Live in three steps
Neon Diesel Live puts your picture — an edit, a grade, a comp, a camera on set — in front of clients and collaborators in their browser, well under a second behind, with talkback, chat and review tools.
Make a session
On your account, sign in with your email (we send a 6-digit code — no password) and press New session. A session is one private link, with a stream key for each camera.
Send video
Press Send video on the session and pick what you’re sending from: your screen, Resolve, Avid, Premiere, Nuke, OBS, an encoder or a phone. Each one has exact settings to copy.
Send the link
Copy the Client link and send it. People open it, type their name and they’re in — no account, no installs.
Joining a session
- Open the link you were sent (or go to the session page and type the code). Enter your name and press Join.
- Use an up-to-date Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox on a laptop, desktop, iPad or phone. Headphones stop your speakers echoing into everyone’s talkback.
- The picture fills the screen; the controls fade away until you move the mouse or tap. Nothing covers the picture unless you open it.
- To talk, press the mic (or hold T for push-to-talk). Your browser asks for microphone permission the first time.
- To type instead, open chat (Enter). Press N to stamp a note with the exact frame on screen — those become markers for the editor.
- Seeing a short pause or freeze? Press Space to jump back to live.
- Missed something? Press ← to replay the last 10 seconds — up to 5 minutes back. Esc returns to live.
Send from anything
Every camera in a session has one stream key that works with all of these. Inside your account, Send video shows each guide with your own settings filled in, ready to copy. Here they show where those values go.
In the session
The controls sit in one bar at the bottom, in four groups. Hover a group to see its name.
Watch
Grid / camera switcher to see every feed side by side or one full screen · Pause to hold a frame (Space returns to live) · Rewind to replay the last 5 minutes (← / →, Esc for live) · Audio to mute or pick whose sound you hear.
Tools the wrench
Picture: false color, zebras, focus peaking, mono, punch-in, framing guides, safe areas and aspect masks · Scopes: waveform, RGB parade, histogram, vectorscope · Audio: loudness (LUFS), peak meters, phase, spectrum, mono/L/R/side listening · Stills: grab a frame and wipe it against live.
Talk
Listen mutes or unmutes everyone’s voices · Mic tap to toggle, hold for push-to-talk · ▴ people, microphone and speaker choice, and private channels — talk to a few people (say, Director + DP) without the whole room hearing; only members can hear or even find a channel · Share your screen or camera as a new feed · Chat with links and frame-stamped notes.
More ⋯
Pop a camera out into its own window (drag it to another monitor), Watch on TV (AirPlay to an Apple TV, or a TV’s own browser), talkback & devices, copy the session link, keyboard shortcuts, replay the tour, leave. Plus full screen (or double-click the picture). Your own sessions add Post a notice, a message at the top of everyone’s screen (“Back in 10”), and Lockdown.
Notes & markers
- In chat, press ⏱ or the N key to stamp a note with the frame on screen, like [14:32:08:12]. Anyone can click a stamp later.
- Open chat › Save notes to download them as an EDL (DaVinci Resolve), Avid locators (.txt), a CSV (spreadsheets and trackers) or a plain transcript. Pick the frame rate — it defaults to the stream’s.
- Resolve: in the Media Pool, right-click your timeline › Timelines › Import › Timeline Markers from EDL. Avid: import the locator file from the Markers window.
- Real camera timecode: if one audio channel of your feed carries timecode (LTC from a Tentacle, Deity, the camera’s TC out, or your NLE’s timecode track), the session reads it automatically — the clock turns green with TC, and every note stamps the camera’s own timecode, frame-accurate. You hear the other channel only, so nobody listens to the buzz. Switch it off in Tools › Audio › Camera timecode.
- Without timecode on the audio, stamps are the time of day each frame was sent. To land those on the right frames, use Line up with timeline when saving: enter one stamp and the timeline timecode it matches, and every note shifts to timeline time.
- Approve (the ✓ next to ⏱ in chat — tap twice) records an approval of the frame on screen, with a still, the timecode, who approved and when. Every ⏱ note carries a still of its frame too.
- Approval receipt: chat › Save notes › Approval receipt opens a clean page with every approval and frame note, stills included — print it or save it as a PDF for your records, or send the link.
Plans & billing
- Every account gets 1 hour of streaming free each month, reset on the 1st (UTC). No card needed.
- Time counts while at least one of your cameras, apps or screen shares is sending a picture into your session — several at once count once. Watching, talkback, chat and people’s webcams are always free.
- If you run out, your encoders are disconnected until the reset — or upgrade and they reconnect right away.
- Pro adds much more streaming time every month. Upgrade from your account — pay monthly by PayPal or card, or ask for an invoice. Cancel any time; Pro stays on to the end of the month you’ve paid for.
Questions people ask
Can we watch on a TV?
Yes, three ways, all from ⋯ › Watch on TV:
AirPlay to an Apple TV from Safari on an iPhone, iPad or Mac. The TV runs about 2 seconds behind live, and your phone stays free for talkback and chat. It’s off in locked-down sessions, because the watermark can’t travel to the TV.
The TV’s own web browser: go to neondieselfinishing.com/tv and enter the session code. It opens in TV mode — just the picture, the arrow keys on the remote switch cameras, OK shows them all, and the screen never sleeps.
Mirror or cast a phone or laptop (Screen Mirroring, or Cast in Chrome) for no added delay.
How close to real time is it?
Usually well under a second from your picture to theirs, so you can talk through a shot as it plays. A little buffer smooths out bumpy connections; if someone falls behind, Space jumps back to live.
Is the picture color-accurate?
For color-critical review, send from a video output (DeckLink, UltraStudio, AJA…) through a hardware encoder, and ask viewers to watch on a calibrated display or a recent iPad Pro / MacBook Pro in its reference mode. Screen sharing and OBS window capture go through the computer’s display color first.
