Guides
Running a better broadcast, start to finish
Practical, no-fluff guides on collecting assets, building running orders, driving overlays and getting a live show to air — from the team behind Show Runner.
Getting started 3
Adding cast to a show (and their lower thirds)
Your cast are the people on screen. Record each one with their on-screen name and title, set the order, and keep contact private — and the list feeds your lower thirds.
Creating a show in Show Runner
A show is the container for everything in a production — its date, duration, running order, crew, cast, assets and overlays. Here's how to create one and what it holds.
Getting started with Show Runner — from creating a show to going live
The end-to-end Show Runner workflow — create a show, build the running order, add crew and cast, collect assets, set up overlays, and drive the show live — with each step linked.
Collecting assets 3
How to collect VTs and video files from contributors (without the email chaos)
A practical guide to gathering VTs, graphics and media from remote contributors for a broadcast or live event — why email and WeTransfer fall apart, and the workflow that actually scales.
How to send large video files to a production team (without email limits)
Email caps out at 25 MB and file-transfer links expire — here's how to reliably send large video files (VTs, ProRes, 4K) to a broadcast or live-event production team.
What metadata to collect with every VT (and why it matters)
The file is only half the asset. Here are the metadata fields to capture with every VT at the point of upload — titles, spellings, durations, clearance — and why collecting them later costs you.
Graphics & overlays 5
How to add lower thirds in OBS (browser source, step by step)
A step-by-step guide to adding live, transparent lower thirds to OBS Studio using a browser source — including sizing, transparency, positioning and updating them on air.
How to add overlays in vMix (web browser input, step by step)
A step-by-step guide to adding live, transparent overlays to vMix using a Web Browser input — including transparency, sizing, overlay channels and updating graphics on air.
Broadcast graphics and overlays for live streams — a producer's guide
What broadcast overlays are, why URL-based browser-source graphics beat baked-in titles, and how to run lower thirds, sponsor bugs, up-next and scoreboards live in OBS or vMix.
Custom overlays — build a bespoke graphic by editing OMUL
When a built-in template isn't quite right, OMUL (Overlay Mark-up Language) lets you take a supplied overlay, edit its markup, and turn it into a bespoke graphic — your positions, colours, elements and animation.
Sponsor and up-next graphics for live streams
Two graphics every produced stream should have — the sponsor bug and the up-next teaser. What they do, when to show them, and how to run them live over OBS or vMix.
Running the show live 4
How to build a running order (rundown) for a live show
What a running order is, how to structure one with segments, durations and cues, how to time it, and how to keep it live and collaborative during the show.
Running a live show — from running order to on-air
How the pieces of a live broadcast fit together — the running order as the spine, the teleprompter, the show clock, and cueing graphics and VTs live — and how to run them from one place.
Show clocks and timing a live broadcast
How to keep a live show on time — what a show clock is, count-up vs back-timed countdowns, timing segments to hard outs, and keeping the whole crew on the same second.
Using a teleprompter for live streams and broadcasts
How a teleprompter works for live shows — feeding the script from your running order, controlling scroll speed, using a remote operator, and formatting text so it reads naturally.
Audience engagement 4
Audience engagement for live streams — quizzes, polls and interaction
Why audience interaction keeps viewers watching, the main formats — live polls, quizzes and QR-code participation — and how to run them on screen over OBS or vMix.
Using QR codes to get your audience to interact
Why an on-screen QR code is the lowest-friction way to pull viewers into a poll, quiz or vote — plus practical tips on size, placement, timing and making it actually scannable.
How to run a live poll on your stream
A step-by-step guide to running an on-screen live poll — writing the question, letting the audience vote by QR or link, showing results live, and driving it over OBS or vMix.
How to run a live quiz on your stream
How to run a play-along quiz on a live stream — single or multi-question rounds, letting the audience join by link or QR, operator control, and holding and thank-you screens.
Crew & production management 4
How to manage crew and call times for a live show
What a good crew list needs — roles, contacts and call times — why call times make or break the day, and how to keep the crew list attached to the show instead of a stray spreadsheet.
Health & safety document sign-off for live productions
Sending a risk assessment isn't the same as proving people read it. How H&S document sign-off works for a crew — distribute, acknowledge, and keep an auditable record of who signed and when.
Managing crew, tasks and safety for a live production
The production-management side of a live show — who's on the crew and when, the tasks that get you to air, and getting health & safety documents signed off — kept in one shared place.
Task management for show production (general and show-specific)
The to-do list behind every show — how to track production tasks with owners, priorities and due dates, keep a history of what happened, and separate general work from show-specific work.
Use cases 4
Show Runner for church and worship live production
Run a polished worship stream with a volunteer team — collect media from ministries, drive lower thirds and graphics into OBS, follow a service running order, and engage your congregation.
Show Runner for corporate and hybrid events
Collect speaker videos and slides from contributors, run branded lower thirds and graphics, follow a conference running order, and engage a hybrid audience — all in one live system.
Show Runner for esports broadcasts
Collect player and team assets, run fast lower thirds, standings and sponsor graphics, drive the broadcast to time, and engage viewers with polls and quizzes — Show Runner for esports.
Show Runner for sports broadcasters and streamers
Collect highlights from contributors, run scoreboards, standings and goal graphics, drive the show to time, and keep fans engaged — how Show Runner fits a live sports broadcast.
Comparisons 3
One platform vs stitching production tools together
Most live shows run on a patchwork — a transfer link, a doc rundown, a prompter app, a graphics tool, a spreadsheet. Here's the real cost of that fragmentation, and the case for one system.
A WeTransfer alternative for collecting video from contributors
File-transfer tools like WeTransfer are great for sending a file A-to-B, but they aren't built for collecting assets for a production. Here's the difference, and what to use instead.
Google Docs vs purpose-built running order software
A shared doc is a fine place to draft a rundown — until you're live. Here's where general documents stop and running order software starts, for timing, cues and driving the show.