Directors Plan — The Complete User Manual

What is Directors Plan?#

Directors Plan (short: D-Plan) is a professional rundown-planning and show-control application for TV directing and live production with deep vMix integration. Instead of juggling a paper rundown and a vMix operator, you build your show as a timeline of cues — and every cue can carry real, executable vMix commands: cuts, fades, overlays, audio, recording, streaming, titles, playlists and more.

Directors Plan is used in three ways, which this manual covers section by section:

• Planning — build the rundown with times, segments, locations, notes and contacts; attach vMix commands to each cue; work offline with Mock Mode.
• Live operation — run the show manually or with automated playback, fire cues, control instant replay, audio groups, streams and outputs, or hand a tablet to an operator via the Web Controller.
• Export & hand-off — deliver the rundown as an interactive HTML file, a CSV spreadsheet or a ready-to-use Bitfocus Companion / Stream Deck configuration.

The app runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and is available in 19 languages. A free 30-day trial is included — see License & Trial. There is only one edition: every feature included.

Connecting to vMix#

Directors Plan talks to vMix through the vMix Web API (default port 8088) and a TCP connection for live status updates. Make sure the Web Controller is enabled in vMix (vMix → Settings → Web Controller, on by default).

Option 1 — vMix runs on the same computer

1. Start Directors Plan on the vMix machine.
2. On the “vMix not connected” screen, click “vMix runs on THIS machine”.
3. Directors Plan detects the machine's network IP automatically, fills it in and connects. Input thumbnails work out of the box via the built-in thumbnail server — no installation, no firewall prompt.

Option 2 — vMix runs on another computer

1. Open Settings → Connection (or use the inline form on the “not connected” screen).
2. Enter the IP address of the vMix machine and the port (default 8088).
3. Click Test Connection. A green confirmation means you are live.
4. For input preview images, set up the free DP Thumbnail Server on the vMix machine (2-minute setup).

Multiple vMix instances

You can connect a second vMix instance in parallel — typically a Main instance for the program and an Ads instance for commercials or a second stage. Both instances get their own IP/port in Settings, and the input panel lists Main Inputs and Ads Inputs separately.

Interface Overview#

The main window is organized around the timeline (your rundown), with the vMix input panel and controller alongside it. Two layout modes adapt the app to your role:

• +vMix — full production view: timeline, vMix inputs with thumbnails, transport buttons, controller and replay. For the director/operator during the show.
• Plan Only — a clean editorial view that hides all live-control elements. Ideal while writing the rundown or when a producer works without vMix access.

Appearance

• Dark Mode / Light Mode — toggle in the header; the whole app including dialogs follows the theme.
• Zoom — Ctrl++ / Ctrl+− to scale the UI, Ctrl+0 to reset. Useful on control-room monitors viewed from a distance.
• Language — 19 UI languages, switchable at any time in Settings without a restart.

Working with Plans#

A plan is one show rundown, stored as a single file. The file menu offers everything you expect from a document-based app:

When quitting the app with unsaved changes, Directors Plan asks whether to Save and quit, Quit without saving or Cancel.

Append Module — modular shows#

Large productions are often built from reusable blocks (opener, interview block, weather, closer). With Append (Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+O) you load another plan file and its cues are appended to the currently running show.

• Appended cues whose inputs are not yet loaded in the live vMix session are marked PENDING and won't fire until the input exists.
• After loading the missing inputs in vMix, click Re-Scan inputs — Directors Plan re-reads the vMix session and turns pending cues live.

Plan Header & Show Data#

The plan header holds all editorial metadata of the production. It is shown at the top of the plan and included in every export.

• Basic data — Show name, production number, version, date, from/to times and total length.
• Custom fields — add any number of extra name/value fields (e.g. “Studio”, “OB Van”, “Director”).
• Schedule entries — free-form appointment lines such as “Setup, technical rehearsal: 3:00 – 3:30 PM”; add and remove as needed.
• Contacts — name, phone and email per contact person; listed in HTML and CSV exports.
• Custom logo — upload your own SVG logo; it replaces the default branding in the HTML export.

The Timeline#

The timeline is the heart of Directors Plan — your rundown as a table of cues. Each row is one cue with these columns:

Building the rundown

• Add Cue — appends a new cue; edit it in the Cue Editor (✏️ button).
• Drag to reorder — grab a cue and drag it to a new position.
• Duplicate / Delete cue — via the row buttons; deleting requires a confirming second click.
• Background color — give rows a color for visual grouping (also used in the Web Controller and Companion export).
• Drag & drop from vMix — drag any input from the input panel onto a cue's Segment column to create a preview button for it in that cue.

