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dfine.io Playout is the way back out of a Review room. It joins the room like a participant, takes the source you pick, and puts it on a Blackmagic DeckLink card. From there it goes over SDI to your reference monitor, colour-accurate and in sync with the room. Sending your edit into a room is a different app: dfine.io Desktop.

Download dfine.io Playout

Apple Silicon and Intel builds, macOS 13 or newer.
Playout needs a Blackmagic DeckLink card and the Blackmagic Desktop Video driver on the Mac. Without the card you can connect and preview, but Start Monitoring has nowhere to send the picture.

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How it is laid out

Playout has one window. The preview at the top shows what goes out. Below it sit three panels: Audio Mixer, Offset and Playout. The buttons at the bottom open Options, Help and Stats.
dfine.io Playout connected to a room, with a source picked and its picture in the preview

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Monitor a room in five steps

1

Get the meeting link

Copy an access link of the room. You find it in the room’s Accesses in Review, or in the invitation you were sent. See Conferencing.
2

Connect

In the Playout panel, paste the link into Meeting Link. Add the Password if the access has one, enter Your Name and click Connect. The status turns to Connected and names the room.
3

Pick the source

Choose what you want to see in the source list, for example the edit someone streams from dfine.io Desktop. The preview switches to it. Click ↻ if a source joined after you.
4

Choose the output

Click Options. Under SDI Output, pick your DeckLink Device, the Mode your monitor expects and the Color range.
5

Start monitoring

Click Start Monitoring. The picture now plays on your reference monitor. Stop Monitoring ends it.
The Options dialog with the SDI Output device, the mode and the colour range
Playout joins the room as a participant under the name you entered, so everyone in the room can see that you are watching.

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Colour range

Legal range (64 to 940) is the broadcast convention and right for almost every monitor. Use Full range (0 to 1023) only when your monitor is set up for full-range input. A wrong choice shows as lifted blacks or clipped highlights.

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Check the monitor chain

Tick Monitor a b/w gradient for calibration and click Start Monitoring to send a black-to-white gradient to your monitor instead of the room. It works without a room, so you can check the cabling and the range before a session starts. The gradient goes to the card only, and the preview keeps showing the room.
Playout with the calibration gradient ticked and Start Monitoring ready to send it to the card

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Offset

Some hosts send their picture behind their sound. The Offset panel delays the output so both line up again. DaVinci loads the measured value for DaVinci Resolve, which sends its picture about 250 ms behind its sound. Adobe fits Premiere Pro and After Effects, which send both together. ↺ returns to the default for the current source.

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When nothing plays

Start Monitoring stays greyed out. Connect to a room first, or tick the calibration gradient. No card selected. Open Options and pick your DeckLink device under SDI Output. The device list is empty, or the SDI controls are missing. Install the Blackmagic Desktop Video driver, connect the card and restart Playout. The source list is empty. Nobody is sending into the room yet. Start the stream in dfine.io Desktop, then click ↻.