Bitfocus Companion is Unreliable

[@djp_video]

Quick update... I installed Companion 2.1.3 on one of my Macs this morning, imported the exact same configuration I've been using on my Surface Pro, and the news is mostly good. It ran without crashing all day. It wasn't totally perfect, though... the Feedback rules I have setup to change the colors of the buttons tied to my X32 intercom stopped working sometime during the day. The buttons still functioned, but there was no feedback. So maybe much of the instability I'm seeing is just in the Windows version?

[@AmauryJacquot]

the thing is opensource, available on github bitfocus/companion it's a nodejs / electron application, the results may indeed be dependent on the platform those application engines run on.

[@djp_video]

I’ve looked at the code. Very little care was taken to harden it from bad, missing, or unexpected data from connected devices. It will take a lot of work to clean it up and make it robust, and even then the Electron/Node platform might make it impossible to be fully reliable

[@AmauryJacquot]

@@djp_video indeed, that's usually what I see on many such projects. I don't know what qualifies for "software engineering school" these days, but I certainely wasn't trained to code like that

[@julianwaller2080]

@@AmauryJacquot a majority of the modules are written by other users, with little to no prior programming experience. So some aren't great but others are good. It mostly comes down to how popular they are. The core of companion is a bit of a mess, but we are planning to tackle a lot of the questionable coding style. It's mostly blocked on not having the time, and not wanting to hold up releases even more. I'm always running close to the latest (updating every couple of weeks when I remember to) and I very rarely have any crashes. And the odd time I do, is typically a user written module that guard against bad data properly, so can be fixed very quickly

[@randomturkey]

For me the problems startet with Version 2.1.3 (Windows 10). After start of companion the software immediately crashes and sometimes I have to install Version 2.1.2 and after that version 2.1.3 (several times) to get it running but then it´s mostly reliable for a whole day. I used it this year I think for like 50 shows. I´m doing a three man job alone for a corporate and i´m despetrly dependant on it. I need macros for my workflow - starting countdown video in vmix - start recording - set the right preset on a vertige - activate microphones etc. with one button. I will give it a try now on Linux and hope it will be better. (sorry for my bad English)

[@djp_video]

For those commenting that it might be a issue related to it being a Windows version of Companion, I'll try running it on a Mac to see if it is any more reliable there and report back after a few weeks.

[@levimcfall2482]

I use it on windows with no problems, but I only have an atem production studio 1 M/E and Hog 4 PC hooked up. I'm guessing that less devices means less opportunities for failure.

[@PhilipLuckey]

I haven’t had Companion crash either, but I use Macs.

[@LarsTepel]

I also use it on a Mac without issues. And: Isn‘t there even a version for Linux, that even allows to run on a raspberry pi? If it is stable, it would allow to have one pi, that only runs companion with one or numerous streamdecks and have it perform well? (I would try it myself, but I‘m not skilled enough, especially when it comes to Linux…)

[@djp_video]

Things ran better today with Companion running on one of my Macs. It ran all day without crashing. Instance Feedback from the X32 stopped working sometime during the day, but the buttons did continue to function. Maybe it is a Windows version thing.

[@keith.rocheck]

@@djp_video I can't explain the platform difference, but the exception you showed on screen is for a block of code that parses the timecode if the resolution/framerate isn't detected correctly (I think). What is your system resolution?

[@KLRCAT]

Companion isn't the issue, its the stream deck (100%). I switched to using the companion stream deck emulator on a tablet and that fixed all my issues. I had 2 stream decks fail on me by having mechanical faults with the buttons. Buttons would randomly trigger either when I wasn't touching it, or it would trigger a different button to the one I was pressing.

[@ocuix]

As a fellow event professional, I can imagine how mortifying those failures must have been for you and completely understand why you would eliminate the variable in your configuration which appears to result in these crashes. So far I haven’t heard of or personally experienced such critical crashes relating to Companion and we pretty much ALL use it with Streamdeck in the UK events industry on Mac and PC to control lots of devices. (Minor momentary losses of connection or long macro type sequences being unreliable yes, but not total lock ups as you’ve experienced!) I can’t help but wonder if there is some kind of conflict in the ‘listening’ for commands between your combination of surfaces. I had never come across X-keys before seeing your videos and I wonder if perhaps when used together they don’t like each other…? Might be worth a device by device, control surface by control surface rebuild/test…?

[@djp_video]

I’ve tried running Companion on a computer with a clean install of Windows and nothing else, and the result is the same. I've also tried it on a couple of my Macs with similar results.

[@fullflowstudios]

I tend tot agree on the specific combination of devices being the reason. If all of us were having these issues the industry would be extinct

[@AllanPill]

Those situations are unfortunate and relatable since technical hiccups suck. Bear in mind, though, Bitfocus Companion is free software. Somewhat due to this, I've always though of it as a nice to have tool but I'd never use it as the main and only way to control mission critical switchers, playback devices and recorders. Speaking of recorders, we always put them in front of our live directors and PTZ operators to have an instant visual cue when something doesn't start recording or fails mid-event. I can't say we've had a lot of problems with Companion, some minor things here and there. Some Panasonic PTZ controllers are notorious for not playing nice on the network and, therefore, have not sent proper feedback info to Companion sometimes. But overall it has been a great tool for most of our shows & we love the flexibility it provides.

[@MarketTraderTV]

We are using Companion extensively on a series of 42 live TV sport programs. We're 30 programs in and not a single crash during any of the events. Our experience doesn't match yours at all and we've found it very reliable. Using it on Windows. I wonder what the difference could be? Hope you get it sorted.

[@videocieldiffusion]

After two years, companion is the center of my streaming setup. 3 streamdeck, 1 constellation HD 2/me, 1 Vmix, 3 pana cx350, 2 canon cr-n500, 2 hyperdecks and 1 vidiu X. All is controlled with companion and no crash at all during my liveshows 8 hours long. (companion is installed on a dedicated old labtop). In fact, one problem six month ago : companion did not want to start at all. so uninstall, re-install and good to go again.

[@RolandDobbins]

Companion works great for me, at least 5 days a week for the last couple of years. I run it via the CompanionPi image on a dedicated Raspberry Pi, and use an Elgato StreamDeck XL to control it; the Stream Deck XL is connected directly to the Raspberry Pi. I'm currently using this setup to control an ATEM Mini Extreme ISO, a HyperDeck Studio HD, and a Midas MR18 mixer; it works flawlessly for me, with no weird bugs or other problems. I don't allow any Windows computers on my production network; I'm completely macOS and Linux/FreeBSD. All clean GigE links, no WiFi involved in production, except to sometimes cast iPad app output to an Apple TV connected to the ATEM. In my experience, problems such as the ones you related are generally caused networking and sysadmin issues, rather than any inherent problems in Companion. YMMV, of course.

[@djp_video]

At the time I was having these problems I also tried CompanionPi and the MacOS version. They were also problematic. It seems to depend a lot on which modules you use. In my situation, the HyperDeck module was the one that was causing most of my problems. It was rather poorly written, and isn't much better today.

[@RolandDobbins]

The HyperDeck module works very well for me, FWIW. In my experience, running Companion on a dedicated Raspberry Pi 4B via the CompanionPi image has proven to be stable and consistent. Running it on any dedicated *NIX machine, which isn’t itself used as an interactive workstation, is the way to go.

[@computerjantje]

I did watch this video about a year ago but because of all the enthusiastic reactions on youtube decided to buy a stream deck after all and test it. I never had my atem mini extreme switcher crash* UNTIL after about a week of testing with a streamdeck and bit companion. It did not only stopped working but it totally crashed my atem switcher. I cannot have it that my switcher crashes during a job. I right away sold my streamdeck. Never again for me. Even the tiniest added risk that such a connection can crash my atem is reason enough to never connect it again. I do recording and live events for paying clients. An atem that stucks/crashes has to be prevented with the greatest care. Maybe the stream deck is nice for hobbyists and youtubers who simply can do another take but for me reliability (+ redundancy) are the base of keep getting work :) * I have to add that there is a way to hang/crash an atem unfortunately. If the bandwidth upload is lower then the quality stream settings of the atem require then the buffer gets overfilled and eventually crash the atem. That should not happen and I hope black magic will find something for that but at least this is a preventable situation.

[@EventundStudio]

also using companion and 2-3 (2 x XL, 1 x normal) streamdeck on a raspberry Pi4. after a intense testing period and some crashes, i changed one major thing: implemented a powered USB hub between the RPi an the streamdecks. since then I had no problem. underpowered streamdecks made them crash, loose connections, etc. .... plugging in the third streamdeck, i need to lower the display brightness of the streamdecks a bit, to lower power consumption - yes, I will need a usb hub with better power delivery. maybe its a good idea to invest some bucks in one of these usb power meters, so see what is really going on there ... thx for all your awsome content!!

[@KUGELMultimedia]

Hi Doug, sorry to hear about bad results - but it's highly recommended not to use Companion while Stream Deck software is running. Yes you can use both together and also there is a companion plugin for Stream Deck but this can cause some problems sometimes when two software's have simultaneous access to the buttons of the same device. So always close Stream Deck app and run Companion as the only app that's managing the Buttons. So i never had problems with crashing or buttons not responding. Also always run the stable release and no experimental betas. If there is a need to control things through the Stream Deck app, run it on a different computer with a second Stream Deck - so you have 2 SDs, one controlled by companion and one by Stream Deck app.

[@djp_video]

I don’t use the Stream Deck software

[@KUGELMultimedia]

@@djp_video Ah OK, because you said Companion and Stream Deck software did not response - so maybe just the Stream Deck device itself was meant. Very confusing because on so much users it works without any problems. I also tested and played so much around with it and used it in bigger setups to trigger different devices - longer events with two days of dress rehearsal and not a single drop out. So maybe it was a buggy version or some other problems with USB connection or the device itself. Im just running two XLs of them also with buttons on an iPad - good luck - no pain so far. Thumbs up!

