Syphon, Camera & External Inputs

Arkestra can receive video from a camera, a Syphon server on the same Mac, or other external sources, and can also send its canvas back out via Syphon or NDI.

All external inputs are added as content in a Layer track — they appear in the track chain like any other generator and can have effects applied on top.

Adding an external input

Open the Add Content browser (the + icon in the right sidebar), select the External category, and click + next to the source you want. The source is added as the first item in the selected track’s chain.

Camera Input

Use a connected camera, built-in webcam, or Continuity Camera as a live video source in any Layer track.

Setting up

Add Camera Input from the External category.
In the Inspector, open the Camera dropdown and choose a device. The session starts immediately.

Mirror Output

The Mirror Output toggle (on by default) flips the camera image horizontally. This gives a natural selfie-mirror look for front-facing cameras. Disable it for rear-facing cameras or external cameras already mounted to face the correct direction.

Vision Tracking

Activating a Camera Input automatically feeds frames to the Vision Tracking system when Vision is in Camera mode. A compact set of detector toggles (Face, + Landmarks, Hand, Body) appears directly in the camera inspector for quick access — these are the same toggles as in the full Vision Tracking panel.

See Vision Tracking → for full details on mapping detected values to parameters.

Syphon

Syphon is a macOS framework for sharing GPU textures between apps at zero copy overhead. It is supported by VJ software (Resolume, MadMapper, VDMX), compositing tools (Millumin, Modul8), and many other creative applications.

Syphon output

Open the Output panel in the right sidebar and enable Syphon Output. Arkestra immediately publishes its canvas as a Syphon server named Arkestra Output, available to any Syphon-compatible app on the same machine.

Per-track Syphon output (Pro)

Any individual track can also publish its own isolated render as a separate Syphon feed, independently of the main canvas output. To enable it:

Select the track → open its inspector → click the ⚙ gear icon.
Under Options, enable Syphon Out.

The track publishes a server named Arkestra: <track name>. Renaming the track updates the server name automatically. Multiple tracks can each have their own Syphon feed active at the same time.

Syphon input

Add Syphon Input from the External category. In the Inspector, pick the server name from the dropdown to connect. Any Syphon server visible on the machine — including other Arkestra instances — can be used as a source.

Routing example

A common live setup:

Arkestra (Syphon out) → Resolume Arena (Syphon in) → output mapping → projectors

Arkestra handles all shader-based generation; Resolume handles multi-projector warping and masking.

NDI

NDI sends video over the local network, so the receiving app can run on a different machine — unlike Syphon, which is limited to the same Mac. NDI is supported by OBS, Resolume, vMix, TouchDesigner, and many hardware video mixers.

NDI output (Pro)

Open the Output panel in the right sidebar and enable Main NDI Out under the NDI section. Arkestra publishes its master canvas — the same post-FX composite as the Syphon output — as an NDI source visible to any NDI receiver on the network.

Use the Source Name field to change how the source appears to receivers (default: Arkestra Output). Press Enter to apply the new name.

The stream runs at your project’s render frame rate and resolution. Note that NDI encodes frames on the CPU — at high resolutions this costs more than Syphon, so prefer Syphon when the receiver is on the same Mac.

NDI input

NDI input is not currently available in Arkestra.

NDI® is a registered trademark of Vizrt NDI AB — ndi.video.