Automatic durations

With Auto Duration, Directors Plan calculates cue lengths from the attached vMix commands: videos contribute their real file length; images, cameras and other sources get a configurable default duration (Settings → Playback Control). Use “Calculate all durations” in the timeline toolbar to fill the whole plan at once, or the per-cue calculate button. The Total Duration of the show is always shown in the header.

The Cue Editor#

Click the ✏️ button of a timeline row to open the cue in the editor. It has two tabs:

1. Basic Data

• Position, duration, time and time-until fields.
• Segment text, location and the customizable Live/Graphics column.
• TV/Audio information — recording details, recorder info, audio notes; displayed compactly in the timeline's TV/Audio column as TV: … / Audio: … / Rec: ….
• Technical notes — internal notes that are not shown in the timeline.
• Background color for the timeline row.

2. vMix Commands

The list of executable commands attached to this cue. Add commands with the vMix Command Builder, reorder them, execute a single command or Execute All in sequence. Commands appear as transport buttons under the cue in the timeline.

vMix Command Builder#

The Command Builder creates the executable buttons of your show. Open it from the cue editor (Add Command). The workflow is always the same:

1. Pick a category (Transitions, Audio, Overlays, Transport, Recording, Streaming, Title/Countdown, Layer, Video List, Playlist, Special, Layout).
2. Pick the command — the builder shows a live API call preview of the exact vMix HTTP request.
3. Select the target input (live list from vMix, or from the mock file when offline) and fill in parameters such as duration, volume or text.
4. Optionally name the button, then Create Button.

Special builders

• Multi Transport — creates all 7 transport buttons (Play, Pause, Stop, Restart, Play/Pause, Previous, Next) for one input in a single step, with auto-generated names.
• Line Break — a purely visual separator between button groups (e.g. “Recording commands” / “Audio controls”). Line breaks are never executed and also drive row breaks in the Companion export.
• Text Field — a label element displayed in the timeline for annotations between buttons.
• Text-to-Link tool — turns a piece of text into a clickable command link (choose effect + input, test it, create). Great for quick “CAM 2” style shortcuts.
• HTTP Request — sends any GET/POST/PUT/DELETE request to third-party gear or software (Companion, OBS, Stream Deck, lighting consoles, web APIs…). URL, method, body and content type are configurable.

vMix Command Reference#

Every command Directors Plan can attach to a cue, grouped by builder category:

Transitions

Preview / Program

Audio

Overlays

Transport

Recording & Streaming

Title / Countdown

Layer, Video List & Playlist

Special & Layout

Transport Buttons & Text Links#

Every command created in the builder appears as a button under its cue in the timeline. Click to execute. A right-click opens the context menu:

• Change vMix Command — swap the function without rebuilding the button.
• Change Input — retarget the button to another input.
• Change Duration / Transition — adjust the transition type and time.
• Duplicate / Delete — delete asks for a confirming second click.

Text links are lightweight clickable words (created with the Text-to-Link tool or the “Add Text Link” control) that fire a command — useful when a full button row would be overkill.

Video-List duration scan

For Video-List inputs, Directors Plan can measure real item durations straight from vMix:

• Measure this item, measure from item to end, or measure the whole list.
• During the scan the vMix preview flickers briefly — don't operate vMix in parallel.
• The scan is blocked while the timeline is playing (it would change the vMix output) and in mock mode.

The quick-action row (top right of the transport area) offers Previous Item, Next Item, Restart and Play/Pause for the currently relevant input.

vMix Input Panel#

The input panel lists every input of the connected vMix session(s), automatically grouped into categories: Cameras, Videos, Presentations, Graphics, Audio and Other. Groups can be expanded/collapsed individually or all at once.

• Search — live filter across all inputs by name.
• Compact / Detail view — switch between a dense list and a detailed view with state, position and duration.
• Preview / Cut to Program — every input row has direct buttons to send it to preview or cut it live.
• Drag & drop — drag an input onto a timeline cue to create a preview button there; the default transition for dropped videos is configurable in Settings.
• Playback state — running, paused, completed or stopped is shown per input.