[@djp_video]

I should mention that not long after I published this video I did some digging in the source code for Companion and based on what I saw I'm not surprised that there are stability issues. In all of the code that I looked at, software stability was not really taken very seriously. The module I had the most trouble with, for the HyperDecks, was an absolute disaster, for example, making all kinds of assumptions about what data would be coming back from the device rather than actually bothering to check, or even assuming that it was still connected and therefore crashing if there was any interruption whatsoever. In my case it was crashing because I was shooting in 4K and apparently nobody ever anticipated that. I'm frankly surprised that it runs as well as it does based on the quality of the source code. It's not very well written.

[@uwemuller4078]

thank you for your video. we have had similar incidents. the reason was the "information overkill" in the LAN. the switchers and control units (stream deck, ipads, ipnone, 3xpc/mac with software-controll-app, tally lights) are not 100% able to comunicate all together properly. the controll informations can get contradicting. also the commands in companion can get "mixed up", when some instances are not closed properly. since mixEffect or companion are very multifunctional, it is very likely that opened instances are not closed properly while a diffenret controll unit interferes. by this are complications a sad fact of the whole stearing procedure. We wouldnt balme it on companion, for in a simple controllsetup it works stabile (when the buttons are programmed properly....).

[@sonicocr]

I love to create complex actions and macros to control ATEMs, Hyperdecks and multiple computers and audio desk..... but Im not 100% sure these option is safe. I always keep in my production desk some space for small monitors (14", 19") that shows me the status of my Companion GUI and ATEM Software Control. I need to see from time to time these monitor and be sure everything is working in the way I needed. Also I always rehearse in advance some panic actions or backup solutions in case some equipment or software go crazy during a LIVE production or recording. We are trying to create amazing results with low budget technologies and its part of the stress I think.

[@lukasEgg]

Thank you for this information! Used it on 20+ Livestreams with Atem Mini pro and Atem Mini Extreme. Never had an issue. The feelings you have towards companion I have towards some Blackmagic products. We had some very strange bugs with the streaming bridge and the micro converters. To the point where I am very nervous on big streams.

[@28made5]

What issues did you have with the micro converter?

[@lukasEgg]

@@28made5 It's been a while and I don't remember so well. I had some issues with the bidirectional micro converters that they would not convert the output to the correct input. I am 100% sure that I connected everything correct and also tried to use them exactly as intended, but the results were wrong and inconsistent. In the end, I switched the bidirectional converters for regular micro converters. Another issue I remember was that on multiple occasions the atem mini after some time it would move the picture of a random input a little to the right, so that I had a small black strip on the left. I don't know if the issue was with the atem mini extreme or with the bidirectional converter that was feeding into the atem mini. Every time I had this issue, I could fix it by simple power cycle the micro converter. Another strange behavior is that the cut button on the atem mini does not behave exactly like the cut button in the atem software control. I really like blackmagic products and the core functionality were always working, but when you really start to work a lot with them, you will encounter some bugs here and there and after some time you will know the according workarounds.

[@michaelholt9681]

Very interesting. I've been running companion for a few months on a Mac and haven't had any problems

[@AskAW]

It's likely that your setup isn't as complicated or nuanced as the one shared in the video.

[@alvinburrell]

Doug, can you list the version of your companion, Windows version & streamdeck software - maybe somebody else with the same combination has the same problem. I have found it to be very reliable but I am on a Mac.

[@djp_video]

Companion: Currently 2.1.3 (6b6820cd-2696), but every version I've tried has been problematic. Windows: Windows 10 Pro 19043.1081, but again all versions back through those from August/Sept 2020 I don't have the StreamDeck software installed.

[@alvinburrell]

@@djp_video I've been checking the facebook comments on this - some people have had 300+ events using this with no issues whatsoever; I myself have never had an issue that wasn't my own fault. It still feels that you have something unique to your usecase, maybe network related, maybe configuration. Perhaps you could show more regarding your companion configuration - I'm sure there are people who watch who would help. Another idea - I am currently testing on a Rasberry Pi as a dedicated companion system, you could look at going that route, bypassing the Windows Computer altogether.

[@djp_video]

@@alvinburrell If I only use the ATEM module it seems to be fine. When I add my HyperDecks and X32 control is when it all goes to hell.

[@YourEnvironmentSeattle]

I've definitely experienced crashes and a complete loss of my configuration once. I think the current beta version of Bitfocus is more stable, but I have learned (especially as it relates to my documentary subjects) that you should never have a single point of failure in your workflow. Always have your eyes on the hardware itself and make sure you can manually repeat every task that you are automating.

[@jimstringer3337]

I agree with you on this....you should always have redundancy in place as well as back up equipment any software or hardware can crash at any given point. That is why we as professionals should have a backup plan.

[@BuriTechVids]

As an software developer I see that this is always an issue with BMD modules (that javascript exception error window) or BMD firmware/software itself (crashing switcher, firmware should not allow to crash software from outside, this is his responsibility), not companion software itself (sure, it should be immune against crashing modules of course, so kinda it is becuase there is Uncaught exception and it should have implemented fallback solution to (at least) switch all "toggle" switches to "off state"). But sure, it's for free and it's developing.. We are using it for vMix and it works for now. But I understand that in your situation it requires a lot of testing before deploying to the production. Btw. We are using Linux version of Companion. But it shouldn't matter, it is on the same platform anyway (node.js).

[@XTremescenes1]

Thank you for this video. Good information to take into account before relying on any software.

[@djp_video]

I'm glad it's helpful. Since this video was released Companion has gotten better, but it still has some issues. It still crashes on me from time to time. And I can't just leave it running for very long; if I leave it overnight, for example, when I come back in the morning it will have crashed. Fortunately, even with the crashes, I haven't seen it take down my switcher like it did in the past.

[@nightdesigns395]

Suggestion for the couple rare times the switcher crashes, have a patch or route around with 1 camera and audio ready to switch to while the switcher reboots. Only had a couple times needed in the 5+ years running an ATEM, but when you're live, it's a lifesaver.

[@djp_video]

Yes, it's a precaution I'll be taking from now on. Up until that event I had never needed it; in 5 years I hadn't ever seen my switcher crash before.

[@AmauryJacquot]

@@djp_video I have seen this happening several times in the past, you may need to segment your network to separate various control subsystems

[@jadefinchscene5644]

@@AmauryJacquot this sounds brilliant. my system, has two ISPs so not a big change to split my network for cross coms issues. if i come across them.

[@dist-dev]

You're running quite an old version of companion 2.1.2, one which has long since stopped receiving all but critical updates. Most module updates (of which there has been significant improvements/additions for many modules) are all in 2.2.0 builds. It is entirely possible that your issues have long since been patched but just not in the version you're running. There's no guarantee that module patches will be pulled into 2.1.2 due it not being the current version in development. If you use a current version and still have issues I highly recommend you bring up the issues on the modules github issues page so that it can be tracked, and ask in the Bitfocus Slack as there is fast turnaround times for popular modules such as BMD and vMix which have very active developers.

[@djp_video]

I updated the software just 10 days ago to the latest official release. For production environments I don’t trust beta software.

[@dist-dev]

@@djp_video Well from the sounds of the video you don't seem to trust full release software either. The last full release was 2.1.3 all the way back in Apr 19th, and there have been ~163 Companion Core commits, 19 commits specifically for the Atem module, and numerous bug fixes since then. Despite being listed as 'beta' it's still recommend to be used as modules and Companion have come a long way since then, in both performance and stability, and some modules have bugs that simply aren't fixed until you update to a more recent build. Modules still have to be tested and checked before being pulled in to the Beta builds, so the beta builds aren't the cutting edge, there's still checks/tests that have to be done, which is why many professional environments do use some of the more recent beta builds for that additional stability, performance, and feature set over the outdated 2.1.x builds. If you choose to use old builds, well yes things may not work right for you, as with any outdated software. If you are cautious of using beta builds then I encourage you to discuss it with the developers on Slack so you can see if your issues are resolved in the months since the last full release. It's also worth pointing out that firmware on some devices when updated can impact Companion modules, so there's also the potential that the old version of Companion doesn't support the latest firmware/software running on some devices (not speaking specifically about ATEMs/Hyperdecks, but hardware devices in general).

[@dist-dev]

Oh, and one further thing to check, do you have anything else at all on your network that can interact with the Hyperdecks? As that WILL interfere with Companion, or any other device, trying to use the Hyperdecks as the Blackmagic Design official API documentation states that "Only one client may connect to the server at a time. If other clients attempt to connect concurrently, they will receive an error and be disconnected:" This means if you have another control surface that is running and can start/stop Hyperdecks, it can't be running the same time Companion is, only 1 can control it, and if it's not Companion then obviously Companion can't show any feedback as to the current state, or start/stop recordings.

[@djp_video]

@@dist-dev Nothing else is interacting with these HyperDecks. I do have the ATEM itself controlling two for playout, but those aren't the ones being controlled by Companion.

[@keith.rocheck]

@@djp_video can you report the firmware versions of the hyperdecks? Are they all minis connected to Companion? I saw a post where you said ATEM was fine but but adding X32 and Hyperdeck caused issues. Have you tried every combination of ATEM/X32, X32/Hyperdeck, ATEM/Hyperdeck to figure out if there’s module interaction at play that can be tested/replicated? Have you tried just one or two instead of the full 7 in testing/troubleshooting to see if we have a limitation based on quantity? Haven’t been able to read all your comments, so I apologize if this information is already hiding in the comments.

