The Short Answer
Turn on Director Mode in Avocado on your Mac and scan the Viewer QR code with your phone or tablet. Its browser shows a live copy of the prompter, scrolling in step with the Mac. Then mount that device right under the camera you're recording with. It works on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and Mac browsers, with no app and no account. Director Mode and the Viewer are part of Avocado Pro.
When You Need a Second Screen
If you record with your MacBook's own camera, you don't: Avocado shows the script in the notch, right next to the lens. The Viewer is for setups where the camera and the Mac are in different places:
- You record on a camera or an external webcam on a tripod, and the Mac sits off to one side.
- You use a teleprompter rig with glass in front of the lens, and need a screen under the glass.
- You present standing up, at a lectern or on a stage, away from the laptop.
- Someone else runs the session from the Mac while you read from your own screen.
In each case the words need to be at the lens, not wherever the laptop happens to be. Viewers notice a sideways glance at about 1° off the lens, so a laptop two feet to the side of the camera shows on every line. Here's why the direction matters so much.
How to Set It Up
- Open your script in Avocado on your Mac.
- Turn on Director Mode in Settings › Director. The Mac shows two QR codes, one for the Director remote and one for the Viewer.
- Scan the Viewer code with the phone or tablet, or type its address into any browser on the same Wi-Fi.
- Mount the device right under or above your camera lens.
- Press play on the Mac. Both screens scroll together.
After the first time it takes seconds. Your browser remembers the page, so you put the phone on its mount and reopen it.
What Stays in Sync
The Viewer follows the Mac's scroll position, text size, colours, alignment and mirroring. Pause on the Mac and the Viewer pauses. Jump to a Script Marker and it jumps too. Smart Cue markers like [pause] and [breathe] show on the Viewer exactly as they do on the Mac, and so do Director Talkback messages a producer sends mid-take.
Up to five devices can connect at once, so a producer can hold the Director remote while you read from the Viewer, and a second Viewer can sit on a lectern or in a rig.
Where to Put the Device
Placement is the whole point. Put the text where your eyes would be if you were looking at the lens.
- Phone under a webcam or camera. A small tripod or a clamp arm puts the phone right under the lens. Your eyes drop a little to read, which viewers forgive far more than a sideways look. Turn the phone sideways if your lines are long.
- Tablet in a teleprompter rig. Lay it under the glass and turn on Mirror in the Viewer's gear menu, so the text reads correctly through the glass while the Mac's own prompter stays normal. Here's how to build a rig.
- Tablet on a lectern or music stand. For talks and lessons you give standing up, away from the laptop.
- A second laptop. Any laptop browser works as a Viewer, so a spare machine can sit under the camera while your main Mac runs the recording.
- An Elgato Prompter. It plugs into your Mac as an extra display, so the Viewer can run full screen on it and follow your voice. Here's the setup.
It Stays on Your Wi-Fi
The Viewer is served by your Mac over your local network. Your script goes from your Mac to the devices you connect, and nowhere else: no server, no account, no cloud. Each session uses a new hidden key, so a page left open from an earlier session can't reconnect until it's reloaded. If your script covers something you haven't announced yet, it never leaves the room.
A Phone You Already Own
A dedicated prompter monitor means another screen, another mount and another cable. A phone you already own and a small tripod put the text at the lens just as well. The Viewer exists because, for most people, the best second screen is already in their pocket.
If the phone is the camera too, it can do the whole job without the Mac. Avocado for iPhone and iPad puts the script right under the front camera, follows your voice as you read, and records the take with the script on screen. Then trim the silence and cut the long pauses in one tap.