Input Thumbnails#

Directors Plan shows live preview images of your vMix inputs in the input panel, on transport buttons and in the Web Controller. vMix itself doesn't serve input snapshots — D-Plan solves this two ways:

Automatic — D-Plan on the vMix machine

If Directors Plan runs on the same computer as vMix, the built-in thumbnail server takes over automatically: previews appear with no install, no firewall prompt, no configuration.

DP Thumbnail Server — D-Plan on another computer

Install the free DP Thumbnail Server (≈3 MB) on the vMix machine:

1. Download the ZIP (Settings → DP Thumbnail Server → Download from GitHub, or the direct link shown in the input list hint).
2. Unzip to any folder on the vMix machine — no installation required.
3. Double-click start.bat; a browser opens at http://localhost:8098.
4. In Directors Plan, enter the vMix machine's IP and port 8098 under Settings → DP Thumbnail Server, then click Test connection.

• Optional: install ffmpeg (winget install ffmpeg) for smaller, optimized thumbnails.
• Thumbnails are served network-wide at http://<vMix-IP>:8098.
• Advantages over polling vMix directly: no GDI+ errors, no rate limiting, automatic refresh — recommended for production.

Display

• Thumbnails are always on — nothing to configure. If no preview image is available for an input, its type icon is shown instead, together with a setup hint.
• Refresh rate — configurable; images are cached in RAM (no SSD wear). A manual Refresh Thumbnails button forces an update.
• The setup hint shown when thumbnails are missing can be turned off permanently in Settings.

Mock Mode — Offline Planning#

Mock Mode lets you build a complete rundown without a live vMix connection — on the train, at home, in the office — while keeping the real vMix input IDs so everything works instantly on show day.

1. Connect to your vMix once.
2. Click “Save Current State as Mock” (Settings → Offline Mock Mode). With a thumbnail source active, preview images are stored in the mock too — if none is available, D-Plan asks before saving without images.
3. Work offline: all inputs, titles and input keys are available exactly as in the real session. A 📁 MOCK MODE badge reminds you that commands are not executed.
4. Back in production, click Activate Live Mode — every command you built now fires against the real vMix, no rework needed.

You can keep several mock files (one per show setup) and switch between them with Load Mock File.

Playback & Automation#

Directors Plan can run your rundown automatically: each cue plays for its duration, its commands fire at cue start, and the show advances cue by cue.

Playback controls

• Start / Stop playback from the timeline toolbar; the active cue is highlighted.
• Start at cue — begin auto-playback at any cue (two clicks to confirm, so you can't fire it accidentally mid-show).
• Loop — 🔁 repeats the timeline endlessly, ideal for exhibition or lobby loops.
• Restart all videos — one click resets every video/PowerPoint input to its first frame; can also run automatically before each playback start (Settings → Playback Behavior).
• Prevent standby (Stay Awake) — keeps the computer from sleeping during long automated runs. The app refuses to quit while Stay Awake is active.

Scheduled start

Schedule Playback starts the show at a set clock time — Once, Hourly or Daily. The scheduled time is displayed in the toolbar and can be cancelled anytime. Combined with Loop and Stay Awake this turns D-Plan into a fully unattended playout for fairs, museums and info channels.

Overlay auto-switch

When enabled (Settings → Playback Behavior), overlays are automatically activated and deactivated during playback according to your show and cue overlay settings.

Overlay Management#

Directors Plan manages vMix overlay channels on two levels:

• Show overlays — assigned per overlay channel for the whole show (e.g. the station logo on channel 1). Each has a mode, changeable via right-click:
  • Always on during playback — the overlay stays active for the entire run.
  • Pause during cue overlay — it temporarily yields when a cue uses the same channel (e.g. a lower third replaces the logo, then the logo returns).
• Cue overlays — activated at cue start and deactivated at cue end, perfect for lower thirds, name straps and per-segment graphics.

Manual control: Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+1…8 toggles overlay channels 1–8 directly, using the input assigned in the show overlays.

Category Switcher (CAT)#

vMix organizes inputs in category tabs (All, six colors, Custom 1–16, Search). Directors Plan can switch that tab in the vMix operator view — choreography for the operator surface, not just the program: jump to “Callers” before the guest block, to “Intro Outro” before the close.

• Cue command “Switch Category” — a cue switches the category tab as part of the rundown (SelectCategory).
• CAT switcher in the timeline bar — next to OVL sits CAT: one click opens the category buttons in their vMix colors. Use ✎ to assign your own labels (“Callers”, “Graphics”, …); labels are saved with the plan. Custom categories only appear once they are labeled.
• CAT page in the Web Controller — flip the operator view of the vMix machine from the tablet.
• CAT page in the Companion / Stream Deck export — optionally a page with all category buttons in matching colors, labels included.

