Camera Control

Warning

Beta software. Configuration and user-facing behavior may change incompatibly between releases.

Drive Blackmagic ATEM switchers and PTZ cameras from a game controller.

The screenshots use a passthrough mixer and simulated controllers and cameras.

This is a .NET port of Cgf.CameraControl.Main, the headless TypeScript implementation.

What it does

• Steers the preview camera and stops it when preview changes.
• Runs cut, auto, keyer toggles and macros, including conditional macro toggles.
• Combines camera tally from preview and program buses.
• Shows live controller bindings, connection lamps and a component-filtered log.
• Provides configurable keyboard and mouse controls.
• Rumbles on transitions, cameras going on air and lost connections.

Install

Platform
Windows	winget install Sensslen.CameraControl, or the installer from Releases
macOS	the .dmg from Releases, then drag to Applications
Linux	flatpak install ./CameraControl-<version>-linux-x64.flatpak

Every binary is NativeAOT compiled, so there is no .NET runtime to install.

Release notes identify unsigned Windows or ad-hoc-signed, unnotarized macOS builds. Windows may show SmartScreen. On macOS, use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway, or xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Camera Control.app".

Configure

Open config.json with File → Import. The application reopens that file on startup. See the configuration reference for fields and validation.

Sample	Purpose
offline.json	check the interface with a passthrough mixer, without a switcher
two-operators.json	a gamepad and two keyboards sharing one mixer

Editing the configuration

Open File → Edit configuration. The editor also opens on startup without a configuration.

Cameras and mixers disconnect during editing.

Action	Behavior
Add	choose a type, then its fields; cancel creates no entry
Delete camera	show references and remove the camera from their maps
Delete mixer	show references; affected interfaces need another mixer
Edit	title and validation summary stay above the scrolling form; errors appear under inputs
Pan/tilt speed	linked slider and percentage box
Controller serial	suggestions also accept unlisted controllers
Done → Save	rewrite the file, preserve fields outside the form, discard JSON comments and load the saved file
Done → Discard	reload the file from disk

Duplicate instances, missing required fields and undefined camera, mixer or function references block saving. Selecting a mixer input without a mapped camera is valid. Functions and bindings are preserved as JSON, not edited in the form. The editor follows the selected language's reading direction.

Cameras

Supports VISCA over UDP and websocket/SignalR LANC controllers. See camera configuration for connection fields, speed and tally.

See camera compatibility for tested cameras.

Color correction

Supported VISCA cameras show a color-wheel button in the Cameras pane. Click it for one-push white balance and manual red/blue gain corrections.

See color correction for controls, screenshots and troubleshooting, and camera compatibility for hardware verification.

Controller bindings

See gamepad bindings for controls and live indicators. SDL uses one normalized layout. See choosing a gamepad backend.

The keyboard panel

See keyboard controls for the panel, mouse behavior, key names and focus requirements. Configure separate interfaces to share a mixer between operators.

Languages

English plus ten more, picked from the operating system on first run and changeable under Language. English is the source text; every translation is machine made and none has been reviewed by a native speaker.

Build

Requires the .NET 10 SDK.

dotnet build
dotnet format --verify-no-changes

The test projects are Microsoft.Testing.Platform executables, so run them directly rather than through dotnet test:

for suite in tests/*/bin/Debug/net10.0/*.Tests; do "$suite"; done

Application icons

SVG and raster artwork share one generator. Generation needs Pillow; verification uses only Python's standard library:

python packaging/icon/generate.py
python packaging/icon/verify.py
python -m unittest discover -s packaging/icon -p "test_*.py"

Add --windows-exe <path> for each Windows executable or installer. Verification compares all embedded sizes with the ICO, decodes PNG and classic ICNS RGB, and compares the caption glyph with packaging/icon/appicon-caption.png. CI checks assets and assignments; Windows releases check the NativeAOT binary and installer.

The title bar uses a high-DPI raster of the small glyph. Windows executables, shortcuts, uninstall metadata and dialog windows use the ICO. macOS bundles use AppIcon.icns; the Linux window class matches the desktop file and Flatpak icon identity.

Layout

Project
Cgf.CameraControl.Core	the domain: factories, configuration, the mixer and camera contracts
Cgf.CameraControl.Atem	ATEM support over AtemSharp
Cgf.CameraControl.Cameras.WebsocketPtzLanc	the websocket PTZ LANC camera
Cgf.CameraControl.Cameras.SignalrPtzLanc	the SignalR PTZ LANC camera
Cgf.CameraControl.Cameras.ViscaOverIp	the VISCA over IP camera
Cgf.CameraControl.Input.Sdl	the controller logic and the SDL device layer
Cgf.CameraControl.Licenses.Generator	compiles the licence report into the app
Cgf.CameraControl.App	the Avalonia window and the composition root

Only the app references Avalonia and only Input.Sdl references SDL, so everything else is testable without a display or a controller.

The --aot-probe switch

AtemSharp reflects over command types, and NativeAOT translations use embedded resources rather than satellite assemblies. Trimming can break either without a build failure. CgfCameraControl --aot-probe checks ATEM command decoding, SignalR state serialization through the hub protocol and every language. It exits non-zero on failure. Releases run it on every binary before upload.

Third-party licences

Help → Third-party licences lists shipped packages and artwork. Rows show full licence text, using the package's published text or its declared SPDX licence. Cgf.CameraControl.Licenses.Generator embeds texts and reports, with no runtime fetching. Artwork uses a separate hand-written report. Missing text or a missing package report fails the build.

Texts are committed; each build generates its package report from restored versions. After changing a package reference, refresh it with:

dotnet tool restore
python packaging/licenses/fetch-texts.py

Option	Effect
--report-only	generate the report without changing committed texts; used by workflows
--runtime win-x64	include packages with assets for that runtime; each release supplies its identifier

Other platforms' native packages resolve empty placeholders and are excluded. Each binary embeds only texts named by its report. CI checks the whole dependency graph with nuget-license's allowed-licence list. Reports exclude Debug-only diagnostics and build tools, including the host-specific NativeAOT compiler and trimmer, so build-machine packages do not enter shipped credits.

Licence

MIT. See LICENSE.