Kinematic 0.5.0 is out. Modeling and sculpting in the viewport, a timeline on every graph, photo and sound editing. What's new
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Kinematic / Who it's for / Broadcast and live production

Live graphics, cameras and streams in one file.

Put lower thirds, bugs and crawls over your cameras, build the multiview, follow the vision mixer's tally and steer the PTZs. Then send program to the mixer over NDI, or stream it out over RTMP.

  • Broadcast engineers
  • Technical directors
  • Graphics operators
  • Streaming producers
Download for macOS 0.5.0See the jobs
NDI in and outATEM and vMix tallyPTZ over NDI, VISCA and ONVIFRTMP, RTSP and HLS
PGMProgram1280 × 720 · 30 fps

a lower third, a crawl and a LIVE bug over a camera, built in the graph

the graph behind it
InputVideoFile→ImageSelectShape→ImageFill→TextRenderOverImage
The work

The jobs on a live show.

Each job is a few nodes in the same file. Open it on any machine in the control room or the truck, change it while it runs, and it keeps going.

  1. 01Cameras in
    a multiview built in the graph: preview and program on top, eight labeled sources below

    Bring in the cameras and build the multiview

    Every NDI sender on the network shows up in the Source Browser with a thumbnail. Drag one onto the canvas and it is a picture like any other. IP cameras come in over RTSP, and capture cards that show up as a webcam work the same way. Lay the sources out in a grid with labels, and red and green borders for program and preview.

    StreamingNDIReceiveInterface+StreamingRtspReceive+ImageConcat+ImageTextOverlay
    Bring in a camera from across the room →
  2. 02Graphics
    The Kinematic editor: the program with its lower third and crawl in the viewport, and the nodes that draw them on the canvas below
    the program in the viewport and the graph that draws it

    Put the graphics over the cameras

    A lower third, a bug and a crawl are a few nodes each: a box, a fill and a line of text. Animate them with a short expression or a fader, and change the words from a panel or from another machine while the show runs. NDI carries transparency, so the graphics can also go out on their own for the mixer to lay over its cameras.

    InputVideoFile+ImageSelectShape+ImageFill+TextRenderOverImage+StreamingNDISendInterface
    Put a lower third over the feed →
  3. 03Keying
    A golden statue shot on green, split down the middle: the raw plate on the left, the key over a room on the right
    the green-screen plate and its key over a room, split down the middle

    Key the presenter onto a set

    Pull a green screen with a chroma key, clean the spill off the edges and put the presenter in front of a photo, a video or a 3D room rendered live.

    ImageChromaKey+ImageDespill+ImageAlphaOver
    Key a green screen onto a set →
  4. 04Cameras
    The PTZ Controller: a pan and tilt pad, zoom, iris and focus, and preset keys
    the PTZ Controller: pan and tilt, zoom, iris, focus and presets

    Steer the PTZ cameras

    Pan, tilt and zoom over NDI, VISCA over IP or ONVIF, from the PTZ Controller window or a joystick on your own panel. Save presets on the camera over NDI or VISCA and recall them with one press. Commands are rate limited, so cheaper cameras keep up.

    UIJoystick+StreamingPtzControl
    Steer a PTZ camera →
  5. 05Program out
    a live 3D render, the picture an NDI sender puts on the network

    Send program to the vision mixer

    Name an NDI sender and it shows up on the mixer, in vMix or in OBS. Send 16-bit or HDR with the color tagged, and keep the receivers connected while you switch sources behind one stable name.

    3DGeoSceneRenderToImage+StreamingNDISendInterface+StreamingNDIRoute
    Send your output to the vision mixer →
  6. 06Streaming
    the program going out live, with a LIVE badge and the set title

    Stream the show

    Mix the sound in and push program to a platform over RTMP as H.264 with AAC sound, serve it over RTSP, or write a rolling HLS playlist. The stream key stays hidden in the inspector and the logs, so screenshots are safe to share.

    ImageComposite+StreamingRtmpSend+StreamingHlsSend
    Go live →
  7. 07Packages
    a short cut on the timeline: a title, crossfades and three clips

    Cut the package

    Cut a package or the highlights on the video timeline: trim, fade and add a title. Record H.264, H.265 or 10-bit ProRes for playout.

    InputVideoFile+Timeline+OutputVideoFile
    Cut a short video →
What Kinematic adds

3D sets and simulations, live on air.