Instant Replay#

The replay panel drives vMix Instant Replay with one-click operation: one click per Cam + time selects the camera, marks the last N seconds and plays them to the output — three vMix API calls fired as one action.

Workflow

1. Start Replay Recording — the cam buttons only arm while replay recording is on. Stopping asks for a confirming click.
2. Pick a time preset: Standard (5 / 10 / 20 s), Long (10 / 20 / 30 s) or Quick (3 / 5 / 10 s).
3. Click a Cam + seconds button — the replay of the last N seconds from that camera plays out immediately.
4. Stop ends replay playback (ReplayStopEvents).

Keyboard: , . / fire the three preset times; Esc stops the replay. Camera display names can be customized and are carried over to the Companion export and the Web Controller replay pages.

Controller Panel#

The Controller is D-Plan's live control surface for everything beyond the rundown, organized in five tabs:

Groups — per-input volume groups

A group is a freely assembled set of inputs (tracked by GUID, so it survives input renumbering). The group fader sends SetVolume to all members at once — designed for muting/riding call and external audio inputs (Zoom, Teams, remote feeds) together, while callers keep their mix-minus on Master.

• Create groups, edit members, delete groups.
• Mute/Unmute per group; “live” badges show which members are currently audible.

Audio Out — master & bus levels

• Live faders for Master and every active audio bus, updated in real time via the vMix TCP push connection.
• Pin to top bar — the dot next to a fader pins it into the app's top bar so it is reachable from anywhere.
• Fade time for on/off in milliseconds (0 = hard step). 🔊/🔇 here means level on/off: Off sets the level to 0, On restores the remembered level — it is not a vMix mute.
• Buses only appear once they are assigned to an output device in vMix.

Stream

Start/stop each vMix stream individually (stream 1–3, depending on your vMix streaming setup) or all at once. Active streaming is clearly indicated.

Output

• Route what Output 2 / 3 / 4 shows: Program, Preview, MultiView, or any input (SetOutput2/3/4).
• Output 1 (Program) is display-only — the vMix API doesn't allow changing it.
• N / O / S columns show NDI, OMT and SRT status. NDI/OMT are informational only (vMix offers no HTTP API to switch them); SRT can be toggled on/off.

Rec

Toggle Recording, External output, MultiCorder and Fade to Black — each with clear active/idle state.

Web Controller — Tablet Touch Surface#

The Web Controller serves your show as a touch surface for tablets and phones on the same network — no app install on the device, just a browser.

Setting it up

1. Enable the server in Settings → Web Controller (off by default; default port 8570). Allow the firewall prompt on first start.
2. Optionally set a PIN — tablets then ask for it once. Empty = no protection.
3. That's it — the surface syncs automatically whenever a plan is opened while the server runs. No export step needed.
4. On the tablet, open one of the shown URLs or scan the QR code.
5. Optional: Export → Web Controller holds the layout options (button size/columns, row breaks, colors, thumbnails) and a manual Sync button to push mid-session changes to the tablets.

What's on the surface

• Cues page — every cue's command buttons, with configurable button size (columns), optional row break per cue, timeline colors or a fixed color, and input thumbnails on the buttons.
• Replay page(s) — the full Instant Replay cam/time grid, optionally one page per preset (Standard / Long / Quick) plus a STOP button.
• CTRL page — your volume groups as touch faders, synced with vMix in real time.
• OVL page — the assigned overlay channels as ON/OFF buttons.
• CAT page — the category switcher: flip the vMix operator view's category tab from the tablet, with your custom labels.

Keyboard Shortcuts#

vMix shortcuts are active only while connected, and can be disabled entirely in Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts. They never fire while you are typing in a text field. Shift switches most transport shortcuts from Preview to Program.

vMix control

File & app (always active)

HTML Export#

The HTML export turns your plan into a single self-contained HTML file — the whole rundown with header data, schedules, contacts, cues, colors and notes as a production call sheet. Send it to the crew, open it on any device.

• Print-optimized CSS — hand it out on paper or save it as PDF.
• Fully responsive layout for phones, tablets and desktops.
• Custom logo — your uploaded SVG replaces the default branding.

CSV Export#

Many broadcast clients block HTML attachments — CSV always gets through. The CSV export produces a spreadsheet-ready rundown for Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.