[@freesam777]

I have been using Companion to run my ATEM, VideoHub, PTZ cameras, vMix. I haven't had any problems you mentioned. Mine is installed on a Raspberry Pi, which just runs Companion, thus avoiding any conflict withing Windows between apps.

[@djp_video]

Since I created this video, I've learned more about what is going on. The HyperDeck issue occurred basically because Companion wasn't properly tested against a recorder operating in 4K mode. When my recorder reports its status and tells Companion that it is recording in 4K29.97 for example, Companion didn't know what to do with that information and it crashed. This one particular issue would be easy to fix (and they may have already done so in response to this video), but based on my research into the source code, other issues are likely to occur. The HyperDeck module isn't very well written. With the intercom issue, it seems that Companion doesn't make sure that the steps for a button press have completed before starting those same steps over again if it thinks that the button has been pressed quickly twice in succession. My X32 control buttons issue between 30 and 40 commands and it takes a little bit of time to get through all of them. If it thinks the button has been pressed again while those commands are already running, it doesn't restore the previous audio levels properly, leaving mic channels open. I'm not actually pressing the button twice... but sometimes it thinks I have because the hardware isn't really doing proper debouncing. The end result is that occasionally it misbehaves. It would be easy to fix if the developers took the time to do so. It's disappointing that this situation wasn't foreseen and hasn't been dealt with. If you follow this channel, you might know that my day job is in software development, something I've been doing for well over 40 years. Because I have that background, I spent several hours looking over the source code to Companion to see what is going on, and after doing so my confidence in the software is lower than it was before I made this video. The developers aren't doing a great job of following best practices to make software robust. Some fairly basic things like data sanity checking, guard clauses, and exception handling are used sparsely, if at all in some places. Based on what I'm seeing, it isn't at all surprising that people who push Companion very hard like I do tend to have problems.

[@JacobsLadderProductions]

Hi Doug, first - thanks your channel. As a relative newcomer to the video production market, your channel has been extremely informative since I stumbled across it a couple days ago... great binge watching! Second, thank you for your frank warning. I have been using this software for months now with at least 2-3 live events a week. I am a much smaller operation than you and I wonder if there is a limit to the number of devices Companion can integrate with before it becomes unstable (mine is currently only controlling 3). This has the tar scared out of me as I am expanding my setup and getting ready to sign a contract next month with a local media company to provide live video production services on much bigger jobs. Is there an alternative (paid or otherwise) that works with the Stream Deck?

[@CocoKlein]

I also had problem number 2 happening and only solution was to reboot and i had a problem with switching to a specefic presentation slide in ProPresenter it bugged and keep scrolling though te presentation. And the webserver was unresponsible and this was on a fresh Windows installation even rebooting Windows didn't got the Companion server up again. But i always hear good things from my livestream buddies but they use Companion with macOS so next time i will try it with a Mac or even a Raspberry Pi maybe that would work better. When i told my buddies my problems they we're shocked since they never had any problems with Companion.

[@djp_video]

I've had a number of people comment that it's better on Mac or on a Pi... but when I've tried it on my own I've had the same results as I have had on Windows... still unstable. I believe most people just aren't using it with as many devices, or with the same types of devices, as I am... and don't have as many buttons/interactions setup so there are major sections of the code in Companion that might be buggy that just aren't used by other people and they don't encounter them. In the case of Companion crashing in the context of this video, it turned out to mostly be the HyperDeck module. It hadn't ever been tested with a HyperDeck recording in 4K, and when the HyperDeck told Companion the file format, it would just crash because of the unexpected video format. Which sent me down a rat hole looking through the code of Companion, and, well... I'll just say that it didn't give me any warm fuzzy feelings that this could ever be a robust software solution.

[@jadefinchscene5644]

I have been using companion for a bit over 2 years. i have never had a single issue with it. i do use very simple macros and such, and don't have it set up to do too many different types of things. though i am working on some things where i will be adding to the complexity. mostly i currently use it for basic control of my ATEM mini pro. I will be adding some basic OBS functions, and soon also adding some Hog 4 PC lighting control. I do have a separate PC running companion, and control center, with everything else on different devices. Hog 4 PC i will try on this same PC, but can move it to a different one if needed. I am looking at your x-keys set up and if i can add some of the other controls then i think this may be slightly better but also a bit less user friendly for me. i am on camera and running the the show. so i can't really troubleshoot much live on the fly.

[@jadefinchscene5644]

my studio set up is not simple or overly complex. 5 pc's 1 atem, 1 camera that duplicates it's signal over NDI for monitoring when i face that direction. i have discord running on 2 of the pc's minimum, and depending on the stream i may have several inbound streams being combined for one outbound stream. very little of the rest of my setup uses the router. (cameras use HDMI, and sound uses my audio consoles. one for live, and one for monitoring)

[@RyanSomerfield]

Sorry to hear you haven't had luck with it! I have used it for years now with great success! running big shows on it. On bigger shows I always run 2 instances of the same thing for the main setup, Ill program it on one, rehearse every cue then export it and transfer a copy to a redundant system. running 2 different computers and stream decks so if 1 goes down for whatever reason all i have to do is reach over a few inches and press the button on the other one. Any issue i have had has been due to operator error or programming error that has not been checked before the show. Which in turn is operator error for not checking.. haha. Im curious if its the windows version of companion? 95% of the time i use mac or linux to run companion and have great success. I also wonder if its a flooded network? I have had issues where the network was not setup correctly and tunnels between switches were clogged up making it difficult for companion to communicate. Another thing I implement especially with recording is to physically look at the recorders regardless of what tally companion is giving me as a peace of mind. (doesnt nessesarily mean its working but if the red light is on thats all you can really do..) anyways sorry to hear its not working for you! Out of curiousity, what would you use as an alternative? Justmacros?

[@JibunnoKage-YouTube-Channel]

We have the same concept... our main production deck is connected to one Mac, and other deck is to a Mac in the sound booth, so the booth team can pickup if the production room deck does something odd... but so far, never needed to use the alternate deck.

[@rubikscubepie9764]

Elgato recently released a new update to the stream deck which allows for the install of plugins and one of those plugins I know is for Companion. Now, I don't have any stream deck where I can actively test it on at the moment but by the look of things, it took the functions/commands made by the companion software and runs them natively on the stream deck, I wonder if that will change the performance issues you are experiencing.

[@ThePerezenator]

How do you recover from failures like these? compensation? statement to the public?

[@djp_video]

You start with an apology to the client and see how they react. Most of the time that is enough. But I have had to give refunds before too. But under no circumstances should you pretend like it didn't happen. That will always come back to bite you.

[@pangea2003]

have you experienced the same problems when using the virtual buttons of bitfocus companion on the browser? I think it´s a problem with the streamdeck . The buttons of the streamdeck intermittently stop working at times. This has been reported by many users using different applications.. Thanks

[@djp_video]

Likely not in my case. In the case of the HyperDecks not recording, the buttons on the Stream Deck turned red indicating that the command was received and sent. In the case of the open IFB mic, it did successfully open the mic channel; it just didn't close it when I released the button. And in the case of the switcher crashing, I wasn't even using the Stream Deck or Companion at all at the time.

[@pangea2003]

@@djp_video note taken. even though, i would give the bitfocus virtual buttons a shot and test if that route working on the browser performs better than using the streamdeck.. cheers

[@TbM]

I use version 2.2.0 for about 2 months now and only after resuming from standby had connection-problems to my Atem Mini (Companion still shows active connection, but can't control Atem until network is removed and plugged in again, but this keeps happening), but after shutting down and restarting Companion (while windows was not rebooted) this was gone and no connection-losses after this...

[@janwesten1317]

I use the Stream Deck to control 5 cameras through Companion for adjusting things like zoom, presets, and exposure. At first, it takes a bit for all the cameras to respond, and when I switch to a different camera, Companion often doesn't respond right away. Switching between connections isn't smooth in Companion yet. To fix this, I've found a workaround: I quickly send a 'PTZ stop' command 5 times for each camera before selecting it, which seems to wake Companion up. For important tasks like starting recording and streaming, I don't use Companion. I do those directly on the specific device itself because I've had issues with Companion from the beginning.

[@NewYears1978]

In several years we haven't ever had any companion issues (although recently I had some when installing a second Stream Deck but it just appears to be related to an upgrade from old Companion version to another). Sorry you had the issues - bummer!

[@BrandonMorganIsAwesome]

Man, those are crazy stories. Sorry they happened. We had some issues with bitfocus companion freezing up on us as well. We ended up realizing the issue was that our network router didn’t have enough ram in it. We had too many commands going at once from bitfocus and it would just lock everything up (we were using an ATEM Tv Studio, hyperdeck, bheringer Xair, and Vmix running into an ultra studio, our lower 3rd software, 3 laptops, an iPad to control the levels on the bheringer, and an access point for the iPad and one laptop… everything else was wired in). With the commands going through the router, plus live stream out, it maxed out the 256gb of ram it had. We upgraded to a router with 2gb of ram, and no more issues.

[@djp_video]

I’m glad you figured out the cause of your issues. I’ve learned a lot more since I made this video. It looks like the main cause of my troubles is the HyperDeck module. It apparently wasn’t tested with 4K content and it freaks out when it receives status messages indicating that they’re working in 4K mode. That caused me to do a little more digging into the source code, and what I found is rather troubling. It seems that the primary motive behind development of most modules is to get them done quickly rather than to make them reliable - there is very little code in there to check for unusual or to handle unexpected conditions, and when those conditions aren’t exactly as the developer expected them to be the default behavior is to crash. It really does look like code written by amateurs, unfortunately. Some modules are better than others, but on the whole, reliability is more of an afterthought than the primary goal. I wish I had better news.