Streams are standard 8-bit H.264 — browsers don’t play HDR or 10-bit streams.
Can I use DaVinci Resolve’s Remote Monitoring?
Resolve Studio’s Remote Monitoring only sends to other Resolve Studio or DaVinci Remote Monitor users through Blackmagic Cloud — it can’t send to other services. To reach people in a browser, with talkback, chat and notes, use one of the Resolve guides: the clean feed, OBS, or a video output into an encoder.
Do viewers need an account or an app?
No — just the link and a modern browser. Only the person sending video needs an account.
How many people can watch?
Sessions are built for review rooms — the client, director, DP, producers and your team. Planning dozens of viewers or more? Tell us first and we’ll make sure it’s smooth.
Can I send more than one camera?
Yes. Add cameras to a session and each gets its own key. Viewers see them side by side, switch with 1–9, or pop one onto another monitor. Anyone in the session can also share a screen or a phone/laptop camera as an extra feed.
How do I get real timecode on notes?
Put timecode on one audio channel of what you send — most sets already have LTC from a sync box or the camera’s TC out; in an edit or grade, route the timeline’s LTC to one output channel. The session finds it on its own (left or right), shows it in green, and stamps notes with it. Keep program sound on the other channel.
Who can hear a private channel?
Only the people in it. A channel is its own hidden room: the session server tells its secret name only to members, checked against each person’s private key in their browser. Anyone in a channel can add people, and anyone can leave. You always still hear the main session.
Is sound sent too?
Yes — in stereo from encoders, OBS and NDI sources. Screen shares carry sound on Windows (tick “Share system audio”); on a Mac use OBS for sound. Viewers can check it with the loudness and phase meters.
Is it private? Do you record?
Session links are unlisted with codes that can’t be guessed, and only your stream keys can send video into them. Replace a key or delete a session any time.
Video isn’t saved. So people can rewind, the stream server keeps only the last few minutes of each camera and shared screen, and deletes it automatically after that. Webcams and voices aren’t kept at all. Chat is kept for 30 days so people joining late can scroll back, then deleted.
Accounts can add two-step sign-in with an authenticator app, see every signed-in device and download their activity log. The full picture is on our security page.
What should my encoder settings be?
H.264 (High or Main profile), 8-bit 4:2:0, 1080p or 720p, 24–30 fps, 4–8 Mbps constant bitrate, keyframe every 1–2 seconds, AAC or Opus audio. H.265/HEVC and 10-bit won’t play in browsers. Use SRT on cellular or long-distance links.
Why do people’s webcams look softer than the cameras?
On purpose. Webcams and phone cameras shared from the session page are reference angles, sent light (360p, about half a megabit) so a room full of them never squeezes your encoder cameras or screen share — on the same set network, or on a viewer’s connection. For a full-quality angle, send that camera through OBS, Larix or an encoder instead.
Will it hold up on a big production?
It’s built for it. Each viewer only downloads what’s on their screen — feeds you’re not looking at pause on their own and come back in about a second. Talkback uses almost no data while people aren’t speaking, and every connection heals itself after a network blip. Running many cameras for a large crew? Tell us your plan and we’ll make sure there’s headroom.
What do “Main camera”, the Client link and the Suite link mean?
The Client link is what you send people — the full session with picture, talkback and chat. The Suite link opens talkback and chat only, for a room that already watches on its own monitors.
Can you set everything up for us?
Yes. We can ship encoders pre-programmed for your sessions — plug in the camera or monitor output, power, network, and it streams. You just share the link. Get in touch.
Something’s not right
My camera says “Not connected yet” or “Connecting”
Check the encoder or app shows it’s streaming, then check the key — paste it again from Send video (a missing character is the usual culprit). If the camera row shows a reason in yellow, it tells you what’s wrong (out of minutes, key replaced…).
“Connecting” but never “Live” usually means the video format: switch the encoder to H.264, 8-bit. HEVC/H.265, 10-bit or 4:2:2 won’t play in browsers.
The picture stutters or freezes
Lower the bitrate to 4–6 Mbps, use a wired connection, set keyframes to 1–2 s, and use SRT instead of RTMP on shaky networks. Click the status pill (the Live indicator) for connection stats — it shows whether frames are being lost on the way in or on the viewer’s side.
I can see the picture but can’t hear it
Browsers start pages muted until you click — click anywhere, or press the Audio button. If there are several feeds, choose whose sound you hear from the Audio button. Check the sender is actually sending audio (the meters in Tools › Audio move).
Talkback: nobody can hear me / I hear an echo
Allow the microphone when the browser asks (or in the address bar’s site settings). Pick the right mic in ▴ › Talkback & devices — if it says the mic is in use, close other call apps. Echo means someone’s speakers are feeding their mic — headphones fix it.
My Mac asks to let the browser “record” my screen
That’s macOS’s wording for any screen sharing — Zoom, Meet and Teams get the same prompt. Nothing is saved: your screen streams only to your session, only while you share. Like cameras, just the last few minutes are held briefly so people can rewind, then deleted. Allow it once and you’re set.
Screen share is black or won’t start on a Mac
System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen Recording (or “Screen & System Audio Recording”) › turn on your browser, then quit and reopen it.
It works at home but not at the office
Some company networks block live video. Sessions automatically fall back to a relay that passes most firewalls; if it still won’t connect, try a phone hotspot to confirm, then ask IT to allow stream.neondieselfinishing.com.
My encoders were disconnected
You’ve likely used this month’s streaming time — your account page shows it. It resets on the 1st, or upgrade to keep going straight away.
Still stuck, or planning something big?
Email us — we answer real questions from real people in post.