scene is partly live and Scene changed since it went live.
  • Screen shows: a scene, pushed content, a screen mirror or normal content.
  • Screen is online.

Variables

Use variables in button text, for example $(screenbird:last_scene). If you renamed the connection, use its name instead of "screenbird".

  • last_scene: the scene activated last.
  • next_scene: the scene that Scene: next starts.
  • live_scenes: the scenes that are live.
  • screens_online and screens_total: screens online, and screens in total.

When something does not work

  • Authentication failure: the token is not valid or was revoked. Create a new token and paste it in the connection settings.
  • Insufficient permissions: the token has no access to screens, or the person who made it lost access. Create a token with access Control screens and scenes.
  • Connection failure that mentions the API address: something answers that is not Screenbird, for example a Wi-Fi login page, or the address is wrong. Check the network and the API address.
  • Waiting for the live connection that does not go away, or Live updates unavailable: a firewall or proxy may block WebSocket traffic to api.screenbird.app. The buttons still work, but their colors only update after a press.
  • No active subscription: the Screenbird account is not active. The connection checks again every 5 minutes.
  • No scene buttons: Scenes is off. The owner turns it on under Settings > Advanced. The buttons then appear by themselves, without restarting Companion.

Stop a token

Click Revoke next to the token in Settings > Connections. Everything that uses it stops right away. See API tokens.

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