[@BrandonMorganIsAwesome]

@@djp_video as great as the Blackmagic equipment is, that’s not unexpected of them… they do cut a lot of corners to keep prices low.

[@djp_video]

I was referring to Companion :)

[@BrandonMorganIsAwesome]

@@djp_video ah… well, that too hahaha

[@2013WWS]

Hmmm. I use companion and the stream deck with my stem constellation on the daily with very sophisticated setups. I connect up to 5 decks. Never had any issues. I also use companion to trigger my hyper deck minis. I do always visually check to see that they are recording before the show starts.

[@wallyrodriguez2230]

Weird. We have been using Companion for quite a long time to do our live streams and other productions. Truth is we have not experienced these issues at all. We may be too small for the kind of issues you are having. Hope you can find a tool that will do this for you. W

[@trevordriscoll4752]

Sorry I'm late to this conversation. Using Companion in our church's Blackmagic setup. (1) Hyperdeck in the mix and a 1M/E panel. Using Companion, I set up to have the REC start on the hyperdeck and then 10 seconds later the service intro (coming off ProPresenter). Testing it out, it wasn't working. Racking my brain and several Google searches, I figured out that the Hyperdeck will only allow 1 external unit to control it. So the Blackmagic Panel would override any attempt for Companion to control it, but if I unplugged the network cable from the panel, restarted Companion, then re-plugged the network cable back into the panel, Companion had control of the Hyperdeck but the panel no longer recognized the Hyperdeck. Quitting Companion gave control of the Hyperdeck back to the BM Panel. So, if at any point you had to restart Companion or it temporarily lost network connection, this could explain why you lost control of your Hyperdecks. Sucks the Hyperdeck only allows 1 external source to control it.

[@djp_video]

As it turns out, the HyperDeck issues were at least in part because that module wasn’t tested with 4K content, and Companion didn’t know how to react when it was told the recording format, tried to calculate the frame count, and crashed as a result.

[@twitchdusty]

How many instances of things do you have hitting apis? Almost sounds like you have too many things connecting to the atem

[@djp_video]

I have a 2 M/E Production Studio 4K, so the limit is pretty high. But generally I only have one or two -- JustMacros and ATEM Software Control. So when Companion was being used, that would be three. I removed my ATEM from Companion completely, as it was just causing too many issues (and all of those issues have gone away entirely).

[@twitchdusty]

@@djp_video the maximum control applications I have had connect is 3. Atem software 1 of, just macros and companion. But now that companion supports xkeys just macros is in the bin.

[@djp_video]

I still use JustMacros because it has a full programming language behind it. I can do a lot more with it than Companion ever dreamed of being able to do (like my SuperSource animation macros, for example). And it also uses Blackmagic's official SDK so it can't crash the ATEM. Companion uses an unofficial open-source library which is known to have reliability issues and can indeed crash an ATEM, as I have experienced more than a few times. Not good. Higher end ATEMs support more connections. I know my 2 M/E supports at least 8 connected devices, but I think that limit has been increased in newer firmware updates. I've never pushed the limit so I don't know exactly what it is.

[@KarlWinegardner]

I started running Companion on a Raspberry Pi, and it has been more stable than my production computers. I would recommend trying this (also, it seems your version of Companion is a bit behind.).

[@djp_video]

It is the latest official released, downloaded and installed just 10 days ago. If the "release" version is this buggy, I'd hate to think what a beta version is like.

[@KarlWinegardner]

@@djp_video I looked, and I am running 2.2.x on most of my installs. It has been super reliable for me. (and I did have some headaches with 2.1.x builds). I would have looked for other solutions, but budget didn't allow in my case. Also, I seem to remember having an issue where a firmware update for the Stream Deck hardware fixed some things in Companion.

[@teck67josh]

Iv never had companion crash on me, and i use it on almost every show. Is it possible that its something to do with the computer its running on? Maybe try i different pc?

[@djp_video]

I have. I've tried multiple different computers, all with the same results.

[@teck67josh]

Is there something on the network upsetting companion? Have you tried running it direct in to any of those device u had issues with and seeing I’d you can recreate it?

[@djp_video]

I haven't put quite that much time into trying to diagnose the problem. So far I haven't seen any consistency from one crash to the next. Sometimes it runs for an hour or two without an issue. Other times, like in this video where I tried to start the recorders, where I don't interact with it at all, it just dies randomly. Fortunately, it has only taken my switcher down with it the one time.

[@RyanSomerfield]

So I used companion for windows for the first time the other day and I finally see what you mean.. there was some weird things happening there! I will not be using the windows version again thats for sure! Running it on the Pi or mac all the time and has been great, but was not a fan on windows.. annoying that theres such a big difference between operating systems..

[@djp_video]

After I published this video I tried both the Mac and Pi versions, and the user experience was definitely a little better, but they didn't seem to fix the reliability issues I was having. Considering that it is the same underlying code, that didn't come as a complete surprise. I spent quite a lot of time looking through the source code for Companion myself, and, to be frank and even a little bit diplomatic, I didn't like what I found. The code is generally poorly written. In a general sense, it has very little error handling, and makes a lot of assumptions about the connection state and the data that it is receiving that you just shouldn't do if you want code to be robust and reliable. If you want your code to be stable, you check everything to make sure that the data you're receiving (both from the user and from connected devices) is exactly what you expect it to be, and that the values of the data make sense in the current context (sanity checking), and I didn't see code anywhere that even makes a cursory attempt to do either of those things. As one example, the module I was having the most trouble with is the one for talking to the HyperDecks. As it turns out, it doesn't work properly if your recorder is operating in 4K. It assumes that you're working in 1080 and when it receives status messages indicating that it is working in 4K it can crash. It also assumes that once you're connected that nothing will ever interrupt that connection, and if it does, it crashes. I haven't checked back in on that code for a few months, but the last time I did that still hadn't been addressed. Bottom line for me is that while I do still use Companion, I've completely removed connections to my critical components like my ATEM switcher and Yamaha mixer. While the ATEM module does seem to be among the better of them, I just can't risk other bad code affecting the stability of Companion, therefore affecting the stability of my ATEM. Having my switcher crash in the middle of a show is just completely unacceptable. And that has happened to me a few times. (I've also heard from others that it has happened to them as well.) I wish that I could have more hope for the future, but it's pretty clear where the heads of those that maintain Companion are at. They are a lot more interested in adding support for new devices than making sure that that code is stable and reliable. The fact that they allow anyone, no matter their level of experience, to contribute modules and that those modules aren't vetted by experienced developers who know how to look for issues, speaks volumes. The fact that they include basically everything in the stock installation, even when that code is never going to be used by a given user, is also very telling as well. And for those reasons alone I'd have a hard time recommending Companion to anyone who might be using it in a production environment for paying clients.

[@Gobhoblin126]

I was planning on using companion for an upcoming project. Does anyone know of an alternative for controlling Atem, X32, ptz cameras etc? I don't mind a bit of scripting if that's necessary.

[@AskAW]

What is the individual in this video using to control ATEM? It looks like he has a hotkey pad next to his StreamDeck

[@djp_video]

X-Keys controller with JustMacros software

[@absolude]

i work with the same companion version... instances are x32, mixeffect, atem extreme iso, h2r, vlc, osc and obs... never had any problems.

[@DasArmageddonTV]

The Javascript error is something I had pretty often in combination with Hyperdeck and atem mini

[@BradyLippert]

Interesting. I also get this error message and am running a hyperdeck

[@keith.rocheck]

I’ve flagged this video to the Hyperdeck module’s developers in our Slack. The exception (“crash”) shown has not previously been submitted as a bug (that I can tell). I think, based on backtracing on my phone, that this was introduced in the v2.1.3 release, so rolling back to v2.1.2 may resolve. Unclear ATM how it got through months of testing or if there’s a firmware/model issue in play. It may help to submit an issue so they can ask those sorts of questions to sort it out. github.com/bitfocus/companion-module-bmd-hyperdeck/issues

[@djp_video]

I can't find your message requesting the transport info dump, but here it is: 208 transport info: status: preview speed: 0 slot id: 1 clip id: 1 single clip: false display timecode: 00:00:24;27 timecode: 00:00:00;00 video format: 4Kp2997 loop: false timeline: 1 input video format: 4Kp2997 dynamic range: none

[@keith.rocheck]

@@djp_video Copy, and both models show "4Kp2997" for "video format:"?

[@watchyamouth5053]

I’m in the union, I’ve heard complaints about people using stream deck as a controller and things not going as planned. I can’t say that companion was the issue but I can say it doesn’t look good to the project manager or client when they realize it’s the nifty little tool you had that caused the issue. I’ll probably be leaving mine at home this weekend idk🤷🏾‍♂️

[@Ritermann]

I can’t imagine how you felt in those moments. :( People also need to understand that there is a good reason why the best and reliable machines cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Blackmagic sadly is not on of them. :( and also, companies like companion are not really made for professional use. So people should be extra careful. Especially when working with windows.

[@metronohm808_6]

Slightly unrelated but there's occasions when I'm connected to my XR18 mixer over WiFi from my macbook Pro mid 2015 and when I try to launch Ableton Live, the music production software, it just freezes the program, when I disconnect from the WiFi (provided by the mixer's inbuilt AP) it doesn't occur. One of the weirdest occurrences I've seen and this seems to be of a similar nature...

[@daltonldavis1995]

Interesting things here. At my church we use companion with ATEM software control to throw lyrics on the lower third (Super Source) and full screening sermon notes/slides. Never had an issue (been using it for about 2 years now) but we literally use it for three buttons. I'd say it's not a replacement of the ATEM switcher, just a way to trigger small adjustments or macros. We are using the software completely on a Mac as well... I'll have to look out for some of this! Thanks!