• Optional header block: basic show data, dates and contacts.
• Selectable columns: number, segment, cue name, duration, commands, segment text, location, technical notes, overlay channels.
• Separator: comma (international default) or semicolon (Excel with German locale).
• Written as UTF-8 with BOM, so umlauts and special characters display correctly in Excel.

Companion / Stream Deck Export#

The Companion export generates a ready-to-import Bitfocus Companion configuration — your entire rundown as physical Stream Deck buttons.

• Layout options — choose the Stream Deck model/layout (including Stream Deck + with 8 keys, 4 dials and touchstrip, and Stream Deck + XL with 36 keys and 6 dials), start a new button row per cue and/or per Line Break.
• Colors — reuse your timeline row colors, or set a fixed button color.
• Audio on the rotary dials (Stream Deck + / + XL) — your volume groups plus optionally Master, Bus A and Bus B land on the dials of every exported page: turn = volume ± step (2/3/5/10 % selectable), press = audio toggle. The touchstrip carries the labels; with more controls than dials the assignment cycles per page. On decks without dials, dedicated CTRL pages with Mute / − / + buttons are created instead. The dials work stateless via vMix's relative volume API — the live levels are shown in D-Plan and the Web Controller, which stay synced with vMix in real time.
• OVL page — the overlay channels assigned in the plan as toggle buttons (one press shows, the next hides) plus an ALL OFF button. Without assignments: channels 1–4.
• CAT page — optionally all category buttons in matching vMix colors, custom labels included.
• Instant Replay pages — optional replay page series (configurable cam count, position first or after the vMix pages, one page series per preset Standard/Long/Quick). Each Cam+time button fires the same 3-call sequence as in the app; a Stop button and page navigation live in column 0, and your custom cam names are carried over.
• A live preview shows the resulting button pages before you export.

The export deliberately uses a single generic-http Companion instance with plain vMix API calls — it works in every Companion version without depending on module updates.

Settings Reference#

All settings groups at a glance:

Logging & Diagnostics#

• Command logging — every vMix command is written to vmix_commands_DATE.log. Proof of what was fired and when.
• Playback logging — logs which vMix input was live at which time to vmix_playback_DATE.log — an as-run log for compliance and billing.
• One file per day; multiple sessions append to the same file.
• Session Log Viewer (Menu → Logs) — view the last 100/200/500/1000 lines or everything, with auto-refresh and a button to open the log folder.
• The in-app command log panel shows recent commands with status.

License & Trial#

Directors Plan starts as a full-featured 30-day free trial — every feature unlocked, no limits. After the trial, a license is required to continue.

• One edition, everything included — there are no feature tiers. A single license unlocks the complete application: unlimited cues and commands, all exports, the Web Controller, Instant Replay and multiple vMix instances. See pricing on adelvo.io.
• Activation — enter your key (DPLAN-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) in Settings → License. Licenses are bound to the machine via a hardware ID and can be deactivated for moving to another computer.
• Update check — “Check for Update” in Settings tells you when a new version is available, with a direct download.

Troubleshooting / FAQ#

Connection to vMix fails

• Check that the vMix Web Controller is enabled (vMix Settings → Web Controller, port 8088).
• Ping the vMix machine's IP; verify no firewall blocks port 8088.
• If D-Plan runs on the vMix machine, use the “vMix runs on THIS machine” button rather than typing localhost.

No input thumbnails

• Same machine as vMix → thumbnails are automatic; make sure the vMix connection is established.
• Different machine → install the DP Thumbnail Server on the vMix PC and test the connection (IP + port 8098) in Settings.

A cue is marked PENDING

The cue references an input that is not loaded in the current vMix session (typical after appending a module). Load the input in vMix, then click Re-Scan inputs.

Duration scan is blocked

The Video-List scan refuses to run while the timeline is playing (it would change the program output) and in mock mode. Stop playback / switch to live mode first.

Web Controller not reachable from the tablet

• The server only runs while Directors Plan is open — check Settings → Web Controller shows “Server running”.
• Tablet and computer must be on the same network; allow the firewall prompt on first start.
• After changing the port, save settings and restart the server.
• If the tablet shows “Waiting for surface”, press Sync in Export → Web Controller.

F-key shortcuts don't work on macOS

Hold Fn, or enable System Preferences → Keyboard → “Use F1, F2, etc. as standard function keys”.

More help

Check the session log for details on any failed command, and visit adelvo.io for downloads, updates and support.