Stage layouts and stage screens in Present

The Stage screens are the monitors the band and the speaker look at: a confidence monitor with the current and next lyrics, a chord chart, a clock, or a message from the booth. What a stage screen shows is a stage layout. Stage screens follow the same slides as the Audience screens but draw them their own way.

Where to find it

Go to Present and click Stage Layouts in the toolbar (in the More tools menu when the window is narrow). The stage screens themselves are set up in Settings > Outputs, under Stage, and turned on with the Stage button in the toolbar.

Set up and turn on a stage screen

1. Go to Present and click Settings in the toolbar.
2. Open Outputs. Outputs are grouped Audience and Stage.
3. In the Stage group, click + ("Add a stage output") and pick the kind: Screen (a monitor plugged into this computer), NDI, Web link or DeckLink / UltraStudio. NDI and DeckLink need Tech Manager.
4. Choose which monitor it uses, then close Settings.
5. Click Stage in the toolbar. It turns green and shows how many stage screens are live.

See the outputs article for the details of each output type.

Choose what the stage screens show

1. Go to Present and click Stage Layouts.
2. At the top, open Live stage layout and pick a layout. This is what the stage screens show from now on, and it is remembered after a restart.
3. Stage shows: next to it names the layout on the stage screens right now, and says "(stage output is off)" when Stage is off.

If Live stage layout is set to Follow editor selection, the stage screens show whichever layout you are editing. Pick a layout to stop editing from changing the band's monitor.

A new church starts with three layouts: Band Confidence (section, lyrics, next lines and a message), Chords (section, key, the chord chart and next lines) and Lyrics Only. You can change them or add more.

Edit or make a stage layout

1. Go to Present and click Stage Layouts.
2. The layouts are the slides down the left. Click one to edit it, or click Add slide to make a new one.
3. Use Add text, Add box, Add timer, Add clock and Add Audience mirror (what the room is seeing) to place items.
4. Click a text box, open the inspector's Text tab, and under Linked to pick what it shows, for example Current Slide · Text, Next Slide · Text, Current Slide · Notes, Section Label, Song Title, Song Key, Chord Chart (live slide), Stage Message, Playlist Item or Next Playlist Item.
5. For lyrics with chords, turn Chords on for that box and pick a chord colour.
6. On the Shape tab, Stage layer gives the box a Label and a Frame. Labels and frames show on stage screens and while editing, never on the audience screens.
7. Name the layout in the Label field on the inspector's Presentation tab.

Send a message to the stage

1. Go to Present and click Stage Layouts.
2. Type in the Message to the stage… box at the top. It shows at once on any stage layout with a box linked to Stage Message (the Band Confidence layout has one).
3. Click the x beside the box to clear the message.

Change the key of the chord chart

1. Go to Present and click Stage Layouts.
2. Open the key menu at the top (it reads "Key: as written" with the song's key).
3. Pick the key the leader called. The stage chord chart moves to that key. The audience screens do not change.

Switch the stage layout from a slide

1. Go to Present and open the presentation.
2. Right-click the slide and choose Add action….
3. Add a Stage layout action, pick the layout, and pick which stage output (or All stage outputs).
4. When that slide goes live, the stage screens switch layout.

To give each stage screen its own fixed layout (for example chords for the band, a clock for the pastor), use Settings > Looks.

Preview the stage

1. Go to Present.
2. Above the Audience monitor, open the menu beside Live · and pick Stage (default layout) or one stage output by name.
3. Switch back to Audience (all screens) when you are done.

Troubleshooting

The stage screen is blank

Check that Stage in the toolbar is on and shows at least one live screen. If it reads "on · 0 live", read the note under it and click Open Settings > Outputs. Then check Live stage layout in Stage Layouts is set to a layout.

The stage screen changed when I edited a layout

Live stage layout is on Follow editor selection. Pick a layout there instead.

No chords show on the stage

The song needs chords in the church song library (Plan > Songs). Use the Chords layout, or turn Chords on for a box linked to Current Slide · Text. A slide with no chord chart shows plain text.

My stage message does not appear

The layout on the stage screens has no box linked to Stage Message. Switch to Band Confidence or add a box linked to Stage Message.

Good to know

• A stage layout is built like a slide: what it shows comes from the boxes you place and what they are linked to. To show the audience's picture on stage, add an Audience mirror to the layout.
• Whether a timer reaches a given screen is decided per output in Settings > Looks, so the band can see a countdown that the live stream does not.