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Getting started

This page walks you from an empty workspace to your first live mix. It assumes CutWire Prism is already installed and open.

When CutWire Prism launches you'll see two windows:

  • The main window — your control surface (clip canvas on top, decks and crossfader below).
  • The Output window (CutWire Prism - Output Monitor) — the program mix your audience sees. Move this to your projector or second screen.

1. Add some media​

There are three quick ways to get media in:

  • Drag & drop video or image files straight onto the main window.
  • Media → Add Files… to pick individual files, or Media → Add Folder… to load a whole folder into the Asset Library (the left sidebar).
  • Add Element ▾ (the big button on the empty canvas, also in the Media → Add Element menu) to create live inputs — a camera, screen capture, canvas, shader, text, and more.

Each element becomes a card on the clip canvas. Files you load into the Asset Library can be dragged onto the canvas, or added as cards directly.

2. Send a clip to a deck​

Cards are wired together in the node editor to decide what goes live. The quickest path to a deck:

  • Right‑click the empty canvas → Add → Switching Node → A/B Deck Select.
  • Drag a wire from your card's blue output port into one of the A/B Select node's input slots.
  • Wire the A/B Select node's red output into the Output node (it appears automatically once you have a node on the canvas) — its A / B buttons stay disabled until this is connected.
  • Click a row's A or B button to load that element onto Deck A or Deck B.

The deck's preview thumbnail and time readout update immediately. Use the deck's play/pause button to start playback, and the Speed box for per‑deck playback speed (100% = normal).

See the Node editor for the full picture — inputs, process effects, layers, and switching all connect the same way.

3. Mix with the crossfader​

Load one element on Deck A and a different one on Deck B, then drag the A/B Crossfader slider:

  • Hard left = only Deck A on the program output.
  • Hard right = only Deck B.
  • Anywhere between = a blend, using the selected Transition style.

Press AUTO to glide automatically to the other side over the set time, or CUT for an instant switch. See Crossfader for every transition.

4. Open your output​

The Output window is already showing your mix. For a live show:

  • Drag it to your projector/second monitor and make it full screen.
  • Or View → Preview Output to open a second mirror window.
  • Or enable NDI, Virtual Camera, or Recording from the View menu (see Extra features).

5. Use the panic controls​

Under the crossfader sit three live‑safety buttons:

  • BLACKOUT — cut the program to black (also the B key).
  • PAUSE — freeze the output on the current frame (also the P key).
  • STAY TUNED — show a holding screen.

Click again to release.

6. Save your show​

Media → Save Session… (Ctrl+S) stores your whole layout — every element, connection, hotkey, and the crossfader state. CutWire Prism also autosaves and will offer to recover your work if it closed unexpectedly. To move a show to another machine, use Export Project… to bundle the session and its media into one portable file.

That's the loop: load → trigger → mix → output → save. The rest of these docs go deep on each piece.