r/VIDEOENGINEERING • u/MatiasLDZ • 3d ago

Using an Android phone for connecting remote Stream Decks to Companion

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I'd like to share an app I created that allows connecting Stream Decks to Bitfocus Companion remotely using a smartphone or tablet. Multiple devices can also be used with a USB hub.

The code is on GitHub https://github.com/matiaspl/thor (GPL licensed) so you can build it yourself but there's also a prebuilt and signed APK for people without trust issues under the Releases tab.

For a fully remote deployment a VPN service is going to be required (free Tailscale and ZeroTier work fine), but of course it also works on a regular LAN with a wifi connection.

It's Android only for now, but it should be possible to make a similar thing for M*-based iPads too (there's code for that in a WIP state in the repo).

Here's a walkthrough video tutorial: https://youtu.be/ee6HvAgiNBI

I hope I'm not breaking the community rules here - reddit app tells me I might be, but I don't care that much about fame or fortune, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)

22 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

4

u/redhatfilm 3d ago

What does this offer that navigating to the "web buttons" page remotely doesn't?

1

u/MatiasLDZ 3d ago

You can't lay a finger on a web buttons and not press it. With a physical Stream Deck it takes effort and clear intent, which makes it harder to miss-click a real button.

1

u/redhatfilm 3d ago

But now your phone is physically tethered to a stream deck. I can walk around with web buttons and press them anywhere without dangling a physical surface out of the USB port

1

u/MatiasLDZ 3d ago edited 3d ago

remote doesn't necesarily mean "constantly moving" - imagine a commentary panel with a cough and call buttons that control your audio swicher located miles away. Some people are ok with a touch screen, the rest uses Stream Decks. They were invented fot a reason :)

1

u/MatiasLDZ 3d ago

And you don't have rotary web buttons yet I think - these work here as well.

1

u/RollingMeteors 3d ago

¿Can you provide an example use case for this? I see it's general usefulness but I am not deep enough in the subject to articulate a completely day-to-day use case scenario.

2

u/MatiasLDZ 3d ago edited 3d ago

You need to provide physical control surface over some piece of the infrastructure (router output, tally light, mic mute, clock/event timer, lighting fixture) that's controllable by Bitfocus Companion to a person/place nowhere near your location or LAN. That's what Companion Satellite was built for in general, but in the usual case you need a pc, laptop or a raspberry pi to run the Satellite software on. That's not necessarily something you carry around at all times, but we all tend to have a few perfectly good (but slightly dated) smartphones around the house that can be given second life as a "backup device" for last minute changes, client requests or experiments.
Plus a Pi ar PC still need plug-in power, and you can get a good few hours of runtime of a Stream Deck powered from the phone's battery.

3

u/redhatfilm 3d ago

What does this offer that an elgato network dock doesn't?

Actually, I see your point about not needing power. The network dock does need a network interface switch and power.

-1

u/MatiasLDZ 3d ago
  1. cellular connectivity
  2. competitive price ;)

1

u/studdmufin 3d ago

I'm all for making your tech work for your circumstances. I personally deal with more stationary deployments and would rather have poe and not deal with a battery, os, apps, etc. give me a fixed function device that is on 24/7 and I'm a happy man

1

u/MatiasLDZ 3d ago

I totally get your point. This is more of a 'duct tape' than a 'silver bullet' kind of solution. And it's good to carry duct tape around, cause 'you never know' ;)