[@hanes2]

I’ve been writing my own Python scripts where I generate exe files per action (it’s launching, execute the command, closes) , which I then assign the buttons in stream deck software. So it can’t crash or freeze because press the button again and it will send command again. Very reliable for various video hardware and processors etc., however it’s quite static and requires more work when changing something as you need to recompile.

[@TerenceKearns]

this would have been a tough video to make. I appreciate your honesty. I’m a noob looking to get into this business so i will check it out but i will be extremely cautious with it.

[@joostconijn101]

Hey Doug, are you using Blackmagic ATEM 2 M/E Constellation HD? i have the same problem that the unit is locking itself

[@djp_video]

I have one and use it, but it was the older 2 M/E Production Studio 4K that I had the issue with. I never had the issue prior to the incident mentioned (immediately after starting to use Companion) and haven't had it since (after disconnecting Companion from my switcher).

[@GrishTech]

I think I experienced this with the 2 M/E constellation hd. I set something to program via companion, and couldn’t switch or control the atem any further, even with atem control software. I had to restart the atem in the middle of a live stream. I found that it was more reliable to make macros in atem, and just recall them via companion instead of having custom actions via companion.

[@jeffersondsouza7887]

Thanks for saving me the risk of using this on large projects, I am currently using Autohotkey for most of my macro work without any issues, but sometimes need to use a touchscreen like a phone to run macros, was considering switching to Companion for a few macros as its convinient with readymade modules, so far I haven't had any issues with the test run of Companion to control VLC, Soundcraft Ui24R mixer but now I wont use it to control my ATEM Mini Pro ISO and OBS

[@BensTechLab]

While this video may accurately reflect your experience, BMD is just as likely at fault as bitfocus. All 3 errors, including the stack trace on the 3rd one, were BMD device errors. I’d sooner recommend customers voice their desire to BMD to properly support community use of their control protocols. P.S. my companion has been totally stable but I have a way simpler setup than you. No device should lockup even with incorrect use of the control protocol, that is on BMD. As a software dev myself we always have to expect unplanned or even malicious inputs and ensure our code handles that through validation.

[@djp_video]

The error I posted originated from the HyperDeck module of Companion. As it turns out, it was never tested against a device recording in 4K video, and it choked when it saw a 4K video format and crashed. That was actually the cause of quite a few of the crashes I've experienced -- there were more instances of that than I could count. That led me to do some investigation of my own, and I spent quite a bit of time poring over the source code for Companion. To be polite, I didn't love what I found. It just isn't very well written -- it has very little error handling, makes a lot of assumptions about the status of device connections that might not necessarily be true, as well as assumptions about the data coming in both from devices and from users, among other problems. It is clearly being developed by amateurs who aren't familiar with code hardening practices (or they don't care -- same result either way). That really shattered any remaining hope I had about being able to rely on this software in a production environment. It just isn't professionally done and after actually seeing the code for myself I have even less faith in the reliability of it than I did at the time I made the video. Since this video I have completely removed the connection to my ATEM switcher from Companion. Not because the ATEM module is any more problematic than the others, but I just can't take a chance on my switcher crashing in the middle of an event due to the side effects of another module of Companion misbehaving. I still use it to route signals on my Videohubs, and even to initiate recording on my HyperDecks, but I always have to visually confirm that they're recording when Companion says they are because sometimes it just doesn't. It can be helpful, but I have to really keep my eye on it. I'm clearly pushing it harder than most, so I'm finding issues that others won't, but if I can't trust it to help me get my job done, what's the point?

[@BensTechLab]

@@djp_video I appreciate your detailed thoughts here. But also you say it crashed when it saw a 4K video format? You didn’t test it before the show? Bug should be reproducible if that were the true cause. There also appears to be a lot of comments here of long term use without any issue. So just trying to balance the perspective here. I do understand though regarding error handling, and specifically reconnecting any tcp sockets when broken. It would be nice if it handled reconnecting more gracefully (I hear the OBS web socket loses connection sometimes and doesn’t reconnect reliably at least in a past version).

[@djp_video]

That's the strange thing -- the problem with the HyperDeck is intermittent. I can't really explain that. (It still isn't fully fixed in the newest version, BTW) I kept using Companion because even though it would crash with some regularity, it didn't do any damage in the process -- just restart it and pick up where it left off. Except, of course, for a handful of times as I detailed in the video. As you read the other comments, keep in mind that likely very few are running in 4K so they don't have that particular issue with the HyperDecks, and very few will have pushed it as hard as I have.

[@petterrong1590]

@@djp_video That's the scary thing about this. If the code is so unprepared to handle unexpected messages (or combination of different unexpected messages), then the likelyhood of something working during testing and suddenly crash during broadcast is high. No amount of "we use it without any issues" will change that, since every setup is different and individual. I've never had issues with any specific module yet, but this video made me more wary. Thank you

[@bhwh_h]

Feel for you Doug. It’s an awful feeling when tech you’ve tested and worked with previously then let’s you down. I’ve been battling an issue between ATEM and LiveU. Thankfully I think it’s been resolved 🤞🏼

[@QuicksilverSG]

That's the thing about Open Source software. If you run into problems, you -can- have to fix it yourself.

[@djp_video]

Assuming one has the knowledge and time to do so

[@GearoidBourkeBrandBox]

Doug I feel your pain. That absolutely sucks. I did a manual installation of companion on a raspberry pi and and I've been using it to control two pc's and a mini pro via a touchscreen Web interface. I've found it to be reliable however it did crash for the first time yesterday. The fix was to refresh the admin page. The other issue I've found is to make sure that all devices are properly connected through the ip addresses as this can change depending on how devices are connected.

[@GearoidBourkeBrandBox]

Should have mentioned that the reason it crashed was I plugged an Internet connection into the network and that broke the connections with the devices as the router changed the ip addresses on each device.

[@QuicksilverSG]

@@GearoidBourkeBrandBox - Would static IP address assignments eliminate that hazard?

[@GearoidBourkeBrandBox]

I would expect so. I've been testing out a lot of different ideas so when I get around to using that system again I'll definitley look at setting up static IP's

[@911delorean]

What do you blame more, Companion itself or the "connections" that communicate with the hardware? I believe people create and submit modules that can be used for different devices. Looks like there is a list of modules on the companion website and the author who created it. I use the pjlink module all the time to control multiple projectors. Haven't had a issue yet.

[@djp_video]

Some of each. There are some terribly written modules, for sure. In my case, the HyperDeck module was causing me real issues, at least in part because I shoot in 4K and that module didn't know how to deal with that and would crash. But I also blame Companion itself too. If it was properly written, an errant module wouldn't bring it down or cause it to malfunction.

[@jimkegley]

Doug, it’s May 2023. I’m battling Streamdeck XLs and a Plus. Having similar issues as I begin. Anything promising happen since your experiences? I’m thinking about giving up. Reminds me of issues with DJI equipment.

[@djp_video]

It has certainly improved, but I wouldn't call it rock solid yet. Perhaps reaching out on Discord with the issues you're having could yield some results? djp.li/discord

[@jimkegley]

@@djp_video Thanks. Will check it.

[@zackhpittman]

Use it weekly in a $1.5 mil broadcast studio with 6 Streamdeck XL’s, and almost daily now in a $500k broadcast studio with 4 Streamdeck XL’s. It’s not the software. First off if you’re running a beta build (most do)... it’s still in beta. You are responsible for testing, testing, testing... This is not a plug and play solution, but if built right, it’s 100x better than a plug and play solution. And no, you will not find better performance with a Mac... it’s identical. Run it on a dedicated PC. With your ATEM Failure, how many connections did you have into your ATEM? When you have too many TCP connections to ATEM it can freeze up. This would include PC software, just macros, companion, controllers, etc... I say this with all the love possible, you should never blindly trust anything :) but it’s still GREAT software.

[@djp_video]

I don’t run beta software in production. I have tried it on a dedicated PC with a fresh installation of Windows. It’s still just as unreliable. Generally I only run JustMacros and one instance of ATEM Software Control. And sometimes Companion. I have the ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K which can accept 8 connections, so I'm not even close to the limit.

[@dist-dev]

"And no, you will not find better performance with a Mac... it’s identical. Run it on a dedicated PC." Actually there are differences between Companion on a Mac and on a PC. Mainly this is down to trying to use the Elgato software alongside Companion, which has no issues on Mac but due to the way windows does things which is out of the control of the Companion devs there are issues running both on Windows. So it's not fair to say they are identical as there are functional differences that can cause issues in some situations.

[@roseo2428]

@@djp_video Just so you know the beta builds are not like constant dev builds. Module developers ask for their module to be updated in the core which triggers a new beta build. The amount of bugfixes do come in pretty fast and pretty much no one runs the stable version. I have developed a couple of companion modules and use it for a variety of hardware and software control. I do hope you experience improves

[@AmauryJacquot]

ATEMs use the UDP protocol exclusively, except those that also feature a router...

[@105wielki]

I have used mine with the ATEM TV studio HD and HyperDeck Studio Mini with no issues yet (2 years so far), outdoors in the full Australian sun. So everything was hot. I use a high end laptop to run all the software. Could be something clashing with it on your end? Very unfortunate though. My issues was always human error, I would forget to hit the record button!