Build a set, a title or a product in 3D and render it live. Fire, smoke, liquids and particles simulate on the graphics card in the same file, and a scanned room or object comes in as gaussian splats. The picture goes straight out over NDI to the mixer, with no file to hand across.

3DGeoSceneRenderToImage→3DGeoFluidSimpleSolver→3DGeoImportSplat→StreamingNDISendInterface
Make fire and smoke →Work with scans →
a ring set alight, flames climbing into smoke
A hall built in 3D: rows of seats, a speaker at the lectern and a model house on the big screen
a hall in 3D, a model on the big screen
a performer on both side screens, in 3D
a song's loudness and hits driving a particle burst
a song's spectrum, live
The transcribe node reading a speech clip back as text
speech turned into words on your own machine
What Kinematic adds

Sound that drives the picture.

Take the desk's audio in and let it move the graphics. Hits fire a flash, the loudness swells a shape, and any setting can follow a channel of the music. For a music show or a live session that is a few wires, not a second app.

The same audio feeds a loudness meter that reads momentary, short-term and integrated LUFS, and a speech model that turns the presenter's words into captions, running on your own machine.

AudioCaptureInterface+AudioOnsetDetect+AudioLoudness+LocalAIAudioTranscribe
Caption a talk live →Make pictures from sound →
Hardware

Tally, studio lights and the desk.

An ATEM or vMix feeds the tally bus, and so do NDI sources. Red and green bars show on the receive nodes, on the Stream Deck keys and in the Tally Master window.

A tally bridge raises a key light when its camera goes to program, and a color temperature node sets the whites in kelvin, out over USB DMX, Art-Net or sACN. Cues come from a Stream Deck, Bitfocus Companion, OSC, a MIDI controller, a web page, or a plain rundown list that steps forward on each press.

tally bridge on camera 3's key light
source_uid   ndi/Camera 3
base         0.6
boost        0.4
StreamingAtemClient+StreamingTallyControl+DmxTallyBridge+DmxColorTemperature+StreamingStreamDeckSurface
Put cues on a Stream Deck →Patch a small rig →
The Stream Deck Layout window: keys 1 to 8 send cue 1 to cue 8 over OSC
the Stream Deck Layout window: one key per cue
The lighting programmer: six fixtures selected and their red, green, blue and color temperature dialed in
the programmer: pick the studio lights and dial their color
On air

Run it in the rack.

The same file you built in the editor runs headless for the length of the show, and your monitoring can see it.

Program out with no window

Run the graph on a box in the rack with no window at all, and send its output to an NDI sender.

terminal
$ kinematic run gfx.kin --out ndi://Program

A health check for your monitoring

Answer /healthz on a port, and exit when nothing has run for half a minute so your service manager can start it again.

terminal
$ kinematic run gfx.kin --health-port 8080 --watchdog 30s

Change it from the desk

Start it with a control port, then change any setting from another machine while it runs.

terminal
$ kinematic ctl tcp:10.0.0.40:9797 set headline.opacity 0

Switch sources without dropping anyone

An NDI route keeps one sender name while you swap the source behind it, so nothing downstream has to reconnect.

Ride out a network blip

When a feed drops, the receiver holds its last good frame and reconnects on its own. The ATEM link asks for the full tally again on its next packet.

Bring SDR into an HDR show

Lift SDR video and stills to sit next to HDR, with the color tagged on every NDI send and receive. HLG and PQ both work.

How it fits

The gear, protocols and files it works with.

Keep the mixer, the cameras and the network you have. Kinematic sits beside them and talks to each one in its own protocol.

Video

  • NDIIn and out
    Video and sound over the network, with 16-bit, and HDR on Apple Silicon or Linux with NVIDIA. Install NDI Tools first.
  • RTMPOut
    To YouTube Live, Twitch or Facebook Live as H.264 with AAC sound.
  • RTSPIn and out
    Pull an IP camera in, or serve program to a player.
  • HLSIn and out
    Play a stream in, or write a rolling playlist.
  • SyphonIn and out, macOS
    Frames to and from other apps on the same Mac.
  • Capture cardsIn
    Cards that show up as a webcam work like one.
  • Video filesIn and out
    MP4, MOV, MKV and WebM in. Record H.264, H.265 or 10-bit ProRes.

