The panel is part of the booth
Bitfocus Companion can put your whole system on a few buttons. Whether a volunteer can use them depends on how they’re laid out. The same rules that make a volunteer-friendly booth apply here.
Seven rules for a volunteer page
- Plain words. “Pastor Wide,” not “Scene 4” or “CAM2 P3.”
- One page per seat. A director page, a slides page, a camera page. (See the three-seat setup.)
- Follow the order of the service. Start at the top left, end at the bottom right.
- Colors that always mean the same thing, on every page.
- Feedback, not just buttons. A button should show what’s live, not only what was pressed.
- Make ending things hard to hit by accident.
- Leave space. An empty button between groups is easier to read than a full grid.
A color code that works
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Red | Live: on air, streaming, recording |
| Green | Ready: in preview, next up |
| Blue | Cameras and shots |
| Yellow | Slides and lyrics |
| Gray | Off, or not in use |
| Dark red, in a corner | Ends something: stop stream, end service |
Write the code on the booth checklist, so it’s the same for everyone.
A sample director page
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start Service | Welcome | Worship | Sermon |
| Wide | Pastor | Band | Slides |
| Lyrics On/Off | Lower Third | ||
| Stream ● | End Service |
A sample camera page
One button per preset, named after the shot, with a short name for the camera: “C1 Pulpit,” “C1 Wide,” “C2 Piano,” “C2 Band.” (For a dedicated camera seat, see adding a camera operator to OBS or to vMix.)
Test it like a newcomer
- Hand the panel to someone who’s never run the booth. Ask them to run a pretend service.
- Watch where they hesitate. That’s a label to rename or a button to move.
- Run a full rehearsal before the first real Sunday on a new page.
- Change one thing at a time after that, and tell the team when you do.
Keep it documented
Panels change, and the person who built them won’t always be there. Keep a printed copy of each page, and what each button does, in the booth binder. In WorshipMetrics, the Signal Map documents the devices and addresses behind the buttons, team chat is a good place to announce a changed button, and Present’s Companion tab shows the same pages beside the slides. (See Companion buttons inside WorshipMetrics.)
Related questions
- How should we label Stream Deck or Companion buttons for volunteers?
- Use the words your team says out loud: 'Pastor Wide,' 'Lyrics On,' 'Start Service.' Avoid device names, numbers, and abbreviations like 'Scene 4' or 'CAM2 PRST3.' If a new volunteer hesitates before pressing a button, rename it.
- How many buttons should a volunteer page have?
- As few as the job needs: often six to twelve. Put the buttons used every week on the first page, and move rarely used or risky buttons to a second page.
- How do we stop volunteers from pressing the wrong button?
- Put buttons that end or interrupt things (stop stream, end service, blackout) in a corner, in a different color, or on a separate page. Use feedback colors so the panel shows what's live, and test the whole page in a run-through.
How to Set Up a Church Stream Mix: Aux, Matrix, or a Second Mixer
NextBitfocus Companion Buttons Inside WorshipMetrics: The Companion Tab, Slide Actions, and Commands
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