[@michael.strosche]

Sorry to hear that you had such serious problems during live events. I'm using streamdeck together with bitfocus companion on windows now since seven months and had no problems during live events for my church and one paying client. The only "issue" I had was that a buttons did not respond on first press, but in that situations I even don't know if I pressed them fully, because it was quite hectic. The only problem that I was faced with was that sometimes, after starting companion and my Television Studio HD, the Audio-Channels of the switchers changed their states randomly and in fast order. I even don't have buttons assigned to handle that feature. After killing companion everything was fine, but it needed quite a few reboots of the software until it worked fine and then without any further problems. After your video I'm quite a bit nervous, because on weekend I will use two streamdecks for a live event, but fortunally we will have a dryrun on friday...

[@pablocostamagnaunlaemmalz2582]

In my personal experiencie I had no problems with it. I'm contolling a videohub, 2 hyperdecks, 2 smartscopes, an atem mini, an atem television studio hd pro and even OBS, and everything works as expected. I have had problems, but due to wifi/lan configurations, but not because of companion itself. Maybe there's something on your configuration that is making companion crash, but maybe it's a pain in the ass to figure out what is it. Maybe you could export the configuration and load it into a fresh laptop o something with a different SO or something so you can check if it works in there. For me, Companion saves me lot lot lot of time, so maybe you can solve it and keep using it. Hope you can. Best wishes!

[@djp_video]

I’ve gone through all of those steps. Nothing seems to make a difference, with one exception. I installed Companion on one of my Macs today and imported my configuration. So far, no crashes.

[@pablocostamagnaunlaemmalz2582]

@@djp_video Good to read it. I am running Companion v2.12 on Windows 10 PRO N and works just fine. In te Javascript error it seems to crash because of a failure on the Hyperdeck module. Maybe you could reinstall it and or start a new companion configuration without using the Hyperdecks ( I know you described it had crashed using the talkback function wich I asume is a routing from dante or something, but I just say it because of the screen capture). Anyway, hope you can fix it.

[@Hamsayehministries]

Im wondering what are you using now to control the stream deck and atem and .... how satisfy are you with that? because I've the same problem, especially since plugin on the stream deck doesn't communicate with the bitfocus( companion). many thanks.

[@djp_video]

For simple setups Companion can work okay with the ATEMs. But I still wouldn't push it very hard, or leave it running all the time. I'm still using Companion to control my Videohubs, HyperDecks, audio mixers, and several other things... but even today it still crashes at least once a day... and the HyperDeck module stops working pretty consistently, taking down remote control of at least one of my HyperDecks each time it does until their next reboot. I've removed the ATEM from my Companion configuration completely because I just can't have my switcher crashing in the middle of a production. Other devices going offline is less of a problem... but it sure would be nice to NOT have things go offline when used with Companion. I'm mostly using a Blackmagic 2 M/E Advanced Panel and still JustMacros with X-Keys controllers. With JustMacros not being compatible with ATEM software version 9.x, though, I'll have to find another solution for my custom animated SuperSource transitions and some of the other proprietary stuff I do with it. Central Control is another good option.

[@hidden.history]

@@djp_video thanks bro.

[@alejandroprado3953]

Hi Doug, ATEM freezes are always due to IP bad configurations. The problem can be a device with their own implementation of ATEM protocol, like JustMacros, Companion or Skaarhoj libary or maybe It can be even the model of switch you are using. I had both problems. One was caused by a 1GB Tenda Switch, which block ATEM UDP packets, and another one with an arduino with wrong code using Skaarhoj Library. Check you IP configuration and try to isolate ATEM control devices from another VLANs, like DANTE or internet LAN. I also use companion to control a Behringer XR18. No issues at all. Also I use it to join two different trucks via Mikrotik L3 adressing and D-Link switches, also without issues. Anyway, we have also opened in another computer X-AIR, ATEM, winbox and another software control. If we have a failure we can take the control or see that companion is not acting.

[@djp_video]

JustMacros uses the official Blackmagic API

[@alejandroprado3953]

@@djp_video Yes, that's true. But even with official API there are some problems. In 7.5.2 FW (last versión compatible with legacy HD models like TVS or 2 M/E HD) if you use Win 10 ATEM Software Control there is a bug in audio panel. It makes audio mixer channel switcher blink between on and off. That version on macOS don't do the same issue. Check your FW version. And make sure you are using same versión in FW and in you API. It gave me issues too.

[@djp_video]

My ATEM is on the latest version, and I run the latest software. But that doesn’t impact Companion. It doesn’t use the BMD API

[@LikeThisReview]

Has Companion been restructured because of this video? Is that also true for the Hyperdeck module?? Is it now time to re-evaluate Companion v3.0?? (By the way - were you able to connect 7 hyperdecks at the same time with Companion? I thought that a switcher / switcher software can only handle 4 hyperdecks at the same time!? Or have you 1 Hyperdeck controlling other hyperdecks? Are you still using very old Hyperdeck models?)

[@djp_video]

I don't know if the changes in Companion have been related to this video or not, but it does seem that making these issues public did light a fire under some of the developers. The architecture of Companion now is setup to (allegedly) prevent a crash in one of the modules from crashing the main application. It's definitely better than it was when I shot this video. I don't like the way that the HyperDeck module is coded at all. It makes assumptions about device capabilities based on the device names, which doesn't work because Blackmagic has added and changed features multiple times along the way. That module is pretty poorly designed and coded. It doesn't crash on me any longer, but it's likely only a matter of time until BMD makes more changes or adds a new model to cause the Companion module to break. It really needs to be redesigned. I have had it stop communicating with a deck multiple times, even with recent changes. It doesn't recover from connection loss very gracefully. (The same can be said about the Videohub and SmartView modules as well.) You can talk to as many HyperDecks as you want through Companion. There's no limit. It doesn't go through the ATEM software to do so, and it's the ATEM itself that can only talk to up to 4 devices.

[@Deraco1]

Oh man, that must really suck... Interesting, wonder if its with those specific hardware video switchers. We have a ATEM Mini pro and has not had any issues

[@djp_video]

I suspect the problem is elsewhere. If I was to have to guess, I'd point my finger at the HyperDeck integration.

[@sapphiresky83]

I’ve been using companion for both streaming as well as live venue shows. My use consists of running video switchers, playback machines, graphics machines, records, PTZ cams and so on. I can’t say that I’ve NEVER had issues with companion but the fail rate for me is very small, 0.1%. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.

[@MichaelBSchlegel]

Hi, @Doug. I love the look of that wireless keyboard. I've been searching your gear links, discord channels and youtube videos for mention of it, but I can't seem to find anything about it. I've also search Amazon and have come up empty. Can you please share what type of keyboard you're using, and ideally an affiliate link for it? Thanks in advance, Muddy

[@djp_video]

Do you mean this one? amzn.to/3F0V7zF It hasn't been manufactured for a while now. They're hard to get. The closest replacement I've seen is this: amzn.to/2XRJaew

[@MichaelBSchlegel]

@@djp_video Yes! Thank you so much! Hope your home studio build is going well. Love your videos! Thanks for sharing your wisdom and insights. Cheers!

[@MichaelBSchlegel]

@@djp_video Hi, Doug! I was able to find a gently used Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard 6000 on eBay at a reasonable cost, and it's working great. Thanks again! Cheers, Muddy

[@jonpav6224]

Thanks for the info Doug. Reliability and redundancy is key, especially in the situations you described.

[@markhepi7791]

Wow Doug sry to hear! I can feel your frustration. I hope for companion sake they sort is quickly. I don’t use companion but it was on my list to use.

[@SegaleMabiletsa]

Just out of curiosity, do you trust Just Macros more than you do Companion? I was missing your usual getting to the bottom of the issue than I’ve come to expect on this one. Sounded more personal this time. I’m waiting for my delivery of the XL, thanks for the review.

[@djp_video]

Absolutely. JustMacros has crashed on me a few times, but that's over several years. Companion crashes on me multiple times per day.

[@sirwnstn]

I had Companion running on the same Mac mini that we run ProPresenter on. Worked fine for a while until the Mac kernel panicked during one Sunday worship service. Since then, I’ve moved Companion to an old laptop running Linux. It’s been solid and hasn’t crashed. Never had to restart Companion except for updating.

[@djp_video]

Stability seems to be related to which device modules you have installed. It has gotten better in the years since I made this video, but it still crashes for me at least once a day. And does so no matter whether I run it on Windows, Mac, or on a Pi.

[@larrygreenbaum9205]

Ok, but you run all your windows? And you should always verify your records have started with your eyes, that’s on you. You always admit your failure, if not you’re a bad vendor. And you didn’t have a back-up? Quit using PC😕

[@videocieldiffusion]

using companion with streamdeck xl, atem mini pro and vmix on a window labtop without any problem. maybe one or two crashes when pushing the system during test sessions.

[@POLARICED]

Just out of curiosity: What would be the broadcast "hardwire" alternative to a stream deck and companion app?

[@djp_video]

Most broadcast equipment has its own dedicated remote control hardware

[@POLARICED]

@@djp_video what is it called? I'm not very familiar with the live branch of broadcast but I want to learn more about it and maybe I can integrate it with the atem and have a more rocksolid bulletproof experience when we go out to do streamings

[@djp_video]

They're just the remotes that come with or are meant to be used with specific equipment. For switchers, for example, it's just a control surface. For video playback systems, you pick the remote you want to use from the catalog of options made available by the manufacturer.

[@RDUBTutorial]

We’re you running it as a plug-in within stream deck or dedicated? I think they should find a way to make it work without the stupid server thing. They should just figure a way to export the buttons etc so they can run natively in sd and not need the companion server running in the big. I know a number of other DITs that use streamdeck and companion and haven’t heard much negative lately. I’m in the process of using it as a plug in and porting the buttons over to sd interface. Fingers crossed cus I know exactly what you are referring to regarding professional situations etc.

[@djp_video]

Dedicated.

