Create a custom channel

Standalone VGA Grid has two styles of channels:

1. Simple channels with a single source that fits the full screen, as discussed in Create a simple channel.
2. Custom channels with one or more layouts, sources, background matte color and images.

Both types of channels are created using the same interface. In fact, custom channels are the same thing as simple channels, but they're described separately in this manual because they are more complex. We call a channel a custom channel (or custom layout channel) when it has multiple sources, image elements, multiple layouts or any combination of those items.

So the only distinction between simple channels and custom channels is whether you choose to add any extra elements to the channel.

When making simple channels, your source takes up the whole screen, but with custom channels, you can organize sources, pictures and text overlays in different locations on your screen. We call these layouts, and each custom channel you create can have multiple layouts.

If you want to change the way things appear in your stream while streaming (aka video switching or video mixing), you'll need to create one layout for each of the views you want for your stream. Later, while you are streaming, you can switch live between the layouts using the Admin panel.

If you're planning to do live switching with your channel, we recommend you set the frame size to a fixed size instead of using the default automatic detection of source frame size. Setting the frame size to a fixed value ensures you don't experience any stream interruptions if the source frame size changes due to layouts that contain a single source that has a different frame size than those in other layouts.

As you saw when creating a simple channel, the first thing you need to do is create your (first) layout. Before getting started with custom channel layouts we recommend you review the Custom channel layout editor and get some inspiration from our Custom channel examples. Then use the remaining topics in this section to help you create and configure your perfect custom channel layout(s)!

Once you have your layouts created, read about Live video mixing / switching to learn how to change between layouts while streaming and/or recording.

Each layout you add to your channel adds a bit of overhead on Standalone VGA Grid- and more complex layouts take more resources. So it's a good idea to make sure you delete any layouts you're not using.