Control room

  • Vision mixersIn
    Program and preview from an ATEM or vMix light the tally.
  • PTZ camerasOut
    NDI, VISCA over IP and ONVIF, with presets over NDI and VISCA.
  • Stream DeckIn and out
    Original, Mini, XL, Plus and MK.2 over USB, with tally on the keys, or through Bitfocus Companion.
  • OSCIn and out
    Cues in from a tablet or a show controller, and out to other gear.
  • Web requestsIn and out
    Fire a cue from any browser, or call another system.
  • MIDI controllersIn and out
    Move a knob to map it, with ready-made profiles for popular controllers.

Time and color

  • LTCIn
    SMPTE timecode read off an audio input.
  • MIDI timecodeIn and out
    Chase a playback rig, or send the timeline out.
  • Art-Net timecodeIn and out
    Chase the lighting network, or be its clock.
  • OpenColorIOIn
    ACES and the standard configs are built in.
  • Color LUTsIn and out
    Load a .cube look from your grading tool, or save your own.
  • LoudnessMeter
    Momentary, short-term and integrated LUFS.

Studio light

  • DMX over USBIn and out
    Enttec DMX USB Pro, DMXking ultraDMX and other adapters.
  • Art-Net and sACNIn and out
    Many universes over the network.
  • Fixture profilesIn
    More than 1,500 in the Profile Library, and room for your own.
  • Lighting consolesOut
    Fire cues on an ETC Eos, a grandMA3 or a Hog 4 over OSC.
Coming fromTouchDesigner

The live patching you know, with NDI, tally and PTZ, and modeling, simulation and sound in the same file.

Read the guide →Coming fromCinema 4D

Your title opens and idents, rendered live and sent to the mixer instead of to a file.

Read the guide →Coming fromNuke

Keys, merges and OpenColorIO as nodes, running live on the camera feed.

Read the guide →Every format and protocolWorks with

Files, gear and the other apps in your rack, with what each one does in and out.

Look up your gear →
Where to start

Tutorials and demos.

Each tutorial takes under fifteen minutes and starts from an empty file. The demos come with the app: open one, press Play, then take it apart on the canvas.

Tutorials

Tutorial · 12 minCut a short videoTutorial · 12 minTidy a podcast episodeTutorial · 8 minMake a voice sound like an old radioTutorial · 10 minRender a demo to pictures from the terminalTutorial · 12 minMake a visual that pulses to your musicTutorial · 9 minPlay a video on a wall of LED lights

Demos

Retro neon effectsA title built from stacked text effects: an outline, a double glow and a gradient subtitle.In the Demos browserDrifting bokeh fieldSoft circles of light drifting over a dark vignette, a background for titles.In the Demos browserWhole body skeleton overlayEvery point on the body drawn over a live camera, with a running count of the people in frame.In the Demos browserFilm look chainA look built one grading step at a time: color balance, levels and a soft bloom.In the Demos browserAudio reactive particlesParticles driven by sound: the volume sets how many fly and each hit kicks gravity.In the Demos browserDJ performance controllerAn operator panel built from widgets: pads, a crossfader, dials, beat lights and live meters.In the Demos browser
Every Perform tutorial and guide →Browse every demo →
Not yet

What it does not yet do.

Better to know now. Missing something you need on air? Reach out.

  • SDI outThere is no output to an SDI card. Pictures leave over NDI, Syphon, a stream or a screen. SDI capture cards that show up as a webcam work as an input.
  • SMPTE ST 2110, SRT and WebRTCNot ready yet. NDI is the way to move video between machines today.
  • Cutting on the mixerKinematic follows program and preview on an ATEM or in vMix. It does not send cuts or transitions to them.
  • GenlockThere is no genlock or reference input.
  • Newsroom systemsThe rundown reader takes a plain list. It does not talk to newsroom systems over MOS.
  • Closed captionsCaptions are burned into the picture. There is no CEA-608 or 708 caption data on the output.
  • LTC outKinematic reads LTC but does not write it. MIDI timecode and Art-Net timecode go both ways.
  • True peakThe loudness meter reads sample peak, not oversampled true peak, so leave a little headroom.

Download Kinematic.

Free. No account and no license key, even for commercial use. The same show file opens on macOS, Windows and Linux.

Download for macOS 0.5.0Reach out
Every field→Everything in Perform→Read the docs→