[@RDUBTutorial]

@@djp_video you might wanna try using the plug in for Streamdeck - experiment by re making your buttons in the SD interface. Also - apparently it is important to start Streamdeck before companion UI server thing.

[@brandonwetherbee9]

I've been running it on an M1 with no issues on over a dozen weekend long shows with no reboots or issues. Only thing I've run into is a handful of custom visca commands on a ptzoptics camera that crashed it but everything else is very stable. It might be the windows implementation of the software.

[@multicamzilla4669]

Never had Companion crash, running on Mac, ATEM 1 M/E and Minis, no Hyperdecks though. I HAVE had hardware failures on at least 3 different ATEMS over the past 10 years though, so, if I truly needed to not have failures on paying gigs I'd get smart and not use BlackMagic products, but here we are. I sympathize, I got burned really bad by Teradek Vidiu products as well, it's very frustrating to let a client down when you did nothing wrong.

[@samueldickes]

Hi. Doug, you might be interested to know that you can use a Raspberry Pi for driving your Streamdeck with companion. This cheap 100 USD is very reliable and you could use it solely to drive your Streamdeck and as such avoiding all conflicting processes.

[@djp_video]

I’ve tried it. I get essentially the same results. Since I published this video I’ve interacted with some of the developers of Companion and know a little more about what is happening. In the case of the error message that was coming up and crashing, it was the HyperDeck module. It hadn’t ever been tested against a HyperDeck running in 4K mode, and when it received a status message indicating that it was recording in 4K it didn’t know how to handle it and it crashed. That led me to do some more investigation into the source code for Companion and the modules I’m using. What I found frightened me and has caused me to lose even more confidence in the software. A lot of it has been written by developers who are either unfamiliar with how to write hardened code meant for high reliability, or they simply haven’t taken the time to do so. There is next to zero code in much of the project to handle unexpected situations or error conditions. It makes a lot of assumptions about the operating environment that you just shouldn’t for a project that is going to be run in professional situations by users who have some expectation of being able to rely on it. The end result is that the developers have created a product that, whenever it encounters an unexpected situation, crashes rather than logging an error or defaulting to known and predictable behavior, simply crashes, sometimes displaying an error message in the process. I haven’t quit using it, but this new perspective has made me rethink the way I will be using it moving forward. The next time I make any changes in my Companion configuration, I’m going to be removing any modules that talk to my key video equipment, like my ATEM switcher. Not because the ATEM module is bad, but because much of the rest of it is and I can’t afford to have bad code possibly affect the ATEM module code because that code CAN crash my switcher. And I won’t be using any of it for my highest profile events where I can’t have a failure. I will likely reassess the code from time to time to see if it has gotten any better. But based on what I’ve seen in terms of what changes are being made, my expectations aren’t very high. The developers seem far more interested in adding new features than making it bullet-proof. At least that is the current direction of most of the development efforts.

[@Julusian]

@@djp_video keep an eye on the development of 2.3/3.0 (whichever the next major release ends up using) The focus there is to make the core code more modern and resilient. Also the modules are being run in their own threads, so when one crashes, at worst it can only crash itself. (in theory, it's still very wip.) But the questionable module code is the cost of the community writing most of them. A fair number are written be people who aren't coders. The more popular ones are typically better written.

[@djp_video]

​@@Julusian I'll have to admit that I'm skeptical. I've heard these kinds of promises many times before. It's really, really difficult to take existing code and harden it... I've found in 45 years of development that if you want stability and reliability it really has to be baked in from the very beginning. Hardening Companion is going to be especially difficult because it is written in JavaScript. Not that good code can't be written in JavaScript, but JS coders tend to be less experienced and not know (or care) how to create reliable code. The language just doesn't do much to prevent or discourage bad coding practices. Being based on Electron isn't doing it any favors either. Spawning every module into its own thread might seem like a step in the right direction, but that also adds additional complexity and resource utilization. And we know that complexity is the enemy of stability, reliability, and security. It also doesn't guarantee that a crashed module can/will be reloaded -- so if the one that crashes is one that you need you still have to restart Companion. If I was in charge of the project I'd probably focus more on fixing the broken code (and having a vetting process in place before something can be included in the distro) rather than putting a band-aid on top of it. I'd rally the community together to identify which modules are troublesome and work as a group to fix them. I'd also change it so that the base installation doesn't include ANY plugins and you have to manually pick and choose the ones you actually need so it can't be impacted by modules that aren't ever going to be used because the code just isn't even there. It's pretty clear from the number of modules added in 2.2 that those in charge of the project are a lot more interested in adding new functionality than they are in making a higher quality product. I took a quick look at the HyperDeck module code since it was behind some of the crashes I was having, and that code really doesn't look any better now than it did when I created this video. It's pretty clear where the majority of the efforts are being focused.

[@leelove7126]

I like the functionality and support for a wide range of devices it offers. But I keeping having to go back to Elgato software. I think what makes me angry is not bitfocus but Elgato. Companion demonstrates how badly Elgato is not doing their job. They release 5,0 to a fanfare for what, an icon store. :(. No functionality, no usability improvements. Using Elgato we still don’t have basic features such as copy, paste, move or duplicate a button. No X32-Mix support or any decent midi control. I get bit focus is built by a dozen developers and that creates huge problem. . But come on Elgato, time to step your game and quit resting on your hardware popularity. If Bitfocus (reliability issues aside) can offer these features what is your excuse. These guys are making Elgato look like a bunch of clowns.

[@brunton82]

I use it almost daily for large live events to operate a barco E2 and vt playback via Various bits of software and find it pretty solid. If you are firing multiple actions at the same time it’s always best practice to give 10ms delay between actions.

[@djp_video]

For most buttons I don't have multiple events. And in the cases where I do, for example when controlling my X32 for my intercom, adding a 10ms delay between commands would make the button response too slow, as those buttons fire off about 60-80 commands each. The biggest problem I've had is controlling the HyperDecks. That module is really poorly done and the cause of at least half of the crashes I've had. It chokes and tends to die when the recorders are set to 4K, for example.

[@ians.4284]

That javascript error indicates a problem with the Companion communication with Hyperdecks. I've never used Companion, but aren't 3rd party modules created for it? Couldn't it be that Hyperdeck one that's causing it to lock up?

[@djp_video]

In this case, yes. I heard back from one of the developers and they indicated that this error meant that the software didn’t understand the data coming from my HyperDeck and it caused it to error out. It sound like they never tested the code against HyperDecks running in 4K video modes and they software didn’t know what to do with the 4K29.97 video format I was using.

[@computerjantje]

Thank you very much for these stories. Because I also make my money with video events, your stories made me feel with your pain. You just do not want this to happen and even worse especially if after the initial mistake you cannot very quickly (within seconds) save the situation. I am thankful for your video because I was planning to buy a stream deck and get companion. Just now I realize that most people here on youtube, who are talking about the Atem, make videos for youtube but are not working in live paid situations. Reliability comes before everything else. Luckily the atem mini pro has never failed me ever in real situations. The only times it did fail me was during testing when the set outgoing stream quality is higher then the internet can handle. That can crash the atem totally. So I just make sure that can not really happen and as a second nature I watch the stream upload very closely all the time or have an assistant monitoring it. I am now in the testing phase of the mini Extreme iso. It looks good. I guess at paying jobs I just stick to direct control on the Atem and using the atem software for everything not directly available on the atem. Thanks again. I appreciate extremely much your honesty about what happened to you. I wish you all the success.The fact that you share the misses you made, tells me that you are the guy to hire. Most people would hide their mistakes but this shows you are the most trustful person to hire for the job. And everyone can make a mistake. We are only human and the equipment is never 100% fail safe. We are just striving that it does not happen on our watch :) My respect to you

[@ivansamokhin2750]

Partly because of this video, I avoided the companion, and am using central control instead - so far it's been rock solid

[@djp_video]

Glad you've found a solution that works for you!

[@CryptoPodcast]

I too, wish I could utilize this software, but unfortunately i cant even install it, because my os says it can verify that its free of malware... Does anyone know how to get around this?

[@djp_video]

Are you on Windows or Mac?

[@DuceLeeTV]

@@djp_video hey sir! Im on a mac

[@djp_video]

You have to modify your Mac's security settings to allow apps from outside the App Store to run. This is found in System Preferences.

[@shopbc5553]

Hey Doug, any plans to review Central Control?

[@djp_video]

None as of now. It wouldn't be very helpful to me, and I really only like to review products that I can use in the real world at real events. Central Control would be a pretty significant step down in functionality from what I have going with the X-Keys and JustMacros.

[@dv1858]

I see your point but what are your alternatives? Do you go „more xkeys“ or other kinds of controls. In my opinion everything can, had or will fail. So no matter what you use you can find a way to make this problems not effecting the product to mutch … redundancy in hardware controls etc. But this effort has to be justified. For me the risks of using companion never outweigh the benefits.

[@WrvrUgoThrUR]

Successes are drops in the bucket, failures are the trap bottom door of that same bucket. They sully EVERY success. We, as professionals, make more of these failures than the clients--even when they're are royally pissed!! But Rarely are they as bad as they seem. They stick with us. We just have to move on, apologize and accept the damage, but chalk it up as an experience to avoid in moving forward. Your experience has convinced me NOT to rely on this software or, say, an OBS and a control deck as a primary tool for any event. Thanks.

[@JoshC.]

If it's a paying client record at the cameras too. You can rebuild from the iso recordings as a last resort. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Definitely Check out central control

[@djp_video]

I do. But that doesn't help with the live stream. Or with audio.

[@JoshC.]

@@djp_video I have found that when things go wrong like this that at least providing a clean video without the issues for VOD sometimes minutes after the event to be put online goes a long way!

[@GaricsPeter]

Why was the ATEM freeze a problem? Don't you have a VideoHub? Couldn't you just route signal bypassing the mixer while it reboots?

[@djp_video]

I would have lost audio at a minimum.

[@TheGameCamer360]

I agree here, at the level of production you are working at you should have a fall over plan in place, a back up switcher, even if it’s just an atem mini, something that can be routed the bear minimum to keep the show going.

[@djp_video]

I do have multiple other switchers. But the time to switch over to one is longer than just rebooting

[@TheGameCamer360]

@@djp_video hot swap the video signal to the encoder/recorder from one switcher to the other, could be done in seconds. Sad that you have had troubles regardless

[@djp_video]

I understand how to work around it. There would still be glitches in the video switching from one to the other since the outputs wouldn’t be synchronized

[@gabyandraos888]

Hey Doug, I feel for you! Especially when we sell ourselves as professionals who know what we're doing. Verry embarrassing. I have been using companion for almost a year now on a mac, I wouldn't say it's been perfect, but luckily nothing catastrophic. I use it in conjunction with an xkeys 80. I use the xkeys to control wirecast and companion to control ATEM extreme iso (mini pro iso before that). I use companion to also control hyper deck mini studio to play graphics, in an average stream I have 20 to 30 short ProRes videos .so far so good! In my setup I keep both my ATEM and HD mini at an arm reach just in case. Wish you well and good luck sorting this out. Gaby

[@jf_blanco]

Hi Doug. It's been two years from this video. Do you think or know if companion has become more reliable nowadays? Certainly your cases are totally disappointing and scary to say the least. I've used companion from time to time. I've never had any problem but never want to have em if possible.

[@djp_video]

More reliable, yes. Completely stable, well... still not yet. The biggest reliability issue with Companion is the buggy device drivers. Many of them are poorly written. At the time I made this video the module giving me the msot trouble was for the HyperDeck -- one that should be very easy. It would literally crash all of Companion whenever the HyperDeck reported that it was running in 4K mode... the developer never took into consideration that someone might shoot in 4K, and when it encountered an update message indicating that the video format was 4K it would just crash, and bring down Companion entirely. That one is better now, but that kind of experience isn't entirely atypical. Fortunately, the development team has taken steps to reduce the impact when a device driver acts up, but it still can have issues. I do use Companion somewhat. I'm still really hesitant to connect it to critical devices when I'm working for a paying client, but for my own KZbin videos and smaller, low proflie projects I'll use it. I've reluctantly re-enabled the ATEM module recently and so far it hasn't crashed my switcher, but the app still does crash on me. It isn't frequent, but it won't, for example, ever run for a full 24 hours without crashing or becoming unresponsive. So I've just gotten in the habit of shutting it down at the end of an event and starting it any time I need it. Periodic restarts besides are a good idea too. I still find it disappointing that the developers favor throwing in new features over making it stable. For their intended use case, reliability really ought to be the #1 priority. From time to time, I take a look at the source code for Companion, since it is open source. (I have been doing software development for more than 40 years at this point, so I feel qualified to assess code quality.) I can't say that I love what I see. Clearly much of it has been written by developers who either don't know what they are doing, or just don't care about the quality of the code. Being written mostly in Javascript doesn't help. It is certainly getting better, but it's nowhere near where it ought to be. And that's besides the awkwardness of using and limited capabilities of the product in the first place. It's incredibly time consuming and tedious to setup and get working. Bottom line is, use it at your own risk. And test, test, test, if you do.

[@hughan00]

Next question, Doug, is there a reliable alternative you've found (free or not)?

[@buulam]

Those situations sound awful, very sorry to hear. What alternatives will you be trying? I have been having an issue with it picking up my ATEM recently and wouldn’t mind trying out other options myself.

[@djp_video]

I still use JustMacros. It crashes very occasionally, but it has been a really long time.

[@ian.henshaw]

on another note are you aware of the 5 device limit on connections to all ATEMS , this can soon get used up if your not careful

[@djp_video]

It depends on the model. I have the 2 M/E Production Studio 4K, which has an 8-device limit. I never use more than 3 though.

[@JibunnoKage-YouTube-Channel]

Update this video... with newer version of BitFocus Companion 3.3.x? This video is very old.

[@djp_video]

I might do it. Things have gotten somewhat better, but Companion still crashes on me at least once a day.

[@JibunnoKage-YouTube-Channel]

@@djp_video Even with version 3.3.1 it crashes once a day? Interesting. I run it on multiple systems, both Windows 11 PC based and Macintosh OS based, total crashes over the last few weeks, 2 or 3, typically new buttons I am developing go side ways. I have issues from one or another specific modules... I use ProPresenter module, and several modules to control TVs and other output devices, including Epson projectors, our QuickQ light board, etc. The ProPresenter module sometimes has trouble connecting initially, but is solid once connected. The TV control modules vary per TV make/model. The BMD ATEM module and BMD Video Hub (40Gx40G) have been solid so far. We do keep our BMD equipment current for firmware and software, and we usually use Macintosh based systems for actual production... given ProPresenter is more stable on MacOS, but on Windows 11 Pro has some buggy issues Renewed Vision knows of, we document issues and open tickets with theam. We do have a couple of issues with ProPresenter now and then, but that is specific to ProPresenter its-self not StreamDeck or BitFocus Companion. My experience has only been with 3.3.x of companion, since I have only been using it for about 2 months. There might be something specific to my setup that is different? Or yours? That is letting me avoid issues, but letting you trip over issues? I am retired 30 year IT enterprise engineer... so have a lot of experience tracking down issues with equipment... so would be glad to help anyway I can. call it paying you back for all the videos you have done that same me in the past, when I was new to BMD components.

[@djp_video]

Yes, even on the latest stable builds. And it doesn't matter whether I run it on Windows, Mac, or even a dedicated Raspberry Pi... reliability is the same. It's going to vary at least somewhat based on what devices you are talking to. Some of the modules in Companion are more reliable than others. Unfortunately, the ATEM module, which is going to be the most popular among the viewers of my channel, is one that is less reliable than the others, likely due to the fact that its authors have had to decode the ATEM communication protocol because Blackmagic doesn't document it... so there has been a lot of guessing as to how it works, and Blackmagic does make changes to it over time so it's a moving target. Other modules have gotten significantly better since I made this video, like the one for HyperDecks, which was the primary cause of the majority of the crashes I was seeing (it was never tested against HyperDecks recording in 4K, and the device status messages which indicated the recording format was 4K would cause the module to crash). But bottom line is that it still isn't what I would call "production ready." I, to this day, still do not connect it to my ATEM when I'm working for a paying client. I just can't risk my system going down in the middle of a show.

[@JibunnoKage-YouTube-Channel]

@@djp_video Yup. The risk of issues is too real, fully understand. And although I have been successful with ATEM control, in my case... there is no doubt BMD is playing fast and loose with their network interface on some devices. Too many days to figure out why BMD devices will NOT use tagged-VLANs consistently or correctly. Now, I am sure, not many people try to use VLANs, but if you are an IT guy, and know advanced networking (TCP/IP, VPNs, fire walls, etc.) isolating network traffic to virtual networks (i.e. VLANs) is bread and butter stuff. But BMD... their network stack implementation is an issue no doubt. They kept suggestion i run a flat single segment network. Even when I told them... I could do that, but I wanted to know why I can ONLY do that... crickets from the forum and support. Don't get me wrong, I am an edge case, not the typical customer/user, but we are talking basic networking here... and every BMD device is basically a Linux variant under the hood, so there is a wealth of Linux oriented networking to leverage in the open source communities.

[@DaftCatBrewing]

I regularly use it on windows and have had no issues like those you describe. I'd say to look at the PC you are using to run it.

[@djp_video]

I’ve tried multiple PCs, including a clean Windows installation, and the results are the same.

[@vomKuckucksfelsen]

I´ve been using companion for years now, mainly on mac but on pc as well and never had problems like you describe. One time it crashed but that was my own fault and that was during setup as i was testing my config.

[@jonf671]

Is this still the case? Are you still not using it?

[@djp_video]

I still avoid connecting it to ATEM switchers whenever I can. It has gotten better, but it still crashes consistently if I leave it running for more than a few hours. The main culprit for the biggest problems I was having was the HyperDeck module. Apparently it had never been written for or tested against HyperDecks running in 4K, and whenever one of my decks would tell Companion that it was in 4K mode it would cause Companion to crash. The HyperDeck module was very poorly written and had made no provision to deal with commands/settings that the developer hadn't explicitly written code to handle, and there was zero error handling to prevent it from bringing everything down when it received unexpected data. It's a little better now, but still not written to be robust. As a general rule, with most of the Companion source code I've looked at, it was not written to be robust. It was written to be churned out quickly and cram as many features in as possible, with stability and reliability not so much as even an afterthought.

[@RealRickCox]

I have 2 StreamDecks... the small and the XL. Got them so I could manage my ATEM Extreme supersource windows. Now I'm worried.... I haven't set them up as of yet and now I'm wondering if I should come up with a different solution.

[@djp_video]

Give it a try. You might have better luck. But test, test, test before using it with a paying client.

[@Reedith]

how is it on a pi

[@djp_video]

About the same. Newer versions are better than the version I was using at the time I made this video, but it still crashes on me at least once a day no matter which platform I run it on.

[@75jost]

why do you want to switch to this from the beginning? you should not make changes if it works! it's something I have learned that hard way

[@djp_video]

I wasn't switching to it. I've added it to what I already use (JustMacros + X-Keys) to add additional functionality I didn't have, especially with the features to control my X32 intercom mixer.